Girls Write Now Collaboratory
Journeys
Each Journey in the Girls Write Now Collaboratory is a package of Writing Course Content, Mentorship, and Community Experiences for mentors and mentees. Our team of teachers, artists, and content experts have thoughtfully curated each Journey to be a dynamic, multifaceted experience. Journeys can be light touch or intensive, short or long-term, asynchronous or in real time.
What Does a Journey Look Like?
3 Hours per Month for 3 Months! Open to Mentors & Mentees of All Backgrounds and Levels of Experience.
- Journeys are 3 month cycles: Cycles are: Spring: March 1 – May 31; Summer: July 1 -September 30; Fall: November 1-January 31
- Each Journey is 3 months long, requiring approximately 3 hours per month.
- Journeys include one-to-one, cross-generational mentorship and collaboration (1-2 sessions per month)
- Plus live community workshops, salons, or chats, virtual or in-person (at least 1 per month)
- Pair and group experiences are bolstered by a dynamic curriculum covering a diverse range of genres, media, and topics.
- Each Journey is a 3-month arc with a meaningful, creative outcome that meets your unique goals.
Journey Mentors
Journey Mentees
Journey Cycles
A Journey cycle is a three-month time period. Every month for three months of the Journey, mentors and mentees spend three hours or more together in pair sessions and community experiences, bolstered by our dynamic curriculum. You can sign up for one, two, or three cycles to meet your schedule and goals.
- Summer: July 1 – September 30
- Fall: November 1 – January 31
- Spring: March 1 – May 31
1. Apply
Select the Journey below you'd like to join and complete an application to become a mentor or mentee.
2. Meet Your Match
Be matched one-to-one with a mentor or mentee for a three-month Journey (summer, fall, and/or winter) for three hours per month.
3. Attend Monthly
At least one pair session and one community experience is required each month, with timing and format determined by each pair.
Girls Write Now
Select the Journey you want to go on this cycle! You can refine your search using the filters on the lefthand sidebar. Once you're accepted, you'll be matched with a mentor or mentee who shares your interests.
Select the Journey you want to go on this cycle! You can refine your search using the filters on the lefthand sidebar. Once you're accepted, you'll be matched with a mentor or mentee who shares your interests.
Lead Community Change (Part 2) (Spring 2027)
Lead Community Change is a dynamic two-cycle Journey that harnesses the transformative power of storytelling to drive social impact. Aspiring young leaders and activists will unleash their creativity to develop and implement innovative community-based social activism projects, supported by GWN’s rich storytelling resources.
Indigenous Poetry (Spring 2027)
Explore the rich traditions and contemporary voices of Indigenous poetry. Mentees and mentors will read and discuss poems by Indigenous poets that reflect identity, culture, land, community, resilience, and storytelling. Alongside close reading, participants will write original poems inspired by these works, experimenting with imagery, voice, form, and personal expression. Through discussion and creative practice, they will explore how poetry can honor heritage, preserve stories, and illuminate both personal and collective experiences. Mentees and mentors will take away a deeper appreciation of Indigenous poetic traditions, strengthened creative writing skills, and a greater understanding of poetry as a tool for connection and expression.
Journalism: The Art of Profile Writing (Spring 2027)
Every person has a story to tell, and profile writing offers a way to share those stories with the world. In this Journey, mentees and mentors will learn how to build trust with subjects, conduct respectful interviews, and maintain the writer’s role as observer rather than confidante. The Journey emphasizes a holistic approach that considers subject, writer, and reader.
AI & Technology: Protopian Futures (Spring 2027)
This Journey explores the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies through a protopian lens—focusing on how innovation can be intentionally shaped toward more equitable, creative, and human-centered futures. Mentees and mentors will examine the possibilities and limitations of AI, engaging in discussions and hands-on explorations that highlight both current applications and future potential. Through critical reflection and creative experimentation, mentees and mentors will consider how technology can be designed and used to expand opportunity, deepen connection, and support more just and imaginative ways of living and creating. Mentees and mentors will strengthen their critical understanding of AI and emerging technologies while deepening their perspective on ethical innovation and human-centered tech practices.
Explore Tour (Spring 2027)
Explore Girls Write Now’s creative and storytelling pathways through a multimedia, multi-genre experience featuring mini courses, exploratory studios, and one-to-one pair sessions. Develop skills across fiction, journalism, publishing, video, podcasting, visual storytelling, and more.
Independent Study (Spring 2027)
Create your own experience with our Independent Study Journey. Mentees and mentors meet as a pair, attend events of interest, and use coursework to support creative projects and personal goals. Along the way, you can connect with others during a mid-cycle mixer designed to spark inspiration, share ideas, and build community. The Journey culminates in a showcase where participants present the work they have developed throughout the cycle and celebrate their accomplishments together. Mentees and mentors will benefit by gaining greater independence in their learning, deepening their creative practice, and building meaningful connections while pursuing self-directed goals.
Teach GWN (Spring 2027)
In this Journey, members of the GWN community will develop curriculum and facilitate a Community Studio for one or more cycles within GWN’s Collaboratory structure. Each cycle involves facilitating three Community Studios, one per month. Mentees and mentors will gain valuable skills in leadership, teaching, and community building. Mentees and mentors can facilitate a Community Studio either independently (if they are 18 or older) or together as a pair.
Everything Is a Story: Nonfiction that Reads like Fiction (Fall 2026)
In this Journey, mentees and mentors will explore the ways in which creative storytelling techniques can be applied to nonfiction writing of all kinds, from memoir and personal essay to op-ed and how-to articles. We will dive into what makes a story—from structural archetypes to writing that flows—and learn how to harness the power of story to make nonfiction compelling and transformative.
Wild Ideas: Nature, Science & Creativity (Fall 2026)
Created in honor of Helen Ghiradella’s pioneering work at the intersection of science and creativity, this Journey invites mentees and mentors to explore the natural world through the complementary lenses of scientific inquiry and artistic expression. Inspired by Ghiradella’s legacy, and through close observation, research, and reflection, they will investigate the forms, patterns, and processes found in nature while creating an original project—through writing, visual art, media, performance, music or another creative form—that celebrates the connections between nature, science, and creativity.
The Career Journey: Inside Book Publishing (Fall 2026)
Discover the various roles in publishing that bring books to life, from editorial and design to marketing, publicity, production, and more. Through conversations with publishing house and literary agency professionals, participants will gain insight into the nuts and bolts of a book's journey from concept to publication.
Collaboratory Access for Mentors, Mentees & Members
Enjoy a la carte or as part of a Journey
All mentors, mentees & members also have access to our Resources, including jobs, internships, scholarships, writing contests, enrichment opportunities, and more.
Writing
Build skills though courses that focus on any genre, media, leadership, activism, college, career, and more.
Mentoring
Connect one-to-one across generations and establish a supportive relationship that lasts a lifetime.
Community
Collaborate and share with other inspiring minds at countless engaging events and experiences.
Join Our Community
Journey Mentorship
Make a commitment as a mentor or mentee for at least one Journey and get full access to our writing, mentoring, and community experiences and resources.
Membership
Be a part of our community without committing to a Journey, and receive select access to our writing, mentoring, and community experiences and resources.
