Here & Now: Girls Write Now 2024 Anthology

“Girls Write Now elevates underrepresented voices with stories that need to be told.”

-AYESHA CURRY
GIRLS WRITE NOW HONOREE
CEO, SWEET JULY & CO-FOUNDER OF EAT. LEARN. PLAY

In partnership with Dutton Books, Dottir Press, and Amazon Literary Partnership, Girls Write Now is thrilled to announce our newest publication, Here & Now: Girls Write Now 2024 Anthology. Available from Books Are Magic, McNally Jackson, and Amazon, the anthology is a multi-genre showcase from our 25th year of mentoring and training the next generation of young voices.

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Do not read this book, unless you want to know what real humans are thinking. Taking poetic license to express things in ways that make AI fear it will be replaced by humans, the stories in these pages reflect the here and now: a collective urgency as the pandemic recedes, the world overheats, wars overwhelm, and the national discourse is conducted in a language far from love. In these pieces, cooking unites families, supermarkets become places of connection and adventure, neighbors evolve into mermaids as the sea levels rise, and every month nails are trimmed to cut down memory. The smallest gifts in life become impossible blessings of gratitude. There is a sense of battle with the norms and an understanding that things are not right, but they will be. This anthology is evidence of a future worth fighting for in which the long tradition of building community through the written word is upheld during the highs, lows, and everything in between.

Foreword by

Donna Hill

(she/her) Mentor

Mentor Donna Hill is a multi-published author with more than 90 published titles to her credit. Three of her novels were adapted for television. Most recently, her novel Confessions is B-Flat is be adapted for the screen with Amblin Partners and Executive Producer Octavia Spencer. Donna has an MFA in Creative Writing and is currently an Assistant Professor at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.

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Introduction by

Forsyth Harmon

(she/her) Mentor

Forsyth Harmon is the author and illustrator of the illustrated novel Justine. She is also the illustrator of national bestseller Girlhood by Melissa Febos and The Art of the Affair by Catherine Lacey. Forsyth’s work has been featured in Granta, BOMB, Refinery29, The Believer, and more. She received both a BA and an MFA from Columbia University and currently lives in New York.

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Advance Praise for Here & Now

“I hope you will experience every remarkable piece, each one written from a particular point of view no one else has, by writers from a myriad of backgrounds and perspectives.”

——ABI DARÉ, Girls Write Now honoree, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and author of And So I Roar

“A vibrant community built to amplify the stories of young women and gender-expansive youth, Girls Write Now is doing essential work. The writing in this collection is fired by the power that comes with finding our voices. I am moved by these writers’ passion and inspired by their singular words.”
—R. O. KWON, author of Exhibit

“Are we willing to embrace the bittersweet beauty of our collective humanity by listening to the voices of our younger selves? Here & Now: Girls Write Now 2024 Anthology poignantly captures the sentiment of some of our most observant and silenced. Girls Write Now has gifted us an anthology that will compel you to listen and take action by inspiring you to remember what is truly at stake.”
—JAMES RHEE, author of the bestseller, red helicopter, acclaimed entrepreneur, TED speaker, and Howard University Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship

Intersectional Voices in Editorial Print Committee

Every year, the Intersectional Voices in Editorial (IV Edit) Print Committee brings their talents to the task of editing, producing, and promoting this fresh collection of writing from today’s emerging voices. The committee is made up of mentors, mentees, and other volunteers who are passionate about diversifying the publishing landscape.