March CHAPTERS with Molly Crabapple

This blog post was written by Molly Mellott, Development Intern. 
On a cool, clear March evening, Girls Write Now kicked off our 20th Anniversary celebrations with our first CHAPTERS reading of the season. Hosted by mentee/mentor pair Gia Deeton and Lindsay Zoladz, this reading followed a theme involving navigating identities in this modern day and age.
And fear not if you if missed this reading— there are three more this year that you can also attend, featuring Kayleen Schaefer this Friday, April 20, Naima Coster and Meg Wolitzer on May 18, and Jenny Zhang on June 15. 

Artist and author, Molly Crabapple was the keynote speaker. Her speech involved the importance of women sharing their stories with the world which is emulated in her memoir Drawing Blood. Crabapple also gave a few wise words of advice:

1. Write, even when you’re not inspired
2. Make friends
3. Work with rigor, discipline and craft
4. Embrace your complexity. We need your stories.

The readers spoke of their own identities in their own worlds and their search for who they are as people. This follows very closely with Girls Write Now’s theme of Generation F to celebrate the past 20 years of sharing a diverse range of female voices. Reader Briana Clarke-Arias spoke that “Generation F is about embracing our identity” in her piece, Untitled. Mariah Galindo, in her reading of “Memories of Tomorrow’s Oppression“, stated that “I have been forced to see myself as nothing.”
These powerful words ring true and only emphasize and uplift the significance of Girls Write Now’s message. What a great beginning to Girls Write Now’s 20th Anniversary celebrations.
Check out photos from each event and relive the night through videos.

CHAPTERS READING SERIES

Friday, April 20th, 6-8 pm: Kayleen Schaefer, author of Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship
Friday, May 18, 6-8 pm:  Naima Coster, author of Halsey Street, Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion
Friday, June 15, 6-8 pm: Jenny Zhang, author of Sour Heart

QWERTY DIGITAL EXHIBITION

Friday, June 1, 6-8 pm: Lynette Nylander, writer and media maker, Jazmine Hughes, associate editor for The New York Times Magazine, Sudi Green, comedian, actress, and Emmy-nominated writer for Saturday Night Live, and more!