New Worlds Launched: From West Philly to Albania and Back

Buy New Worlds: The Girls Write Now 15h Anniversary Anthology from indie bookstore McNally Jackson Books, or check out the press release. Want to review or excerpt the book? Contact laura@girlswritenow.org.
A warm Tuesday night at the start of summer. McNally Jackson Books was buzzing. Everywhere you looked there were friends standing in circles, exchanging jokes and sipping glasses of sparkling cider, or girls and their mentors deep in conversation. Over the hum of noise and laughter it was difficult to hear anything. As soon as first-year mentee Nakissi Dosso began speaking, though, a reverent silence quickly fell.
“Blood is thicker than water, you’re told, and no one every really knows the meaning until you are subject to the grieving,” she began, going on to tell the story of her uncle’s deportation. Her piece “West Philadelphia” is just one of the incredible works featured in this year’s anthology, New Worlds. Despite the difficulty of the topic, Nakissi’s voice remained steady throughout. “A family of immigrants is a family of strength,” she said proudly, using her words to radiate that strength into every corner of the audience.

Mentee Sara Reka left the audience similarly captivated when she took the mic. She read “My Fair City,” a piece detailing her journey towards understanding her identity as an Albanian-American living in New York City. “New Yorker pumps through my blood,” she said proudly. Even though the girls spoke about subjects that many have no personal experience with, their words made us all understand.
There was laughter, learning, and love everywhere at our first ever anthology launch party. Thanks to all who came out to celebrate the book, and to all those who helped to make it happen, including our gracious hosts McNally Jackson!

• To read work by Nakissi, Sara, and other Girls Write Now mentees get your copy of New Worlds! Alice Walker (The Color Purple) says: “To write from the heart is to illuminate one’s existence against many kinds of darkness. These young writers are going deep, feeling hard, self-defining what has as yet no public face. What a refreshment to me as an older writer.”
• Winner of the Outstanding Book of the Year in the Independent Publisher Book Awards, with additional honors from the International Book Awards, National Indie Excellence Awards, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and the New York Book Festival, our library of anthologies is available online.