What We’re Reading: Books, Media & More by our Fall 2025 Honorees

In this, her first cookbook, Kardea shares her multi-generational “passed down” recipes and innovative takes on Gullah classics with home cooks everywhere. “Gullah” and “GeeChee” refer to a distinct group of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia who have preserved much of their West African language, culture, and cuisine. The Way Home is an unabashed love letter to her family’s roots, packed with dishes that combine West African herbs, spices, and grains with traditional Southern cooking. “Gullah people laid the foundation for Southern cooking. Before farm-to-table was a fad, it was what Gullah people did,” Kardea explains. “I want to show the world that soul food is not monolithic. It’s so much more than fried chicken and vegetables cooked in pork. It’s seasonal, fresh and delicious! ”

Listen to our episode of Speaking in First Draft with Kardea here.

In The Book of Alchemy, Suleika explores the art of journaling and shares everything she’s learned about how this life-altering practice can help us tap into that mystical trait that exists in every human: creativity. She has gathered wisdom from one hundred writers, artists, and thinkers in the form of essays and writing prompts. Their insights invite us to inhabit a more inspired life.

A companion through challenging times, The Book of Alchemy is broken into themes ranging from new beginnings to love, loss, and rebuilding. Whether you’re a lifelong journaler or new to the practice, this book gives you the tools, direction, and encouragement to engage with discomfort, ask questions, peel back the layers, dream daringly, uncover your truest self—and in doing so, to learn to hold the unbearably brutal and astonishingly beautiful facts of life in the same palm.

In addition to this offering of creative prompts, Suleika started the Alchemy Fund to help young writers at Girls Write Now find their voice.

While Toni Morrison’s literary achievements are widely celebrated, her editorial work is little known. Drawing on extensive research and firsthand accounts, this comprehensive study discusses Morrison’s remarkable journey from her early days at Random House to her emergence as one of its most important editors. During her tenure in editorial, Morrison refashioned the literary landscape, working with important authors, including Toni Cade Bambara, Leon Forrest, and Lucille Clifton, and empowering cultural icons such as Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali to tell their stories on their own terms.

Toni Morrison herself had great enthusiasm about Dana Williams’s work on this story, generously sharing memories and thoughts with the author over the years, even giving her the book’s title. From the manuscripts she molded, the authors she nurtured, and the readers she inspired, Toni at Random demonstrates how Toni Morrison has influenced American culture beyond the individual titles or authors she published. Listen to our episode of Speaking in First Draft with Dana here.

Emmy-winning writer and actress Rachel Bloom takes her gift for musically-imbued comedy to a new level in Death, Let Me Do My Special (Netflix). She muses on birth, death, cosmic uncertainty and pungent trees in this whimsical and reflective musical comedy special. Read a special Q&A with Rachel Bloom and Girls Write Now mentee Inica here in our LinkedIn newsletter, Life@GWN.

Winnie is the co-writer of Wicked the Musical, co-writer of films Wicked and Wicked: For Good, and creator of the TV-series My So-Called Life. She won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Focusing on two young women’s search for power, love, and belonging, Wicked is an empowering story about standing up for justice and discovering your voice. We couldn’t think of a better fit for our mission at Girls Write Now. Listen to her episode of Speaking in First Draft here.

Maria champions storytelling on Storyful, which focuses on social news and strategic intelligence.

“Girls Write Now plays a vital role in fostering emerging talent and strengthening the future of creative expression, and we are honored to receive this recognition as we continue working together to develop the next generation of storytellers.” —Maria