Speaking In First Draft

An Interview Podcast

Season 4 Debuts on March 4th!

First released in September 2023, members of the Girls Write Now community share a draft of one of their works in progress and discuss both the writing process and what creative expression looks like to them. Listeners will have the opportunity to engage with the inner machinations and perspectives of writers, producers, and artists from a diversity of episodes and stories.

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Veony Marie Artis . 9 months ago

I Was Made to Be Big Before I Was Allowed to Be Small

We are proud to present an essay by Veony Marie Artis, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.

Saraí Pérez . 9 months ago

They Called Me Blasphemy, I Called It Poetry

We are proud to present an essay by Saraí Pérez, honorable mention in the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.

Ivanna Sintes-Klein . 9 months ago

Seeds of Stigma: Winner of the Writing for Life Contest 2025

We are proud to present an essay by Ivanna Sintes-Klein, winner of the 2025 Writing for Life Contest in the age 16-19 category.

Bobin Shim . 9 months ago

We Will Always Belong Somewhere: Winner of the Writing for Life Contest 2025

Throughout my teenage years, my writing has always had one constant goal, even as others come and go: to reach out to whoever might need it and tell both of us that we will always belong somewhere.

Alejandre Lamas-Nemec . 9 months ago

Editors’ Note for Hope Lives in Our Words: 2025 Anthology

This note was written by AJ Lamas-Nemec, a mentee and member of the IV Edit Print Committee, to introduce the 2025 Girls Write Now Anthology.

Dana Williams . 9 months ago

Part of storytelling is making sense of chaos…Dana A. Williams’ Life@ GWN

Dana A. Williams is not just a scholar; she’s a storyteller. Her CV boasts accolades from the Dean of Howard University Graduate School to this year’s Girls Write Now Honoree because she knows that the best way to get to the truth is to tell a story. And she learned from the best. With Toni Morrison as a personal and professional mentor, Dana built a deep understanding of storytelling as sense-making, self-making, and collective building. The best lessons are not taught, but learned, and in Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship, Dana documents how Toni Morrison built community, identity, and legacy for Black literature

Kardea Brown . 9 months ago

“For me, making do isn’t just about food; it’s also about making do in life”… Kardea Brown’s Life@GWN

We are proud to honor Chef Kardea Brown at the Girls Write Now Awards, and excited to share with you a must-read interview that is not only inspiring, it’s going to have you thinking about food, cooking, recipes, and the power of community in a whole new light. After premiering her cooking show Delicious Miss Brown on the Food Network in 2019, she’s reached 3.5 million viewers, judged Chopped, and authored her first cookbook The Way Home. Now, she’s coming off the heels of her second cookbook Make Do With What You Have, which will be released by Amistad Books in November.