Our 2020 spring performance series lived up to its tagline of “History in the Making” with 10 live events featuring the diverse voices of today’s young writers! Whether in person at the New-York Historical Society in early March or streaming online to nearly 12,000 viewers worldwide, each episode of Girls Write Now Live showcased electrifying original storytelling from teen writers who are taking their place in history through prose, poetry, video, illustration, and more forms of multimedia work.
The Girls Write Now Live season also honored women whose work is paving the way for the next generation of women writers as Agents of Change and keynote speakers at each event.
Highlights from the Series
- March 6 highlights — Honoring Umi Syam, graphics/multimedia editor at The New York Times & Danielle Paige, NYT bestselling YA author, The Raven (HMH, Jan. 2021)
- April 3 highlights — Honoring Robyn Crawford, A Song for You: My Life With Whitney Houston (Dutton)
- May 1 highlights — Honoring Lauren Wilkinson, American Spy (Random House)
- May 15 highlights — Honoring Rosayra Pablo Cruz & Julie Schwietert Collazo, The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border (HarperCollins)
- May 19 highlights —Taking Our Place in History Anthology Launch Party
- June 5 highlights — Honoring Kiley Reid, Such a Fun Age (G. P. Putnam’s Sons)
Graduation Week Episodes & Graduation Gala
- June 9–11 Girls Write Now Live: Graduation Week Minisode highlights
- June 12 Graduation Gala featuring commencement speaker Tayari Jones and mentees in conversation with Isabel Allende, Rachel Bloom, Rachel Cargle, Veronica Chambers, Tiffany D. Cross, Roxane Gay, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Abbi Jacobson, Jodi Kantor, Rupi Kaur, Lily King, Min Jin Lee, Emma Roberts + Karah Preiss, Jia Tolentino, Renée Watson and more!
- Girls Write Now’s Graduation Week special episodes are dedicated to those who have lost their lives to racial violence. Girls Write Now stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
What people are saying
“In these uncertain times, I am sure of one thing after watching these performances: The future is bright. Bravo!” – Dominique D.
“Truly bowled over by the care, creativity, personality, and joy. Thanks for a great evening.” – Kate R.
“This is powerful to witness. The space, safety, and powerful sanctuary that is being created for young creatives to feel and know their worth to share work along with the support and care of supportive mentors in that process is empowering. Thank you mentees for exploring, and mentors for seeing your mentees. The cultivation of strong and fully unfolding flowering humans in this exchange is so important for the world.” – Alyson W.
“So great! Thank you everyone for this lovely gift of a Friday evening.” – Jude W.
“These readers were just fabulous, so moving and profound. Thanks for creating this so I could hear them!” – Stephanie G.
This year, we were immensely proud to partner with the N-Y Historical Society and with the founders of Context & Co., Amber and Tiffany Davis, for storytelling coaching. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Christine Ball, SVP, Publisher of Dutton, Putnam, and Berkley, and Judith Curr, President and Publisher of HarperOne, Amistad, and Rayo/