In partnership with publishers Open Road, Penguin Group, Random House Children’s Books, and Writers House, Girls Write Now explored this year’s theme New Worlds, celebrating the incredible diversity and creative fearlessness of our intergenerational community. At our final reading for 2013, special guest speaker Marcia Ann Gillespie, journalist and award-winning author, activist, and former editor of Ms. and Essence, joined the stage with our talented teen writers in SoHo’s Scholastic auditorium.
In Our Words
See what graduating senior Christina had to say about her final CHAPTERS experience, and what her mentor Amy reflected on after two years working with Christina.
Photos
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Girls Write Now Readers
Gina DiFrisco, Out of the Gutter; Nakissi Dosso, My Crown; Sade Swift & Linda Corman, Milestones and Waiting; Cindy Caban, Lacrimosa; Chandra Hughes, Love to Passion; Chenelle Agnew, It’s Better Now; Rayhana Maarouf, Taking Charge; Roberta Yadira Nin Feliz, Write the Story; Shannon Daniels & Whitney Jacoby, Calloused Hands, Forgotten Words, and Sweet and Sour Chicken; Christina Butan, She; Katherine Ortiz & Mary Pat Kane, Our Fathers; Bre’Ann Newsome, Lions and Demons; Iris Torres & Heather Kristin, Run and 47%; Nathalie Gomez, Hope; Priscilla Guo & Annie Reuter, My Generation and 28; Emely Paulino, To Understand; Rachel Zhao, A World’s Talisman; Najaya Royal, Just Smile; Tuhfa Begum, Blockhead Party National Convention 2024.
Excerpts
- Nakissi Dosso, My Crown
“When you say the words natural hair
it causes all types of reactions
like “eww” or “ooh girl your nigga naps is coming in”
Or “girl you need a perm.”
The typical ignorant say “wow, what’s wrong with your hair?!!”
I look at myself, and wonder have I sinned?
” Read More LINK TK
- Emely Paulino, Revelations
“when i was little
i would sit in the pews and wonder if god knew i paid no attention
i swung my dangling feet; my sunday shoes were scuffing,
and tried my best to understand the sermon
but the words ‘fuck you’ scratched into the wood before me
were tough to ignore,
when bible passages were too hard to read
and the gold crucifix was stolen from my neck before i could defend myself.” Read More
- Rachel Zhao, A World’s Talisman
“My shoes tell the story of my life. I have kept each and every pair, even the tattered pink cloth that was bound around my feet when I was a baby. I have walked miles in them, walked countries, walked worlds. My first pair of Western shoes was a set of small black loafers, plain with no buckle, but they still cost about four months of wages at the factory.” Read More
Emcees
- Brittany Barker is a twenty year-old spoken word poet from Harlem, NYC. She is a Girls Write Now alum, a Dickinson College Posse Scholar, and the founder and president of Exiled Poetry Group — her campus’ only spoken word poetry group. This fall she will be spending a full academic year studying abroad in Norwich, England. As a writer, Brittany believes that the voice is a powerful instrument of expression.
- Danni Green graduated from the Girls Write Now program in 2012. She has since completed a year at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and published her poetry. Danni was born and raised in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill. She is currently transitioning from poetry to fiction, and awaiting a better tomorrow for us all.
Guest speaker talk
Guest speaker interview
Mentee Reading
Emcees Danni and Brittany
At the June reading, alum emcees Danni and Brittany performed a spoken word piece to explain what Girls Write Now means to them.