On May 18, we celebrated the pub day of Girls Write Now Unmuted: The 2021 Anthology with a special edition episode of Girls Write Now Live! 18 of our mentee-mentor pairs brought their stories to life with vibrant artwork, musical performances and beyond with pair emcees Emmanuella Agyemang and Grace Aneiza Ali guiding us through. You can still catch the full show above!
In this episode, we are thrilled to honor Abi Daré, author of The Girl With the Louding Voice and the Foreword to our new anthology. And Robyn Crawford, author of A Song for You: My Life With Whitney Houston and the book’s introduction, also joined us during the Pre-Show to celebrate!
“This anthology introduces writers whose careers I’ll be eagerly following. It’s filled with circuses, the stinging veracity of being alive and young today, and the gorgeousness of ginko trees and cities opening themselves wide to these writers’ big imaginations. You’ll leave this collection with hope for the future books to come.” —MEGAN GIDDINGS, author of Lakewood
Watch the Pre-Show with Abi Daré & Robyn Crawford
What People Are Saying
“Amazing! Girls Write Now mentees gave hope back to the world tonight through their creative voices.”
–Mentor Sherrill Collins
“Abi Daré’s words were so inspirational and it was lovely watching the support flow in from all the performers.”
–Mentee Claire Giannosa
“Hearing all these pieces in the authors’ own voices… it’s so inspiring!”
–Anonymous
Meet the Emcees & Honoree
MENTEE EMCEE
Emmanuella Agyemang
Emmanuella Agyemang is a high school junior and a Girls Write Now mentee. She is most passionate about writing and journalism. Agyemang has been featured in a few news articles and is currently on the Scholastic Magazine Teen Advisory Board. She hopes that by pursuing a career in journalism, she paves a way for other minorities to pursue journalism as well.
MENTOR EMCEE
Grace Aneiza Ali
Guyanese-born Grace Aneiza Ali is a Curator and Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and in the Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies Program, Department of Art History at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. She serves as Curator-at-Large for the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) in New York. Her book, ‘Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora’ explores the art and migration narratives of women of Guyanese heritage
HONOREE
Abi Daré
Abi Daré is the author of The Girl with the Louding Voice, which was a New York Times bestseller, a #ReadWithJenna Today Show book club pick, and an Indie Next Pick. She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and went on to study law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. Abi lives in Essex, UK with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel. (Photo Credit: Gazmadu)
Meet the Performers
Alexandra Cruz & Alicia Kort
Amanda E Musmacher & K.A. Jagai
Amihan del Rosario-Tapan & Faran Krentcil
Basmala Zyada & Megan Reid
Claire Giannosa & Anna Humphrey
Dalya Cordeiro & Paige Carlotti
Erynn Gutierrez & Sarah Firshein
Isabel Marks & Elena Nicolaou
Kaeliana Yu & Ellen Horan
Lucia Kim & Katrin van Dam
Maeve Browne & Julia Rittenberg
Mahjazee Ruiz & Jaanelle Yee
May Hathaway & Alena Graedon
Maya Olivo & Rachel Feltman
Nayeon Park & Tingting Wei
Rachel Sekyere & Sherrill Collins
Sierra Blanco & Livia Nelson
Wagiha Mariam & Brigid Duffy