Blooming in Bookstores Tuesday, May 10
In partnership with Dutton Books, Amazon Literary Partnership, and Feminist Press, Girls Write Now is thrilled to announce the release of our 2022 anthology: Taking Root. Called an “essential summer read” by Travel + Leisure and recommended by PBS Student Voices, this anthology brings together a multimedia body of work by female and gender expansive writers and leaders who are shaping culture, impacting businesses and creating change.
Featuring a foreword and introduction by Agent of Change honorees Allison Russell and Madeline McIntosh.
For more than two years, our young writers have weathered an adolescence shaped by an ongoing global pandemic. But a harsh climate can also produce work of rare depth, complexity, nuance and humor. The Girls Write Now mentees in this collection have found new ways to build community and take root. This anthology is a catalog of seeds—each young writer cultivating a shimmering, emergent voice. In short stories, personal essays, poetry, and more, they reflect on life-altering topics like heartbreak, self-care and friendship. The result is a stunning book with global relevance of all this generation has endured and transformed.
Pick up your copy from Books are Magic, Cafe con Libros, Mahogany Books, McNally Jackson or The Strand to support your local bookstore.
Featuring the Work of Class of 2022 Mentees & Honoree Guest Authors
Madeline McIntosh
Madeline McIntosh has been CEO of Penguin Random House U.S. since 2018. She has worked in publishing for almost three decades, and in that time has held positions in publishing, sales, operations, and audio, and was a pioneer in the early development of online sales and in the digital transition. She serves on the Board of Directors of Poets & Writers, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to serving creative writers, and of Sourcebooks, in which Penguin Random House is an investor. She lives in New York with her husband Chris Pavone, a writer, and their twin sons.
Allison Russell
Allison Russell is an artist, activist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of extraordinary power, talent and grace. A founding member of the acclaimed groups Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Amythyst Kiah), and Birds of Chicago (with her husband/musical partner JT Nero), the Montreal native has begun to emerge as a potent force among creative circles worldwide. On her debut solo album Outside Child (Fantasy Records, May 2021), Allison unpacks the story of her abusive childhood in searing detail in a deeply moving, unforgettable song-cycle of courage, hope and love. Outside Child is a powerful and warm statement of hope and resilience—asserted from a place of healing, of motherhood, of partnership—and from a new home made in Nashville.
Advance Praise for ‘Taking Root’
“Literature lives on as the most powerful form of expression. Girls Write Now empowers young women to declare their interpretations of the world and transcend generations to ignite minds.”
—ELAINE WELTEROTH, author of More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)
“Girls Write Now is about supporting and mentoring young women and gender-expansive youth who are passionate about writing. But it is also about beginning your career journey and beginning to understand the transformative power of the written word.
—JANE LAUDER, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Marketing & Chief Data Officer, Estée Lauder Companies and Girls Write Now Honoree
“Girls Write Now inspired me to do more than think of myself as someone who writes, but as a writer. My years as a mentee gave me the foundation to be the author I’m proud to be today.”
—JOY L. SMITH, author of Turning and Girls Write Now Mentee Alum