is what Girls Write Now stands for and offers to its participants. These girls have the world at their fingertips and they dig in, examining their own lives, the state of their neighborhoods, and everything going on today while marching unafraid into the future and all it promises.
The sun streamed through the large windows that lined the Girls Write Now office on September 24, 2016, the day I first met my mentee. Kimberley was a soft-spoken, polite girl with long, dark hair and an air of hesitation. Neither of us knew that day what was to come, but I was hopeful. We began chatting in the room packed with other fresh or returning mentor–mentee pairs, the goals and ideas of these women and girls reverberating in the air. Kimberley said she loved dark fantasy and we agreed that we both appreciated constructive criticism. Each pair strung beads of different colors, signifying a different Girls Write Now value, on a string in order of importance. Kimberley’s hesitation dropped away as we ordered the beads, and I thought, This girl has opinions and isn’t afraid to share them. I liked that.
Kimberley writes dark fantasy about human girls crossing into magical lands, but there is so much more to her work. She also writes essays about yearning to travel and her relationships with family and friends, and poems about experiencing womanhood and the inner lives of dolls. In the Girls Write Now workshops, she and other mentees learn about and write magical realism, plays, intergenerational memoir, and more.
We come, mentors and mentees alike, to Girls Write Now because we want to learn, grow, and share as writers. We come for the community we build and for ears that are always willing and eager to listen. We come to be seen and heard—to be reminded: “You, your thoughts, and your words are valuable. Never stop writing and exploring the world’s potential.” We can’t stop and we don’t want to.
In preparation for Girls Write Now’s CHAPTERS Reading Series and QWERTY Digital Media Exhibition, mentees must attend a performance tech workshop. Each mentee stands to deliver her piece, looking up at her listeners and back down at her paper, then awaits critique. I watch their faces and I see: uncontainably broad smiles that only widen as they receive thoughtful praise and feedback from peers, mentors, and program staff. Sharing their work doesn’t just thrill them, it sets them on fire, lighting them up from within.
So if you do one thing for us, do this: Free these words and see what happens. Let these stories ignite a flame in your mind. Know it makes us glow that this book is in your hands and you are turning the pages. Sharing our work is our greatest joy, and we welcome you into Generation F with open arms.
—ROSALIND BLACK, Anthology Committee Co-Chair
Molly MacDermot Editor
Rosalind Black
Meg Cassidy Anthology Committee Co-Chairs
Keciah Bailey
Nan Bauer-Maglin
Laura Buchwald
Alexis Cheung
Elena Coln
Megan Elmore
Hermione Hoby
Linda Kleinbub
Erica Moroz
Kate Mulley
Livia Nelson
Hannah Nesbat
Cynthia-Marie O’Brien
Carol Paik
Nikki Palumbo
Leslie Pariseau
Emily Present
Rachel Shope
Lenna Stites
Maryellen Tighe
Shara Zaval
Maria Campo, Director of Programs and Outreach
Naomi Solomon, Assistant Director of Programs
Sierra Ritz, Senior Program Coordinator
Marsha Bernstein, Muneesh Jain, Maggie Muldoon, Jessie Roth, Richelle Szypulski, Paolo Villanueva, Photographers
Maya Nussbaum, Founder and Executive Director
CONTENTS
Note from Anthology Co-Chair, ROSALIND BLACK
Introduction by SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY
POETRY ABRAHAM, JISELLE White and Blue / Outta Luck
MEMOIR ADOTE, CRYSTAL Dela’s Dream
FICTION AGUILAR-COLON, SOLEDAD Who Is Ozzie?
MEMOIR AKILOVA, NAZERKE A Gift from My Mom
FICTION ANDERST, LEAH Flash Non/Fiction/@FlashNarratives
POETRY ANDREWS, ASSATA Dear Black Women,
MEMOIR BARAN, ARIELLE GRANDmother
