RISING TO THE TOP: GIRLS WRITE NOW’S CLASS OF 2017
This year, we are wrapping up with a 30% increase in mentor-mentee pairs, including a record-breaking number of senior mentees: our Class of 2017 is 59 mentees strong! 100% of our college seniors attend college, and they count hundreds of college acceptances among them. Their college careers will be funded in part by the Posse Foundation, the Ascend Educational Fund, and National Merit Scholarships. Girls Write Now alumnae will be attending colleges such as Columbia University, SUNY Purchase, Cornell University, Hunter College, Binghamton University, The New School and more.
WHAT ARE YOUNG WOMEN SAYING RIGHT NOW? IT’S ALL IN RISE SPEAK CHANGE
“The one thing that remains true, above all else, is the power of a sentence and the way my hands fit around a pen.” —Meek Thomas, Girls Write Now 3rd year Mentee, from her personal essay “Graduation”
Rise Speak Change: The Girls Write Now 2017 Anthology is a must-read. The collection is packed with the mentees’ best original work and blurbed by Zadie Smith, Ilana Glazer, and Teen Vogue’s Elaine Welteroth. Girls Write Now thanks Random House for their help producing this year’s anthology and Amazon Literary Partnership for their charitable contribution. Get your copy today!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2017 QWERTY EXHIBITION & MULTIMEDIA ANTHOLOGY
The New York Times Magazine‘s Jenna Wortham moderated a dynamic discussion about the intersection of art and technology, social media pitfalls, and blocking trolls. Panelists included Jasmyn Lawson from GIPHY, Kaho Abe, Game and Wearable Tech Designer, Janice Morris from Twitter, and Leah Gilliam from Girls Who Code. We also debuted our Rise Speak Change Multimedia Anthology. Ranging from videos overlaid with original poetry to online games designed with code, these new pieces redefine storytelling for the future.
During a Saturday of Service, stacks of letters were written by writers, activists and thought leaders from Bustle and The Wing as they responded to the question, “What do you know now that you wish you knew as a teen?” We hand-delivered their thoughtful, wisdom-filled letters (you can read some, too!) to our mentees at graduation as parting gifts. Fifth year Girls Write Now mentor Morayo Faleyimu also shared her experiences, inspiring and energizing the room of women. Join us on July 12 for Bustle‘s #IStandUpFor Showcase at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, a celebration of the power of women in comedy — with all proceeds going to Girls Write Now! Buy your tickets now!
SUMMER BOOKS: WHAT WE ARE READING WRITE NOW
Satisfy your love of history and fiction, take a journey that transcends time and space, think outside of the box! These are not your typical beach reads. Presenting…our 2017 Girls Write Now Summer Reading Guide! Including reviews of Janet Mock and Roxane Gay’s new releases, Surpassing Certainty and Hunger, as well as staff picks Chinelo Okparanta‘s Under the Undala Trees, the story of two girls’ romantic relationship during the Nigerian civil war, and Rebecca Solnit‘s intense and timely collection of essays, Men Explain Things to Me.
