Congratulations to the entire GWN community on the launch of Girls Write Now Live: History in the Making, our reimagined Friday night performance series hosted by our partner, the New-York Historical Society!
Featuring keynotes from Agents of Change Danielle Paige and Umi Syam and the original works of 21 mentees from the GWN Class of 2020, the evening’s presentations (view the full program PDF) reflected the seamless integration of our writing and digital media mentoring programs. By combining our series formerly known as CHAPTERS and QWERTY into one genre-blending, medium-mixing show, we treated the audience to a dynamic, multimedia exploration of identity, injustice, freedom, fear, fun, and love. Here’s the highlight reel!
Our emcees and Agents of Change honorees (from left) Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Umi Syam, Danielle Paige, and Patrice Floy, pause for a pre-event photo opp in front of the podium.
Watch our exclusive interview with Danielle Paige and Umi Syam below! You can also see Danielle and Umi‘s inspiring keynote addresses on the GWN YouTube channel.
The 21 mentee performers share in a moment of celebration after the show.
The evening was gracefully woven together by our emcees, pair alumnae Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and Patrice Floy, who shared the impact Girls Write Now has had on their lives since they were paired 16 years ago.
To enjoy the rest of the evening, including every mentee performance, check out the Girls Write Now Live, March 6, 2020 YouTube playlist, where the event will now live on in history.
- Odalis Mendez; animation, “History: What About Me?”
- Sheyla Javier; poetry, “Two Sides”
- Laila Dola; prose, “A Package of Cookies”
- Dalya Cordeiro; podcast, “you through my eyes”
- Jayli Milan Christopher; poetry, “My First Rejection”
- Alicia Maxwell; prose, “Behind Elevator Doors”
- Jyoti Gandhi Laverack; graphic design, “Vulnerable Mirage”
- Ilana Drake; poetry, “Bright Eyes”
- Madolley Donzo; prose, “A False Home”
- Onyeka Agwu; podcast, “Running Different”
- Kenia Torres; prose, “And one by one she let them die”
- Rachel Kelly; short film, “Freedom”
- Kayla Singletary; poetry, “Fallen Angels”
- Maxine Hsiung; prose, “Serendipity”
- Sharnice Walker; prose, “Devotion”
- Maisha Nabila; prose, “The Tonight Show with Jimmy and Cherri”
- Annemarie Alms, poetry, “Berlin, eternally”
- Siara Greco; podcast, “Fresh Kills Transformation”
- Kayla Walford; poetry, “Little Frog, Big Pond”
- Faith Destiny Cummings; short film, “anxiety”
- Emmanuella Agyemang; poetry, “To The Ones with Skin as Dark and Beautiful as Night”
Thank you to everyone who came out to support these talented performers and the debut of our 2020 series!