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Home / Programs / Salon Series / (Un)Spoken Rules of Growing Up Girl: Writing Poetry for Young Adults with Mahogany L. Browne

(Un)Spoken Rules of Growing Up Girl: Writing Poetry for Young Adults with Mahogany L. Browne

At our January 29 salon, Mahogany spent the first half of the salon paying tribute to Miss Cicely Tyson. She then led us through a journey of poetic discovery using her new YA novel in verse, Chlorine Sky for the remainder of the event. We broke down the prescriptive norms of being “girl”, wrote poetry that shatters expectations and had a Q&A session where she answered questions about poetry, writing in-verse, and living the poet’s life.

Prompt #1: Remembering Cicely Tyson

What is your purpose? And what are you going to do with that purpose?

Prompt #2: Unpacking Rules

Think back to your childhood. What instructions do you remember being told you? Rules that may have contradicted themselves? Rules that you continue to follow to date?

Prompt #3: Poetic Discovery

What images or moments kept your attention while listening to Chlorine Sky? Use a line from Chlorine Sky to kick off your own “instruction manual” or use a line to close your poem.

Some of Mahogany’s Reading Recommendations:

  • Girl by Jamaica Kincaid
  • We Will Not Cancel Us: Breaking the Cycle of Harm by Adrienne Maree Brown
  • Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
  • The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

Mahogany L. Browne Zoom Room

Mahogany L. Browne is a writer, organizer & educator. She is also the Executive Director of Bowery Poetry Club & Artistic Director of Urban Word NYC & Poetry Coordinator at St. Francis College. Browne has received fellowships from Agnes Gund, Air Serenbe, Cave Canem, Poets House, Mellon Research & Rauschenberg. She is the author of Chlorine Sky (Penguin Random House), Woke: A Young Poets Call to Justice, Woke Baby & Black Girl Magic (Macmillan), Kissing Caskets (Yes Yes Books) & Dear Twitter (Penmanship Books). She is also the founder of the Woke Baby Book Fair (a nationwide diversity literature campaign) & as an Arts for Justice grantee, is completing her first book of essays on mass incarceration, investigating its impact on women and children. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

 

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Celebrate Black History Month!

Each week throughout February, we’ll be sharing stories, resources and events from our community and our partners that honor Black art, writing, culture and history!

Life Resources and Events

At Girls Write Now, we work to challenge and change the systemic racism and inequality by breaking down the barriers of race and poverty to elevate the voices of girls and gender nonconforming youth who are too often not heard—or worse, silenced. From mental and emotional wellness to advocating for racial justice, we are here to support you individually and as a community through our robust programming. Check out our calendar to see our current offerings or visit our Life Resources page to support you during this time.

Friday Night Salon with Megan Reid & Wendi Gu

Join us on Friday, February 26, 6-7:30 PM ET for Picture Books 101: Writing for Kids When You Aren’t One with Megan Reid and Wendi Gu!

We’re Hiring!

Looking for more purpose-driven work in the new year? Check out available roles to join the team! 

GIVE. WRITE. NOW. And Thank you!!

Girls Write Now’s services are more essential than ever before—serving the hardest hit communities—and many of our young women and gender nonconforming youth have themselves become essential workers to help their families. They carry an enormous burden and face devastating loss, slipping further into poverty. To meet the need, we have enriched and extended our programs, leading the historical transition to virtual learning.

Get Involved!

Are you a licensed mental health professional who’d love to work with our community of writers and creatives? We’re seeking volunteer Wellness Advisors. Get more info & apply here!

Relive the Girls (Re)Write Now Awards

If you missed the awards, you can still watch it! Relive this revolutionary night of mini–master classes with honorees on empathy, art, activism & humor and Girls Write Now mentees on writing with purpose, climate justice & self-care. 

Writing from our Future Leaders

Taking Our Place in History: the Girls Write Now 2020 Anthology was published with support from Dutton and Amazon Literary Partnership, available for purchase from McNally Jackson Books and anywhere ebooks are sold!

Girls Write Now in the News

Girls Write Now’s work has recently been featured by the National Endowment for the Arts, Time Out New York, NYXT and more!

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