We want to say a great big early happy birthday to Girls Write Now! The first organization in the United States with a writing and mentoring model exclusively for girls, Girls Write Now celebrates its 15th anniversary on Thursday, September 20.
Girls Write Now matches high school girls from underserved neighborhoods in New York City with women professional writers as their personal mentors. In this program, mentees develop their confidence and their writing abilities: Girls Write Now mentees have submitted over 500 pieces to Scholastic and won more than 100 regional and national writing awards, and 100% of Girls Write Now seniors graduate high school and attend college.
Since 1998, when Girls Write Now was founded, the organization has empowered nearly 6,000 women writers, including over 3,500 at-risk girls from New York City’s public high schools. 90% of the mentees are girls of color and 40% are recent immigrants. But more than just serving as a mentoring organization, Girls Write Now is working for social change. They’re dedicated to increasing women’s – especially minority women’s – representation in leadership positions and public discourse.
Girls Write Now is celebrating all that they’ve achieved over the past 15 years with a launch party from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 20 at 7 Times Square, 45th floor in New York City. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at [email protected].
To get inspired (and maybe a little teary-eyed), watch the Girls Write Now video intro:
And to see for yourself just how talented these girls are, read this excerpt from REMIX: The 2012 Girls Write Now Anthology:
The Last Letter I’ll Write You
By Emely Paulino
Dear New York,
I love you, with all your arrogance and elegance.
Nothing comes before you, and I’m sure, like so many, I’ve tried to break through to you. You put yourself on a pedestal, but I didn’t care. The way you carried yourself was so misleading. one minute of your time already made me feel like it was forever, but you quickly moved on and my forever was forgotten. Like an idiot, I kept chasing after you even though people warned me to stand clear of your closing doors. Please, don’t ever treat me like that again.
I don’t know what’s worse: The way you treat me, or not hearing from you at all. I hate to say it, but I feel empty without you. Even if I tried to forget you, I’m constantly reminded about you wherever I go. For those few times when we do get to spend time together, you keep me waiting. In the blazing July sun, or brisk December evening; you don’t care. The least you could do is walk me home or save me a seat on the train. I don’t think I ask for too much. Instead you push me aside, leaving me no choice but to accept that no matter where I go with you, someone has already been there.
And I still wait for you, for that one minute with you when your embrace feels like home.
Images and video credit: Girls Write Now
