NEWS & PRESS

From Pen to Production: Girls Write Now at NBCU Career Camp

Reported by Mentee Wing Yee Chan

Girls Write Now mentees had the exciting opportunity to visit NBCUniversal’s 30 Rock offices for a two-day Career Inspiration Camp. Mentee Wing Yee Chan shares her reflections on the dynamic series of workshops, networking sessions, and creative activities. Says Wing, “As a kid who grew up watching lots of TV shows, experiencing the production process live made me appreciate the creativity that goes on behind the scenes.”

ESSAY CONTEST

Writing for Life Contest

Enter For the Chance to Win $1,500 & Publication

In this contest, Girls Write Now and Chasing Spirits invite you to tell your story in your unique voice. Describe an especially difficult time you have faced, or something you have struggled to navigate, as a teenager. How has writing helped you to survive and creatively transform your experience into new understandings of self, home, and well-being?

 

Submission deadline is now August 15

WRITE WITH US

Prompt of the Week

By Crystal Worrell,
Community Studio Facilitator

What stories or sayings have been passed down in your family or culture by word of mouth? How do they shape your identity?

Join the Community Studio, Roots & Rhythm: The African Oral Tradition in Spoken Word, led by Mentor Crystal Worrell, to engage with a rich tradition of storytelling and
expand your creative horizons!

Explore all August Community Studios in the Portal.

READ WITH US

Joy Is My Middle Name

By Sasha Debevec-McKenney

Treat yourself to Joy Is My Middle Name, a new poetry collection by Sasha Debevec-McKenny. This remarkable debut collection showcases Debevec-McKenney's intimate, assured, conversational voice. Full of stories, character, awkward silences, and actual jokes, Joy Is My Middle Name seamlessly traces the author's search for herself and examines how she gets in her own way, brings humor and lightness to rock-bottom moments, and considers the shamelessly girly as a serious cultural artifact. Sasha will be one of our panelists at the Navigating the MFA Experience College Chat on August 19th, now open for registration.

CAREER CHAT

Mentorship in the Music Industry

Tuesday, August 5, 4:45-6 PM ET, Virtual

Music Journalist, Ana Yglesias, will be moderating a conversation with our panelists: Amani Lillian (singer/songwriter), Kadijat Salawudeen, Gina Martuscello, and Jade Lewin (Girls Who Listen), and Sonya Hayden (MaestraMusic), who share their unique stories, insights, and experiences from across the music world. A live Q&A session will follow the discussion, giving attendees the opportunity to engage directly with the panelists and ask questions. Don’t miss this inspiring and interactive event!

Open to all mentors, mentees, members & the public

Open Mic: A Creative Showcase

5-6 PM ET, Hybrid

Check the mic! Join us for an evening of powerful storytelling. Each reader will be given three minutes to perform their work—poetry, song, story excerpt, or any genre—in front of a live audience at Girls Write Now headquarters or by tuning in virtually. For in-person participants, stick around for our next event...

Open to all mentors, mentees, members & the public

Charcuterie & Chat

6:15-7:30 PM ET, In-Person

Would you like to spend the evening with flourishing writers and creatives? Are you looking to learn more about the community before you join? Do you have questions on your application as a mentor or mentee? If you answered yes to any of the above, this event is for you! Join Girls Write Now for an evening of connection and intention. Speed dating-inspired, you’ll get the chance to meet the current and future writers of Girls Write Now!

Open to all mentors, mentees, members & the public

SPECIAL EVENT

VOICES! A Sacred Sisterscape

Thursday, August 7, 7-9 PM ET, Hybrid
247 W 37th Street Ste 1000 New York, NY

Girls Write Now is overjoyed to partner with V-Day to bring the VOICES audioplay to New York! VOICES is a 60-minute audioplay directed by aja monet, celebrating the voices, values, and visions of Black women in the global movement to end violence against women and girls. We invite you to gather with us, awaken our capacity to listen, and envision a world where African women—both on the continent and in the diaspora—are collaborating and loving each other across cultures, borders, and customs.

Open to all mentors, mentees, members & the public

CAREER CHAT

Digital Dream Jobs: A Social Media & Marketing Career Chat

Tuesday, August 12, 6-7:15 PM ET, Virtual

Do you ever wonder who’s behind a brand’s viral reel or how influencer collabs actually happen? Do writers have careers in marketing? Join us at our Social Media and Marketing Career Chat to find out! Our panelists will share their career journeys as well as their practical advice for breaking into digital marketing. This is your chance to ask all your burning questions about marketing and communications careers—and to get real answers.

Open to all mentors, mentees, members & the public

MENTOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

I Trust the Dirt: Developing An Accurate Cultural Lens

Thursday, August 14, 6-7:15 PM ET, Virtual

In a world where surface appearances often overshadow deeper truths, Ianne Fields Stewart invites mentors to engage in a transformative workshop that reorients our perspectives toward authenticity and grounded connection. This session encourages participants to shift their gaze from the “diamonds and gold”—the polished facades and assumptions—back to the “dirt and earth,” symbolizing realness, humility, and foundational truths.

Open to all mentors, peer-mentees, and staff

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs

Bow Seat's True Blue Fellowship

Bow Seat is the world’s largest environmental youth program for the creative arts. This program is open to young people worldwide ages 13-24 though applications must be in English. The fellowship is intended for projects no older than two years that are related to safeguarding the ocean, waterways, and/or the climate.

JOB OPPORTUNITY

National Queer Theater

Teaching Artist

This part-time Teaching Artist will design and teach lessons for National Queer Theater’s free after school program Staging Pride: Queer Youth Theater. Reporting to Founding Artistic Director Adam Odsess-Rubin, the Teaching Artist will work closely with partner organization Hetrick-Martin Institute’s Drama Therapy program to implement high-quality theater education curriculum.

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY

Brink Literacy Project

Open for Submissions

Brink is an independent nonprofit publisher of hybrid writing. Through their publications, Brink Literary Journal and Brink Books, they create space in the literary world for hybrid, cross-genre, and unclassified works by emerging and established writers and artists. They accept a variety of creative work from every genre and work that resists any genre. They are most interested in work that presses creative boundaries, uses more than one medium to tell a story, and both looks and feels different on the page. Additionally, they look for submissions that engage the theme of each issue alongside the idea of being on the brink.