Allison Su on systemic change, three new publications, and a full-ride arts scholarship.
No images? Click here
Each week, a word becomes a world.
November 2-8
Calling for Change:
Featured Media
A Call for Systemic Change
By Allison Su
Reflections on capitalism, campus protests, Octavia Butler, and the 2024 election.
Mentee Allison Su wrote this in the run-up to Election Day two years ago, making the case for ranked choice voting and other structural changes that could move us “beyond repeated history and into transformation.” On the eve of another election, we’re returning to her call.
Leaders in First Draft
At Girls Write Now, the thinkers, dreamers, and visionaries of the next generation learn to turn conviction into language that moves people: in our Community Change Journey, in Career Chats with organizers and politicians, at the table with professionals across industries who take their ideas seriously. Every policy starts as a draft. And the moment a writer dares to believe in a better world, your gift makes the transformation possible.
The Space to Transform:
Notes from Our Community
LIFE@GWN BLOG
Transformation as a Return
In Conversation with Dhayana Alejandrina
Girls Write Now mentor Dhayana Alejandrina began keeping a diary at age nine in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After she immigrated to the United States in 2009, that small creative act became a writing practice rooted in self-acceptance, discovery, and preservation. Read how she grew from poetry mentor to facilitator of our Poetry Rising Journey, and why she gets up each morning knowing that the work she does "can help someone feel seen, find connection, or reconnect with a part of themselves they may have neglected.” Her Journey’s zine, Cultural Fragments, launches November 16—details below.
Girls Write Now Salon Artists Ivy Meeropol & Ferne Pearlstein
PROMPT OF THE WEEK
On Expression
Discovering Your Voice in Memory
Write a personal narrative about a time you expressed your opinion or identity in a way that felt risky or new. What made it difficult? How did others respond? What did you learn about your voice?
This week’s prompt comes from Ivy Meeropol and Ferne Pearlstein, who led Girls Write Now's salon Standing Up to Power with Wit & Humor: Meet the Creators of the New Documentary Ask E. Jean. The salon taught mentors and mentees about documentary filmmaking and invited them to explore their own voice and approach to nonfiction storytelling.
COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT
A Space for Writers Across the Nation
Where in the World Are Our Mentors & Mentees?
Built for imagination, our Collaboratory spans more than 30 states, brimming with writers who don’t look, sound, or think alike. Meet a few of the mentees from our Fall 2026 Journeys, among them a college student in Arizona who wants to work where media and politics meet and a Wisconsin teen writing a novel about an Asian witch. Then learn how you can contribute to Girls Write Now’s growing community.
Happening Write Now:
Mark Your Calendar
PUBLICATION LAUNCH
Metamorphosis Anthology Launch Parties
Wednesday, November 4, 6-8 PM ET, In Person
Friday, November 6, 7-8:30 PM ET, Virtual
IN PERSON: Words transform. Experience it for yourself as Metamorphosis writers perform their poems, stories, and essays at McNally Jackson Seaport. Browse shelves stocked with titles from the Girls Write Now community, and take home your own copy of Metamorphosis: Girls Write Now 2026 Anthology, with a foreword by Julissa Reynoso and an introduction by Blair Imani.
VIRTUAL: Can’t make it to the Seaport? Tune in from any of the more than 30 states our writers call home, and hear the next generation of women and gender-expansive writers read from its pages.
Open to all mentees, mentors, members & the public.
CAREER CHAT
Becoming Changemakers: A Politics & Organizing Career Chat
Tuesday, November 10, 4:45-6 PM ET, Virtual
One week after Election Day, meet the people who keep the work going. Organizers, advocates, and political professionals will tell you how they built careers around the causes they believe in. Then ask them what you want to know.
Open to all mentees, mentors, members & the public.
PUBLICATION LAUNCH
In the Midst & Cultural Fragments Launch Party
Monday, November 16, 6:30-8 PM ET, Hybrid
Over the past year, two brand-new publications have grown out of the Collaboratory: In the Midst, a digital literary magazine, and Cultural Fragments, a printed zine. Hear each publication’s story and selections from their pages. Join us in person at the Girls Write Now Collaboratory—247 West 37th Street on the 10th floor—or virtually from wherever you are in the world.
Open to all mentees, mentors, members & the public.
Get the Gig:
Curated Opportunities Just for You
Need help applying for these opportunities—and more?
Meet with a Mentor on Demand
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Creative Writing Full Scholarship
Interlochen Arts Academy is accepting submissions for the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition. This scholarship offers the winning writer full tuition to attend Interlochen Arts Academy as a Creative Writing major. The scholarship includes room and board, and renews each academic year. This opportunity is made possible by the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation. Teen writers in the U.S. and beyond are eligible.
Deadline: November 15, 2026
Create a portal account to apply.
JOB OPPORTUNITY
CUNY
Office Assistant
Reporting to the Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), the CUNY Office Assistant will serve as front desk support for visitors, faculty, staff, and students. They will handle correspondence, provide administrative support, update CUNY systems, assist with maintaining office inventories, schedule department events, compile information for reports, and complete other administrative tasks as assigned.
Deadline: November 4, 2026
Create a portal account to apply.
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Lincoln Center
Video Intern
Lincoln Center’s paid, in-person internship program cultivates the next generation of leaders in the performing arts. As Video Intern, edit captions and clips in Premiere Pro, help run cameras on shoots, and collect release forms, 20 hours a week from February-May 2027 at $25 an hour. Open to rising college juniors and seniors in the New York City area with Premiere Pro experience.
Deadline: November 6, 2026.
Create a portal account to apply.
If you don’t already have a Girls Write Now account, create one now.
