Plus, Gloria’s Foundation opens its doors—apply by November 1
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Each week, a word becomes a world.
October 19-25
Challenging Expectations:
Featured Media
But You Don’t Look Autistic
By Kylie Lohse
Masking was exhausting and anxiety-inducing, yet almost addicting as I couldn’t seem to find the strings to pull the mask off.
Kylie’s essay earned an Honorable Mention in Lena Dunham’s Famesick Writing Contest with Girls Write Now.
Where You Belong
The mask comes off when you feel you belong. For Girls Write Now writers, that’s the Collaboratory, in New York City’s Garment District and, through our portal, in more than 30 states. Built for the imagination, it keeps opening onto one more room. In Journeys like Everything’s a Story, memoir becomes craft. On our editorial leadership bodies, intersectional voices not only share their stories—they decide how they’re told. In The Power of Punchlines, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, and racial justice make it into the set. And in Community Studios, we gather to create, to critique, and to be together. Every room is full of writers who don’t look, sound, or think alike—and each one welcomes you in. Your gift unlocks the doors.
Sharing Our Stories:
Notes from Our Community
LINKEDIN BLOG
Mentors Need Mentors Too
Life@LitNYS with Lisa Willis & Cathie Wright-Lewis
Lisa Willis leads Cave Canem, now in its 30th year as a home for Black poets. Cathie Wright-Lewis, a retired teacher, founded Power in the Pen to give back to Brownsville, the Brooklyn neighborhood where she grew up. For three years, the LitNYS Mentoring Program has paired them on operating capacity and succession planning. Asked who inspires her, Cathie didn’t hesitate: Lisa Willis. For Lisa, the knowledge and experience in a mentor-mentee relationship flow in both directions.
Life@LitNYS is powered by Girls Write Now, helping LitNYS partners tell their stories and build capacity.
Girls Write Now Salon Artist Wen-yi Lee
PROMPT OF THE WEEK
Alternate City
Transform a Landscape
Think of a place that exists only where you live. Now imagine it changes overnight. Maybe the river dries up. Maybe every tree in the park catches fire—or bears fruit on the same morning. Maybe everyone who lives there disappears. What does the scene look like? And how does your town respond?
This week’s prompt comes from Wen-yi Lee, who led our summer Salon Urban Mythmaking: Finding the Fantastical in the City. She is the Nebula Award-nominated author of When They Burned the Butterfly, Where Rivers Made the Gods, and The Dark We Know, and editor of the forthcoming horror anthology The Kids Came Back Wrong.
STOREFRONT
New Line of Girls Write Now Merch
Tees, Sweatshirts, Notebooks & Totes
Girls Write Now sweatshirts and tees come in an assortment of colors, plus special-edition notebooks and tote bags inspired by our 2026 anthology, Metamorphosis. Write the change you want to see—then pull it on and carry it with you. Our merch line changes all the time. Feeling inspired? Send your ideas to communications@girlswritenow.org.
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. Hear 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.
FALL 2026 CYCLE
Collaboratory Orientation
Thursday, October 29, 6:30-8 PM ET, Virtual
New or returning, every mentor and mentee in the Fall 2026 cycle starts here. In 90 minutes, we’ll walk through pair sessions, events, courses, and how to meet your own personal and professional goals in the season ahead.
Open to mentees and mentors
Get the Gig:
Curated Opportunities Just for You
Need help applying for these opportunities—and more?
Meet with a Mentor on Demand
JOB OPPORTUNITY
Slate
Staff Writer
Slate is hiring a staff writer for its life section who can pair several long-form features a year with one or two shorter takes on the news each week. Feature-writing experience preferred.
Deadline: October 31, 2026
Create a portal account to apply.
FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Gloria’s Foundation
2027 Fellowship
For more than half a century, Gloria Steinem’s apartment was where organizers came to meet, rest, and plan. Now Gloria’s Foundation will choose two Fellows whose work centers on justice. Each gets a $5,000 stipend, workspace in Gloria’s home twice a month, and the chance to host two Talking Circles of their own, January-December 2027.
Deadline: November 1, 2026
Create a portal account to apply.
PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY
The Iowa Review
Call for Submissions
The Iowa Review reads poetry, fiction, and nonfiction blind and welcomes new writers. Nonfiction runs up to 25 double-spaced pages, as one essay or several. Pay is $0.08 per word, with a $100 minimum. Leave your name off the manuscript and put a short bio in your cover letter.
Deadline: November 2, 2026
Create a portal account to apply.
If you don’t already have a Girls Write Now account, create one now.
