Essay written by WriteGirl mentee Janel, 12th grade:
Three years ago, if anyone had asked me to read my poetry aloud in front of an audience, I would have laughed and politely declined. I was hardly comfortable sharing my written work with others, let alone getting up on a stage and performing the poetry I had scribbled into my journal and tucked away for safekeeping.
This all changed when I joined WriteGirl.
At the annual WriteGirl Skylight Books public reading on Saturday, February 15, approximately 20 teen girls bravely stepped up to the podium to read from their journals and WriteGirl's 12th anthology, "YOU ARE HERE: The WriteGirl Journey." A captivated crowd heard poems, essays, and short story excerpts about everything from love and self-identity to heartache and the color purple.
Read MoreIf life were a straight line, it would be easy to stay on course. But life is full of twists and turns and unexpected bumps.
In YOU ARE HERE: The WriteGirl Journey, 161 women and girls share their stories as they navigate their way through small moments and big adventures. In clear and unwavering voices, they tell us about where they are, where they’ve been and where they still hope to go.
Read MoreWriteGirl was honored by First Lady Michelle Obama with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award
An initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts & the Humanities (PCAH). The President’s Committee partners with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to administer the program.
WriteGirl is a creative writing and mentoring organization that promotes creativity, critical thinking and leadership skills to empower teen girls.
WriteGirl is a project of Community Partners, a nonprofit charity exempt from federal income tax under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
