WriteGirl selected as FINALIST, 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards

WriteGirl is a finalist in this prestigious annual honor, one of "50 exceptional programs across the country for their work in presenting rich arts and humanities learning opportunities to young people." Click here for more information

10th Anniversary Book Launch of Beyond Words January 15th, 2011

More than 100 people packed the aisles of Borders bookstore in Hollywood for the launch of WriteGirl's ninth anthology, Beyond Words: The Creative Voice of WriteGirl. The crowd was thrilled as our teens boldly read the writing they had created in the Core Mentoring Program and celebrity guests joined to bring our girls’ words to life. WriteGirl alumni performed a monologue about how much WriteGirl has impacted their lives. They ended their skit with the WriteGirl motto: Never Underestimate the Power of a Girl and Her Pen!

Pictured here left to right with WriteGirl Executive Director, Keren Taylor are Mimi Kennedy (Dharma & Greg), Cecil Castelucci, (Rose Sees Red) Kami Garcia and Margaret B. Stohl (Beautiful Creatures) and Marcia Wallace (The Simpsons). Margaret B. Stohl exclaimed after the reading,” Those voices are so authentic and, as a YA author, that's what we're always trying to achieve. I have nothing but respect for the WriteGirl program and its mentors."

Click here for a video of the event

WriteGirl Kicks off 10th Season! November 20th, 2010

Over 240 people attended WriteGirl Family Day and 10th Season Kickoff, including girls, volunteers, friends and family members. On arrival at Miguel Contreras Learning Center, girls got straight to writing in their journals at a variety of creative stations. 75 teen girls worked with 75 women writers at this Kickoff event, with 35 of the pairs happily reunited after a long summer apart. A generous lunch was provided by longtime supporters, Panda Express and Izze Beverages. WriteGirl alums spoke at the event to tell members not just how great college is, but also how much WriteGirl benefited them and prepared them for life after high school.

WriteGirls rule at the Women’s Conference! October 26, 2010

The Women’s Conference is the largest and most dynamic gathering of women in the nation. Our teens performed before an audience of 25,000 attendees at the Long Beach Convention Center and made a huge impression on the crowd. Hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mission of The Women’s Conference is to inspire, empower and educate women to be Architects of Change in their own lives and in the lives of others. WriteGirl volunteers staffed our booth for two days selling books, recruiting volunteers and generally familiarizing women with our own mission to empower teen girls. Among the guest speakers at the conference were First Lady Micehelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

Our 9th Season Ends – What a celebration! June 26th, 2010

The Doheny Street beat on June 26th, 2010 was one of wild enthusiasm as women and girls, along with countless supporters, gathered at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills to celebrate the end of the 9th WriteGirl season of workshops and mentoring. More than 400 guests got a preview their bold original writing in our 10th anthology, Beyond Words, The Creative Voices of WriteGirl. Girls read their original work alongside special guests Gina Ravera (The Closer, ER), Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Mimi Kennedy (Private Practice), Pamela Guest (Californication), Robin Weigert (Deadwood, Law and Order) and Pamela Hayden (The Simpsons) helped bring the girls words to life onstage. The event food was donated from local and national vendors including Louise’s Trattoria, Kate Mantilini’s, Kychon Chicken, Mani’s Bakery and Portos. Beyond Words celebrates the voices of teens from more than 60 different Los Angeles high schools, and women writers from top newspapers, publishers and entertainment companies.

WriteGirl named 2010-2011 California Nonprofit of the Year! Woohoo!

Executive Director, Keren Taylor and WriteGirl received the 2010-2011 California Nonprofit of the Year Medal for Service presented by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver. The award celebrated WriteGirl and its volunteers who dedicate 2,000 hours per month to mentor teen girls in the program. The Governor and First Lady’s Medals for Service, the cornerstone of California Volunteers’ recognition program, distinguished WriteGirl as an organization whose innovation in the field of volunteerism has had a tangible impact on the community. Thanks to all of our hard-working women who give so generously of their time to mentor our girls.

Celebrity Screenwriters Donate Time To Mentor Our Girls! April 17th, 2010

WriteGirl held a Character, Monologue and Dialogue workshop on April 17, designed to introduce girls to the basic principles of scene-writing, including character development, writing to genres, and creating conflict. Gina Prince Bythewood and Sarah Fain gave insightful interviews on character development, and story pitches were demonstrated by Improvisational actors from television shows like “The Office” and the Groundlings Theatre. Each girl who attended was given an opportunity to attend a special breakout session and receive one-on-one mentoring from additional local screenwriters and directors: Naomi Foner, Liz Sarnoff, Diane Ruggiero, and Nancy Meyers. At the end of the day, scenes written by WriteGirl mentees were performed in the Miguel Contreras Theatre by celebrity actors, including Pamela Hayden (The Simpsons), Nora Zehetner (Heroes, Gray’s Anatomy,) and Robin Weigert (Deadwood).

Bold Ink Awards Celebrate Fearless Women Writers April 1st, 2010

Our 4th Annual Bold Ink Awards at The Recording Academy & GRAMMY Foundation in Santa Monica was a huge success. The award, created to celebrate the empowering work of ‘fierce’ women writers, honored Nancy Meyers, writer/director "It's Complicated"; Elizabeth Sarnoff, executive producer/writer "Lost"; Marisa Silver, author "The God of War"; Patricia Seyburn, poet "Hilarity"; and Lynda Resnick, entrepreneur/author "Rubies in the Orchard". The evening kicked off with a silent auction of high-end items and a cocktail reception featuring pomegranate “Pomtinis” made with POM Wonderful. Chef Stephan Richter’s LA Farm provided delicious food and divine dessert. Wish you were there!

Pictured left to right: Elizabeth Sarnoff (honoree), actor Robin Weigert, California Poet Laureate Carol Muske-Dukes, screenwriter Robin Swicord (presenters), Lynda Resnick (honoree), WriteGirl Executive Director, Keren Taylor, Marisa Silver (honoree), LA Times Book Editor David Ulin (presenter), Patricia Seyburn (honoree), Nancy Meyers (honoree), Clare Sera (emcee).

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, April 24th -25th

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is a free, public festival celebrating the written word. For the 6th year, WriteGirl had a booth manned by volunteers to sell our award-winning anthologies and recruit volunteers. Once again, WriteGirl mentees were center stage reading their original work in their own bold voices. Nearly 450 authors participated in this incredible two day event.

Songwriting Workshop, March 20th, 2010

WriteGirl held a Songwriting workshop on March 20, designed to introduce girls to key concepts for songwriting, including rhythm, strong titles and hooks, rhyme schemes, and song themes. The girls learned how to "cluster" for ideas, and each one developed her own verse and chorus for a new song. A star-studded guest list made the day especially exciting, as songwriter/performers such as Lisa Loeb, Pam Sheyne, Eve Nelson, Rosemarie Tan, Michelle Lewis, Louise Goffin, L.P., Kate Hanley, Clare Means and Renee Stahl were all on hand to give one-on-one mentoring to the girls. At the end of the workshop, attendees gathered in the auditorium to hear the songwriter/performers deliver a 30-minute showcase of the girls' work, followed by a short Q & A.

January 2010

POETRY WORKSHOP ON VIDEO!

The Poetry workshop on January 30th is sure to be a wellspring for our 2011 book. The workshop gave 70 girls and their 70 mentors a chance to explore the genre using exciting interactive activities that allow the girls to strengthen their skills. Guest speakers took turns explaining and giving examples of metaphor, sensory details, wisdom, endings, and other poetry fundamentals, followed by writing prompts to incorporate these approaches into their work. In scheduled intervals, mentors "switched" partners, allowing the girls to get input and support from several professional writers in one day. Guest poets included Suzanne Lummis, Patricia Seyburn, Pat Payne, Dorothy Randall Gray and Kim Dower.

At the end of the day, mentees proudly read their new work in their own bold voices. And it was captured on video. Click the link below to check out the real Poetry Workshop action! Click Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pn1XExQdMM

WRITEGIRL TEENS SPEAK OUT...

WriteGirl mentees were invited to a private session and Q&A with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Susan Lori-Parks ("Top Dog/Underdog"). Ms. Parks was the first African American woman to earn that award. The girls engaged in a Q&A and then attended the town hall meeting discussion, “Lincoln and King’s Unfinished Work.” Motivational speaker and entrepreneur Stedman Graham moderated a panel that included actor Richard Dreyfuss, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), LA County Office of Education Superintendent Dr. Darline Robles, writer/director Gary Ross and renowned Lincoln scholar Ronald C. White. Participants discussed the ways that words, entertainment and the arts explore race and freedom. WriteGirl mentees questioned the panelists which afforded them an opportunity to speak in public at a high profile event.

Pictured Left to Right: Keren Taylor, Suzan Lori-Parks and WriteGirl teens.

3 AWARDS FOR WRITEGIRL'S NEW ANTHOLOGY!

"Silhouette: Bold Lines and Voices from WriteGirl," released in January, has gotten rave reviews and has already won first place in 3 book contests:

London Book Festival, Anthologies

Los Angeles Book Festival, Non-Fiction

National Best Book Awards, USA BookNews, Poetry Anthologies

To date, WriteGirl anthologies have won a total of 21 book awards!

AND THE NEXT AWARD GOES TO....

...our own WriteGirl Executive Director, Keren Taylor. Her latest recognition is the "Soroptimist Ruby Award: For Women Helping Women." Honorees are chosen from women who have worked in extraordinary ways to benefit women and girls.

In the past 2 years Keren received the Business & Professional Women’s Community Woman of Achievement Award (pictured right), the President’s Volunteer Call to Service Award and the Community Hero Award from Springfield College. She was a finalist in "Women Making a Difference Award" from the Los Angeles Business Journal and in the "California Governor & First Lady’s Medal for Service."

December 2009

JOURNALISTS AND PANDA KICK OFF SEASON 9!

Over 240 girls, volunteers and family members were on hand at the Miguel Contreras Learning Center to launch WriteGirl's 9th season. Notable female journalists from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, National Public Radio and Time magazine, among others, came to work with our teen girls and offer advice on what it takes to break into the fast-paced news world.

Panda Express catered the event bringing with them an array of delicious Chinese food and volunteers to help. As always, lunch was a big hit with our girls and their families.

CELEBRATING 10 WEEKS OF WRITING!

We’ve completed 10 weeks of writing workshops at five Los Angeles County Office of Education alternative schools, and we celebrated with readings for the students and their families and friends. Students at these School-age Family Education (Cal-SAFE) schools are pregnant or parenting teens and face significant challenges.

WriteGirl volunteers work with these girls in our In-Schools Program to help them find their bold, original voices. The readings were fun, uplifting and very emotional for both the girls and audience members.

The In-Schools Spring semester will culminate with a publication of their creative work and a public reading on June 1st at the Los Angeles County Office of Education in Downey

November 2009

MENTEE WELCOME DAY!

WriteGirl teens gathered at our new location, the Miguel Contreras Learning Center, where new and returning girls got to know each other. After checking in on computers this year, they launched into an variety of writing activities, from journalism to poetry. Girls shared their work, mingled, and most importantly, they wrote. To be sure, this day started our teens thinking about pieces that will be included in our new WriteGirl anthology to be released at the end of the season.

WRITEGIRL’S SPIRIT OF SERVICE!

We are proud to announce that WriteGirl is included in a new book, "Spirit of Service." Inspired by President Obama's national call to service, it's a daily guide that explores the many ways we can get involved in service to others, with 365 specific suggestions and an interactive website featuring opportunities around the nation.

"Spirit of Service" lists over 500 organizations with information about how to help. (www.spiritofservice365.com)

WriteGirl is on page 259!

June 2009

SEASON END – A GREAT CELEBRATION

More than 400 guests gathered at the Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills to celebrate the end of Write Girl’s eighth season and preview the new anthology, Silhouette: Bold Lines and Voices from WriteGirl. Girls read their original work and were thrilled to have guests Sprague Graden (“24”), Pamela Guest and Peter Facinelli (“Twilight”) also bring their words to life onstage. Silhouette celebrates the voices of teens from more than 60 different Los Angeles high schools, and women writers from top newspapers, publishers and entertainment companies. Writing advice and an entire chapter of writing experiments will help you develop and share your own bold voice.

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