WriteGirl News
WriteGirl Alums Amanda Gorman and Arielle Davis Collaborate With MasterClass
WriteGirl is excited to announce that WriteGirl Alum Arielle Davis is featured in WriteGirl Alum Amanda Gorman's class on MasterClass!
WriteGirl Executive Director Keren Taylor Receives 2022 CLCSC Award
WriteGirl is thrilled to announce that WriteGirl Executive Director Keren Taylor has won the Dorothy M. McKenzie Award for Distinguished Service to the Field of Children’s Literature, awarded by the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California! The award is named after the organization’s founder, Dorothy M. McKenzie.
WriteGirl Honors Women Writers at 2022 Bold Ink Awards
Over 150 WriteGirl alums, volunteers and friends of WriteGirl gathered together online at the WriteGirl Bold Ink Awards to celebrate the four Bold Ink Award honorees including: Amy Sherman-Palladino (Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), NBC4 Reporter Beverly White and Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends)!
WriteGirl Member Salome Agbaroji Named 2022 LA Youth Poet Laureate
WriteGirl member Salome Agbaroji has been named Los Angeles County Youth Poet Laureate for the 2022-23 year! She is succeeding poet Jessica Kim, a WriteGirl mentee!
WriteGirl Named Amazon Literary Partnership Grant
We are thrilled to announce that Amazon has recently named WriteGirl as an Amazon Literary Partnership grantee! This year, over $1 million total in grants have been awarded to 74 writing and literary organizations across the country, including WriteGirl. Thanks to this grant, we will be able to continue supporting, providing inspiration, and nurturing the creativity of underserved teens in Los Angeles and beyond.
WriteGirl Releases Second Issue of Lit Journal With LA vs Hate
“Tonight you will be treated to a sensory cultural journey as seen through the eyes of WriteGirl teens and alums,” WriteGirl Executive Director Keren Taylor said in her opening remarks during the Night of Unity event to celebrate the second issue of WriteGirl’s literary journal Lines & Breaks on Saturday, April 9, 2022. “These writers know how to infuse their writing with details that will draw you into their world, and give all of us some very powerful reasons why UNITY is not just a theme for tonight, but a theme we all need to carry forward in our hearts and in our communities.”
We Write the Songs: WriteGirl Songwriting Workshop and Showcase of Songs
“Songs happen when words alone are not enough,” WriteGirl Executive Director and songwriter Keren Taylor said during the opening remarks of WriteGirl’s 21st Annual Songwriting Workshop and Showcase of Songs on March 19, 2022. “When the feelings are enormous and powerful, it is music that is needed to lift those words off the page and soar them into our heart because of the super power of words and music, together, to move us.”
Amanda Gorman Announces WriteGirl Partnership with Estée Lauder WRITING CHANGE Initiative
WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman has announced WriteGirl as a partner in WRITING CHANGE, a three-year initiative to advance literacy. Led by The Estée Lauder Companies and inspired by Global Changemaker Amanda Gorman, WRITING CHANGE will support organizations that provide equitable access to literacy education, help shape future advocates and activists, and promote innovative approaches to igniting social change through artistic expression in youth.
WriteGirl Launches Online Literary Journal on 20th Anniversary
“Today is a celebration of the WriteGirl community,” WriteGirl Executive Director Keren Taylor said in her opening remarks during the launch event for the new WriteGirl Literary Journal Lines & Breaks on Saturday, December 4, 2021. “And at the heart of a community is both the acts of giving and receiving – in a vibrant community, people contribute and benefit.”
Our 20th Year: A Strong and Vibrant Community
We reflect on the 20th anniversary season of WriteGirl and celebrate our vibrant community of mentors, teens and supporters.
WriteGirl Bold Ink Awards Honors Women Writers and Celebrates WriteGirl 20th Anniversary
The 2021 WriteGirl Bold Ink Awards celebrated the power of the pen as WriteGirl honored four fearless women writers for their powerful words on June 12, 2021. Honorees included WriteGirl Alum Amanda Gorman, the 2021 Inaugural Poet and author of The Hill We Climb; Attica Locke, writer, producer, and author of Heaven, My Home; Tembi Locke, actress and author of From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home; and Gabriela Garcia, poet, journalist and author of the novel Of Women and Salt.
#NationalPoetryMonth - Virtual Poetry Workshop with Patrice Vecchione
Are you trying to write more poetry this #NationalPoetryMonth? Join poet Patrice Vecchione for a virtual poetry workshop this Saturday, April 24 — part of the proceeds go to WriteGirl!
Poem from WriteGirl Alum Arielle Davis featured in Fox Entertainment Women’s History Month Campaign
To kick off Women’s History Month, WriteGirl partnered with FOX Entertainment to showcase Alum Arielle Davis’ inspiring poem, “Woman’s Composition.” Arielle’s poem is read by Gina Torres and Jane Krakowski and was featured on FOX’s social media and Youtube channels on March 2, 2021.
Their Voice in Verse: WriteGirl Songwriting Workshop & Showcase of Songs
“Write about something you absolutely must tell the world,” WriteGirl Executive Director and songwriter Keren Taylor told the 134teens at the start of WriteGirl’s 20th Annual Songwriting Workshop on Feb. 20, 2021.
WriteGirl Alum Amanda Gorman Performed Poetry at Biden-Harris Inauguration
We’re so excited! WriteGirl alum Amanda Gorman performed her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, 2021. WriteGirl hosted an online watch party that day for its volunteers, alumnae and current teen participants.
WriteGirl Alums Reunite Online for 20th Anniversary
More than 50 WriteGirl alums, volunteers, and staff reunited on Dec. 21, 2020 for an online celebration of WriteGirl’s 20th anniversary!
WriteGirl Action Plan Update
From its start, nearly 20 years ago, it has been our mission to support the unheard voices of teens, and inspire writers to become mentors. We have definitely evolved since our first workshops at the Bresee Community Center in Koreatown with just 30 girls. We’ve always aimed for WriteGirl to be a leader and trailblazer in the field of creative education for young people.
WriteGirl Commitment & Action Plan (English & Spanish)
We have been moved and saddened by recent events. Further, we have been taking in all the comments and emails over the past weeks. We want to make this statement to reconfirm our resolute stance against racism, white supremacy, police brutality, social injustice and inequality, as well as share some immediate and longer-term action steps that we are taking to further enhance our efforts in this struggle. This is a follow up to our initial statement in support of Black Lives Matter on June 6th.
WriteGirl & Keren Taylor chosen for Los Angeles Times Innovator's Award
We are excited to announce that WriteGirl and our Executive Director and Founder Keren Taylor have been chosen for the prestigious Los Angeles Times Innovator's Award! Past recipients include Margaret Atwood, James Patterson and Dave Eggers. The awards will be officially presented in a virtual presentation on April 17th.
COVID-19 Response from WriteGirl
Amid COVID-19 concerns that have prompted a state of emergency in California, WriteGirl has made the difficult decision to suspend all in-person WriteGirl programming, including in-person workshops and mentoring sessions, through the end of June.