For some, Girls Write Now doesn’t end when the program does. Such is the case with Ms. Natalia Vargas-Cuba, for whom writing remains a huge part of life. In addition to majoring in liberal arts at Bronx Community College, Natalia has immersed herself in writing outside of the classroom through Urban Word workshops. Girls Write Now introduced her to Urban Word, as well as other workshops like Pen America. In the spring, she was part of their Women’s Workshop, which was very similar to Girls Write Now: “We did an icebreaker, ate healthy snacks, and we shared what we wrote in exercises,” Natalia explained.

It's hard to imagine someone more excited about entering college than Allison Pilatsky. In the fall she will be starting out at Smith College, located in Northampton, western Massachusetts. Allison chose Smith for its English department and the community, which made her feel "immediately welcome". Other schools she applied to include Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Brown, CUNY, and Hunter. Smith stood out to her as "a great women's liberal arts college where you can get a well rounded education". She appreciates that students are "able to explore all areas" because "having a self-directed program is important". Girls Write Now also helped her with her decision, with her mentor acting as "someone to bounce ideas off of". Allison feels Girls Write Now has been a valuable resource in preparing for the college journey, providing "a good opportunity to work on my writing and develop it into a stronger style so I'll be more prepared for a college class room." 

Calling all mentor and mentee almuni! Girls Write Now has posted two new surveys in an effort to reconnect with our past members. We miss you! (Plus, we're nosy.) Take a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire online and let us know what you've been up to since leaving the program. We want to hear your story. Mentee alumni, click here for your survey. Mentors past, click here.

OMIGOD!!
Girls Write Now was featured in this week's New York Times! We are unbelievably stoked about this piece by Courtney Sullivan, which profiles NYC's first and ONLY creative writing and mentoring organization just for high school girls. For the article, Courtney and a photographer visited with several mentors and mentees for an up-close-and-personal look at how writing develops in Girls Write Now's pair sessions. How stoked? As you can see, we can't even sit down. Check it out!

Then don't forget to mark your calenders for Ladies Night, on May 7, 2008 and the GWN 10th Anniversary Spring Reading on June 8, 2008, featuring special guest Amanda Diva!

The Girls Write Now program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Read more about GWN's Funders and Community Allies here.