11/10/12 Girls Write Now NEWSFLASH, Summer 2012

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GIRLS WRITE NOW NEWSFLASH SUMMER 2012

TRANSFORM YOUNG WRITERS

Writing is growth. Writing is change. Writing is transformation. After four years ofworking together, GWN mentor Josleen and mentee Brittany know this deeply. Says Josleen, "From the first day we met, Brittany's talent and courage lit up my life.As every mentor knows, we get much more from the mentoring relationship than wegive." And from Brittany: "I never called myself a writer. Until Girls Write Now told me Iwas. And then I couldn't wait to call myself a writer again." You can watch Brittany'sbreathtaking spoken word performance, that won second prize in the Urban WordKnicks Poetry Slam Final on Broadway this spring. Transform young writers like Brittany: make a gift to Girls Write Now.

COMING UP

AT GWN

Final CHAPTERSReadingJune 15

Ticket Info

Mentor & MenteeEnrollment

June 15Mentee Application

Mentor Application

Dancing with theScribes Party

So, writers, you thinkyou can dance?

Join us! June 21

Ticket Info

SAVE THE

DATE

Girls College BoundEssay Immersion Days

July 11, 17 & 19Registration Info

Coming SoonEmail for more info

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SPRING WORKSHOPS RECAP:PROFILES, ROM COM, TRANSMEDIA

Vanessa Grigoriadis gives the Craft Talk at our March Profiles Workshop

What do Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift have to do with Girls Write Now? Well, ourMarch Craft Talk authors­­who introduced our mentees and mentors to journalisticprofile writing­­have interviewed the two stars, and shared what it was like with ouruber interested mentees. "Before the workshop, Journalism was just writers takingpeople's privacy and making it public, which seemed unfair," blogs mentee Yodalin."But the way Vanessa explained her experience writing a profile on Justin Bieber mademy thoughts expand." Authors Vanessa Grigoriadis (Contributing Editor at New YorkMagazine, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone) and Lizzie Widdicombe (The New Yorker) tookthe group through their process of writing a profile from start to finish. We closed upthe workshop by tweeting 140­character profiles (find them on Twitter!).

Mentees and mentors alike fell in love with April's Romantic Comedy Screenplayworkshop, and not only because we were all eager to deconstruct gender­based genreclichés and discuss our favorite scenes. Craft Talk authors Sabrina Dhawan (MonsoonWedding) and Jennifer Westfeldt (Friends With Kids) gave us the inside scoop on how tobend the rules of the genre without breaking them entirely. The resulting Rom Comscenes that mentees and mentors wrote were hilarious, and touching.

In May, we decided to "remix"things up by inviting mentees to beour Craft Talk experts­­a first atGWN! To explore TransmediaStorytelling, the mentee­mentor pairsfrom our Digital RemixPortfolios pilot shared with coreprogram participants what they

Catalog for GivingUrban Heroes Benefit

October 29 Email for more info

VISIT

US ONLINE

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Monica and Elaine's Postcard Animation Remix­­moreprojects at gwnremix.org

GWN Senior Mary with Mentor Gillian

learned this spring about interpretingstories through iMovie, AfterEffects,and Audacity. Each mentee told thestory of how she remixed writing­­ofher own, a GWN mentee, or a youngwriter from Figment.com­­to createsomething new and digital. Theworkshop year ended with allmentors and mentees hunched overtheir notebooks, using newfoundtransmedia skills to storyboard apiece of their own writing for futureremixing.

AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS & COLLEGE OH MY! 2012 was another banner year for GWN at theScholastic Art & Writing Awards! 100% of ourmentees entered a total of 110 submissions to theAwards, with 40 girls participating for the firsttime. Their work made an impression, with over aquarter of our mentees honored by 27 awards (twoNational Awards and 25 Regional Gold and SilverKeys). A national award winner, Lashanda, wasone of just seven students nationwide to receivethe highest distinction in writing, along with amuch deserved $10,000 college scholarship! It's especially rewarding to note that after a year ofproviding one­to­one counseling; group events;and resources on the college process, applications& essays, financial aid, scholarships, and collegeselection, we'll be continuing our record ofsending 100% of our senior mentees on to collegethis fall. We're proud of all our seniors, who willbe attending schools including Amherst College,Bennington College, Howard University, BarnardCollege, and University of Southern California. Senior mentees also earned some prestigious scholarships, including: a 4­yearQuestbridge Scholarship, a 4­year Posse Scholarship, NYS Academic ExcellenceAward, two Los Padres Foundation Scholarships, Academy Honors Scholarship,H.E.O.P, Knox Finley Scholarship, College Assistance Program Scholarship, andR.A.C.E. Program Scholarship. Congratulations to our 23 graduating seniors!

PAIR SPOTLIGHT: BRIANNA AND KRISTEN

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This summer, we shine thespotlight on 1st­year menteeBrianna, a 10th­grader fromQueens, and her mentor,Kristen, a Social Media andCommunications Coordinatorfrom New York.

Brianna, according to hermentor, "inspires me to takemore literary risks, a quality Ineeded to get back in touchwith as a writer. I'mencouraged by her joyfulleaps into language, evenwhen writing emotionally

difficult material. We finish each others' sentences, scribble all over our pieces, and wetext about Glee."

Read more about these two inspiring GWN­ers, including an exclusive behind thescenes video interview with Brianna and Kristen from our April 27 CHAPTERSreading.

MENTEES READ W/ TOM SLEIGH AT FORDHAM

Mentees Najaya, Taysha, and Jessica were selected to represent GWN in this year'sPoets Out Loud High School Outreach Program through FordhamUniversity. Marking GWN's fourth year of partnership with Fordham, these talentedmentee poets attended a short series of workshops on the craft of poetry, whilemeeting the winners of the 2011 POL Book Awards. On April 18, our girls readalongside award winning poet Tom Sleigh for a powerful performance in celebrationof National Poetry Month.

HILLARY + GWN FOR NY WOMEN

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Just before Mother'sDay, Girls Write NowFounder & ExecutiveDirector, MayaNussbaum, joinedSecretary of StateHilary Clinton onstage at the annualNew York Women'sFoundation breakfastfor an amazingcelebration of thepower of women,community, andgiving. GWN wasproud to bewelcomed into theNYWF family with our first grant from the prestigious, women­led organization. "At critical pointsin my mother's life," said Secretary Clinton, "somebody showed her kindness;somebody gave her help." And that's what Girls Write Now is all about.

ROCKING THE VOTE @ TREASURE&BONDThanks to your votes and support, we are thrilled to announce that GWN was selected as a 2012 beneficiary for treasure&bond. T&B is a retail philanthropy store in SoHo run by Nordstrom that donates 100% of its proceeds to select charities that benefit children in NYC. Competition was stiff among the semi­ finalists (including VH1's Save the Music Foundation, the

American Museum of Natural History, and the Children's Aid Society), but votes fromshoppers and GWN community members truly made the difference. Girls Write Now­­along with the National Dance Institute­­will serve as beneficiary from August toOctober 2012! We could not be more excited to partner with treasure&bond to drawpeople into the store and raise awareness about our mission and programs­­keep youreyes peeled for exclusive events, collaborations, and more!

GIRLS WRITE NOW IN THE NEWSHave you read about Girls Write Now lately? For media inquiries, please contactcommunications@girlswritenow.org.

Time Out New York chose GWN as one ofthe best places to volunteer in New YorkCity.

GWN mentee alum Brittany was profiled byDickinson College for her award­winningpoetry and commitment to giving.

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GWN Program Coordinators, Anusha & Ashley

GRANTS UPDATE: COULDN'T DO IT W/O YOU!With gratitude, Girls Write Now is delighted to acknowledge renewed fundingfrom: ­ Amy Morrill Charitable Trust­ The Baird Foundation­ Palisade Capital Management­ Ruth Asset Management­ Assurant Foundation­ The Patrina Foundation We proudly welcome the following new funders to our community: ­ Hunter College V­Day - New York Women's Foundation - Treasure & Bond

JOIN OUR TEAM! F/T STAFF OPENINGS

At Girls Write Now, we pride ourselves onhaving the most passionate, hard­core staffaround. They're thoughtful, creative, articulate­­and will stop at nothing to make sure the nextgeneration of women writers thrive. With panoramic views of midtown Manhattanfrom our desks, almost 15 years of grassrootsorganizing under our belts, and the mosttalented women writers by our sides, Girls WriteNow is opening our doors wider with two full­time positions. Find out more about our

Communications Coordinator and Director of Operations openings!

Email Sponsored By: The "Constant Contact Cares4Kids" program supports educational

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