When high school classrooms are packed with 40, 50 or even more students, it’s a challenge for a single voice to be recognized. Many young talents, as we saw so dramatically in the truth-based film Precious, never have the opportunity to shine. Precious was lucky, as are the L.A. teens who hook up with WriteGirl, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young girls by helping them to develop their creativity and self-expression.
In one-on-one mentoring sessions and monthly workshops led by working professionals in various genres, the girls are given writing techniques, insights and provocative topics. Sometimes a poet will mentor an aspiring journalist, or a novelist will be paired with a girl who dreams of screenwriting, but in the wonderful world of writing, making magic through story is their common ground.
WriteGirl has an astonishing success record. In a public school system with a 50 percent high school dropout rate, WriteGirl boasts 100 percent graduation. All continue on to college, often winning scholarships to prestigious institutions. The group’s annual anthologies (available through their website or on Amazon) boast 19 book awards, and their newest, Silhouette: Bold Lines and Voices from WriteGirl, has already won three.
The Bold Ink Awards ceremony—WriteGirl’s fourth annual, created to celebrate “the strong voices of fearless female writers”—will be held April 1 at The Recording Academy in association with the Grammy Foundation. Among the honorees: Academy Award-nominated screenwriter/director Nancy Meyers, (It’s Complicated, Something’s Gotta Give); screenwriter/producer Elizabeth Sarnoff, (Lost, Crossing Jordan); novelist Marisa Silver(God of War, Babe in Paradise); poet Patricia Seyburn (Hilarity Mechanical Cluster); and entrepreneur/author Lynda Resnick. The public is invited.
“These women are not only tremendous writers, but they are also outstanding role models for the young girls we are mentoring. We are excited to honor them for their bold and complex female characters and stories,” said Keren Taylor, WriteGirl executive director.
An impressive group of pros lend their talents to this organization, and you can, too. Volunteers are always welcome, so if you enjoy writing and working with teens, and particularly if you are a working writer who’d like to “give back,” this is a great place to see very tangible results of whatever you’d like to donate, be it time, talent or cash.
