A poem by WriteGirl Alum Sofía Aguilar

Without us, where would you be?

Without all the women you love, you need

—not just your mother or sister

but your neighbors, your authors, your scholars—

would you survive a day?

“Today, we will write, we will share, we will learn, we will dance, we will reflect, we will laugh and we will map out our own super special summer of writing,” said WriteGirl Executive Director Keren Taylor during the opening remarks of the annual WriteGirl Season-End Celebration on June 25, 2022.

WriteGirl Alum Shandela Contreras is an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Creative Writing. She is a Los Angeles County Youth Poet Ambassador and was a Finalist for the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate 2022.

WriteGirl mentee Jessica Kim was named the 2021 LA Youth Poet Laureate! Of the 18 finalists, 12 were WriteGirl mentees. Jessica Kim shares her poem “Ghazal for K” on the WriteGirl blog.

By Sofia Pezo, 14

Sofia is in the 9th grade at Culver City High School.

"I wrote this for every young girl out there who just needs to feel their inner lioness roar again. She IS strong. Don't ever forget that.”

WriteGirl was invited to travel to Rome, Italy, in November of 2019 for YouthMundus, an international youth empowerment conference helping to inspire youth to use their creativity as a vehicle for change! Two of our WriteGirl alums represented WriteGirl on a women’s empowerment panel alongside organizations such as Women’s March Global, Women Occupy Hollywood and Equality Now. WriteGirl also hosted an interactive walk-through workshop to help youth discover the power of their voice.

Our two WriteGirl alums, Janel Pineda and Sara Kimura, recently reflected on their experience at the festival.

“Why in this age has heaven allowed you more and Women less... Why should Women not write as well as men?” These questions were posed by Aphra Behn, the first English woman to become a professional writer. I had the opportunity to read through a first edition copy of Behn’s play at the WriteGirl Workshop at Whitmore Rare Books. This workshop was empowering on so many levels!

For a teenager who is totally inexperienced with art, the art at the LACMA is, at first glance, totally random and sometimes even nonsensical. However, when I took a closer look and held my gaze as suggested by the writing prompts provided for us, I found small bits and pieces of myself in the artwork.

It was finally March 9th! I had been waiting for this day for weeks! As an aspiring screenwriter, I was eager to bring my notebook along and take notes at the WriteGirl Character & Dialogue Workshop! Not to mention, I was really excited to drive down Sunset Blvd and arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’s Linwood Dunn Theater where the workshop was being held! 

WriteGirl mentee Addissyn wrote about her creative process and shared a recent poem she wrote.

I am a Woman

by Addissyn, 17

i am neither roses nor daisies nor a perfect little garden
i am rough around the edges, natural, unconventional
i am not to be shown off, not to be painted to your liking
i am a blank canvas for my own creations

If I have a daughter

by Gabrielle Gorman
WriteGirl alum, freshman at UCLA
Written for International Women's Day 2017

Dear America,

If I have a daughter, I will tell her

that the dark-skinned girls with tight curls like we,

are no less than the rest, we are melanin beauty queens.

by Sandra M.
WriteGirl Mentee, age 16

suffragist
defiant fists
and swirling skirts
two items juxtaposed