Write Your Story
(for Cinnamongirls ages 13 - 18)
If you are interested in joining our cohorts for the 2024-2025 program year please fill out the Cinnamongirl Interest form and you will be the first to hear when we open recruitment in June!
“I write for young girls of color, for girls who don’t even exist yet, so that there is something there for them when they arrive. I can only change how they live, not how they think.”
– Ntozake Shange, playwright and poet
How many books, films, tv shows, news stories were written by black women last year? The year before that? And how many stories featured a black woman as the protagonist?
Cinnamongirl contributes to the national narrative by focusing, in particular, on emerging black women writers. In so doing, Cinnamongirl also supports the development of all writers of color.
We believe that honing the development of writers will accelerate the inclusion and equity of black women’s lives and stories in every aspect of society.
Photo by Ronald Davis, Davis Digital Design
OUR WRITERGIRLS CREATE…
Monthly submissions between 500-1500 words
Final submissions of 4000 word stories or five poems of any genre by February
An anthology presenting our Cinnamongirls and their stories/poetry to be shared via book talks and conversations nationally
Photo by Katherine Briccetti
Writergirls can become published authors through our annual anthology. The top poems and stories get published!
The first two cohorts of girls spent a year honing their voices, their visions, and their craft, with instruction and encouragement from a faculty of acclaimed women authors of color like Rena Barron, Paulette Boudreaux, Lisa Moore Ramée, Michelle Mush Lee, Deborah Santana, Nikki Shannon Smith, Misa Sugiura, Arisa White, Thea Matthews, RC Barnes, and many others.
The girls now present their work to the public in these remarkable anthologies.
“Poetry is the lens we use to interrogate the history we stand on and the future we stand for.”
— Amanda Gorman
WE PROVIDE…
Master classes from critically acclaimed female authors of color illuminating basic and advanced storytelling elements
A female writing coach who will keep her engaged, motivated and on-task to meet her monthly submission deadlines
Inspirational quotes and guidance
Writing prompts for journal writing and story starters
Recommended reading
Fun interactions with phenomenal female writers who share their writings, favorite authors, writing tools and their love of literature
“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
– Toni Morrison
WE AIM TO…
Nurture our Writergirls’ voices and creativity
Inspire imaginations to innovate and inform the collective
Encourage writing experiences that support girls emotional, mental, and physical well being
Demonstrate writing as a healing modality
Prepare life-long writers
AS A PARENT OR EDUCATOR, YOU CAN SUPPORT YOUR WRITERGIRL’S DEVELOPMENT BY…
Responding to her writing with interest and enthusiasm
Encouraging her to read books about girls of color by authors of color
Supporting her creative capacity with more diverse books in the classroom and school visits from diverse authors
Sharing Write Your Story with your network of schools, educators, parents, and nonprofits, etc.
Joining our mailing list. We want to get to know you!
Writergirls at the 2022 & 2023 Bay Area Book Festival
Photo by Michael Hitchner
Photo by Michael Hitchner
Photo by Michael Hitchner
Photo by Michael Hitchner
Photo by Grace Willingham
Writer’s Hangout
Can’t find the support you need? We’ve done some of the legwork for you.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
State of affairs for publishing and media For Harriet
100 Books by Black Women Everyone Must Read – For Harriet
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Diversity In Book Publishing Isn’t Just About Writers — Marketing Matters, Too : Code Switch: NPR
“Writing can be a lifeline, especially when your existence has been denied, especially when you have been left on the margins, especially when your life and process of growth have been subjected to attempts at strangulation.”
― Micere Githae Mugo, playwright, poet, author, and activist