Helping teenage girls find their writing 'voices'

In 2001, former Girls Write Now mentor Keren Taylor formed WriteGirl in Los Angeles. While separate from Girls Write Now for what Nussbaum calls "geographical and financial reasons," its format is almost identical and speaks to the highly replicable nature of the Girls Write Now model. The big difference: Taylor and her assistant receive a salary for their work, while Nussbaum volunteers her time. Both groups publish an annual anthology of the girls' writing.

Taylor started the group because "there really wasn't anything like it in L.A. for teenage girls," she says. "And for girls, the teenage years are critical."

In Los Angeles, the 40 mentees are aged 13 to 18; many hear about WriteGirl in school, but others come to it through foster homes and community centers. In New York, girls 14 to 19 can participate, but most are 14 or15. Almost half are immigrants, mostly from Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

"We want girls who need the most help," Nussbaum says, "but also have their own spark and drive." Both groups ask English teachers to identify promising students. The groups host two readings a year and hold mentor-led writing workshops one Saturday a month.

New York mentor and playwright Jennifer Chen planned the playwriting workshop this year, during which mentees wrote scripts about a social outcast who sits with the popular girls in the school cafeteria. This is Ms. Chen's fourth year as a mentor. She and her current mentee, 16-year-old Natalia Vargas-Caba, are quite different - Natalia is an outgoing Latina and Chen a reserved Asian. But the difference has been a plus.

"Over the course of the year, Natalia has become more thoughtful about her writing," says Chen. "Her voice is stronger, and she now has a very definite tone."

In California, screenwriter Allison Deegan and high school senior Lovely Umayam have worked together since 2001. Ms. Umayam, a Filipina immigrant, is writing a novel and has written and filmed part of a screenplay about cliques. "She's a high-achieving kid who didn't have any opportunity to do creative work," Ms. Deegan says. "Creative work is very different from school work, and confidence in that area permeates every aspect of your life - family, friends, everything."

"I've found I can vent out my problems through writing," Umayam says. "I'm not doing the bad things that other teenagers do."

"It's just such a treat to have a diverse group like this come together," Nussbaum says. "These girls are often learning how to write from the mentors, but the mentors are often learning how to live from the girls."

Mentors like Chen couldn't agree more. "I look at the mentees in our program," she says, "and see them writing about their culture and their self-esteem. They inspire us as professional women to keep our vigor."

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