Girls Write Up

By Marta Demasson-Degennaro

The Girls Write Up is a daylong festival aimed at girls aged 12-18. It consists of workshops and talks to teach empowerment through writing. This year a group of students from University High attended the event. We went to workshops, listened to talks and had an all round great day. The workshops included slam poetry, script writing, writing from art, podcasting and graphic narratives and were run by activists, writers, poets and other creative thinkers. The presentations featured professional writers, actors and speakers who specialised in many different genres ranging from poetry to journalism. They talked to us about their experiences and gave us advice on how to work our way through the world as women. 

For me, the highlight was listening to such confident and passionate women talk. I listened to a talk called ‘Too Shy To Speak’ featuring Candy Bowers and Patricia Cornelius, they discussed the personal and political barriers that stop women’s voices from being heard and how we can use these experiences as inspiration for writing. I found this discussion engaging and I walked away feeling educated and inspired. 

The Girls Write Up was an amazing event and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to go. I met some amazing women, learnt a lot and most of all had a great time!