GRRLS LITERARY ACTIVISM PROJECT

 

There is a commonly held assumption that women are given equal treatment because of the great strides made by social change movements of the last few decades, but somehow women are still rewarded for silence. We are changing that one Grrl at a time.

 

Grrls Marigold and Aida rally with youth from California and Tucson YWCA's Nuestro Voz program at Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2011 in Sacramento.

 

 

WHO WE ARE: GRRLS are female-identified or trans individuals ages 14-20. We explore social and community issues, develop our voice, write, read out loud, take photographs, and present our words and ideas to the public.

Our writing, our art, our voices matter.

We are part of the community. We are social activists.

THE GRRLS STATEMENT: In the spirit of fostering a new generation of diverse, confident, independent-minded and creative artists/citizens/leaders, the Kore Press Grrls Literary Activism Program empowers youth with the skills necessary to express themselves on social issues that matter to them as citizens. Grrls are potent sources of change.

READ MORE: Learn about the program's components here and read workshop guidelines and goals here. View past work from the Grrls in the form of blogs from the Spring 2009 workshops, the Spring '08 workshops, or a piece entitled "How to Treat Your Minority Students" by Sophia Licona on Kore Press' blog, Persephone Speaks. Read "Poet Power" a Tucson Weekly article about the Grrls.

 

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WORKSHOP FACILITATORS & GRRLS MENTORS: The workshops are facilitated by established Tucson women writers and artists. Past and present Grrls facilitators include:

 

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THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

 

The Grrls Literary Activism Program is supported in part by the Tucson/Pima County Arts Council, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and through appropriations from the National Endowment for the Arts, various private foundations including the Every Voice in Action Foundation, individual donors like Pam Grissom and Arizona tax credit donors, and in partnership with City High School. Thank you to all of our 2009 and 2010 Grrls tax credit donors, including Lusia Slomkowska, Nancy Mairs, Nancy Hand, Jennifer Camano, Janice Dewey, Lisa Bowden, Amy Weintraub, Eric Magrane & Wendy Burk, Lucy Weeks, Stephen & Karen Strom, and Marcia & Richard King.

 

AZ residents --- Help the cause! You can donate your annual AZ State tax credit to help keep the Grrls Project going. Read more here.

 

 

 

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INTERESTED IN BEING A GRRL?

Explore community involvement

through art activism, editorials, video and radio broadcasts, public readings, city council meetings, interviewing officials, journalists, artists, and more! Learn the history of engaged citizenry and how you can carry it forward to make your change in the world.

Get $500 in stipends

for mentoring or securing an internship or college or career preparation. Stipends are also used to fund future activist projects and are awarded to successful participants upon completion of the program.

Apply now. Our programs are free

and excellent opportunities for creative writing and community activism. Click here to view last year's application (in PDF format, or Microsoft Word) and e-mail us to let us know of your interest! New applications will be posted soon.

 

 

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GRRLS TESTIMONIALS:

"Developing my voice is activism." -- Carrie
"My writing is less BS and more what I personally want to say... My social skills have improved as well as my writing skills." -- Emily
"I love speaking out." -- Edward
"I realized self experience and expression...are a form of activism." -- Robin
"I feel more capable of being involved, and using my words and creativity to make change." -- Miki

 

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Spring '09 Grrls billboard projects

 

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This Grrls logo is a paper collage created by Piper Conrad, then a junior at City High School, during our first pilot year in 2005.