In Her Words launches the 2nd volume of their continental anthology, this time focusing on the voices of African girls, aged 13 to 18. The essays reflect the attitudes, frustrations, and hopes of African girls across the continent on what gender equality means to them and how they often see these inequalities manifesting in their young lives. The essays will make you angry, they’ll make you laugh, they’ll make you cry, but most of all, they will make you dream of and hope towards the future that these girls see for themselves and their communities.
The 14 young writers in this new anthology were mentored by some of the authors from the first volume, giving them a chance to refine their writing skills and make their essays even bolder. With grant money won from ALitFest, In Her Words was able to run the call for submissions as an essay competition in which the winner received the equivalent of 100 US Dollars. Through donations from members of the team and a mentor, a 2nd place winner was awarded 75 US Dollars and 3rd place received 50 US Dollars. This process has been important in encouraging young African girls across the continent to use their voices and embrace their talents as writers.
The winning essays are:
- In My Words: An Introvert’s Memoir by Nafisa Bala Umar
- Gender Equality and Feminism – The Loud Voice Campaign by Dahunsi Oreoluwa
- My Feminist Awakening by Ngwu Princess Adanna
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[wd_hustle id=”3″ type=”embedded”/]Overall, this project gives young girls an opportunity to share their unique stories, serves as a platform to identify new and young female creators and encourages collaboration and mentorship between two generations of African women and girls.
In 2020, 5 young women came together to compile and edit an anthology – a collection of stories and essays from 15 young women across 7 African countries chronicling their unique, lived experiences on gender equality and gender issues. The ebook, In Her Words: African Women’s Perspectives on Gender Equality, is available for free at https://agbowo.org/in-her-words/. Since its launch on March 8th, 2020, International Women’s Day, it’s been downloaded over 600 times across 44 countries.