Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Call for Black Women Writers: 'What Will You Leave Behind for Your Daughters?'

The annual 50in50 series selects 50 Black women and girls from all walks of life to share their stories in form of a letter.
50in50 Black Women Writers, BK Reader
The 2017 50in50 cast and writers. Photo credit: The Billie Holiday Theatre/ FB

RestorationArt in partnership with Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop has put out a call for submissions for the "50in50: Letters to Our Daughters" reading event at the Billie Holiday Theatre.

Curated by acclaimed actor, playwright and MacArthur "Genius" Dominique Moriseau, the annual 50in50 series offers a platform for 50 Black women and girls from all walks of life to share their stories in form of a letter. 

This year's program will focus on vital issues affecting women and girls today, and include a community conversation exploring global movements like #MeToo and #MuteRKelly, and how these issues are dealt with and discussed within the Black community.

The annual 50in50 series selects 50 Black women and girls from all walks of life to share their stories in form of a letter.
Dominique Morisseau. Photo credit: Alley Theatre

Morisseau encourages women writers to be inspired by the world they would like to leave behind for their daughters. 

"As women writers, I want you to consider the world you inherited and the one you'd like to create," said Morisseau. "Consider the many lessons that you've learned and the ones you wish you'd learned. What will you leave behind for the daughters of tomorrow?"

In the past, stories have been selected by entrants from local writers in the Bedford Stuyvesant community as well as contributors from around the world in Holland, South Africa and Canada.

"The Billie and FSWW came together to create 50in50 as a platform for agency and empowerment so that any woman or girl can share her story, regardless of class, race, age, ability, gender identity, nationality and sexual orientation," said Dr. Indira Etwaroo, executive director of the Billie Holiday Theatre. "It is not lost on us that 50in50 has become increasingly meaningful over the last two years of its existence, as women continue to grapple with historical injustices and social norms that would oppress, rather than liberate."

A diverse selection of stories will be read by a renowned collective of women actors in Brooklyn, followed by the event's West Coast premiere at the newly-created WACO Theater Center in Los Angeles. The readings will take place in March 2019.

Interested writers can submit their work at www.thebillieholiday.org until Friday, February 8.




Comments