Uncertain Girls in Uncertain Times (Advice & Poetry to Set the World on Fire)

“The anthology dares to hold the face of this country, its long history and structural realities, for the possibility of a new kind of existence.”—E. J. Koh, author of The Liberators and The Magical Language of Others

Uncertain Girls in Uncertain Times is a luminous collection blending poetry, reflection, and intergenerational conversation that offers young women the courage to trust themselves, embrace uncertainty, and step boldly into adulthood.

Uncertain Girls in Uncertain Times is an anthology that encourages young women launching into adulthood to imagine deeply, create bravely, and find the confidence to build a meaningful life in this uncertain and chaotic world. Each one of the forty contributors brings their voice and experience to reflect on a poem that has held particular significance in their life, sharing words of wisdom, vulnerable admissions, and life lessons. Reflections range from practical advice to philosophical musings, from stories of triumph to somber tellings of the tougher days, while the selected poems fill in the gaps, offering access to invaluable, timeless wisdom. Interwoven between the poems and essays are snippets of conversation between a mother and her daughter, who is beginning her own launch into adulthood, held over the course of a year.