uncertain girls in uncertain times

The Uncertain Girls in Uncertain Times anthology pairs poetry with reflections and life lessons from those who have wisdom to impart, history to share, and hope for the future. Within its 130 pages, 32 individuals lend their voices and poetry selections to encourage young women to imagine deeply, create bravely, and find the confidence to build a meaningful life in this uncertain and chaotic world. 

Together, their voices create a collective of wisdom and urgency, reminding us all to step into our power and to embrace the messiness of change. 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. The combination of poetry and essays reminds young women that there is an entire community of adults who have been there, and who want to offer them support and guidance as they navigate the uncertainties of growing up.   

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.

Katherine Anderson

is co-owner of The London Plane, a flower shop, retail store, and restaurant.

Cleo Barnett

is the director of Amplifier Art Lab, an artist, and a pleasure activist.

Hannah Bae

is a Korean-American writer, journalist, and illustrator. 

Martha Choe

is a former high school teacher and an ordained Zen priest.

Jeanie Chunn

is the director of community engagement for Northwest Harvest.

Cristina Constantino

is a first-generation undocumented student and current middle school Spanish teacher.

Ruth Dickey

is the executive director of the National Book Foundation and a poet.

Elizabeth Easton

is an Episcopal priest living in Omaha, Nebraska.

Matt Echohawk-Hayashi

is a development and leadership consultant for Headwater People and a minister.

Rozlyn Anderson Flood

is a philanthropic advisor for Princeton University and a retired attorney.

Antonia Galindo

is a development specialist, mindfulness facilitator, and diversity and inclusion advisor.

Malaka Gharib

is a writer, journalist and cartoonist, and the author of I Was Their American Dream.

Muguette Guenneguez

is the executive director of the Georgetown Community Development Authority.

Shadab Zeest Hashmi

is a poet and the author of Ghazal Cosmopolitan, Kohl & Chalk, and Baker of Tarifa.

Walt Hamberg

is a traveler and historian living in the Pacific Northwest.

Jennifer Hegeman

is a retired high school teacher who transitioned from male to female in 2014.

Nancy Hilpert

is the co-founder of Prowess Search Firm, a writer, and an inspired spiritual being.

Rebecca Li

is a sociology professor and Chan Buddhist teacher in the lineage of Master Sheng Yen.

Kerry McKeever

is a self-described “academic gardener” who likes to help things grow.

Carol Mitchell

is the founder of the Institute for Black Justice and a lawyer

Sara Marie Ortiz

(Pueblo of Acoma) is an author, mentor, and co-founder of the Northwest Native Writers Circle.

Shin Yu Pai

is a writer, visual artist, and public events producer.

Emily Parzybok

is a political consultant and mindfulness teacher based in Seattle, Washington.

Azra Raza

is a professor of medicine, director of the Myelodysplastic Syndrome Center at Columbia University, and author of The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last.