Amanda Kail, Ami Mattison, Angela Boyce, Anna Wilson, Ariana Waynes, Cheryl B., Colleen O'Hare, Cynthia French, Danielle Montgomery, Daphne Gottlieb, Desdamona, Dessa Darling, Dolores Garay, Elizabeth Stark, Elizabeth Thompson, Elizebeth Chavez, Erin Johansen, Erin O'Briant, Gloria Yamato, Harvey Rabbit, Heather Gold, Ishle Yi Park, Jen Joseph, Jennifer Blowdryer, Jill Nagle, Jundax, Karen Garrabrant, Karen Ladson, Katie Daley, Lan Tran, Lauren Wheeler, Lea Arellano, Letitia Hernandez, Letta Neely, Lindasusan Ulrich, Mary Brutto, Melissa Hung, Meliza Banales, Minal Hajratwala, Miriam Sachs Martin, Nathalie Illium, Nazelah Jameson, Nicole Levine, Rachel Kann, Ryka Aoki De La Cruz, Sailor Jay, Sarah Gates, Shauna Rogan, Solidad de Costa, Sonia Whittle, Souls Journey, Storm Florez, Susan Chenelle, Tania Katan, Thadra Sheridan, Thea Hillman, Wendy O Matik

ForWord Girls Organizers:

Meliza Banales, Daphne Gottlieb, Thea Hillman, Erin Johansen, Erin O'Briant, Shauna Rogan, Lauren Wheeler

We came, we saw, we took back the mic!

"(ForWord Girls) was easily one of the single most incredible experiences of my life." - Rachel Kann, LA Poet and feature on HBO's Def Poetry Jam

"Just a note to say good job, fabulous event, good work!" - Miriam Sachs Martin, Bay Area poet and founder of Fierce Words Tender

"You created such a supporting and welcoming place. I'm still half in shock, have in awe... it was amazing, simply amazing... thank you so very much!" - Ryka Aoki de la Cruz, LA poet

San Francisco was the home of the first annual ForWord Girls (FWG), the first national women's spoken word festival, on September 28, at the Lesbian, Gay, Bi & Transgender Community Center. Co-sponsored by the Harvey Milk Institute, FWG drew attendees and performers from around North America. Women (and a few men) showed up from as far-flung places as Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Georgia, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and Washington, D.C., and from as close as Los Angeles, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The over 250 performers and attendees were a diverse group, over half of the performers being women of color, and the lesbian and bisexual community represented as well. The disabled community was represented, including the deaf community, accomodated by a team of ASL interpreters. Ages of participants spanned seven decades, creating generational diversity, as well.

The all-day festival consisted of panels and workshops, interspersed with feature and open mic performances throughout the day, culminating in the evening performance, which was a sell-out event with standing room only.

If you attended and would like to share your words or pictures with us, please email us at. If you'd like to receive announcements about the next ForWord Girls in 2004, sign up on our yahoogroups mailing list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/forwordgirls-announce/.

If you would like to order a copy of the ForWord Girls anthology, Take Back the Mic ($5 + shipping), please email us at.

our mission:
The mission of ForWord Girls is to create a space/event for women writers and spoken word performers of all cultures and ages from all over. We want to come together and hear, teach, entertain and inspire each other. We want to share information about how we utilize the power of the word. We want to recognize, sustain and further envision a movement of girls who feel excited, skilled and unrestricted about using our voices as a force for self-expression, social change, and everything else we see fit to speak about.