ABOUT CHANELLE

Chanelle Ferguson, was born, raised, and is still currently living in the Bronx. She is a junior at Herbert H. Lehman High School, and this is her first year at Girls Write Now. Chanelle is Jamaican and West Indian and is an avid supporter of natural hair and all-natural lifestyles. She learned that writing was her passion after realizing that she couldn't draw, sing or dance, but could move people with her words and thoughts. Chanelle finds daily inspiration in strangers and quotes. She first joined Girls Write Now because she loves and respects the way women are empowered by interactions through writing. She considers herself a writer because she believes writing is the greatest form of art. Her favorite book is Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson and loves writing realistic fiction and poetry. This past summer she was published in a magazine, made by her multimedia and journalism class, College Now at Lehman College. 

 

ABOUT LYNDAL

Lyndal Rowlands is a United Nations correspondent for an international media organization. Before moving to New York she was an aid worker in a half-island country called Timor-Leste, which is near her home country of Australia. She also used to be a music teacher, teaching 'cello to students aged 5 to 18.
She lives in East Harlem “El Barrio” where her favorite shops are Aldi and the local thrift shop. Her grandmother also used to love Aldi and thrift shops. She likes hiking in upstate New York and dancing in the dark. She is still searching for a latte like she can get back home in Melbourne, Australia. Coffee is the passion of Melburnians.
At the UN she reports on the Sustainable Development Goals, conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, refugees and climate change negotiations.
She has a Master's of Global Media Communication and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
She believes strongly in the importance of diverse voices in the media, because it helps change the dominant narrative which hasn't always worked too well in the past. This is why she is part of Girls Write Now.