Talking with Rita Bullwinkel

For many people, particularly women in their 20s and 30s, 2023 was the year of the girl. Those 12 months gave us Barbie, girl math, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, girl dinners, and the coquette aesthetic—joyous rebuttals to the experiences of growing up too fast, too sexualized, without the innocence and joy of girlhood. But beneath the pink bows and performed delicateness lies an understated element of girlhood: how gritty and brutal coming-of-age can be, full of physicality, power, and a striking competitiveness. Rita Bullwinkel’s debut novel, Headshot, out March 12, understands this perfectly.