This Year's Topic
Hip-hop is 50! For five decades since this revolutionary art form was born in the Bronx, hip-hop has influenced how we express ourselves through lyrics, music, art, dance, fashion, and much more. For this summer’s Teen Voices magazine, we want you to tell us, through your writing and art, how you Express Yourself. What’s your personal style or vibe? How have art, music, and fashion shaped who you are and how you express yourself? How do you use your art and writing to tell the world who you are?
Download our Teen Voices information flyer.
What Can I Submit?
All forms of writing (e.g. fiction, nonfiction, poetry) and art (e.g. photography, drawing, painting, multimedia).
Who Can Enter?
You must be between the ages of 13 and 19 and live, work, or go to school in New York City.
What Could I Win?
We will select 25 winning entries for publication in our Teen Voices magazine, which will be available online and in all branches of The New York Public Library in October 2023. Winning entries will also receive a $100 gift card!
Winners will be announced at the first annual Teen Voices Festival on August 25—save the date!
How Do I Enter?
You must have a valid email address to enter. Submissions opened Monday, June 5, 2023. Submit your work via the Teen Voices submission form no later than 11:59 PM on Sunday, August 6. You may submit either written work or visual art.
- Written work, including nonfiction essays, short stories, poetry, lyrics, etc., should not exceed 1,000 words (about four pages, double-spaced). Written work should be submitted in a format readable by Google Drive and/or Microsoft Word. Submissions can be written in any language.
- Artwork includes paintings, sculpture, photographs, paper zines, etc. Physical copies of artwork will not be accepted. Instead, take a full-frame picture or scan your work into JPG/JPEG, TIFF, or PNG format. Images must be 300 pixels per inch (PPI). Any images included in the artwork must be your original work.
Terms and Conditions
Read our full guidelines, terms, and conditions.
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Teen Voices Issue 1
The first issue of Teen Voices, published in 2022, features poetry, prose, and artwork on the themes of Myself, My Community, and Make Waves. Explore Issue 1 online to see what Teen Voices is all about!
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Introducing! NYPL's Teen Voices Festival
Fri, Aug 25, 2023, 1–4 PM | Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Register for our first-ever Teen Voices Festival, featuring NYC Youth Poet Laureate Stephanie Pacheco and authors Torrey Maldonado and Patricia Park! Connect with organizations where you can get your work published, take part in free arts workshops, and browse artwork by NYC teens. Plus! Free giveaways and the announcement of our Teen Voices magazine contest winners.
More for Teens
Join us in branches all summer long for free programs, author talks, arts and crafts, photography, zine-making, and much more! Plus, explore our all-new expanded Teen Centers, where you can collaborate, make new friends, read, and enjoy all the Library has to offer.
Explore Summer at the Library
Get creative and express yourself all summer long at The New York Public Library with free events for all ages, programs for kids and teens, reading recommendations, exhibitions, and much more!
Explore Summer at the Library for all ages in español (Spanish), 中文 (Chinese), বাংলা (Bengali), Русский (Russian), and English.
50 Years of Hip-Hop
2023 marks 50 years since the dawn of hip-hop at a South Bronx house party. Join the Library this summer as we celebrate the legacy and influence of hip-hop with programs, reading recommendations, and more, culminating in a celebration in August.
Thank You
Major support is provided by the New York Life Foundation, the 2023 city-wide sponsor for the Summer Reading and Learning Programs.
Additional support is provided by The Rona Jaffe Foundation; New York Yankees Foundation; Montblanc; anonymous donors; and the continuing major support of the Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences.
These programs and initiatives are part of the Library’s overall commitment to our branch patrons and education programs, led by the Merryl and James Tisch Director of Branch Libraries and Education. Major support for educational programming is provided by Merryl H. and James S. Tisch.
