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.