There's something about the written word that we here at Teen Vogue obviously love. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. That's why the New York Public Library's annual Freedom to Read contest is focusing on visual storytelling this time around.
In honor of Books For All, an initiative designed to fight against book banning through efforts like a Teen Banned Book Club and this annual contest, The New York Public Library invites you to enter its Freedom to Read National Art Contest. Inspired by the graphic novels the Banned Book Club enjoyed, you're encouraged to submit drawings, paintings, photography, mixed media, comic art, and digital art that centers around the topics of reading, libraries, and intellectual freedom.
The goal? To “show or represent what the power of reading or the freedom to read mean to you through visual art,” according to the Library's website. What might that look like? It can look however you interpret it, of course, but the Library listed protest posters, illustration of a reading memory, or comic art as examples.
This contest is more pertinent than ever, as the number of banned books is increasing. Last school year, PEN America found that the number of banned books nearly tripled, totaling more than 10,000 banned books in public schools. In the 2022 to 2023 school year, the organization reported 3,362 book bans in public schools. Young people across the country are fighting back against these bans by speaking to their legislatures, to their school boards, and organizing with libraries. Thanks to the New York Public Library's contest, you too can protect the Freedom to Read.
If you want to answer this call to action, submit your entry here by December 6. All 2-D and 3-D visual art is eligible, but you should submit your work as a digital image. To enter the contest, you must live, work, or go to school in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia and be between 13 to 18 years old. And, make sure you cite any use of generative AI in your work, from editing to image generation, and anything in between. You can find all the contest details here.
The grand prize winner will receive $500, have their work published in Teen Voices, the New York Public Library's magazine, and have their work exhibited at one of the Library's midtown locations. Twenty more winners will be awarded a $250 prize, along with publication in Teen Voices.
So, put pen to paper or paint to canvas and fight for our freedom to read.
