What role do competitions play in launching and sustaining a writer’s and artist’s career? Join us for From Competition to Career, a panel discussion exploring how art and writing contests serve as powerful platforms for discovery, recognition, and professional growth. Competitions cultivate our creative communities and support emerging voices. They are cornerstones in sustaining a vibrant culture and creating opportunities for stories that might go unheard.

Learn how competition organizers and participants navigate the world of competitions, from first submissions to transformative wins, and how those moments opened doors to publication, mentorship, and lasting creative communities.

Whether you’re an aspiring artist or writer considering your first submission, an educator fostering literary talent, or a reader invested in the future of storytelling, this panel offers insight, inspiration, and practical takeaways on why these contests matter, how they can shape the creators or tomorrow, and what we can do to continue to support them.

Featured Speakers:

• Christopher Wisniewski, Executive Director, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers
• Laurin Becker Macios, author of Calling Me Home, Somewhere to Go, and I Almost Was Animal

Moderated by Irene Chan, Program Chair, New York Book Forum