In Strength & Solidarity: LitNYS 2026 Statewide Convening of Literary Arts Organizations

Girls Write Now + LitNYS Convened in Strength & Solidarity

October 4-6, 2026 – New York, NY

In the first week of October, Girls Write Now joined literary arts organizations from across New York State at Facing Pages, the 2026 LitNYS Convening, held at Poets House, the national poetry library and literary center in Manhattan. LitNYS is the nation’s largest ecosystem of literary arts organizations and has been building literary capacity, community, and culture for 25 years. As LitNYS’s Communications Partner, Girls Write Now supported communications for the Convening and shared updates and opportunities from our work across the LitNYS network. This year, sessions opened to a broader range of staff at member organizations.

The theme, “Assembling New Practicalities in Strength and Solidarity,” grew out of the small peer-to-peer conversations at last year’s Convening. Assembling New Practicalities means building the concrete, usable approaches—resources, tactics, shared solutions—that each of us needs to meet the present moment. Community Director Emily Rigby joined Sara Lippman, editor in chief of Epiphany, for a report from the field, “In the Midst of Collaboration.” Maya Nussbaum and Community Coordinator Kenna McCafferty introduced LitNYS Mentor on Call. Kenna then anchored the communications and marketing peer group, and Maya anchored the mentors group. Board member Bruce Morrow joined the panel “Making the Case for Literary Arts: Moving Beyond Scarcity,” which asked why the literary arts deserve to be funded and how to tell a story of literary impact that commands systemic support.

Girls Write Now’s partnership with LitNYS runs year-round. LitNews NYS is a monthly digest of features, resources, and opportunities from across the network. LitNYS Mentor on Call connects literary arts leaders statewide to solve capacity problems in real time. Our podcast series Lunch with LitNYS, our Life@LitNYS profiles, and a collaboration with Epiphany Magazine round it out.

Below, photos from the Convening’s Group Reading, Book Signing, and Mixer on Monday, October 5, hosted by Mahogany L. Browne, with featured readers Rob Arnold, Noah Arhm Choi, Rico Frederick, Bruce Morrow, Jive Poetic, Caroline Rothstein, and Jon Sands.

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