Plus, Board Strategies Session on Nov. 19—Space Limited!
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Representing Literature
for New York State
LitNYS is the nation's largest ecosystem of literary arts organizations, building literary capacity, community, and culture for 25 years.
Fall Letter
NYS LITERARY LEADERS IN A LIMINAL SEASON
2025 Convening Edition
At the Convening earlier this fall, we felt the power of our collective passion, strategic thinking, and bold creativity. Panelists and participants, you brought your A-games to the field that Debora and Laurie laid and cultivated so devotedly. On behalf of the entire LitNYS community, thank you. We are all deeply grateful.
After such a transformative experience, it's easy to revert back to our busy lives and bustling organizations. So, to help harness the progress made, we've dedicated the bulk of this issue of LitNews NYS to the Convening—lessons learned, partnerships forged, new solutions discovered to old problems, and the start of a roadmap for the next era of literature in New York State.
Photos by Molly Stinchfield
Relive some of your favorite moments, and be sure to share with friends, colleagues, and connections new and old!
Building Our Roadmap
Before delving into the Convening, let's start with some action steps already plotted on our evolving roadmap—and opportunities you won't want to miss!
FAQ ON BOARDS:
- Should we expand our Board beyond our current inner circle of friends?
- How can we get our Board to raise money?
- How do we deal with a difficult Board member?
Andrea Louie is an accomplished thought leader and advocate for the well-being of communities. She is currently Executive Director of the Serica Initiative. She has held positions across arts administration and government organizations, including Executive Director of the Asian American Arts Alliance.
SPECIAL SESSION
Board Development:
Real World Strategies for Success
Presented by Andrea Louie
Wednesday, November 19, 10AM - 12PM ET
Virtual event free with registration—
Limited to 30 participants!
Throughout an organization's life cycle, having an effective partnership with its Board of Directors is key. So why is this also one of the most difficult relationships to achieve?
In this session, we will take a case-study approach to examine some of the most frequently asked questions around effective board partnerships. Featured presenters are Kathryn Besemer, President, and Colleen Kinder, Co-Founder/Executive Director, Off Assignment Magazine, and Michele Kotler, Founder/Executive Director, Community Word Project.
Each will share challenges overcome, insights gained and practical solutions implemented to create positive and effective board partnerships that continue to help their organizations thrive in good times and in bad.
There will be plenty of time for community members to ask questions and offer their tips on board partnerships and engagement.
FUNDING FOR THE FIELD
Historic $50M Initiative for
Nonprofit Literary Arts Organizations
A coalition of seven charitable foundations—the Ford Foundation, Hawthornden Foundation, Lannan Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Poetry Foundation, and an anonymous foundation—announced the launch of the Literary Arts Fund, an unprecedented effort to dramatically boost the essential yet critically underfunded nonprofit literary arts field in the United States. The fund, initiated by Mellon as a collaborative effort in service of the field’s needs and promise, will distribute at least $50 million over the next five years, with continued fundraising planned.
The Literary Arts Fund will award grants to U.S.-based nonprofits or fiscally sponsored literary organizations and publishers that support contemporary writers of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid literary forms through an annual open call beginning November 10.
Do you have updates you want the LitNYS community to know about?
Building Activism & Awareness
The Convening offered invaluable insights that will shape our roadmap for years to come. Please join us on a tour of some of the standout moments.
REMARKS FROM 2023-2025 NYS POET
Patricia Spears Jones
In her opening address at the 2025 Convening, Leading in a Liminal Season: Strategies for Growth While Staying Sane, former New York State Poet Patricia Spears Jones invoked the spider of Walt Whitman's poem "A Noiseless Patient Spider" to inspire the spirit of collaboration and reflection as we set out to chart the "shrinking democratic vista" of today.
"We need to learn what the spider knows: patience and fortitude."
—PATRICIA SPEARS JONES
The Call to
Practical Action
- Ira Silverberg, Moderator
- Mahogany L. Browne, Writer, Curator & Activist
- Cornelius Eady, Cave Canem
- Daniel O’Brien, Independent Publishers Caucus
- Margo Viscusi, Poets House
This panel provided a spirited discussion on crisis planning and action plans. Panelists offered insight on navigating murky waters within organizations themselves, and in the literary landscape at large.
Mahogany L. Browne opened the panel with powerful remarks examining the intricacies of maintaining a poet's determination and perspective throughout the different stages of one's career.
NOTES FROM OUR DESK...
- Board members can provide expert advice, but should make decisions informed by community.
- Relational organizing is hard, but necessary work.
- When seeking partnerships, look for more mission meld, less mission drift.
"The poet’s action is never divorced from the
moment. It is braided into the soil of circumstance, into the cries and silences of community. Over the past two decades, I have been called to action not by convenience, but by urgency—urgency carved out of grief, inequity, and survival."
—MAHOGANY L. BROWNE
Building Community
NOTES FROM OUR DESK...
- Develop superfunds and creative funders.
- Conduct field studies.
- Build solidarity across the network.
"We want to get to know the people on their turf before we need them."
—VERONICA SANTIAGO LIU
Stronger Together
- Michele Kotler & Javan Howard, Community Word Project
- Asari Beale, Teachers & Writers Collaborative
- Veronica Santiago Liu, Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria
The Stronger Together panelists discussed the importance of collaboration and the role storytelling plays in building a thriving community. Asari Beale, Javan Howard, and Veronica Liu emphasized the power of resource sharing, and establishing strong relationships from the outset.
With a focus on local-level engagement and one-to-one relationship building, they identified priorities for the field and breakout groups discussed how we could support each of the three initiatives. These conversations are just the beginning—a springboard for future collaboration—stay tuned in the New Year for how to continue your support.
Building Capacity
NYSCA NEWS WITH PROGRAM DIRECTOR CHRISTINE LEAHY
$161 Million in Funding for FY 2026
Christine Leahy, Arts Education | Literature Program Director, announced NYSCA achievements and upcoming opportunities. In FY 2025, NYSCA supported 509 individual artists and 1,807 arts organizations. In FY 2026, NYSCA will distribute $161 million in funding—$81 million to arts organizations and individual artists and an additional $80 million for capital projects. An increased focus on supporting individual artists through $10,000 grants will allow organizations to sponsor specific projects by writers in all literary genres. These successes are, in part, a result of the agency’s application overhaul over the last few years. NYSCA also supports the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable's NYS Teaching Artist Mentorship Program, a teaching artists mentorship opportunity.
GROWTH IN NYSCA LITERATURE FUNDING:
FY 2021
- Distributed $1.4 million.
- Grant size range $2,500 - $40,000.
FY 2025
- Distributed $3.6 million.
- Grant size range $10,000 - $49,500.
REMINDERS!
- Contact Christine to set up an appointment for panel comments after you've received your decision.
- Thank elected officials for funding and invite them to your program.
- Become a panelist or nominate someone for “cultural jury duty"
Planning for Strategic Growth
- Mary Gannon, Community of Literary Magazines & Presses and also LitNet
- Melissa Gradel, Poets & Writers
- Jafreen Uddin, Asian American Writers Workshop
- Amy Stolls, former Director of Literary Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts
This panel provided updates on the devastating cuts to funding and laid out how New York State-based organizations can work together to meet these challenging times.
CLMP's Executive Director, Mary Gannon, recommended staying current with LitNet's NEA Resources as they track changes to federal funding and conduct nationwide case studies on the downstream effects of federal cuts.
NOTES FROM OUR DESK...
- Build your budget without NEA Grants in mind.
- Now is a good time to engage new donor pools.
- Always ask for panel comments on your application.
"It’s not just the NEA. Foundations have changed priorities, and individuals are giving less. The NEA is a big piece of the funding landscape, but it’s just a piece of it."
—JAFREEN UDDIN
Building Capacity
Panel & Clinic
- Maya Nussbaum & Molly MacDermot, Girls Write Now
- Yuki Numata Resnick, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
- Milda De Voe, Pen Parentis
- Willard Cook, Epiphany Magazine
Girls Write Now's Founder & Executive Director, Maya Nussbaum, spoke with their Director of Special Initiatives Molly MacDermot about the strategic path of Girls Write Now over the course of decades. They focused on how systems tailored to your organization can create efficiencies and economies of scale in ways that also promote intimate relationship-building and close-knit communities. A community-driven growth plan can be a powerful tool to accomplish both.
Then, in a clinic-style format, Willard Cook and Milda De Voe shared organizational pain points building sustainable systems and initiatives with limited capacity. Panelists and audience members offered new perspectives, practical advice, and some next steps.
"First and foremost, metrics must serve your organization and your community. Other needs, including funder needs, should be secondary...Take back your power!"
—YUKI NUMATA RESNICK
NOTES FROM OUR DESK...
- Define what success looks like before you quantify it.
- Create a visionary plan, then set incremental goals that feel doable as you carry out your day-to-day mission.
- Building capacity can also mean building inner- and intra- organizational partnerships. Sometimes the least likely collaborations lead to the richest outcomes.
Pro Bono Legal Counseling
Attorneys Paul Battaglia, Will Creeley, and Gary Schuster offered insights and information in response to questions posed by Convening attendees on how literary organization might navigate amid censorship, book bans, and funding cuts. Paul and Will are available for follow up questions, and Will offered support to organizations facing First Amendment issues through FIRE - the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Reach out to Will at will@thefire.org.
Building Leadership
At Lunch with Lit, you'll feel like you're getting lunch with your smartest friends. The Lunch with Lit Podcast Series is produced by Girls Write Now, and is available through Substack, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Feast on the stories of your field!
LITNYS + GIRLS WRITE NOW PRESENT
Lunch With Lit Podcasts
Nearly 500 visionary literary leaders comprise the LitNYS coalition, enriching each other and shaping culture with our deep skills, experience, and passion for literature. Girls Write Now celebrates the unspoken heroes behind the scenes through the podcast series, Lunch with Lit. The project was kindled through interviews recorded at the 2024 LitNYS Convening hosted by Girls Write Now, and now the podcast has come to life. Each month throughout the year LitNews NYS brings you a new episode—including updates from our featured leaders.
LUNCH WITH LIT FEATURE
Nathalie Thill
Last month we heard from Founder & Executive Director of Pen Parentis, Milda M De Voe. In this episode, Nathalie Thill, Executive Director of the Adirondack Center for Writing, talks strategy on how she spreads literature throughout the six million acres that make up the Adirondacks.
Nathalie brings us closer to the stories and writers who call the Adirondacks home. She talks about bringing literary events to a sprawling, rural region in all kinds of ways (including hosting story slams in bars), and the need for her organization to “catch up with [their] own momentum” as they expand their audience.
"Sometimes it's about finding the person who doesn't know they like poetry until they're at a bar and there's an open mic. We bring the poetry to them."
—NATHALIE THILL
"During this precarious time in our country, it is heartening to see that people still depend on the arts, even in such a deeply rural place like the Adirondack Mountains. The future feels less scary when you see thousands of people sharing their stories, which is the most human thing that we all do. It connects us and is a path to understanding one another and ourselves. I'm thankful I get to see this every day."
—NATHALIE THILL
LUNCH WITH LITNYS UPDATES
Adirondack Center for Writing
The Adirondack Center for Writing just wrapped up a record-breaking summer season where they presented 39 events in 30 communities, reaching over 2,500 people, in just four months. This fall after their two-week writer residency on Twitchell Lake, they welcomed their new program manager, Obi Taswell, to the ACW team. Among many other things, Obi will help launch their new teen podcast and develop their teen writing lounge programs as well.
ACW's very popular Kickass Writers Festival is scheduled for June 6-8, 2026 in Saranac Lake, New York. This festival features writers, poets, comedians, literary agents, editors, and brings hundreds of people to the Adirondacks. It is a beautiful time, and a joyful and inspiring weekend—join them!
INTERN SPOTLIGHT
Ayah Al-Masyabi
As the year winds down, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank Girls Write Now LitNYS intern Ayah Al-Masyabi, who has worked closely with Community Coordinator Kenna McCafferty to bring to life our GWN x LitNYS partnership. From drafting social media posts to designing beautiful visual elements, Ayah's communications contributions have been the work of a literary leader who gives us all hope for the next generation.
Not to mention that Ayah is also a powerhouse journalist, artist, and student-podcaster! Check out her last two podcasts which were featured on NPR's Student Podcast Finalist list.
Do you have updates you want the LitNYS community to know about?
CONVERSATION, COMMUNITY & CAPACITY BUILDING
LITNYS LINKEDIN GROUP
Thanks to everyone who joined the LinkedIn group to share their Convening experience. In the coming months, this space will play an important role in continuing the conversations from your breakout rooms. So if you haven't signed up yet, scan the QR code to join!
About LitNews Partners
LitNYS
LitNYS is a coalition of New York State-based literary arts organizations committed to field-building work and collective thriving. We connect individuals of shared interest and purpose helping them build and sustain capacity to foster, promote, and present the literary arts. Founded in 2001 as a New York State Council on the Arts Literature initiative, LitNYS responded to national literary leaders’ call to professionalize the field. Our comprehensive collaborative approach—through our Advancement Regrants, Mentoring Program, and Facing Pages Statewide Literary Arts Convenings—has made us the nucleus of field-sustaining work for Literature in New York State.
Girls Write Now
Brought to you in partnership with Girls Write Now, LitNews NYS is a monthly digest of features, resources, and opportunities from the LitNYS network. With attacks on our freedoms mounting daily, now is the time to strengthen and project our collective voices, and Girls Write Now is committed to facilitating connections between LitNYS partners to further this goal. For nearly three decades, Girls Write Now—a nationally award-winning nonprofit, media incubator, and multi-generational community—has broken down the barriers of gender, age, race, and poverty to mentor, teach, and connect writers and leaders across disciplines and around the nation.
