History

Young Voices was first published in 1965 by the former North York Public Library. The magazine was created to give teens their own place to express themselves.

In the following decades, it was sometimes teen editors and sometimes librarians who chose work to publish, but the focus on teen self-expression never changed.

In 2004, TPL formed a group of teen volunteers to work in small teams with professional writers and artists to select the work to publish. From that time until the present, all the writing and art in Young Voices has been selected by teens.

In 2025 TPL celebrated the 60th anniversary of Young Voices and is looking forward to another sixty years of sharing teen creativity and ideas.

Read all the past issues of Young Voices on the Digital Archive.

Young Voices over the years

1960s

• magazines are made on a mimeograph machine and stapled
• Young Voices features work by teens in North York only

1970s

• teen editors urge people to mail their submissions using a “5 cent stamp”

1980s

• Young Voices is professionally printed for the first time

1990s

• when the city amalgamates, Young Voices starts to include work by teens from across the whole City of Toronto

2000s

• a teen editorial group is formed to select the work to publish

2010s-2020s

• in 2023 the magazine is published in full colour for the first time

Young Voices alumni

These writers published in Young Voices when they were teens!

• Faith Arkoful, The Seventh Town of Ghosts
• Fawn Parker, Hi It’s Me
• Terese Mason Pierre, Myth
• Zalika Reid-Benta, Frying Plantain

Young Voices adult mentors

Teen volunteers work in small teams with adult mentors to select what to publish. Here are just a few of the talented mentors and their books.

• Lillian Allen, Make the World New
• Pasha Malla, All You Can Kill
• Charlie Petch, Why I Was Late
• Phoebe Tsang, Setting Fire to Water