Imagination as Power for the Youth

Learn more about Cosmic Writer’s collaboration in Vote That Jawn’s June 3 event below. 

By: Hannah Gerber

From May 27-July 2, 2026 ArtPhilly is hosting a citywide and multi-disciplinary art festival in conjunction with the nation’s 250 anniversary celebration called What Now. Vote that Jawn will be holding an event on June 3 as a part of this, focusing on amplifying youth voters through performances and workshops. 

One of the partners of this event will be Hannah Nahar, the education and program manager for Cosmic Writers. The group is a creative writing nonprofit that helps youth feel more confident in their writing skills through workshops. 

On June 3 at 6 p.m. Cosmic Writers teaching artist Sarah Yang will be leading introspective and collaborative writing and poetry activities, encouraging youth to tap into their imaginations to think about what freedom is. 

Nahar is passionate about creative writing for youth because of the skills it builds. “It builds confidence,” they continued, “critical thinking skills, the ability to think for yourself, imagination and just like sort of self empowerment in general, in addition to just literacy skills more broadly.” 

“We should take their ideas seriously,” Nahar declared about youth voices, saying uplifting youth’s ideas was one of their favorite things to talk about. They clarified, “not just [...] as kids who will become adults,” but as people who we should be taking seriously. 

Encouraging imagination within youth can be a way for youth to understand what civic participation is, and how they can have a voice within their communities on what they have the power to change and what they want to change. 

Giving students more ways to cultivate their imagination, critical thinking, confidence, emotional and general literacy is why Nahar continues to provide tangible workshops and activities for youth to take part in, to “help them to become strong leaders.” 

These workshops do not just look like sitting down with a pencil and paper. Instead, they tie in different interactive techniques, such as movement, games, drawing and music. These workshops are often led by college and graduate students, letting Nahar and the team at Cosmic Writers give space for multiple levels of youth to build their skills. 

Amplifying youth voices is important for Nahar because a person’s age does not define how much power their voice should have. “They deserve to be taken seriously [...] because they are people right now with rights.” 

Nahar asserted that writing and fostering imagination, “allows us to kind of break free of patterns. [...] It allows young people to learn how to make choices for themselves, to learn how to imagine and be creative, [which]  is also going to help them [imagine and then build a] world that is the one that we all deserve.” 

Youth voices matter, whether it’s their vote, their activism or their creative ideas for a better world. Learn more about What Now on June 3 here.