Newtown Literary was founded in 2012 by a small group of Queens writers who wanted to create a written record of the literary work that was being done in the borough. Since then, the staff has grown to two dozen people, local volunteers who have committed themselves to creating a journal that showcases excellent poetry and prose from a diverse group of writers either born or living in Queens, New York.
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Queens is home to one of the most diverse communities of people in the world, and Newtown Literary strives to be a literary forum reflecting our borough. We welcome pieces from writers and poets of all gender identities and expressions, racial and ethnic backgrounds, social classes, sexual orientations, citizenship and immigration statuses, ages, and belief systems, as well as those with different abilities and disabilities. Emerging and experienced scribes of all types will find a home in Newtown Literary, and we are especially interested in making space for words from those who are marginalized elsewhere. We are dedicated to representing in the journal the many voices of Queens.
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Furthermore, we hope to reflect the linguistic variety of Queens and will continue our tradition of publishing work incorporating languages other than English. We also seek to include the entirety of the geographic space of Queens and encourage submissions from Far Rockaway to Astoria, Bayside to Ridgewood.
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Newtown Literary publishes about 25 writers and poets in each semiannual issue, and the journal is published in June and December. For each issue, we hold a launch reading at a local Queens venue that features contributors from that issue, and we host several other readings and events throughout the year to spotlight our contributors and amplify the poetry and prose being crafted in Queens.
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In 2016, after becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Newtown Literary began receiving grants from Queens Council on the Arts, Amazon Literary Partnership, and Poets & Writers to begin paying contributors, readers, and staff for their work, making the journal a local, paying market for Queens writers.
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If you are interested in submitting to our journal, please read our submissions guidelines.
