A writer friend of mine Tim Fredrick is involved in new venture called Newton Literary. It was created, in part, to provide a platform for writers from Queens — my ‘hood for the past decade or so. I thought I’d pass along their inaugural call for submissions.

Newtown Literary is a new semi-annual literary journal published in electronic and paper formats. We look for fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and poetry that go beyond entertainment and storytelling.  The pieces we include for publication have struck us on a deep level.  Pieces that juxtapose humor with grief, tell untold love stories, and replace cliché with innovation are examples of works that will find a home in Newtown Literary.

Newtown, the journal’s namesake, was one of the original towns incorporated into the New York City borough of Queens in 1898. Newtown Literary is dedicated to writers from and writing about Queens, NY and allocates half the journal to these writers and their work.  But this is not our exclusive focus, as we recognize that Queens is just as much a state of mind as it is a geographic boundary.  The diversity of Queens is our inspiration and we hope to fill the journal with diverse stories, experiences, and voices.  

The inaugural issue of Newtown Literary arrives late Fall 2012.  Submission deadline for this issue is August 4th.

For more information and to submit, visit: http://newtownliterary.wordpress.com