Jackson Heights Life

Attention Queens writers craving community!

Newtown Literary Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting prose and poetry in Queens, in partnership with Lewis Latimer House Museum, is now offering free creative writing classes ONLINE during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our first virtual workshop in our “Writing on Race & Immigration” series with Lewis Latimer House Museum will be led by Meher Manda on Saturday, April 18th from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m:

 “Mapping Your Home in Poetry”

In this generative class for poets, we will look at home not simply from the vision of nostalgia, but from a lens that draws the visceral details, the metaphorical possibilities, and the essayistic memories of childhood, community, and family, to arrive at a juncture where poetry about home can be both personal and generational. We will read, embrace, and examine the work of poets such as Sharon Olds, Ilya Kaminsky, Ariel Francisco, and Warsan Shire, and use generative writing prompts to refine our use of home and its myriad components in our writing.

Our guiding question will be: What about home sneaks its way into my work, and how can I nurture and support that meaning through poetry?

RSVP to receive instructions on how to join the virtual workshop here: http://tiny.cc/NewtownApril18.

Meher Manda is a poet, short story writer, culture critic, and educator from Mumbai, India, currently based in New York City. She earned her MFA in Fiction from the College of New Rochelle. She is the author of "Busted Models," a chapbook of poems published by No, Dear Magazine in Fall 2019. Her work is forthcoming and has appeared in Hobart Pulp, Epiphany Magazine, Glass Poetry, Los Angeles Review, Lumina Journal, and elsewhere. She is one-half of An Angry Reading Series in Harlem, New York.

This program is in partnership with Lewis Latimer House Museum and made possible, in part, with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, as well as with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.


For more information, please visit newtownliterary.org/writingclasses.

Attention Queens parents, teachers, and kids: free creative writing classes available again at Queens Library!

Newtown Literary Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the writing of prose and poetry in Queens, in partnership with Queens Library, is offering free creative writing classes for kids and teens.
 
The next class is Saturday, April 13th at 1 p.m.–2:30 p.m. at Queens Library at Jackson Heights, located at 35-51 81st St for teens ages 13 through 17:

“Poems That Tell Stories”

Some of the greatest poems we read growing up, simply put, are stories. But to understand them, we have to understand the past. In this class we will focus on reading and writing poems that tell our stories and the history we are making. We will practice and write poems with themes of migration, class, race, and family.

Belal Mobarak was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and raised in Queens. He is a poet, artist, and the son of a great storyteller. His work can be found in Columbia Poetry Review, Newtown Literary, Blueshift Journal, Flock, Apogee, HEArt, and others.

This program is made possible, in part, with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, as well as with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

For more information, visit newtownliterary.org/writingclassesforkids. No registration necessary!

As far as my family can recall, The Ready Penny has existed in JH for at least 30 or 40 years. Does anyone know if there was ever a bar in that spot under a different name, or has it always been “The Ready Penny”?

Attention Queens writers—both experienced and new-to-writing: the last in a series of free creative writing classes this season taught by the best writers in Queens!

Newtown Literary Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting prose and poetry in Queens, in partnership with Queens Library and City Council Members Daniel Dromm and Elizabeth Crowley, is offering free creative writing classes.

The next class will be led by Eugene Lim on Saturday, May 5th from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Queens Library in Jackson Heights at 35-51 81st St:

“Allow Yourself to Write!”

Are you stuck in your writing? We'll try different exercises in spontaneous writing to unlock our powers of observation, memory, and abstraction. One reason writers get stuck is that they are trying to reproduce someone else's idea of a story. We'll explore different ideas of narrative and hopefully expand our notion of story.

Eugene Lim is the author of the novels Fog & Car, The Strangers, and Dear Cyborgs. He is a high school librarian and lives in Jackson Heights.

One student in each class will be randomly selected to receive a copy of the instructor’s latest book!

For more information, please visit newtownliterary.org/writingclasses.

Attention Queens parents, teachers, and kids: our final free writing class for teens this season (ages 13-17) will be held at the Jackson Heights public library on Saturday, March 24th from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.:

“Write on Your Nerve”

Learn to write poetry freely, honestly, excitingly, and strangely, using everything around you as sources of inspiration. The goal is to come out of the class with new and interesting tools to use when faced with the scary question of “how to begin.”  Permission is given to not strive for perfection, but to strive. To not second-guess. To use everything that’s around you for your art. And most definitely, to enjoy playing with language. Reading material will be provided as sources of inspiration. Students may share their work.

One student in each class will be randomly selected to receive a free hardcover notebook to keep all their writing in!

Crystal Rivera is currently part of the editorial review board for poetry for Newtown Literary, where she was first published in 2014.

Newtown Literary Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting writing and poetry in Queens, offers this series of free creative writing classes for kids and teens in partnership with Queens Library and City Council Members Daniel Dromm and Elizabeth Crowley.

For more information, please visit newtownliterary.org/writingclassesforkids.

***Newtown Literary is also running its biennial writing contest for Queens kids in grades 3 through 12. The winners are published in Queens’s literary journal, Newtown Literary, and have the opportunity to read their work at the awards ceremony in June. The deadline to submit poetry or fiction is March 29, 2018. For more information, rules, and to submit, visit newtownliterary.org/qyap.

Attention Queens parents, teachers, and kids: FREE creative writing classes and writing contest for kids!

Newtown Literary Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting writing and poetry in Queens, in partnership with Queens Library and City Council Members Daniel Dromm and Elizabeth Crowley, is offering free creative writing classes for kids and teens.

The next class is Saturday, February 24th at 3 p.m.–4:30 p.m. at Queens Library at Jackson Heights located at 35-51 81st St. for kids ages 8 through 12:

“Twisted Tales: Re-telling Fairy Tales, Myths, and More”

Some stories we all know: we’ve heard them told and re-told our entire lives. Retelling classic stories can be a great way to tell your own! In this 90-minute class, we’ll talk about what makes a good retelling (and a good story to retell). Through group and individual writing exercises, we’ll try our hands at a few different techniques for twisting well known stories from fairy tales, folklore, mythology, and the classics into our own brand new tales.

Heather Talty is a writer, editor and former librarian. She has fairy-tale inspired stories in several publications, most recently NonBinary Review.

One student in each class will be randomly selected to receive a free hardcover notebook to keep all their writing in!

For more information, visit newtownliterary.org/writingclassesforkids.

Newtown Literary is also running its biennial writing contest for Queens kids in grades 3 through 12: Queens Young Authors and Poets contest. The winners are published in Queens’s literary journal, Newtown Literary, and have the opportunity to read their work at the awards ceremony in June. The deadline to submit poetry or fiction is March 29, 2018. For more information, rules, and to submit, visit newtownliterary.org/qyap.

Attention Queens parents, teachers, and kids: Free creative writing classes and writing contest for kids!

Newtown Literary Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting writing and poetry in Queens, in partnership with Queens Library and City Council Members Daniel Dromm and Elizabeth Crowley, is offering free creative writing classes for kids and teens.

The next class is Saturday, January 27th at 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Queens Library at Jackson Heights located at 35-51 81st St. for kids ages 8 through 12:

“Metaphor and Simile: Taking the Leap With Poetry”

Using comparative devices is literary risk-taking. Students will read contemporary and traditional poetry, and together we will analyze simile and metaphor. Then, with prompts and exercises to further examine the relationships between words and ideas, students will learn how to craft poems with creative descriptions that stand on their own and carry the reader’s understanding, imagination, and attention.

Jackie Sherbow’s poetry has appeared in Day One and Luna Luna. She is the editor at Newtown Literary.

One student in each class will be randomly selected to receive a free hardcover notebook to keep all their writing in!

For more information, visit newtownliterary.org/writingclassesforkids.

***Newtown Literary is also running its biennial writing contest for Queens kids in grades 3 through 12. The winners are published in Queens’s literary journal, Newtown Literary, and have the opportunity to read their work at the awards ceremony in June. The deadline to submit poetry or fiction is March 29, 2018. For more information, rules, and to submit, visit newtownliterary.org/qyap.

Hi everyone! Just a reminder that this Saturday is the first in our free creative writing class series at Queens Library locations.

Queens writer Jill Eisenstadt will lead a class on incorporating conflict in our fiction this Saturday, Nov. 4th at the Jackson Heights Queens Library (35-51 81st St) from 2:30pm - 4:30pm. If you're not familiar with her work (most recently, the novel Swell), you may want to check out our interview with her, live on our blog today: https://www.newtownliterary.org/single-post/2017/11/02/Interview-with-Jill-Eisenstadt-author-of-Swell-and-Newtown-Literary-free-writing-class-instructor.

As always, no need to register for classes ahead of time.

Hope to see you there!