AQ Yearbook Party/Reading, 20 January 2017, American Book Center, Amsterdam

Amsterdam Quarterly (AQ) will hold its sixth annual Yearbook launch, party, and reading on Friday, 20 January 2017 from 6 to 7.45 PM at the American Book Center, Spui 12, second floor, in Amsterdam. The AQ 2016 Yearbook includes an interview in Dutch with photographer Carel van Hees about his Rijksmuseum Document Nederland exhibition (translated into English by AQ editor Bryan R. Monte and Amsterdam novelist Philibert Schogt). The AQ 2016 Yearbook also includes poetry by T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize winner, Philip Gross, poetry and fiction by Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prize winner, Srinjay Chakravarti, digital images by Yolanda V. Fundora (including the yearbook’s cover image below) and photography by Rink Foto.

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Readers at the event will include Arthur Allen, Simon Brod, Kate Foley, Amina Imzine, Sarah Kinebanian, Bryan R. Monte, Philibert Schogt and Patricia Seman. They will read poetry, fiction and memoirs in English with some Dutch translations about AQ’s three 2016 themes: War & Peace, (AQ15), Interiors, Gardens, Landscapes and Music (AQ16), and Climate Change (AQ17). Themes for 2017 are Medicine (AQ18), Animals (AQ19) and Education (AQ20) with reading periods in January, April and July 2017 respectively.

Amsterdam Quarterly was founded in 2011. Its mission is to publish, promote and comment on art and writing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world. AQ publishes art, articles, drama, essays, fiction, interviews, memoirs, photography, poetry and reviews of local and international writers. AQ is published online in the spring, summer and autumn at www.amsterdamquarterly.nl and at amsterdamquarterly.nl and as a print-on-demand yearbook compilation in the winter. In addition, AQ has a writers’ group which meets in Amsterdam on the third Sunday of the month from September to June.

Entrée to the AQ 2016 Yearbook launch/party/reading is free.

AQ Editor Interviewed by Friends Journal

On 30 March 2016, Amsterdam Quarterly’s editor, Bryan R. Monte, was interviewed via Skype by Friends Journal associate editor, Gail Coyle. Monte’s “No One Ever Asks” poem about accessibility issues at Amsterdam’s 1890s meetinghouse was published in the March 2016 issue of Friends Journal devoted to disability and inclusion in Friends (Quaker) meetings. This interview can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPMOKG_nI2E. His poem can be read at http://www.friendsjournal.org/no-one-ever-asks/.

After a brief introduction, Coyle asked Monte to read his poem. Then Coyle asked Monte how he came to write the poem—and how long it takes for him to write poems in general. Monte said he saw that the deadline for the disability and inclusion issue had been extended. He thought: ‘C’mon, Bryan its time to step up to the plate and contribute something’…”so I wrote this poem, which came very quickly in about two or three days, and usually it takes me about a month or longer to write anything and finish it and I sent it in.” (Then) “I thought, ‘Well I hope they take this one, I think they will’—and you did.”

Coyle asked how long Monte had been writing about living with MS. Monte said for two years since Jeffrey Shott, executive editor at Graywolf Press, had read his poems at a writers’ conference in Florida in January 2014 and asked him why he didn’t have any poems about his experience with MS. “No One Ever Asks” now belongs to a unpublished chapbook of twenty-three poems about living with MS called On the Level. Coyle also mentioned some of Monte’s other poems were included in Gathered: Contemporary Quaker Poets that Friends Journal reviewed in its November 2013 issue at http://www.friendsjournal.org/books-november-2013/.

When Coyle asked Monte where her viewers could read more of his poetry and other work, he mentioned Amsterdam Quarterly’s websites.

AQ Celebrates Fifth Anniversary/Lustrum at OBA

On Thursday, 4 February 2016, Amsterdam Quarterly (AQ) celebrated its fifth anniversary (lustrum) at the Amsterdam Main Library’s (OBA) Theatre with a book launch and a reading. Headlining the event was Amsterdam novelist Philibert Schogt reading from his latest, bi-lingual novel End of Story/Einde verhaal. Other readers included poets Abra Bertman, Amina Imzine, Sarah Kinebanian, Bryan R. Monte and Pat Seman and fiction writer/memoirist Sharon Feigal. After the reading, the audience received signed copies of the AQ 2015 Yearbook.

Amsterdam Quarterly was founded in 2011 to publish, promote and comment on writing and art in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world. AQ publishes work in ten genres: art, articles, drama, essays, fiction, interviews, memoirs, photography, poetry and art and book reviews. It is published online in the spring, summer and autumn and as a print-on-demand compilation anthology in the winter. AQ’s past issues have included interviews with NPR/BBC celebrity humorist and writer David Sedaris and 2009 T.S. Eliot Poetry Award winner Philip Gross, and art by acclaimed visual artist Yolanda V. Fundora.

Amsterdam Quarterly also has a monthly writers’ group which meets the third Sunday of the month (September to June) in an Amsterdam Jordaan district café. Admission to the writers’ group is through publication in one of AQ’s issues or by sending an admission’s manuscript of seven to ten pages in your genre to editor@amsterdamquarterly.nl . (Please wait for written permission to join the group).

2015 Yearbook Launch Readers OBA Amsterdam, 4 Feb. 2016 L. to r. Bryan R. Monte, Pat Seman, Sarah Kinebanian, Amina Imzine, Abra Bertman, Sharon Feigal and Philibert Schogt. Photo copyright 2016 by Winfred Wiercx. All rights reserved.

2015 AQ Yearbook Launch Readers, OBA Amsterdam, 4 Feb. 2016. L. to r. Bryan R. Monte, Pat Seman, Sarah Kinebanian, Amina Imzine, Abra Bertman, Sharon Feigal and Philibert Schogt. Photo copyright 2016 by Winfred Wiercx. All rights reserved.

 

AQ to Hold 5th Yearbook Launch/Reading 4 Feb. 2016

On Thursday, 4 February 2016 from 7 to 9 PM,  Amsterdam Quarterly will hold its fifth annual yearbook launch and reading at Amsterdam’s main library (OBA) at Oosterdokskade 143. AQ will celebrate its first Lustrum with readings by Amsterdam novelist Philibert Schogt, AQ publisher/editor Bryan R. Monte, and AQ writers’ group core members Sharon Feigal, Amina Imzine, Sarah Kinebanian and Pat Seman. The reading will provide an interesting mix of the fiction, memoir and poetry.

AQ’s mission is to publish, promote and comment on writing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world. AQ has published international writers such as NPR/BBC humorist David Sedaris, T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize Winner Philip Gross, UK memoirist and poet Neil Hughes and UK/NL poet Kate Foley.

Admission to AQ’s reading/party is free, but audience members must register in advance with the OBA’s ticket system at http://www.oba.nl/activiteit.html .

 

Readers from AQ's 2014 Yearbook Party

Readers from AQ’s 2014 Yearbook Party

AQ14 Writers Mentioned in Poetry and Poets & Writers magazines

Two of Amsterdam Quarterly’s fourteenth issue (AQ14) writers have received mentions in two literary magazines. Poetry mentioned editor Bryan R. Monte’s interview with David Trinidad on its Harriet Staff blog at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2015/09/david-trinidad-explains-it-all-very-well/. In an article entitled “David Trinidad Explains It All Very Well” are two excerpts from AQ14’s interview that discusses Trinidad’s poetic influences, his interest in list poems and his thin, columnar, poetic writing style (with the editorial aside that: “this is our kind of interview.”) Click on the link above and read the entire post.

AQ14 poet, Liz Robbins’ smiling face can be seen on page 177 and the description of her win of the Crab Orchard Review’s 2015 Special Issue Feature Award in Poetry on page 178 of the September/October 2015 issue of Poets & Writers magazine. P&W reports Robbins won the prize “for her poem “Columbine Video.” Her prize-winning poem will be published in the Summer/Fall 2015 issue of Crab Orchard Review.

Congratulations to David Trinidad and Liz Robbins and thank you again for your contributions to Amsterdam Quarterly.

AQ Holds Reading at Anne Frank Center NYC

On 17 January 2015, 35 people gathered at the Anne Frank Center in New York City to celebrate the American launch of the Amsterdam Quarterly 2014 Yearbook.  Three AQ writers and one artist read from and/or about their work.

Irving Greenfield read his story, “From Another Place” about the liberation of  a concentration camp. Arthur Davis read two short stories, one of which was “Roy’s Desert Motel” published in AQ 11. Yolanda V. Fundora displayed and distributed examples of her digital images, some from AQ10 & 11, and read from her book, Toward a Digital Aesthetic. Bryan R. Monte read five poems, including “This Emptiness” about the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and from his memoir of the painter, Jerome Caja from AQ9.

AQ readers Anne Frank Center NYC. From l. to r.: Irving Greenfield, Bryan R. Monte, Yolanda V. Fundora and Arthur Davis.

AQ readers Anne Frank Center NYC. From l. to r.: Irving Greenfield, Bryan R. Monte, Yolanda V. Fundora and Arthur Davis.

The Saturday afternoon reading was also an opportunity for those in attendance from New York and New Jersey to meet these AQ authors and artist and to have their Amsterdam Quarterly 2014 Yearbooks signed by them.

Founded in 2011, Amsterdam Quarterly is a literary magazine based in the Netherlands. Its goal is to publish, promote and comment on writing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world. AQ is published thrice yearly online at www.amsterdamquarterly.nl and www.amsterdamquarterly.nl and annually as a free, print-on-demand, compilation yearbook available to AQ contributors, reading attendees (one per household to be ecologically friendly) and workshop participants. All back issues are available online.

During January 2015, Amsterdam Quarterly will be reading submissions for its spring issue (AQ12). Its theme is “writers on writers and/or writing.” AQ12 will include memoirs about the poets FrancinEyE and Thom Gunn. The deadline for this issue is 31 January 2015. Please consult the submission guidelines at www.amsterdamquarterly.nl/submissions.

AQ Holds 4th Yearbook Launch Reading; NYC Anne Frank Center Reading 17 January 2015

Sunday, 23 November, 2014, Amsterdam Quarterly held its fourth, annual yearbook launch party and reading for an enthusiastic and appreciative audience at The English Bookshop. To celebrate the publication of the Amsterdam Quarterly 2014 Yearbook, five AQ contributors read fiction, memoir and poetry.

The AQ 2014 Yearbook includes work by well-known authors such as exclusive interviews with BBC/NPR humourist David Sedaris(AQ9) and 2009 T.S. Eliot Poetry Award winner, Philip Gross (AQ10), a memoir by Neil Hughes of riding the historic North Yorkshire Moors Railway (AQ9) and feature article on how Stephen King writes (AQ11).

Readers for the book launch included—from Paris—six-time AQ contributor, former CBS Evening News correspondent and present The Huffington Post contributor, Joan Z. Shore—and from Amsterdam and the Netherlands—poets and memoirists Patricia Seman and Iclal Ackay, poet Sarah Kinebanian and AQ’s publisher and editor, Bryan R. Monte.

AQ 2014 Yearbook Readers. From left to right: Joan Z. Shore, Bryan R. Monte, Iclal Akcay, Patricia Seman and Sarah Kinebanian

AQ 2014 Yearbook Readers. From left to right: Joan Z. Shore, Bryan R. Monte, Iclal Akcay, Patricia Seman and Sarah Kinebanian

On 17 January 2015, visual artist Yolanda V. Fundora (AQ 10 & 11), poet and fiction writer Irving Greenfield (AQ 9), fiction writer Arthur Davis (AQ11)and AQ publisher/editor and poet Bryan R. Monte will read their work at the Anne Frank Center at 44 Park Place in New York City from 2 to 4 PM. Admission to the reading is free, but seating is limited so reservations must be made with AQ’s editor and confirmed by him. RSVP at editor@amsterdamquarterly.nl.

AQ was founded in 2011. Its goal is to publish, promote and comment on writing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world. The AQ 2014 Yearbook includes work in 10 different genres: art, articles, drama, essays, fiction, interviews, memoirs photography, poetry and reviews.

AQ will be reading submissions for its spring 2015 issue this January. The theme of that issue, AQ 12, will be writers on writing and other writers and will feature a memoir of the late University of California poet and writer, Thom Gunn by Bryan R. Monte.

 

AQ 2014 Yearbook launch at English Bookshop, A’dam, 23 November, 2 PM

Sunday, 23 November 2014, Amsterdam Quarterly (AQ) will hold a party and reading to celebrate the launch of its 2014 Yearbook at the English Bookshop, Lauriergracht 71 in Amsterdam from 2 to 4 PM. Readers will include Iclal Akcay, Sarah Kinebanian, Lucien Knoedler, Amina Roselyne LaFrance, Bryan R. Monte and Patricia Seman. The 2014 Yearbook is a compilation of AQ’s online spring (AQ9), summer (AQ10) and autumn (AQ11) issues.

Work published in the AQ 2014 Yearbook includes an interview with NPR/BBC humorist and writer, David Sedaris (AQ9), an interview with and a poem by 2009 TS Eliot Poetry Prize winner, Philip Gross, (AQ10), an article about novelist Stephen King (AQ11) by former CBS News Paris correspondent, Joan Z. Shore and digital images (including cover art) by Yolanda V. Fundora (AQ10 & 11) .

AQ was founded in 2011. Its goal is to publish, promote and comment on writing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world.

Admission to the reading is free, but limited to the first 30 respondents. RSVP at editor@amsterdamquarterly.nl. Seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before the reading begins.

AQ Writers Take Part in Three January 2014 Readings

During January 2014, Amsterdam Quarterly writers read their work in three different venues. On 10 January, publisher/editor Bryan Monte and writers Nonnie Augustine (AQ9) and Sara Shea (AQ9) read at the Open Mike of the Blue Flower Arts Winter Writers’ Conference at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

On 13 January, writer Joan Z. Shore (AQ2 & 4-6) read passages from her novel, Red Burgundy, for a French-themed evening with Bryan Monte at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida for a small, but enthusiastic audience. Four yearbooks were signed that evening.

Joan Z. Shore and Bryan R. Monte at Books & Books

Joan Z. Shore and Bryan R. Monte at Books & Books

On 15 January Amsterdam Quarterly’s West Coast reading took place as part of the Smack-Dab series at the Magnet in San Francisco’s Castro District. Writers who read included (in alphabetical order) Don Brennan (AQ8), Adam Cornford (AQ5 & 9), Marvin Hiemstra (AQ5 & 8-9), Tobey Kaplan (AQ8 & 9), Bryan Monte, Edward Mycue (AQ1, 4, 6-7), and Andrea Rubin (AQ4, 10-11). There was also a photographic slide presentation by Rink (AQ2 & 8). Sixteen yearbooks were signed that evening and the reading was covered in the 23 January issue of Bay Times.

Readers below from l. to r. are Rink, Bryan Monte, Adam Cornford, Andrea Rubin, Ed Mycue, Tobey Kaplan, Marvin Hiemstra and Don Brennan. Photo copyright 2014 by James Poole. All rights reserved. SmackDabAQreaders

Amsterdam Quarterly Holds Third Annual Yearbook Launch Party and Reading

Readers at 2013 AQ Yearbook Launch Party and Reading. L. to r. Susan Carey, Lucien Knoedler, Bryan Monte, Kate Foley and Robin Winckel-Mellish. Susan de Sola missing.

Readers at 2013 AQ Yearbook Launch Party and Reading. L. to r. Susan Carey, Lucien Knoedler, Bryan Monte, Kate Foley and Robin Winckel-Mellish. Susan de Sola missing.


Friday, 13 December 2013, Amsterdam Quarterly (AQ), launched its 2013 Yearbook at the American Book Center in Amsterdam. The event included wine, nibbles and fiction by Susan Carey, memoir by Lucien Knoedler, and poetry by Kate Foley, Bryan Monte, Susan de Sola and Robin Winckel-Mellish. The launch party and reading concluded with yearbook signings.

The AQ 2013 Yearbook features drama by Jim Dalglish, interviews with Joan Z. Shore and Edward Mycue, photography by Rink, and poetry by Kate Foley as well as 26 other contributors’ essays, fiction, memoirs, photography, poetry, reviews and translations. The yearbook also includes some pieces written and/or translated into English, Dutch or Afrikaans.

Amsterdam Quarterly was founded in April 2011 as a tri-quarterly, online, literary magazine and an annual, printed, literary anthology. AQ’s goal is to publish, promote and comment on writing in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the world.

AQ’s spring 2014 issue on families of blood and choice will include an exclusive interview with David Sedaris and a memoir by Neil Hughes. Submissions for the spring issue will be read during January 2014 and should be sent to submissions@amsterdamquarterly.nl. Consult the AQ website at www.amsterdamquarterly.nl/contact/submissions/ for further details.