OutWrite is Washington, D.C.’s annual LGBTQ+ literary festival. Events are free and open to the public. OutWrite is a part of DC Center Arts.

OUTWRITE 2022

OutWrite 2022 will be held August 5-7, 2022! OutWrite holds events throughout the year. You can learn more about them below under “Upcoming OutWrite Events” and on our Facebook page, Twitter, or Instagram.

PREVIOUS OUTWRITES

Learn more about previous OutWrite festivals here.

OUTWRITE JOURNALS

Our 2022 festival journal will be published soon! This year’s theme is “Pandemic as Portal”.

Read our 2021 journals below:

[View PDF: We Got This-Black Writers on Imagination, Joy and Liberation]

Watch the journal reading below:

[View PDF: Celebrating Ten Years of OutWrite]

Watch the journal reading below:

View journals from previous years here.

OUTWRITE CHAPBOOK COMPETITION

Stay tuned for pre-order links for the winning chapbooks from our 4th Chapbook Competition. For the past four years, OutWrite has held a chapbook competition and Neon Hemlock Press has published the winners.

View the winners of our previous chapbook competitions.

winners of our OutWrite 2021 chapbook competition — The winners of our 2021 OutWrite chapbook competition. From left to right: Hannah Soyer, Jason B. Crawford, and Mari Ness.

See the 2021 chapbook winners read below:

FOLLOW OUTWRITE ON SOCIAL

OUTWRITE CO-CHAIRS

OutWrite is Co-Chaired by local poets Marlena Chertock and Malik Thompson.

Marlena Chertock has two books of poetry, Crumb-sized: Poems (Unnamed Press) and On that one-way trip to Mars (Bottlecap Press). She uses her skeletal dysplasia as a bridge to scientific poetry. She is queer, disabled, and a 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee. Marlena serves as Co-Chair of OutWrite, Washington, D.C.’s annual LGBTQ literary festival, and on the Board of Split This Rock, a nonprofit that cultivates poetry that bears witness to injustice and provokes social change. Her poetry and prose has appeared in AWP’s The Writer’s Notebook, Breath & Shadow, The Deaf Poets Society, Lambda Literary Review, Little Patuxent Review, Neon Hemlock Press, Noble/Gas Quarterly, Paper Darts, Paranoid Tree, Plants & Poetry, Rogue Agent, Unheard Poetry, Washington Independent Review of Books, WMN Zine, Wordgathering, and more. Find her at marlenachertock.com and @mchertock.

Malik Thompson is a Black queer man proud to be from D.C. A bookseller, anime fanatic, and workshop facilitator. Malik has worked with Split This Rock, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Moonlit DC as a workshop facilitator. He also organized the Poets In Protest poetry series at the Black queer owned bookstore Loyalty Bookstores. Malik’s work can be found inside of Split This Rock’s Poetry Database as well as the mixed media journal Voicemail Poems. You can find Malik’s thoughts on literature via his Instagram account @negroliterati.

BECOME A VOLUNTEER

OutWrite is only possible with the dedication and support of our Planning Committee and a team of festival volunteers. Learn more about our team. Email outwritedc@gmail.com if you’d like to volunteer with our festival.

EXHIBITING

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual exhibiting is limited at this time.

OutWrite Posts

OutWrite, Washington D.C.’s LGBTQ Literary Festival, Welcomes its Next Chairperson

Light blue background with a typewriter graphic on the left with paper trailing out of it. Headline: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS. Text: This year's OutWrite festival journal theme is "Pandemic as Portal". We're seeking fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. No fee. Word count: 1500 words for fiction, up to 3 poems, no more than 6 pages total. $150 honorariums. Submit: bit.ly/outwrite2022journal. Rainbow logos for OutWrite and The DC Center.

Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2022 Journal

info about Outwrite 2022 Chapbook Contest

Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2022 Chapbook Competition

Upcoming Outwrite Events