Versal

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Versal

Community-centered publishing & curation, live from Amsterdam since 2002 Versal is a literary & arts publisher and curator based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Our work seeks to gather a nucleus of literary arts and experimentation in Amsterdam.

03/12/2023

Looking back on a magical evening last Thursday at in Knoxville, TN, celebrating the work of and their first book ✨✨ DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL 1 ✨✨. Many thanks to everyone who came out! And be sure to pick up your copy! 🔗 in bio!

30/11/2023

Just one more day to preorder your copy of our new title, DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL 1 by ✨Links where links go 💪🏼

20/11/2023

Stapel. Stack. Spines. Our two titles. FOR WORK / FOR TV is sold out! But you have just over a week to preorder DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL 1 at 10% off!

🔗 in bio

30/10/2023

Over the last year, we’ve been quietly working on this beautiful new book of art & poetry. DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL 1 by Maurice Moore is now available for pre-order!

https://www.versaljournal.org/shop/drawing-while-black-mixtape-vol-1

Maurice Moore is an Assistant Professor of Drawing and Painting at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Performance Studies from the University of California-Davis, and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Their works have appeared in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, Decoded Pride, Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora, and at the Poetry Foundation. From 2011 to the present, the creative has exhibited at the Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD) in London, United Kingdom; Calabar Gallery in New York, New York; Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art in Davis, California; and the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL 1 won the 2022 Amsterdam Open Book Prize, chosen by judge Raina Léon.

Watch this space for details on the book launch: November 30, 2023 at The Bottom in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

19/02/2023

Thanks to everyone who joined us in person and spirit on Saturday for the return of The Lucanae Volumes, our private art & poetry salon in Amsterdam. We look forward to bringing you more.

With , and , hosted by

22/10/2022

An unrequited love, a sip of whiskey, undisturbed sleep, a warming hug, a bite of a fresh strawberry, the sun directly on your skin… People long for a lot and have many unanswered desires! That is the wonderful theme of The Amsterdam Storytelling Festival 2022, that takes place from 2 to 6 Novembe...

19/10/2022

🥁——we met with our brilliant designer today to get production up and running for our next title, DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL I by . Can’t wait to send this to you. Coming 2023!

13/08/2022

Friends! Join us in celebrating Maurice Moore () as the winner of this year’s Amsterdam Open Book Prize for their manuscript, DRAWING WHILE BLACK MIXTAPE VOL 1, and Kristen Case () as runner-up for her poetry collection DAPHNE.

The final selection was chosen by contest judge Raina León () from a phenomenal shortlist of works. Follow the link in our bio to read more about our winners and the next steps for Versal and Versal Editions!

12/07/2022

Remembering poet Noah Eli Gordon, who left this world yesterday. Noah was part of Versal’s early years as a contributor to no.2 (2004!). He will be missed. Sending love to and Georgia, and all of his loved ones.

If you have the means to donate to help, click the link in our bio.

10/07/2022

4pm today at with Fee Griffin, and — see you soon!

09/07/2022

Proof of life. See you tomorrow, Amsterdam!

08/07/2022

Meet etaïnn, the next of our shortlisted writers from this year's Amsterdam Open Book Prize!

a hybrid writer+performer, part of the enbyq***rdyke colleXtive RER Q, etaïnn zwer (∞) believe in language as political sweat. they practice a utopic investigation (Aquarius sun) obsessed by q***r love+erotics and the empowering metamorphosis of the poem, to make more f**kable and decolonized worlds come true. their work includes hot texts, crash test readings, ritualized performances, discreet installations, ghost videos and writing in drag workshops. these have been shown activated published in various art spaces such as La Tôlerie (Clermont-Ferrand) and Rond Point Projects (Marseille), in festivals like Littérature, etc. (Lille) or extra ! (Centre Pompidou Paris), in numerous publications—«Relevant Poetry» (irrelevant press 2022), «Lettres aux jeunes poétesses» (L’Arche 2021), SPAM, Youpron, Phylactère, Panthère Première, Sabir, L’Incroyable—and on the radio (Cashmere Radio, Station Station). they are currently writing their first performed novel—a cuming of age poetic fantasy about sport, truth, genderf**k, psychoanalysis, Mariah Carey (yeah), and desire-s—, recently crushed on krump and love karaoke+collaborations.

Don’t forget to check out etaïnn’s Instagram page!

We hope you’ll join us in virtual applause for our shortlisted writers.

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http://www.versaljournal.org/

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Our story

Versal launched in 2002 under the umbrella of wordsinhere, a community organization founded to develop a rooted and self-sustaining international literary community in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The inaugural issue of Versal was released in late December of 2002. It was one of the first literary magazines to emphasize high production values and design and to feature artists and their work on equal footing with the writing. Over the course of its 12 editions, Versal has reached across the globe to spotlight the world’s premiere, though perhaps unknown, poets, writers, and artists.

Over the years, wordsinhere also developed extensive programming in the Netherlands and abroad, including The Open Stanza (2002-2007), workshops, and multiple writing groups. In 2011, with a literary community now propelled by its own momentum, the organization decided to focus its efforts on the journal and continue under the name Versal.

In 2014, Versal launched VERSO /, a live version of its curated pages, in cooperation with the world-renowned Mezrab in Amsterdam’s eastern docklands.