Amsterdam Quarterly Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Amsterdam Quarterly?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly is an international, online and print literary magazine.

Q. When was Amsterdam Quarterly founded?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly was founded in April 2011.

A. Who founded Amsterdam Quarterly?
Q. Amsterdam Quarterly was founded by writer, editor, lecturer, and anthropologist Bryan R. Monte.

Q. What is Amsterdam Quarterly’s mission?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly’s mission is to publish, promote, and comment on writing and art in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the world.

Q. Is Amsterdam Quarterly a local literary magazine?
A. No. Amsterdam Quarterly publishes work from around the world. During its first twelve years, Amsterdam Quarterly received work from writers from over twenty-seven countries in six continents.

Q. How often and in what form is Amsterdam Quarterly published?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly is published four times annually—thrice online in the spring, summer, and autumn at amsterdamquarterly.nl and at www.amsterdamquarterly.org and once as a print-on-demand compilation yearbook anthology in the winter.

Q. Is Amsterdam Quarterly engaged in any other literary activities besides its magazine?
A. Yes. Amsterdam Quarterly has a writers’ group which meets on the third Sunday monthly (July and August excepted). In addition, Amsterdam Quarterly also holds an annual launch party and reading for its yearbook each January or February.

Q. How many issues has Amsterdam Quarterly published?
A. As of September 2023, Amsterdam Quarterly has published thirty-eight online issues and twelve, print-on-demand, compilation yearbook anthologies.

Q. Which genres has Amsterdam Quarterly published?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly has published work in the following twelve genres: art, article, drama, essay, fiction, interview, memoir, news, photoessay, photography, poetry, and review.

Q. What types of work might a typical issue of Amsterdam Quarterly include?
A. A typical issue of Amsterdam Quarterly usually includes fiction, memoir, photography, poetry and book and/or art reviews. Other genres represented might include art, article, drama, essay, interview, and photoessay.

Q. Which notable writers has Amsterdam Quarterly published?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly has published former American Academy of Poets Chancellor and multi-award winning writer, editor, and educator Naomi Shihab Nye, NPR personality and Louisiana State University MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English emeritus, Adrei Codrescu, NPR and BBC personality and humorist David Sedaris, 2009 T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize winner Philip Gross, 2000 National Book Award finalist poet and writer Kim Addonizio, physician, bioethicist, and 2012 Dundee International Book Award winner Jacob M. Appel, the Sow’s Ear Poetry Journal 2017 Poetry Prize winner Akaiser, and 2007-08 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Poetry Prize winner Srinjay Chakravarti. Award-winning Amsterdam writers include novelist Philibert Schogt and poet Kate Foley.

Q. Do Amsterdam Quarterly’s issues have specific themes?
A. Yes. These are listed in advance on the magazine’s home and submissions pages. The themes are very broad, so a variety of perspectives and approaches are welcome.

Q. Does Amsterdam Quarterly publish work in a specific style or favour a specific school of writing?
A. No. Amsterdam Quarterly publishes work in a wide variety of styles: traditional and experimental as well as imagistic and rhetorical. Issues might include poems in traditional forms such as the sonnet or the villanelle as well as in free verse and/or concrete poems. Amsterdam Quarterly is not affiliated with any specific literary movement.

Q. Does Amsterdam Quarterly publish work only in English?
A. No. Amsterdam Quarterly has published work in Asturian (AQ28 & AQ33), Dutch (AQ8, AQ10, AQ12, AQ15, AQ16, and AQ17), Italian (AQ23), Romanian (AQ3), Spanish (AQ4), and Turkish (AQ3) with English translations below or on facing pages.

Q. When are Amsterdam Quarterly’s reading periods?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly reads work during the months of January, April and July.

Q. Does Amsterdam Quarterly read work at other times?
A. No.

Q. Does Amsterdam Quarterly publish previously published work?
A. No.

Q. Does Amsterdam Quarterly charge to read work?
A. No.

Q. What is Amsterdam Quarterly’s submission response time?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly responds within two months.

Q. Does Amsterdam Quarterly accept simultaneous submissions?
A. No. Due to its short response time and to avoid publication and copyright problems, Amsterdam Quarterly does not accept simultaneous submissions.

Q. What does Amsterdam Quarterly use as its dictionary and style manual?
A. Amsterdam Quarterly uses the Oxford English Dictionary’s preferred spelling and the New Oxford Style Manual (2016).