Before 1994, New York City, the “publishing capital,” lacked a community literary paper featuring mind-stimulating stories, essays and poems for consumption by New York editors, agents, writers and readers.
Literal Latté filled the void — debuting in June 1994 and offering 30,000 free copies of its literary brew in New York’s coffeehouses, bookstores and arts organizations.
Reaching ten times as many readers as traditional literary magazines, Literal Latté caffeinated careers, bringing writers from around the world into the offices, homes and hands of New York’s publishing professionals, writers and readers.
The founders knew that great writing, in a friendly and easily available format, would be as popular as cappuccino in a café in New York City.
For almost a decade, the print edition of Literal Latté was widely read and critically acclaimed throughout New York City, from our first issue in 1994 to our last print issue in 2003. These days, Literal Latté is entirely online, and we bring our writers to the world. Although we were among the first literary journals to have an online presence (in 1997!), we completely redesigned our site in 2008. In time, we plan to include the entirety of our massive archive of top-shelf prose, poetry and art on the site.
In a world where it is harder than ever for new writers to get a foot in the door of the traditional publishing world, Literal Latté remains committed to finding and nurturing great talents, both on its website and in its new anthology, in book format. The first anthology is now available, in paperback and hardcover–featuring highlights from the first 15 years of brewing the world’s best new writing.
Get comfortable. Have a taste. Enjoy.
