Crescendo: A Community of Writers is a literary magazine that amplifies unique voices. We publish both established and up-and-coming writers, particularly writers who find themselves on the margins of traditional publication opportunities. We publish excellent writing in the genres of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and inter-genre work.
We invite you to join your voice with ours. Check out our Submissions page for details.
Feel free to contact us at CrescMag@gmail.com
We began with community writers groups in New York City and keep that ethos in all we do. Put simply, we are writers who support writers–from idea generation to publication.
2018 - Current
In 2018 Katherine Payne started Uptown Writers Circle in Inwood in New York City. The group met at The Park View, a neighborhood restaurant. Our writers circle is free and open to anyone who wants to write in community. We support and welcome both experienced and novice writers. In 2020, due to the Pandemic, the group's meetings were forced to move online. Now, in 2024, we will again be meeting in person.
The idea for a new issue of the magazine came organically out of group conversation and mirrored our group's purpose: to publish work by unique voices and create a space of writers supporting writers.
Our Newest Issue
The second issue of our magazine, rebranded as Crescendo: A Community of Writers, will be published in mid-to-late 2024. This issue explores the theme of silence and sound. The COVID-19 pandemic put communities in flux and changed our definition of what it means to be a collective. Many people felt the silence of being without community while others felt the abundance of constant noise and community. We want to reflect on and memorialize this.
2009 - 2012
In 2009 Katherine Payne (née Sanders) joined a writers circle led by Anna Smith. Like many writers circles, this group was free and open to anyone who wanted to write in community. The meetings were held in East Harlem Cafe owned by Michelle Cruz in El Barrio of New York City. In conversation with group members, Katherine and Anna decided to start a literary magazine, publishing work by unique voices and with the ethos of writers supporting writers. Katherine Payne received support and funding from Fractured Atlas and the Arts Initiative at Columbia University. Katherine also served as the managing editor for the first issue of Crescendo City: A Community of Writers. After the publication of the first issue, the magazine went on hiatus.
