Literary Cleveland

Writers helping writers 👀

Big thanks to everyone who joined us at Visible Voice Books last week for our Breakthrough Writing info session + reading. We loved hearing former residents share their work and talk about the residency experience!

🚨APPLICATIONS are open through July 12. Link in bio.

Apply here: https://www.litcleveland.org/events-programs/breakthrough-writing-residency

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ TOMORROW! Tuesday, June 16, 2026 FREE writing group for q***r and trans writers in Cleveland.

• We meet every 3rd Tuesday
• At LGBT Center Cleveland 6705 Detroit Ave, Cleveland OH 44102

Bring a project you’re working on, or start something new, and connect with other writers.

🔗 FREE registration link in bio: https://www.litcleveland.org/events-programs/free-monthly-writing-groups---lgbt-center | link in bio

🏡🫶🏾 Big thanks to Vince RobinsonnChelsea BeandeMatthew Thompsonbeam, , and for sharing their work at ouLarchmere Porchfestmereporchfest.

From jokes that made us burst out laughing 😆 to stories about & neighborhood that made us reflect, and see things a little differently, each poet brought something unique to the mic!! ❤️‍🔥

And thank you to every person who came through. See you again next year!

📸 .a.lee +

Thanks to everyone who supported the fundraiser last week—we exceeded our goal and our expectations! Whether you were a sponsor, bought a ticket, bid on an auction item, or made a donation, you helped us pass last year’s fundraising total.

Thanks to our many volunteers and donors and especially to our brilliant speakers Kisha Nicole Foster, Lee Chilcote, Sonia Feldman, Dan Chaon, Thrity Umrigar and our host Ken Schneck. You all brought heart, humor, and purpose. You reminded us why we do this work. Thank you.

We also raised $40,000 to support Lit Cleveland programs including writing groups, scholarships, and residencies. This fundraiser is also central to keeping our Inkubator Writing Conference free for all who attend. In a tough time for arts nonprofits this is such a boost. Thank you! Drzazga Photo | Elopement Photo + Video

🚨 BIG OPPORTUNITY! 🎉 Applications are now open for Literary Cleveland’s 2025–2026 Breakthrough Writing Residency! Open to six emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry across Northeast . Apply by July 12.

ON SUNDAY WE’RE HOSTING A READING + INFO SESSION where you can hear past residents read their work, and ask them/us all of your questions: Sunday, June 14, 2025 from 1-3pm at Visible Voice Books (4601 Lorain Ave.)

Registration Link in bio: https://www.litcleveland.org/events-programs/breakthrough-writing-residency

Spend a year working with an acclaimed mentor and a cohort of writers to develop your first book-length project.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬 𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗗𝗘𝗦:

• One-on-one mentorship
• Professional development opportunities
• Free access to Literary Cleveland programs
• A featured reading at Inkubator Conference
• A NEW $200 monthly stipend

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥’𝗦 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦:

• (POETRY) Brittany Rogers Brittany Rogers : Detroit poet, winner of the prestigious 2026 Whiting Award in poetry and editor-in-chief of Muzzle Magazine whose work explores Black femme life, autonomy, and audacity.

• (FICTION) Joseph Earl Thomas Joseph Earl Thomas: Author of the acclaimed memoir Sink & the award-winning novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer. Member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and Anisfield-Wolf Fellowship

• (NONFICTION) Ira Sukrungruang Ira Sukrungruang: Award-winning Chicago born Thai American writer and Kenyon College professor, recipient of the 2015 American Book Award for Southside Buddhist, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in nonfiction and (much) more.

🎉 THU JUNE 25 • IT’S HAPPENING!! Join us for our June Plum City reading at Loganberry Books! We’ll celebrate and listen to work by:

📖 DANNY CAINE: Poet, activist, and former bookseller, author of Jewish American Dream (2024 Sarabande Books Chapbook Contest winner), Continental Breakfast, El Dorado Freddy’s, Flavortown, Picture Window, and How to Defend Books and Why. Danny Caine

📖 SONIA FELDMAN: Cleveland writer and PEN America PEN/Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers winner, author of Girl’s Girl. Her work appears in The Missouri Review, The Southern Review, and Waxwing. sonia

📖 SONY TON-AIME: Haitian poet, translator, and arts administrator; Executive Director of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures; author of Konbit (2026) and LaWomann (2019), and co-founding editor of ID13. Sony Q. Ton-Aime

📍Thursday, June 25 at Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere in Cleveland)

Doors open at 6:30pm and reading begins at 7pm to be immediately followed by an afterparty 🥂 at the Literary Cleveland Offices (13002 Larchmere).

🟣 RSVP here (link in bio) https://www.litcleveland.org/events-programs/plum-city-reading---june-2026

Spring Writing Retreat 2026 🌱 Thank you to our instructors Damien McClendon (poetry), Tara Pringle Jefferson (nonfiction), and Caren Beilin (fiction).

And thanks to everyone who showed up, applied your butt to the seat and wrote! The open mic was wild. Y’all spent one day writing and somehow showed up with work that sounded ready for readers.

We’re truly still thinking about those readings… 💭

🏡🎙️ This year, Literary Cleveland will host the free Poetry Showcase for Larchmere on Saturday, June 13 from 2-3pm at our offices at 13002 Larchmere Blvd.

Come and enjoy featured poets Chelsea Daniel, Rosary Joyce Kennedy, Middle Child IV, and MattMatt Raybeam, hosted by Vince Robinson of Larchmere Arts. See you there! .arts .robinson

🎉 Sooooo. WE DID IT! We exceeded our fundraiser goal, and our expectations! (It is all because of your presence, generosity and energy. Thank you!)

🚀 This night was is fuel for Inkubator 2026, free writing programs, and sooo much more.

🎙️ To our BRILLIANT speakers : you all brought heart, humor, and purpose. You reminded us why we do this work. Thank you.

💪🏼 To our Volunteers & Staff: Flawless
You ran the night, carried way too many vintage typewriters, posted in real-time, cleaned up tables in record time (!), and made it look so easy.

We’re still recovering.
But also? Still smiling!

𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦: We’re proud to be a 2026 general operating grant recipient of the Literary Arts Fund

𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱
The award provides five years of unrestricted operating support. In nonprofit terms, that kind of long-term investment is both rare and deeply meaningful. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿
In 2026, we’re celebrating our 10th year as a nonprofit. We’re also leading an ambitious statewide celebration of Toni Morrison across Ohio. This support gives us the stability to plan ahead, invest in our growth, and dream a little bigger about what’s possible. As we enter our second decade, this grant helps us move forward with greater confidence and momentum. We’re deeply grateful for the support, and excited for what comes next!