Next year, Qwerty Magazine will release its 49th and 50th issues. The year after, 2026, will be the magazine's 30th anniversary. Here's just a sneak peak of what that's going to look like:
Issue 49, the NO Issue, will be guest edited by Egg Poet, Qwerty contributor, chapbook author, and co-editor-in-chief of the Miramichi Reader, Emma Rhodes. This issue is scheduled for a Winter 2025 release. Submissions are now closed, and we are currently working through first readings.
For our 50th issue, we look to the future, as our team and a panel of distinguished guests help us curate an anthology of how we might imagine life on Planet Earth over the next 50 years. The Qwerty 50th Issue Project will be a year-long endeavor featuring two new Homerow chapbooks, our 50th issue, and a website for digital projects and all the good stuff we can't fit in one issue. Anticipate the launch of our 50th Issue webspace in Winter 2025, chapbooks next spring and fall, and the 50th issue next summer. Fiction and art submissions for the first wave of this long-term project will open on October 16. More info will be released this fall ahead of the submission period.
Next, we look to the past. To celebrate 30 years of Qwerty Magazine, we will be releasing two collections of the best work from all 50 issues. Released in two parts, Qwerty Crystal and Qwerty Pearl, managing editor Jamie Kitts has scoured Qwerty's history to help tell the story of this many-handed periodical. Qwerty Crystal: The Best of Qwerty Magazine Part I, featuring work from issues 1-25, will be released later this fall. Qwerty Pearl: The Best of Qwerty Magazine Part II, with work from issues 26-50, will be released during our 30th anniversary in Winter 2026. (Cover images not final)
Finally, we look to the present. Qwerty Magazine began as a showcase of quality writing from the University of New Brunswick's graduate English creative writing program. Occasionally the editors and their friends would release Ego issues to flex their own craft. Rather than revive the Ego premise, issue 51 will curate the best writing and visual art from from current graduate and undergraduate students from UNB, as well as Saint Thomas University and the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. If Fredericton, New Brunswick truly is the Poets' Corner of Canada, then you can anticipate Qwerty 51: The Cornerstone Issue for Summer 2026.
And as always, keep an eye on our socials for exciting new updates, including calls for submissions, upcoming issues, and new chapbooks.