Literary News: Rag Queen Periodical to Stop Publishing

Bye-bye, Rag Queens

By The Editors

It's always bittersweet from a beloved art and literary magazine announces it's closing. But sometimes, as the editors will attest, it really is for the best. The latest casualty on our radar is Rag Queen Periodical, which announced it will be publishing its last issue this month. Here is the opening from the letter issued by RQP's editor-in-chief Kailey Tedesco in December: 

Dear Rag Queens, 

I hope you’re all doing okay and taking care of yourselves. You are so important. 

I’ve drafted a version of this letter about ten different times now, and I think it’s best to just come out and say it: Rag Queen Periodical’s third issue (coming in January) will be our last. 

This decision, while it still saddens me, is one I’ve thought about for several months now. I’d consulted with RQP’s co-founder, Mauve, and we decided that it is time to end this beautiful project with one final issue. In 2015, we founded this project as a sister-pub to Mauve’s existing publication Lehigh Valley Vanguard. We noticed that there were many voices in our community that were not being heard, and we wanted to do something to give the feminists of the Lehigh Valley a platform, a safe space, and a community. Very quickly that community grew far beyond our little LV, and suddenly we were working with hundreds of beautiful writers and readers — you — and that has and always will be an incredible joy to us. I want to thank you all — our readers, editors, contributors — for giving RQP its power. I am so grateful for you, and so excited to witness and support your success for years and years to come. 

Read the rest of the letter here.
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