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Read the press release here.

Borough-Wide Festival Encourages Locals to Write

By Katie Honan | April 24, 2014 3:55pm
 The New York State Pavilion.
The New York State Pavilion.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

ELMHURST — This weekend, a local literary group has a mission for local wordsmiths: Shut up and write.

The Newtown Literary Alliance is hosting its second annual Queens Writes! Weekend, a fundraiser to help support its yearly programs, including a semi-annual literary journal, a student writing contest and writing workshops.

Events will be held throughout the borough and attendees are encouraged to keep it simple — just write.

"That's it!," said a message on the group's website. "We want Queens to write!"

The weekend begins with a reading at The Astoria Bookshop on Friday, April 25, which starts at 7 p.m.

On Saturday and Sunday, local writers will pop up at places all across Queens — from Diversity Plaza to the New York State Pavilion at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park — where they'll encourage people to write and, at some locations, share their writing at an open mic.

Click here for full schedule.

The event at the Pavilion, sponsored by grassroots group People for the Pavilion, will encourage people to write about the past, present and future of the site, which was named a "national treasure" on Tuesday amid the 50th Anniversary of the World's Fair.

There's a writing event geared towards children and a location where writers will be given "surrealist" prompts. 

The festivities will end with an open mic at Terraza 7 on Sunday at 6 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $5 for participants at the locations for all of the festival's events.

For more information, visit Newtown Literary Association's website.