#IndieLitMagGala 2025 Spotlight: new words {press}

In a lit world still groaning under the weight of gatekeepers, binary boxes, and pay-to-play submission models, new words {press} is a thunderclap of clarity. Bold, experimental, trans-centred, and unapologetically community-first, this press doesn’t just publish poetry—it reimagines the space entirely.

Founded by Brooklyn Baggett in 2023, new words {press} exists because most other places didn’t. Brooklyn—a trans poet, artist, and editor with a background in tech and digital marketing—was tired of watching trans and gender-expansive voices be sidelined or silenced. So she did what too many only talk about: she built something better.

This nomination came in with the kind of heart you can’t fake:

“They publish poems, artwork, comics, experimental and hybrid works, and even manuscripts. They’re doing it all, and as far as I know, it’s Brooklyn alone responsible for running the litmag. I think nwp is daring, unapologetic, and honest.”

“They work so hard to champion their contributors. They’re active in uplifting their community… they attend and arrange events and readings… and they have awesome swag!”

It’s not a vanity press. It’s a full-force trans + gender-expansive journal, releasing three issues a year, publishing chapbooks, and offering a dedicated space for young poets too. It’s activist by design, but literary by craft. Their editorial lens isn’t narrow—it’s wide open: poetry, hybrid, visual, experimental, even full manuscripts. If the work is intimate, honest, and boundary-erasing, it belongs.

Not Just Inclusive—Radical By Design

new words {press} doesn’t charge for submissions. They don’t run paywalled contests. They don’t believe in the hustle-for-publication model that exploits underrepresented writers under the guise of “exposure.” Instead, they fund their press via grassroots support, swag, grants, and community events. Anti-capitalist. Intersectional. Queer as hell.

Their submission guidelines read more like a manifesto:

• Trans and gender-expansive voices front and centre
• Open to hybridity and genre fusion
• Anti-ableist, body-positive, sex-positive
• Explicitly supportive of Black Lives Matter and Free Palestine

This is a press with its ethics where its mission statement lives.

Real-World Reach

Brooklyn isn’t just editing and designing behind a screen. She’s out there—setting up readings, attending events, building bridges. She uplifts contributors before and long after publication. That kind of presence matters. You can feel it in every inch of the press’s site and output.

Their latest, Issue Six, is a trans + nonbinary poetry journal packed with heat, vulnerability, and electric experimentation. It’s not curated to please mainstream tastes—it’s curated to tell the truth. It’s a space where queerness influences not just theme, but form, syntax, texture.

And the press design? Beautiful. Clean. Professional without losing its soul. It’s clear Brooklyn knows both the backend and the beating heart of publishing.

Why This Nomination Matters

Nominated by someone who published Brooklyn’s own work in their lit mag, this spotlight isn’t just a nod—it’s an act of literary kinship. One writer watching another build something daring from scratch and choosing to say: this deserves attention.

To Brooklyn Baggett, and to every contributor who’s ever trusted new words {press} with their work—this is your moment. We see what you’ve built. We see what you’re fighting for. And we’re better off for it.

What You Can Do

• Read the work. Let it challenge and expand you.
• Buy an issue. Support a press that’s building better infrastructure for queer voices.
• Tell someone else about it. Because visibility is survival. Especially now.

#IndieLitMagGala was made for this kind of recognition. Not trophies, not rankings—just a thank you. A hand on the shoulder. A moment of loud love for those doing the damn work.

So: thank you, new words {press}.
You’re building a future we want to be part of.
And we’re proud to stand with you in it.