About Us

The purpose of Non Grata is to give literature back to the people. We want to break writing out of its current niches, out of staid libraries and safe spaces, so that it can run wild through the cafes, bars, and subways of New York, Paris, Tokyo, Mumbai. We want people to talk about books at parties. We want people to speak honestly about their experiences. We want literature to be a cornerstone of culture again.

In pursuit of this goal we publish regularly on Substack. We are, however, primarily focused on print. It provides a much better viewing experience for illustrations and images, and a much better reading experience for long-form essays, fiction, and poetry. It feels good to put the phone down and hold a magazine up.

If you’d like to support us, please consider purchasing an annual/founding subscription on Substack or an issue from our website. Every dollar goes towards supporting contributors and covering print production costs. Do you remember the golden age when Esquire could pay Denis Johnson a few thousand dollars to go on foreign assignment? That’s where we’re going. We’re still 3,000 miles away, but every purchase gets us closer. We will get there eventually.