In 2006 Leslie Schwartz began teaching a poetry class at Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention agency in the country, under the auspices of a grant from the California Council for the Humanities and PEN USA. After the grant culminated with a reading from a small anthology of the work collected from the class, it became clear to Leslie that Homeboy Industries would be well-served by a literary publication. The mission of Homeboy is to provide job training and on-the-job skills to people who have formerly been involved with gangs and are trying to turn their lives around. As Homeboy's founder, Fr. Gregory Boyle says, "Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job."

In addition to publishing the works of great writers like Chris Abani, Naomi Shihab Nye, Fr. Greg Boyle, Denise Chavez and Quan Berry, the Homeboy Review published poetry by leading Homeboy Poets like Quentin Moore and Robert Juarez. Though Leslie no longer works at Homeboy Industries, she believes there can never be enough venues for established and emerging writers to publish their work. For that reason she began a new  literary magazine under the name, Charlotte: A Journal of Literature and Art. Writers of all genres may submit between May and December electronically: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Donations are gladly accepted for future issues. If you like what you see and want to see more, please contact the Editor at the above email address, typing Charlotte Magazine in the subject line. Or you may send donations to our office at 2008 Preston Avenue, Los Angeles, California.