Publications Homeboy Review
Leslie realized that a national literary publication would not just be in keeping with Homeboy's mission by providing computer and desktop publishing job skills for clients and staff at Homeboy, but could help give Hombeoy a national presence. To that end, the magazine publishes annually the works of nationally established writers as well as the fledgling voices that emerge from her creative writing class at Homeboy - a class which has been held once a week since its inception in 2006. In addition to publishing the works of great writers like Chris Abani, Naomi Shihab Nye, Fr. Greg Boyle, Denise Chavez and Amy Quan Berry, the Homeboy Review publishes poetry by leading Homeboy Poets like Quentin Moore and Robert Juarez. Leslie is the executive editor of the publication which is always open to submission of poems, fiction and creative nonfiction/essays. If you would like to submit to the Homeboy Review, please do so online at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Our submission guidelines are available online at www.homeboy-industries.org. We recommend that you read a copy of the magazine before submitting. All subject matter is considered and need not be about gang life. In fact, we look for diversity among our writes as well as in the subject matter we publish.
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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."