History
After all, everybody, that is, everybody who writes is interested in living inside themselves in order to tell what is inside themselves. That is why writers have to have two countries.
—Gertrude Stein, Paris France
Versal launched in 2002 to develop a rooted and self-sustaining international literary community in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The inaugural issue of Versal literary & arts journal was released in late December of 2002. It was one of the first literary magazines to emphasize high production values and design and to feature artists and their work on equal footing with the writing. Over the course of its 12 editions, Versal reached across the globe to spotlight the world’s premiere, though perhaps unknown, poets, writers, and artists.
Over the years, Versal has also developed extensive programming in the Netherlands and abroad, including The Open Stanza (2002-2007), workshops, and multiple writing groups. In 2014, Versal launched VERSO /, a live version of its curated pages, in cooperation with the world-renowned Mezrab in Amsterdam’s eastern docklands.
In 2019, Versal announced the retirement of its literary & arts journal and the evolution to Versal Editions, a small press dedicated to community-centered publishing and curation, and the inaugural Amsterdam Open Book Prize.