NOT FOR LEISURE is an interdisciplinary reading series / arts collective / independent publisher based in New York City
KNOCK KNOCK submit!
(1) life in the open air
(2) the love of another being
(3) freedom from all ambition
(4) creation
from the journals of Albert Camus, April 1939
Our Manifesto:
Not for Leisure
We believe in three simple tenets: attentiveness, collaboration, and generosity. Attentiveness, the act of engagement without fragmentation; Collaboration, the act of connection without extraction; Generosity, the action of care without expectation.
We believe in our friends’ art.
We believe in the un-casual engagement with things that bring discomfort and permeate boundaries. We believe the permeation of boundaries — between forms of art — between relationships — between the art and the artist(s) — between the writer and the world — is necessary for creating interesting work.
In fact, you can dissolve the word “boundary” on your tongue like sugar.
Our work seeks to engage with the world un-casually. Seeing the world seriously, taking the world seriously, giving to the world seriously. Where does the work start? By noticing/ paying attention/giving attention/ to the way you are composed of everything you choose/love/proximate.
Status is irrelevant to the quality of both the work and the party; status = irrelevance!
Impermanence: (speaking your words into existence, a wisp of smoke): A reminder that what exists is being: A reminder that time spent making/ creating/ sharing is all there is/ will be.
Your presence warrants writing to be remembered (by you, by your loved ones, by strangers, by the warm homes of strangers, by the many buildings across the boroughs, by the subway/sidewalks that carried you there)
Our selection process often happens around a kitchen table. We are listening for your knock on the door.
We take everything we do very seriously. After all, this is for love, not for leisure.
NYC, 12/7/2025