Everything You Need to Know About Literary Magazines

For artists, readers, writers, and literature lovers alike, literary magazines are all the rage. Never heard of them? They’re basically periodicals devoted to literature. They often publish short stories, poetry, and essays. More recently, many literary journals have started to publish art pieces as well.

Some are focused strictly for undergraduate writers from a specific university, while others are all inclusive and will accept submissions from all ages and locations No matter the journal, submitting your work to literary magazines is a great opportunity to try and get your work published. After all, what is there to lose? 

Not sure which magazines to check out? Here are a couple recommendations from our fellow SUU English majors.

Callosum:
Recommended by: Cassidy Wallace

This literary magazine is unique because it accepts absolutely everything that is submitted to it. The catch? It has to be submitted locally, or at least near Chicago. This is a smaller magazine that encourages participation, featuring an inviting blue background on its homepage. 

Carve Magazine:
Recommended by: Kiley Anne Larson

In honor of Raymond Carver who wrote the famous short story “The Cathedral,” this magazine simply publishes “honest” fiction. From what Larson could gather, this means that the pieces are more about the emotions exposed by people rather than the events that made them expose those emotions. Although this journal is more competitive, they also publish fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

Washington Square Review:
Recommended by: Whitney Forrest

Published by New York University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program, this magazine always publishes eye-catching covers. Although they only accept about 1.95% of submissions, what they do feature is mostly poetry. 

The Kolob Canyon Review:
(Our very own local literary magazine.)

This literary magazine is our very own! It publishes work from Southern Utah University’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Featuring visual creative works along with written works, the function of this magazine is to “serve as an entry point for creative writers and visual artists.”

Some magazines require a subscription and are only print editions, while others are free and strictly found online. If you plan on submitting, make sure you read the submission guidelines and follow all of the instructions, or it’s likely the magazine won’t read your work at all. 

Whether looking to submit your work or just to find some fresh new material to read, click here to find an extensive list of other literary magazines. For advice on submitting to literary magazines, check The Writer’s Circle out.

 

Story by: Elizabeth Armstrong
accent@suunews.net