Are you looking to submit your latest poem, piece of fiction or nonfiction, or artwork to one of the exceptional undergraduate journals in the country? Look no further than the following list!

1. 30 North

30 North is the national undergraduate literary journal of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. 30 North publishes undergraduate poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and artwork in their annual print journal. They also publish author interviews and reviews conducted and written by their staff online. Currently taking submissions!

2. The Albion Review

The Albion Review is a national undergraduate literary journal based out of Albion College in Albion, Michigan. The Review publishes works of short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art on an annual basis. Submissions currently closed.

3. Applause

Applause is a national literary arts and culture magazine housed at the University of Arkansas -Fort Smith open for submissions from undergraduates around the world. They publish poetry, fiction, essays, and art. Submissions for Spring 2026 close February 16, 2026!

4. The Blank Quill

The Blank Quill is a digital literary magazine focused on platforming BIPOC and LGBTQ+ writers. Submissions for Spring 2026 issue close February 28, 2026!

5. The Blue Route

The Blue Route is an international literary journal for undergraduate writers based out of Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. They publish works of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and artwork biannually. Currently closed for submissions, next submission window will open in August.

6. Collision Literary Magazine

Collision Literary Magazine is an international literary journal for undergraduate writers and is housed at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They publish works of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and artwork annually. Submissions close February 15, 2026!

7. Dark River Review

Dark River Review is the national undergraduate literary journal of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama. They publish works of short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art on an annual basis. Currently accepting submissions!

8. Echo Literary Review

Echo Review is a literary magazine devoted to history, whether that be a past relative or the Napoleonic wars. The are a proud champion of young, marginalized, and otherwise systematically disadvantaged writers. While history has a tendency to favor certain groups over others, Echo takes great pride in being an active advocate in closing these gaps. Currently closed for submissions.

9. Eclipse Literary Magazine

Eclipse is a literary magazine that celebrates the power of creativity in all its forms, including visual art, prose, poetry, essays, and music. Our mission is to showcase user submissions in a space where diverse voices and artistic expression can shine. Whether through words or images, we aim to foster a community that values and uplifts creativity in all its depths. Currently accepting submissions!

10. Equinox Literary Magazine

Equinox Literary Magazine is a national undergraduate literary magazine based out of the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas. They publish works of fiction, poetry, hybrid writing, short screenplays, and visual art annually. They also host the David Jauss Fiction Prize and the Jo McDougall Poetry Prize each year. Currently accepting submissions!

11. Furrow

Furrow is the national undergraduate literary journal of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They publish a print issue each spring and feature new work on their website regularly. They accept unpublished poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and comics. Submissions close February 27, 2026.

12. Glass Mountain

Glass Mountain is an undergraduate literary journal at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. They accept previously unpublished fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, art, and everything in between on an annual basis. Currently accepting submissions!

13. Green Blotter Literary Magazine

Green Blotter Literary Magazine is a literary magazine produced by undergraduate students at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. They publish works of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and artwork on an annual basis. Currently accepting submissions!

14. Inscape

Inscape is an international literary magazine published at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. They publish unpublished fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art annually. Submissions will reopen on August 1, 2026.

15. The Kudzu Review

The Kudzu Review is the national undergraduate literary journal of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. The Review publishes works of short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art biannually. Accepting submissions until March 27, 2026!

16. Mistake House

Mistake House is Principia College’s digital literary journal for students and professional writers and artists. Based in Elsah, Illinois, they publish works of poetry, fiction, and artwork on an annual basis. Mistake House also offers three Editor’s Prizes of $100 each year: one for fiction, one for poetry, and one for photography. Submissions open until March 15, 2026.

17. Mosaic Art & Literary Journal

Mosaic is the University of California, Riverside’s undergraduate literary journal. In 1959, Mosaic began as a small group of poets, and they’re still going strong nearly 60 years later, having expanded into a home for all writers, musicians, and artists. They are completely undergraduate-run, and publish one volume of prose, poetry, and art every year. Currently taking submissions!

18. Outrageous Fortune

Outrageous Fortune is the first online literary magazine created for undergraduates by undergraduates. Based out of Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia, Outrageous Fortune publishes works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, film, and visual art in their issues. Currently taking submissions! The deadline to submit for Volume 16 is March 31, 2026.

19. Polaris Literary Magazine

Polaris Literary Magazine is the national undergraduate journal of arts and literature at Ohio Northern University located in Ada, Ohio. They publish works of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and visual art on an annual basis. Currently closed for submissions.

20. Prairie Margins

Prairie Margins is a national undergraduate literary journal based out of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Prairie Margins publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, and photography. Currently taking submissions!

21. Red Cedar Review

Red Cedar Review is the longest-running undergraduate publication in the United States. Housed at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, Red Cedar Review publishes works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art every two years. Accepting submissions August 1st – October 15th, 2026.

22. Runestone

Runestone is a national undergraduate literary journal housed at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They accept unpublished works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and digital storytelling. Accepting submissions April 1st – October 1st of each year.

23. Sink Hollow

Sink Hollow is an international undergraduate literary magazine based out of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. They publish works of fiction, poetry, hybrid writing, short screenplays, and visual art annually. Submissions are open until March 31, 2026!

24. Short Vine

Short Vine is the international undergraduate literary journal of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. They publish works of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and photography on an annual basis. Currently closed for submissions.

25. Violet Marginz

Violet Marginz, formerly The Alchemist Review, is a national undergraduate literary journal from the University of Illinois-Springfield. They publish prose, creative nonfiction, translation, poetry, and visual arts annually. Submissions close February 20, 2026.

26. Quirk

Quirk is the Literary and Visual Arts journal of the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
They are entirely run by student-editors seeking to give artists a creative outlet to showcase their talents on a national scale. They are looking for originality and authenticity: poets, creative writers, and visual artists. Currently closed to submissions, will reopen again in Spring 2026.

27. The Oakland

The Oakland Arts Review is an international undergraduate literary and arts journal out of Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Their ambition is to become one of the most prominent literary journals publishing undergraduate writers throughout the world. Currently taking submissions!

28. The Allegheny Review

The Allegheny Review, in print since 1983, is the oldest national undergraduate literary magazine in the United States dedicated exclusively to undergraduate works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. Published annually, the periodical showcases some of the best literature the nation’s undergraduates have to offer. The magazine is and always has been edited and produced by students at Allegheny College. The Allegheny Review considers submissions from undergraduate writers year-round. Currently taking submissions!

29. The Sucarnichee Review

Established in 1974 and named for the Sucarnochee River that runs near the University of West Alabama, The Sucarnochee Review is published annually by the University’s Department of English and History. They are student-led and student-edited and believe strongly in the value of amplifying student voices. They accept submissions year round. Currently taking submissions!

30. The Tower

The Tower is a student-run literary magazine at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art, and hybrid works. Their annual print edition comes out in the spring, and they accept submissions in the fall of every year. Currently closed for submissions.

Right from the first page of Roseanne Freed’s Your Name Is a Poem (Picture Show Press, 2024), the theme of motherhood takes over the page, as does the importance of names. This poetry collection is written from the point of view of a parent and the grief process of losing their child to cancer. Freed captures the full arc of motherhood, from the joy of naming a child to the ache of loving and letting go. Centered around a daughter named Mahalia, the poems explores motherly devotion, identity, sibling relationships, and family resilience. Throughout these poems, we readers see the mother trying to grasp any piece of her daughter in all of the memories that she has with her, starting from childbirth and as she grew older. 

The first poem, also the title poem, gives readers a first glimpse of the daughter and the power that the name Mahalia holds for the Freed: “Before you were born, / I knew you were someone special / and needed a unique name; / there are too many girls called / Jennifer, Jessica, or Jane” (Freed 1). As we continue to read, the poem “Our Time Together, Too Short” reads like a lyrical biography, tracing Mahalia’s growth from a baby to a selfless adult. Mahalia’s choice to bike to chemotherapy appointments shows readers her strength and values. The final line, “I loved her even when I didn’t love her” (Freed 5), encapsulates the various elements of parenting: unconditional love, complex emotions, and the pain of watching a child suffer. Freed includes bits of her memories with her daughter right from the moment she gave birth:

From these memories that the speaker decides to share with us, we learn about Mahalia’s experiences through the mother’s lens, the emotions she goes through and how she must keep herself together for her daughter’s sake. 

Different from the previous poems, “A Fearful Thing” shifts the voice to second person, as if Freed is speaking directly to her daughter. In doing so, Freed uses “you” to capture the last conversation that mother and daughter had together before Mahalia passes. Food tends to be a source of comfort during times of grief and struggle. The mother is holding onto this last moment by using a bowl of lentil soup, a dish that now holds such deep meaning. The first stanza of the poem illustrates the warmness of food and how it brings this family together as the speaker says, “A pot of my lentil soup, / our staple meal through the Canadian / winters of your childhood” (Freed 10). In the last stanzas of this poem, Freed writes:

The poetic voice is that of someone who has loved deeply and is now left with the unbearable silence after goodbye. A theme that stuck out to me in this poem is the simplicity of soup. Freed begins “A Fearful Thing” with the line, “Soup, I thought…” (10). This leap from diagnosis to the feeling of home, thinking of soup, encapsulates a mother’s instinct to comfort, nourish, and do something. The lentil soup, which is a staple from childhood, becomes a symbol of continuity, maternal love, and later, unspoken resentment. 

In Your Name Is a Poem, we see a pain that the daughter projects onto her mother through anger. In the poem, “A Week After She Left Us My Therapist Told Me,” the mother seeks help to grieve through her daughter’s loss, but still her daughter’s pain and range from her battle of cancer still finds ways to show up in this grieving process. This poem is shorter compared to the other ones but holds a lot of power. The poem’s length directly mirrors the emotional state of the speaker: raw, constrained, and filled with unresolved tension, each word having weight. The mother/speaker finds it difficult to experience the emotions that she has as she mentions: “If I allow myself to weep, / I hear her— // Stop making it about you” (Freed 18). Since Freed decides to add dialogue, reflecting something Mahalia might have said, the choice of words mirror an upset tone that her daughter would have expressed. Her voice echoes in this poem; even if it’s only projected through Freed, it’s now embedded so deeply that she controls her own grief.

Your Name is a Poem is touching, captivating and filled with different phases of emotions. Freed shares vulnerable moments with the reader during and after her daughter’s battle with cancer. Within this collection, we get a glimpse of what her family went through; we still feel Freed’s intense reality across 35 pages of poetry.

Your Name Is a Poem is available from Picture Show Press

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Angela Çene is a poet, raised Massachusetts by two Albanian Immigrants. She enjoys writing about the body, & how it relates to the world & our experiences. After earning her Bachelors in Writing, Literature & Publishing from Emerson College, she is currently preparing to apply to law schools. Angela enjoys traveling & finding new restaurants. 

I’ve always been drawn to instruction manuals. Aside from reading chapter books in elementary school, I was pulling how-to guides and building manuals off the shelves, because I was always fascinated by the idea of creating something through careful consumption. I would read books about taking care of animals like bunnies and making crafts, because I really love personalizing everything I own! I used to volunteer to organize the classroom bookshelves during recess, not because I was particularly neat, but because I loved the logic of categorization, which is something I still do today with my book notes!

My reading tastes have expanded since then, but that early love of structure and process never left me. In middle school, I fell head over heels for Tom Sawyer. I loved his free-spirited adventures and go-lucky optimism, as compared to Huck Finn’s solemn disposition (which was justified). In high school, I read many of John Steinbeck’s books, so I challenged myself to read East of Eden for English class, finding it one of the driest things I’d ever encountered. Years later however, I still think about that book constantly. I also read The Kite Runner, which didn’t fully resonate with me at the time in terms of writing style (it is still one of the saddest books I’ve read aside from A Thousand Splendid Suns), but has profoundly shaped what I want to write about now.

My current reading habits reflect this evolution. I’m voracious about memoirs, feminist theory, author diaries, and literary novels. My favorite nonfiction book is The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, and my favorite novel is Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, which is a book that changed how I think about searching for meaning in an often overwhelming and pretentious world.

What drew me to editing rather than purely creative writing was the collaborative process. Writing can be solitary, but editing is inherently relational. You’re working with someone to help them tell their story better, clearer, more powerfully. There’s something beautiful about that partnership, and about learning from other writers while helping shape their work.

I’ve spent time working with literary magazines, most recently focused on flash fiction and short poetry, but I’ve realized my heart is in longer-form work. I want to help bring full-length books, chapbooks, and novellas into the world. That’s what drew me to Sundress Publications! As a nonprofit press committed to amplifying diverse voices and creating space for work that might not fit traditional publishing models, Sundress aligns perfectly with where I want to grow as an editor!

I’m also passionate about amplifying perspectives from women, asexual voices, and religious backgrounds, which are communities whose stories deserve more space in contemporary literature. My editorial interests center on literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction exploring history, technology, media studies, feminism, and literature itself.

When I’m not working on manuscripts, you can find me indoor climbing, drawing, learning Japanese, or adding to my ever-growing collection of shoujo and josei manga. I recently started a blog about women’s comics and just wrapped up a manga archival project that I hope to continue later in life!

I’m thrilled to join the Sundress team and can’t wait to learn from this incredible community of writers, editors, and book lovers. Here’s to making wonderful books together!

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Franchesca Nicole Lazaro is an emerging editor with a passion for developmental editing and book production. She previously worked with Brink Literary Project and currently works with Tulipwood Press. Her editorial interests center on amplifying perspectives from women, asexual voices, and religious backgrounds, particularly in literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction that explores feminism, history, technology, and media studies. She is learning Japanese and maintains a blog on women’s comics and reading. Franchesca is relocating from Seattle, Washington, to San Jose, California.