Downtown Phoenix is a hub of literary activity, from a plethora of poetry events to the publishing of zines. For students, the ASU Downtown campus hosts both the Walter Cronkite School and the College of Letters and Sciences — so if you love words, downtown Phoenix is a happening place to be.
Students on this campus produce massive amounts of writing work every semester, from classes to publications they work for to writing on their own time. The great thing about all this lovely writing work is that there’s an outlet for it. There are several journals ASU Downtown students can submit their work to, and they’re a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of while you’re on this campus.
In the most general sense, literary traditions are a cornerstone of any society. By contributing work to a variety of journals and publications, we also contribute our own ethnographic views of the world around us and present building blocks to develop a historical perspective on the unique time and place we occupy. That is, by contributing to a publication, you’re contributing to the history of the place you were during the time you were there.
That’s not to say writing needs to be explicitly about the place where it was written. Art echoes the world around it, sometimes in subtle ways. The face of downtown Phoenix — currently changing and growing, a developing space of young professionals and artists — is a picture reflected in the work of downtown students, even when writing isn’t about the area. And it’s a face that sometimes changes because of the writing students are doing; a piece of art and its setting create each other.
I’m sure that’s enough esoteric babble for one day. On another note, a publication in a literary journal is a resume builder, something to hand to your parents when they ask what exactly you did all semester, a tangible place for your thoughts and ideas, a nice glossy page in a pretty book with your name on it and, most of all, something to be proud of and hold on to for years to come.
I’ve had a lot of experience with literary journals. I submit creative writing work for publication every year. But the giddy feeling you get when you’ve been accepted for publication, when you first hold the book in your hands, when you’re able to give a copy to someone you love — that feeling doesn’t go away.
ASU Downtown students have a lot of options, too. Every year during the spring semester, you can submit to “Write On, Downtown,” which accepts a wide variety of student writing, photography and art as long as you’re a Downtown campus student. I’m on the editorial board for “Write On, Downtown” this semester and I’m excited for this journal to help contribute to the construction of our situated history. Entries can be submitted to writeonasu@gmail.com through Feb. 2.
Another option is the “Lux Undergraduate Creative Review.” “Lux” accepts submissions in fiction, nonfiction, screenplay, poetry, music, film and art. While this year’s submission deadline has passed, I’d encourage everyone to consider submitting work next year. It’s based in Tempe but is open to all undergraduate students.
If you’re a graduate student, you can get work published in the “Superstition Review,” an online literary magazine produced by creative writing and web design students that publishes art, fiction, interviews, nonfiction and poetry.
“Hayden’s Ferry Review” is a fairly popular ASU-produced fiction review, which includes poetry, prose, translations and visual art. Some work in “Hayden’s Ferry” comes from established authors such as Haruki Murakami and Raymond Carver, but the review is also open to submissions.
Finally, there’s “Four Chambers Press,” which is an independent magazine that operates largely in downtown Phoenix. “Four Chambers” prints issues in October and March and is “simply looking for good work, whatever that means,” according to its website.
Though there are several options here, this list is by no means meant to encompass every single opportunity. Ways for students to publish work crop up in all shapes and sizes; the only real loss would be to choose not to grasp the opportunity and submit your work.
Contact the author at mbilker@asu.edu
