Bluejays encouraged to share their voices with the MiddleWestern Voice

The MiddleWestern Voice magazine is now accepting literary submissions for its 26th volume, and Bluejays are encouraged to submit their fiction, nonfiction, and poetry pieces now through Jan. 8, 2024.

This upcoming year, MiddleWestern Voice is running three separate literary contests with different designations, although every submission will be considered for publication in the magazine’s next volume. 

The first contest, First Voice, is a fiction, nonfiction, and poetry competition that will determine the first literature piece to be featured in this year’s magazine. 

Pieces submitted for this particular contest will be judged by the MWV student staff. Bluejays may submit two works in total for this contest, and the deadline for submissions is Jan. 8, 2024. 

The Carlson Contest is open to fiction and poetry pieces only, and it will be judged blindly by members of the English department faculty. This contest is open to two submissions per Bluejay, and the deadline is Dec. 15, 2023. 

The Lively Contest is a creative nonfiction competition that will be similarly blindly judged by members of the English department faculty. However, this contest accepts only one submission per Bluejay, and its deadline is also Dec.15, 2023. 

There are no official page limits for submissions, but the MiddleWestern staff does have some guidelines. In their fliers placed around campus, they ask for 15 pages max for fiction, eight pages max for creative nonfiction, and two pages max for poetry. 

To anyone hesitant to submit their work, MiddleWestern Voice President Alyssa Kuehne, who also serves as the assistant copy editor of The Leader, has some encouragement.

“Even if it’s something you’re not completely confident in, you’re never going to finish a piece and think it’s perfect,” Kuehne said. “Putting yourself out there is the first step in completing the goal of being published.” 

And if you’re not inclined to submit writing, the MiddleWestern Voice magazine also accepts submissions for other multimedia forms such as original artwork, graphic design, and music. Be on the lookout for The Gathering on Nov. 9 for more information about those submissions.