We will begin accepting our submissions for the 2024 issue on August 29, 2023. We welcome all undergraduate students to submit, but we ask that you read the following submission guidelines before proceeding. Submissions will close on January 12, 2024.
Collision Literary Magazine is dedicated to publishing well-crafted, previously unpublished undergraduate work. It encourages experimentation in form and structure, whether in poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, or art. Attention to character and language is preferred in writing, and vignettes are always welcome. Our only preference for art is that it be publishable in static, two-dimensional form.
Please send all written pieces in a single Word document or equivalent file with their titles bolded and visual art pieces as individual .jpgs with their titles as files names to collisionlitmag@gmail.com. Do not include your name in this document. Along with your attached material, please include your name, school name, and school email address, as well as the genre of your submission, in the body of the e-mail. All submissions for the 2024 annual magazine will be due in January.
Remember: You must be an undergraduate to submit. You do not have to be a student at the University of Pittsburgh; we accept work from students around the world who are currently enrolled at a college-level institution. All pieces must be previously unpublished, and they are reviewed and selected anonymously. You may submit in more than one genre, but you must clarify the genre of each piece, and each must follow the submission guidelines within its genre. Please do not resubmit pieces that you have already submitted for the current issue.
Genres
Poetry
Send no more than 5 poems. We consider all styles and forms, experimentations, and imitations (please include the imitated author’s name).
Non-Fiction
Send no more than 2,500 words of creative non-fiction prose. Again, we consider all styles and are open to experimental forms. Creative non-fiction prose includes personal essays, narratives, travel pieces, and profiles.
Fiction
Send no more than 2,500 words of original fiction. This can be in the form of short story, flash fiction, experimental, etc. Should you choose to submit flash fiction, you may submit more than one piece as long as the total number of words remains below our maximum.
Visual Art & Photography
Send up to 5 pieces in .jpg or .jpgs format. Visual art may include uploaded versions of photographs, sketches, paintings, or comics.
Contest
All published poems and prose pieces are considered for special recognition. The top three pieces, as voted upon by the staff, will receive special recognition. We also consider all visual art for our annual issue cover contest.
Simultaneous Submissions Policy
We accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us in the submission email if you are submitting any work simultaneously to another publication. Additionally, should your work be accepted elsewhere, please notify use as soon as possible so that we can adjust our editorial process accordingly.
For more information, please visit our FAQs page.