Submissions

The Writers’ Block accepts written works within the genres of Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.

Submissions are open all semester long. Students may submit as many times as they would like, regardless of previous acceptance status. The Writers' Block Reading Team will conduct 'blind readings' of pieces and thus will not know the writer's identity until after decisions are made.

While The Writers’ Block seeks to promote an open and inclusive environment, and accepts work of all topics and themes, we do expect all submitted works to be respectful, considerate, and free of hateful and/or discriminatory language.

Anyone may submit any item of writing, of any nature, but The Writers’ Block cannot promise to publish every piece. Pieces which break our content regulations will not be considered for publication. The publication of pieces is up to the discretion of The Writers’ Block organization members.

Submission Categories

Poetry - literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm (Definitions from Oxford Languages).
Fiction - literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people (Definitions from Oxford Languages).
Nonfiction - prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biography or history (Definitions from Oxford Languages).

Descriptions of Writing Types

Submission Requirements

In order for a piece to be selected for publication, it must be:
- Free of plagiarism
- Free of spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors
- Free of hate speech, derogatory language, towards groups or individuals, and/or the promoting of discriminatory themes including, but not limited to: racism, sexism, ableism, classism, anti-semetism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. We simply ask that your content does not promote any form of bigotry. We will not accept pieces which are intentionally ignorant and/or harmful.
- Free of unnecessarily graphic violence or sexually explicit content (unless for the purpose and necessity of fulfilling a narrative).
- Works should not use names or events pertaining to real-life individuals who have not given their consent to be mentioned or featured in the piece.
- Being of well-written, unique, original, and thought-provoking quality
- Pieces should be no longer than 5,000 words.

Allowed:
- Pieces previously submitted and/or published to other journals, contests, etc., including the Trine 'Hear My Voice' Writing Contest.
- Sensitive topics - personal, cultural, political, and/or controversial nature.
- Profanity

Selected works will be published to the Writers' Block online journal publication on an ongoing basis throughout the semester. Not every piece submitted will be published.
At the end of each year, certain submissions will be selected for a physical publication of our literary journal.
Those who submit will receive notification of whether or not their pieces will be published as soon as possible.

How to Submit

To submit, navigate to the bottom of this page once submissions are open and click the button titled 'Submit Here.'
Fill out the submission form.
1. Be sure to upload your relevant documents within the form.
2. Be sure to use your Trine student email with filling out the form.
Click 'Submit' and we'll take it from there!

Remember:

Remove any personal indicators (including name, email, etc.) from any submitted documents or .MP3 files.
Students have the option for their work to be published anonymously, simply indicate your wish in the submission form. No one outside of our Submission Manager will know the identity of the writer, even after publication.
A total of four pieces may be submitted through the submissions form at one time. If you wish to submit more than four pieces, you must complete a submission form for remaining items
Students may submit an .MP3 file of a recording of a spoken word poem alongside the written form of their poem.
Students are invited to submit original artwork in the form of high resolution .JPEG or .PNG files, including scans of physical artwork, digital artwork, photographs, etc. Alternatively, students may leave a note of the 'vibe' of artwork they'd like to see included with their piece, and the Writers' Block Staff will do our best to find an appropriate image.

Submit Here