The River Bluff Review is now accepting submissions!
Deadline: Sunday, September 27, 11:59 PM
All currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students of SIUE are eligible to submit work.
Submissions are now being accepted in the following categories:
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Poetry
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including prose poetry, erasure/blackout poetry, found poetry
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Prose:
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including fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction (including excerpts from longer pieces), short plays
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Visual Art:
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Photography, drawings, paintings
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Photographic representations of physical or 3D media
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Graphic narratives and comics
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Visual art may be submitted as color images, but accepted work will be printed in black and white.
Published images will have their aspect ratio maintained but will be scaled to fit the physical limitations of the magazine. See the example below:
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Cover art: We are also soliciting visual art for the cover of this year’s issue—color images preferred, with a vertical or horizontal orientation. Students are encouraged to submit work that represents/reflects their take on the culture, spirit, and/or experience of SIUE. (Note: In the event that your piece is not selected for the cover, editors will consider it for inclusion in the body of the journal.)
If you’re interested in submitting work that doesn’t fall into one of these categories or aren’t sure what category to use, please direct your question to riverbluffreview@gmail.com and Prof. Vogrin, our faculty advisor, will get back to you.
You can pick up a free past issue outside the English Department office (Peck Hall 3206) or Prof. Valerie Vogrin’s office (Peck Hall 0214).
Submission Guidelines
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Please carefully read the following guidelines before you submit!
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We believe in humans! Let’s not bring the robots into this, okay? (Please no generative AI.)
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Works must not have been previously published in print or online journals. (Material appearing on personal websites and social media is acceptable; if that’s the case, please include a link.)
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No more than four total pieces of art and/or written work should be submitted. Due to practical considerations, please limit individual prose pieces to under 6,000 words.
If you are submitting multiple pieces, you must complete a separate submission for each piece.
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Please send text-only submissions in Word format. Graphic files should be sent as JPEGs.
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Be sure to include the title of your piece.
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Fiction and creative nonfiction submissions should include the word count at the top of the page.
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Submissions are read blind. Therefore, the author’s/artist's name should not appear on any of the pieces submitted.
How to Submit
We manage submissions through the online submission management system Submittable.
This allows us to efficiently keep track of submissions and maintain the anonymity of submitters. (Faculty advisor Valerie Vogrin is the only person who will know the identity of submitters before the final editorial decisions have been made.)
This link will take you to Submittable. It takes less than a minute to create a free account.
Submittable will issue you an automated acknowledgement. We recommend you safelist notification emails from Submittable so they don’t end up in your Spam folder.
Deadline: Sunday, September 27, 11:59 PM
Frequently Asked Questions:
When do the editors make their decisions?
Editorial decisions will be made in early-to-mid-November.
When will the journal be released?
The magazine will be published in January. All contributors will receive a free copy. Copies will be available at the reading/release celebration early in the Spring semester; alternatively, they can be mailed. Additional copies will be available to purchase in person and online.
Is River Bluff Review something new?
The RBR has been publishing great student work for over thirty years.
Who makes the editorial decisions?
The editors are students currently enrolled in English 494 – Literary Editing. Students make the final decisions about the layout and all literary and artistic content.
Deadline: Sunday, September 27, 11:59 PM