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Deadline: Sunday, September 15, 11:59 PM

 

What kinds of work are the editors looking for?

 

• Poetry

• Prose (fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction – including excerpts from longer pieces), short plays

• Visual Art: photography, drawings, paintings, and photographic representations of art in other media

• Graphic narratives and comics

• Other Media: short videos, animation, original music (15 minutes maximum)

 

We believe in humans! Let’s not bring the robots into this, okay?  (Please no generative AI.)

 

Works must not have 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.)

 

If you’re interested in submitting work that doesn’t fall into one of these categories, send us a query at riverbluffreview@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you.

 

How much work can I send?

 

• No more than four total pieces of art and/or written work should be submitted.

 

How long can the written submissions be?

 

• Due to practical considerations, shorter pieces are more likely to be accepted. Please limit individual prose pieces to under 6,000 words.

 

Who is eligible to submit?

 

• All undergraduate and graduate students of SIUE are eligible to submit work.

 

How exactly do I submit?

 

• We are managing 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 to Submittable. It takes less than a minute to create a free account. 

 

If you are submitting multiple pieces, you need to complete a separate submission for each piece.

 

What kind of files should I send?

 

• Please send text-only submissions in Word format. 

• Graphic files should be sent as JPEGs.

• Other media should be sent as MP3 or MP4 files.

 

What information do you need from me?

 

• Name

• SIUE email address (to confirm student status)

• phone number

• title of the piece

• word count (for prose fiction & nonfiction only)

 

NOTE: The author’s/artist's name should not appear on any of the pieces submitted. All submissions are reviewed blind by editors.

 

How will I know if you’ve received my submission?

 

• 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.

 

When do the editors make their decisions?

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• Editorial decisions will be made in early-to-mid-November.

 

Is River Bluff Review something new?

 

• The RBR has been publishing great student work for over thirty years.

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Who makes the editorial decisions?

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• 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.

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What if I still have questions?

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• Email any questions regarding submissions to riverbluffreview@gmail.com.

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DEADLINE: Sunday, September 15, 11:59 PM