Humanities ND Magazine
Submissions
Humanities ND Magazine is a quarterly publication that engages with ideas on all topics related to the Humanities and accepts submissions throughout the year from writers across the United States. In 2 (Spring and Fall) of our 4 issues, we offer specific programmatic content about the many events, courses, book/author discussions that Humanities ND offers. The other issues, “Sense of Place” (spring) and “Gray Matters” (fall), ask for specific kinds of content submissions. Please bear in mind that we seek a variety of voices and perspectives, and, to that end, we rarely publish submissions from the same writers in these 2 issues each year.
Magazine
Issues
PROGRAM ISSUES (SPRING AND FALL): Instructors are encouraged to submit “teasers”—not a syllabus or specific course description, but rather something more reflective though related to their upcoming courses. They may submit in any category (essay/article, fiction, poetry) and must imagine an audience that might be intrigued by their course offering. We occasionally offer other pieces in our program issues, but they primarily focus on courses and events.
THE SENSE OF PLACE ISSUE (SPRING): For this issue alone, we focus most particularly on submissions from writers with a direct connection to North Dakota, and consider work from all categories. Writers might focus on how that connection has affected them, in terms of history, memory, education, landscape, ethnic identity, art, music, culture, family—a broad range of topics.
THE GRAY MATTERS ISSUE (FALL): This issue, as its title suggests, focuses on more cerebral/philosophical ideas. It often features “scholarly” articles (see below) but could include clearly written discussions on any relevant issues of concern to writers. It might also include contemplative poetry, memoir, or short fiction.
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Submission
Categories and Guidelines
Humanities ND Magazine accepts several kinds of submissions and actively seeks those submissions year round. Submit at any time for the “Sense of Place” or “Gray Matters” issues. Please note the specific guidelines that pertain to each category and see also Submission Criteria.
NONFICTION: Most of our submissions come from writers of articles—essays, creative nonfiction, memoir. These pieces should fit a range of a minimum of 1,000 to a maximum of 4,000 words. Although we do accept previously published work (for which we do not pay), we prefer original work.*
Within this category, we also accept “scholarly” essays, with the understanding that they must reflect consideration for a wide audience, not merely for colleagues in the writer’s field. Such pieces should demonstrate careful research, must make a clear, cohesive point within the 4,000-word limit, and must be well argued with supporting materials from personal or professional experience. They may focus on any humanities topic: culture, literature, film, history, ethnic studies, art, music—on any human/society endeavor or product.
FICTION: As with nonfiction submissions, we expect a 1,000—4,000-word range and expect, with certain occasional exceptions, that work will be original/unpublished.* Both short stories and chapters/excerpts from novels will be considered for publication.
POETRY: Poetry submissions must not exceed 60 lines. Given our limited ability to publish the poetry that we receive, we accept no more than 2 pieces/poems per submission. Submissions of greater than 2 pieces will not receive our consideration. As with all other submissions, we prize original work but may consider previously published pieces.*
ARTWORK: Please note: While we currently seek and encourage submissions of artwork to accompany articles/fiction/poetry, we are not accepting unsolicited submissions of artwork at this time. All submissions—original artwork, personal photographs, graphic art—must be of high, reproducible quality and are only published with appropriate permissions, for which the submitter is responsible.
*REPRINTED WORK: Selections of nonfiction, poetry, fiction, or artwork are allowable submissions. In this case, we generally look for recently published work, though, depending upon context, an older piece could also be considered. These submissions must be specifically identified as such and include both publication information and appropriate permissions—no exceptions in this regard.
PAYMENT FOR PUBLICATION: We pay $250 for articles, fiction pieces, and poetry, and $500 for scholarly essays and artwork selected for publication. Authors and artists maintain rights to their work and, if a piece is used on our website, can request that their piece be taken down at any time. As noted above, we do not pay authors for reprinted work.
Submission
Criteria
NUTS AND BOLTS: All submissions must conform to some basic considerations, among them
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Please carefully read all information regarding magazine issues, guidelines, and criteria prior to making submissions using the Google form (this link can be found in our magazine and on our website at humanitiesnd.org/news).
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No piece of any kind should be submitted without the writer having performed a careful self-editing process to assure that it is as error-free as possible;
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Pieces should clearly identify the writer and title, and provide the writer’s e-mail address/contact information;
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Submissions must be double spaced, conform to standard expectations regarding usage, and be written in 12-point typeface with appropriate margins (generally 1 inch) all around;
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All submissions will be initially reviewed to determine whether they meet both our criteria and our current need. Humanities ND Magazine reserves the right to refuse any publication that does not meet such expectations. Please note: submissions that are accepted are not guaranteed immediate publication. Our acceptance response will indicate when we anticipate publication;
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Writers should anticipate that Humanities ND Magazine will edit for clarity—in terms of style, grammar, and mechanics. We will never tamper with content, but may ask questions related to it when necessary.
Please contact editor Rebecca Chalmers at hndmagazine@humanitiesnd.org with any questions.