The Kudzu Review is accepting submissions

By Alyssa Cuevas

Florida State University’s undergraduate literary magazine, The Kudzu Review, is accepting submissions for its 67th issue.

Founded in 1988, The Kudzu Review publishes twice a year, once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester, showcasing a variety of undergraduate work ranging from nonfiction and fiction to poetry and visual art. The magazine accepts submissions from across the country.

“We only accept work from current undergraduates and anyone who has graduated one semester prior to the current submission period, i.e., if you graduated in spring, you are allowed to submit the following fall,” Editor-in-Chief Mia Jackson explains. “We are an international magazine—no matter what university you attend in the world, as long as you're an undergraduate, we want to read your work.”

Natalie Hughes helps with reviewing submissions for the journal, and she explains that a significant reason why students should submit their work to the magazine is so it can be seen and celebrated by others.

“Not only that but it also gives you the chance to have your work reviewed by an amazing group of people who are dedicated to helping you reach your best potential in your writing or art," Hughes says Hughes, an English major on the editing, writing, and media track.

Madison Maley is a first-time staff member on the layout team for The Kudzu Review, and she emphasizes that submitting to the magazine is a great way for undergraduates who have not submitted work before to get used to the process.

“As undergrads, everyone who submits is still early in their writing and art journeys,” says Maley, an English major on the editing, writing, and media track. “There's no judgment. It's a great place to get started and to figure out the ropes of submitting work to journals.”

The deadline to submit for the Fall 2021 issue is Friday, Oct. 29 at 11:59 p.m. A detailed genre requirements breakdown is available on the magazine’s website. Submitting work for the publication is free and general submission questions can be sent to kudzu.fsu@gmail.com.

Several pieces are selected for the magazine’s separate sections. For example, the fiction and nonfiction sections publish anywhere from one to three pieces, according to Jackson, while the poetry and visual art sections publish around 10 to 15.

After submission, the magazine editors notify via email the students who are selected for publication no later than three weeks after the submission deadline. Students whose work is selected are not only published, but they are also invited to read their work at a future event.

“Students who are published in Kudzu Review will be given the opportunity to attend a reading, be interviewed for our staff blog and social media, and have the potential to see their work in a print edition this spring,” Jackson says.

Erin Slaughter is a doctoral candidate in the English-Creative Writing Program, and she helps oversee the publication, which is electronically published each semester on Issuu. For the first time in several years, however, the spring edition will be in print. Those interested in submitting work can do so here: Submissions.

Alyssa Cuevas is a junior who is majoring in English-Editing, Writing, and Media, with a second major in Communication.

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