About Us
Other is Duke’s peer-reviewed undergraduate literary arts journal, housed in the Program in Literature. Our mission is to create a publication exemplifying creative and thoughtful writing about culture, literature, film, and the arts. Committed to experimental, theoretical, critical, and creative expression, Other is a dedicated space for sharing original work by Duke undergraduates. We accept submissions of course papers for academic peer review, critical responses and reviews of contemporary art, creative writing, photography, and illustration.
Our inaugural issue was release on April 25, 2024 with a release party and live music at Duke Coffeehouse.
We are excited to continue Other in Fall 2024 and hope you will consider participating. Undergraduates students interested in participating in the editorial board should contact Other journal advisor Matia Guardabascio at matia.guardabascio@duke.edu. General inquires about the journal may be sent to otherlitjournal@duke.edu.
Please read our submission prompt and guidelines for information on how and when to submit. We look forward to engaging with your work!
Submission Prompt
We will announce our submission prompt for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year in the Fall 2024 semester. Stay tuned!
Submission Guidelines
We are looking for submissions of work in the following categories:
- Class Papers/Essays for Peer Review
- Reviews of Contemporary Art and Artists
- Creative Writing (Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction)
- Visual Arts: Photography & Illustration
For submissions of writing, please note the following:
- Prose works (including essays/papers, reviews, fiction, and creative non-fiction) should be no more than 3,000 words or 10 double-spaced pages.
- Up to 5 pages of poetry.
For submissions of photography and illustration, please provide the following:
- Three to five images of original work.
- All images must be at least 300dpi.
- An abstract up to 500 words about your work.
- Note: If you would like to have captions for your photographs or illustrations, then please submit those along with your abstract.
Submissions are open to all currently enrolled undergraduate Duke students. All submissions must be original work by the submitter. Works created with the assistance of AI will not be accepted at this time.
Deadlines
The submission deadlines for Course Papers/Essays and Creative Writing/Visual Arts will be announced concurrently with this year's prompt. Stay tuned!
If you have any questions about submitting, then please reach out to us at otherlitjournal@duke.edu.
Submit
SUBMIT COURSE PAPER/ESSAY - Coming soon.
SUBMIT REVIEW/CREATIVE WRITING/VISUAL ARTS - Coming soon.
FAQs
Who can submit?
At this time, we are only looking for submissions from Duke undergraduates in any department.
What kinds of pieces is Other looking for?
We are looking for submissions of work in the following categories:
- Completed academic papers or essays
- Reviews of contemporary culture, including visual art, films, performance, books, music, etc.
- Creative writing (fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction)
- Artwork, including photography, painting, and illustration
You can send us multiple submissions, provided you aren’t submitting the same thing multiple times.
Prose submissions should be no more than 3,000 words or 10 double-spaced pages, and poetry submissions should be at max 5 pages.
For artwork, please send us three to five images of original work to choose from with a resolution of at least 300dpi. You also should send an abstract up to 500 words about your work.
(Note: If you would like to have captions for your photographs or illustrations, then please submit those along with your abstract.) Works created with the assistance of AI will not be accepted at this time.
The theme for our inaugural issue is — you guessed it — Other. This means we’re looking for submissions that contend in some way with the polymorphous nature of our title. “Otherness” has roots across multiple disciplines, including psychoanalysis, studies in gender, race, sexuality, and post-colonialism. Other is a rupture, a separation, a shadow. We challenge you to explore otherness. What is other? Do you have other ideas?
If you’re interested in submitting something you think fits the theme but doesn’t conform to the guidelines above, send us an email at otherlitjournal@duke.edu and we’ll discuss it.
What is Other’s peer review process like, and how does it work?
Peer review typically a standard part of publishing with an academic journal, where an article is reviewed anonymously by colleagues working in the same field. For this reason, the peer review process will only apply to academic papers or essay submitted to Other.
For us, peer review refers to how we handle our editorial process for academic papers and essays. These will be reviewed by the undergraduate students on our editorial board, who will decide what pieces (~25 for the first issue) will be published.
Successful contributors who have submitted academic essays will be notified by February 22nd. At that point, they will be assigned to work with one of the members of the editorial board who will copy-edit the paper and provide them with feedback the contributor can incorporate. Once that’s done, the submission will also be reviewed by a faculty member on the undergraduate committee who may provide further comments. From start to finish this should only take a month, and once both peer reviewers have signed off the piece will be ready for publication.
We will aim to notify submitters who aren’t chosen for publication by February 22nd but we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful submissions at this time.
What is the editorial process like for all other submissions?
We will let contributors of creative work who are accepted know by March 22nd. Unlike academic papers, these submissions will not go through a review process and will be printed in the same form they were accepted in.
When will this year’s issue will be released, and how can I get a copy?
Our first issue will come out at the end of the semester and will be available at our release party in late April (date TBA). We will also be distributing copies across campus. All copies of Other are free.
If you have any other questions or concerns — including ones about submissions or our editorial process not answered here — please email us at otherlitjournal@duke.edu.