Grassroots Literary Magazine is currently seeking submissions for the Fall 2023 edition.
The student-run literary and arts magazine allows all southern Illinois community members to publish their work for free. Up to five creative works can be submitted per person. Acceptable works include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, artwork, comics, photography, screenplays, essays, song lyrics and more.
“The purpose of Grassroots is to make the literary and artistic world available to students and community members of Carbondale and [the] surrounding area,” editor-in-chief Porsche Garrett said. “We think that really everyone should get a chance to have their voice or their art be seen or heard, and we try to make everything as accessible to the public as we can.”
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Once submitted, the applicant will be paired with an editor who will work closely to provide feedback and suggestions. According to Garrett, the editors’ job is to help with grammar, story structure and clarity rather than taking over the narrative.
“We try to make sure that the author or poet’s work is still in their original voice,” she said. “And then for artwork and photography, we don’t do too much editing with those. Those usually speak for themselves.”
Garrett said that the process is a great time for both the artist and the editor.
“We get to read amazing work and help people make it as best as they can, and they get the experience of sort of entering the literary world and having someone read and appreciate their work,” she said.
Grassroots has served as an annual magazine since the early 1990s, printing one edition per year. Originally, only Southern Illinois University students were invited to submit their works. The opportunity was recently extended to community members as well. Garrett plans to print two editions of the magazine this school year: a Fall 2023 edition and a Spring 2024 edition.
“Grassroots didn’t always accept community member submissions and that was something that only started in recent years,” she said. “And then we’ve also changed – as of this year – that we’re trying to do a magazine for each semester, one for fall and one for spring semester… I’d say those are probably the two biggest changes that we’ve done to the magazine lately.”
Garrett said she made the decision because she thought doing two magazines per school year would be a great opportunity to divide up the work and provide people with more chances to showcase their talents.
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Alongside highlighting the creativity of the Carbondale community, Grassroots also aims to honor the legacy of the late poet Jon Tribble. According to the Poetry Foundation, Tribble taught creative writing and literature at SIU and was the managing editor of Crab Orchard Review. In his memory, a top prize of $150 is given out in three categories: fiction/nonfiction, poetry, and art/photography.
In addition to the magazine, Grassroots hosts open mic nights, inviting all southern Illinois community members to share their work. A murder mystery-themed open mic is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 10.
“We have people come and sing, read poetry, read excerpts from their books or even books that other people have written that they just want to share,” Garrett said. “It’s just a time to get everyone to have some connection with the rest of the artistic community in Carbondale. And then, after we do our open mics, we’re also going to have a release party for each magazine that we release.”
Everyone who contributes to the magazine is guaranteed a free copy. Garrett said leftover prints are given out at Grassroots’ various events and solicitation tables. Students can also receive a copy of past editions by attending an open mic night or emailing [email protected].
The deadline to submit to Grassroots Magazine is Oct. 30. Submissions must include a cover page with name, word count, email, title of work and genre. For more information, visit the magazine’s submission page.
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