WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

We seek thought-provoking pieces from any disciplinary perspective that explore questions and problems related to writing, rhetoric, reading, pedagogy and teacher-training, literacy broadly conceived, popular culture and media, community discourses, and multimodal and digital composing. We expect that the work will be informed by critical conversations relevant to the topic–that is, composers should incorporate timely, pertinent research to support claims. In addition, we welcome projects that experiment with form, voice, style, and delivery.

WHAT FORMATS WE ACCEPT:

Please use MLA format for all citations; if unsure of current practices, see this handy overview of 7th edition MLA format or this more detailed explanation over at Purdue OWL. We accept submissions in the following formats: Microsoft Word (.doc or .rtf), QuickTime, MP3, or slideshow formats (upload to slideshare.net or a similar slide-hosting platform, and email the link to us). Please be aware that images should be original, used with permission, or fall under fair use guidelines. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-4.0 International License is our default license; authors are invited to specify another license for their work, if they wish.

ON SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS:

Please submit your work to one academic journal at a time. If you are simultaneously submitting your work to other journals, please mention so in your cover letter. Queen City Writers does not accept work that has been published elsewhere. If your work is accepted by another journal, we ask that you notify us immediately.

HOW TO DIRECT YOUR SUBMISSION:

Please email submissions and queries to qcwriters [at] gmail [dot] com. For submissions, include in the subject line “QCW submission,” and attach your files to the message (for multimedia projects too large to attach, please contact us) or include in the body of the message a link to work hosted online. A faculty advisor should send a brief email to the address above, verifying that the student authored the submitted work.

Indicate in your message the section to which you are submitting and a bit about yourself (school, year in school, etc.); remove your name and affiliation from your submission. All submissions should relate to the general focus of the journal; sections are as follows:

Inquiry: 2,500 to 5,000 word critical essays, informed by research.

Multimedia: video, audio, or mixed media pieces, 15 minutes or less (if appropriate to medium), accompanied by an artist’s statement that explains purpose, motivation, reasons for using a particular medium (what are its affordances?), intended effect, timeliness of project, and goals for use by viewers/readers.

Storming the Gate: features 1,250 to 2,000 word essays by first-year college writers. While composition courses have historically served a gate-keeping function in universities, we believe there’s some gate-busting going on as well. To that end, we are interested in showcasing student work that takes risks, exhibits innovative thinking, and demonstrates the robust potential of composition–the art of making things–for emerging writers.

Reviews: reviews of books, articles, webtexts, media–among other possibilities–related to the journal’s theme (no more than 1,000 words).

Snapshots: quick snapshot of yourself as a writer or interview snapshot of an undergraduate writer you know (500-700 words). What is the writing life like for a first-year writer? For a student in biology? For one who experiences writer’s block? For a first-generation or international student? We are interested in collecting stories about writers in order to highlight the variety of struggles, joys, and practices that come with the territory.

Gabfest: see something that gets your goat? Write a 250 to 500 word response to something we’ve published and send it to us. You can refute a claim, raise a question that gets overlooked, echo a writer’s point and add onto it, or simply express your pleasure while reading/viewing something on QCW. We want to hear from you!

WHAT THE SUBMISSION PROCESS ENTAILS:

Submissions for the Inquiry, Multimedia, and Storming the Gate sections will be screened by in-house staff for appropriateness of content and format and then forwarded to two reviewers for external review. This process takes approximately four weeks during the academic year. Submissions for other sections will be reviewed by the editorial team. See what writers say about the review process!