Research: Journals
The Journal
The Journal's Second Annual Ohio State University Alumni Flash Prose Writing Contest: Recognizing Literary Excellence of Ohio State Alumni
Ohio has a wealth of home-grown literary talent, and no one knows that better than The Journal, the award-winning, national literary magazine published by The Ohio State University. For over thirty years, The Journal has been printing the best writing by established and emerging authors, some of whom are publishing their first stories, literary essays, and poems in The Journal's pages.Last year The Journal editors, OSU creative writing faculty members Kathy Fagan and Michelle Herman, were pleased to announce the first annual Alumni Flash Prose Writing Contest to honor Ohio State University alumni. The contest was enormously successful--drawing entries from alumni from all areas of the University, and of all ages. And although there were no plans for any prizes to be awarded other than the single winning entry--a cash prize of five hundred dollars and publication in The Journal--choosing a winner from the very best work submitted was difficult, and in the end, after the difficult decision was made by Professor Herman, several other writers who had submitted work were asked if they would like to have their pieces published.
The winning piece, "Her Cause Was Holy," by Meghan Fox (Class of '01) appears in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of The Journal; the runners up, Jean Giovanetti (Class of '91), David Parr (Class of '93), and Renee Reighart (Class of '99) will appear in the Fall/Winter issue.
Professors Fagan and Herman instituted the writing contest to encourage alumni to reconnect with OSU and their own love for literature. "It's too easy to lose track of that," Professor Herman says. "After people get busy with careers, with family, something that once mattered greatly can easily get misplaced. We want to welcome them home."
Herman and Fagan have edited the magazine together since 1990, while teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes at OSU and working on their own writing. "It's a labor of love," Professor Fagan says."We wouldn't do it otherwise."
For fifteen years, Herman and Fagan's labor of love has been recognized nationally. Work which first appeared in The Journal has been reprinted in the annual Pushcart Prize Anthology, the prestigious Best American Poetry series, and numerous prize-winning short-story collections. Recently, Herman and Fagan themselves received the highly-respected Ohioana Award for Editorial Excellence. The Ohioana award presenters report that they're "proud to honor Kathy Fagan and Michelle Herman for their contributions and efforts in maintaining The Journal's legacy as an important part of Ohio's literary landscape."
The Journal, originally titled The Ohio Journal, was founded in 1973 by William Allen of the English Department at The Ohio State University, and has been published continuously ever since. David Citino, OSU's poet laureate and Ohioana Career Award winner, served as editor from 1985 to 1990 and was a contributing editor until his death in 2005.
Each year The Journal editors read approximately 3000 manuscripts from writers around the world, all vying for publication in The Journal. Professors Fagan and Herman, excited about this second round of finding the former buckeye with the best unpublished story or literary essay under 1000 words, invite OSU alumni to submit their writing to one of OSU's most famous "exports." First-place winner will once again receive $500 and publication in The Journal alongside the work of such major writers as Cynthia Ozick, Floyd Skloot, and Brenda Hillman.
Winners of the 2007 Alumni Contest.
Guidelines for The Ohio State University Alumni Writing Contest
The Journal, the award-winning nationally-distributed literary magazine of The Ohio State University, would like to announce its third annual Journal Flash Prose Writing Contest for alumni of Ohio State.The Journal Flash Prose Alumni Writing Contest offers $500 and publication of the winning "flash" story or essay in an upcoming issue of The Journal and on The Journal 's Web site. The names of submitters receiving honorable mentions will also be posted on the Web site. All styles, subject matter, and forms are welcome. We welcome submissions of fiction as well as creative nonfiction for the flash prose contest. Please indicate on your cover page and on the manuscript whether the submitted work is fiction or creative nonfiction.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted provided immediate notice is given if work is accepted elsewhere. Please submit only previously unpublished fiction or nonfiction up to 1000 words. All manuscripts will be considered for publication.
This year's judge is Michelle Herman, author of A New and Glorious Life and Missing, selected as one of the 25 Best Books of the Year by The Village Voice. Her latest novella, Dog, and her memoir, The Middle of Everything, were both released in 2005. Her stories, novellas, and personal essays have appeared in such periodicals as the North American Review, Story Quarterly, American Scholar, and O, the Oprah Magazine and have been anthologized in such collections as Stumbling and Raging: Politically Inspired Stories and Jewish-American Fiction: A Century of Stories.
We begin accepting entries to the third annual Alumni Contest in June 2007. The deadline for postmark of manuscripts is September 30, 2007. A reading fee of $10 must accompany each manuscript. Please make checks payable to The Journal.
Manuscripts should be submitted anonymously with the title of the work and all contact information listed on a separate cover page. Please include the title of the work and its genre (fiction or creative nonfiction) on both the manuscript and the separate cover page. Please also include on the cover page the year that you graduated. We are also curious to know which college within OSU you attended (we hope to receive entries from all fields!). Neither the year you graduated nor the college you graduated from will have any bearing on your manuscript as all entries are read and judged anonymously.
Manuscripts will not be returned. Please number pages and double-space all entries.
Send your unpublished story or essay with the $10 reading fee to:
The Journal
Department of English
The Ohio State University
164 West 17 th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
To receive a list of winners, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or an email address. Only alumni of The Ohio State University are eligible to enter this contest. Current faculty and students are ineligible. Employees who are alumni of OSU are eligible to enter as long as they are not employed by the Department of English.
