Student Media

For over two decades, The Alternative has been dedicated to finding and publishing exceptional examples of short fiction, non-fiction, essays, and visual art produced by students at Eastfield.

Students who are currently enrolled at Eastfield may submit to The Alternative. Applications from students across the campus will be accepted and considered, whether you are a student in an English class, a student in a visual art studio, or are a math or science student who has written about their field of study in a creative manner.

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Submissions

The Alternative, Eastfield's award-winning magazine, is currently accepting submissions in the following categories: art (all visual art media will be accepted, including, but not limited to: photography, sculpture, painting, digital art), fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, and music compositions.

All entrants must be current Eastfield students. All submissions are free, and students can submit in any category.  No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to submit.

Students who submit have an opportunity to creatively express themselves, be published, establish and/or add to a professional portfolio, and professionalize their undergraduate experience.

OPEN CALL DATES

March 1 – December 18, 2020

Categories:

Literature

Students may submit up to two (2) entries to each category: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry.

Artworks (all forms)*

Students may submit up to six (6) individual works, and each work may be represented by up to three (3) images.

Music

Students may submit up to three (3) musical compositions in sheet music form (or lead sheet music featuring melody and chord symbols). Compositions must be of original work, be of music from the public domain, or the arranger must have secured permission to arrange the work. Proof of permission will be required before publication.

*Note for Visual Art Submissions: If your work is selected, you will be contacted by a Visual Art Editor to schedule a date and time to deliver your work to be photographed for publication.

Submission Guidelines

All entries must be completed using the online form. Please read these guidelines carefully before beginning your application. Applications not submitted by 11:59 pm CST on December 18, 2020 will not be reviewed.

All submitted work must be previously unpublished, which includes personal blogs, social media, online journals, or magazines.

All work must be original. By submitting, you represent and warrant that the materials do not infringe on any copyright, trademark, property rights, rights of privacy, or publicity of any person or any other right of any third party, and that you have the full and unrestricted right to submit the material to The Alternative.

Complete the Submission Form and include a faculty/staff member who has acted as a mentor.

A jury will choose entries for publication. The jury's decision is final and non-negotiable. Entrants whose work is accepted for publication in The Alternative will be notified by email.

General Formatting Guidelines

• Any text should be 12 pt Times New Roman.
• Multiple entries must be submitted separately; for example, submit all poems as separate documents (.doc, .docx., .rtf), submit all visual art entries as individual TIFF or JPEG files.
• We accept .doc, .docx, or .rtf files only; and TIFF or JPEG files for artwork, at 300 DPI

Submission Guidelines by Genre

Literature

• Fiction: up to 1,500 words.
• Nonfiction: up to 1,500 words.
• Poetry: up to 50 lines. Longer poems will be considered, but shorter poems are desirable.
• Please submit your files as either .doc, .docx, or .rtf files.
• Name files accordingly: Last Name_Genre
  

Visual Art

• Upload up to 3 distinct images per entry, including drawing, digital, other 2-dimensional formats, and photography.
  
• Please submit your files as a high-resolution TIFF or JPEG file, 300 DPI.
  
• Image resolution should be large enough for the curator to view the work clearly on a computer.
  
• Name image files accordingly: Last Name_Image Title_#
  
• Artwork Information to Include:
  
• Title
• Medium
• Year Completed
• Dimensions
  

Notifications

The final notification of the jury's selection will be sent out by February 2020. Notifications will be sent to the email address entered in the application.