Guidelines & Submissions

 

ATTENTION ALL WRITERS!

Reading of submissions for each year's Phoenix will begin immediately after the deadline. Any entries received after midnight on the day of the deadline will be held for consideration for the NEXT ISSUE but will NOT be read until the following year! Entries for art projects are still being accepted through the end of each the fall term.

Winning entries for the current issue will be selected from submissions received BEFORE their respective deadlines and will be announced on this site in January. No notification letters will be sent; winners are responsible for checking the notification list and for claiming their prizes.

Deadline for literary entries is the THIRD FRIDAY in October.
Deadline for art entries is the LAST FRIDAY of FALL term.

Submissions are accepted year-round, but anything received after the deadlines will be held for consideration in the following year's issue. All entries MUST be made by students enrolled for courses during the year in which they submit, or their entries may be disqualified. 

Welcome, Student Contributors!

The Phoenix literary magazine is an award-winning student publication published annually by Valencia College through Student Development funds. The publication features 100% student work in the categories of art, fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Courtesy of Student Development, all submissions to the Phoenix are AUTOMATICALLY entered in a CONTEST for which a $100 prize will be awarded to the best entry in each of the following four categories: Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, and Art.

NOTE: All published entries may also be entered in additional local, state, and national contests as selected by the Phoenix advisers. Winners will be notified by email and/or regular mail.

Literary Entries (Nonfiction, Fiction, & Poetry)

Although the Phoenix accepts student literary submissions ALL YEAR, please be advised that:

  • Poetry and prose entries MUST be submitted by midnight on the third Friday in October to be considered for the next issue; the official reading period for poetry and prose is from October through December. Winners are chosen in January and final selections are made by the end of February.
  • Any poetry and prose submission in by midnight October 8, will be considered for that fall-all other entries will not be considered until the following year! Example: A poem submitted on October 12, 2021, will not be read for consideration until fall of 2022.
  • EACH poem or prose piece MUST be submitted separately, or may be disqualified
  • All entries MUST be students enrolled for classes during the year in which they submit, or their entries may be disqualified
Literary submissions MUST be submitted as a Microsoft Word Document (with a 12-point font and double spacing), Rich Text File, or Plain Text File. Please give each piece a title; remove any other identifying information.

Guidelines for each category are as follows

  • Fiction: up to three pieces, 2000 words total
  • Graphic Fiction: up to 6 pages total
    • Acceptable file types for Graphic Fiction are JPG, TIFF & PDF
    • Please remove all text from Graphic Fiction submissions, including artist/title information
    • All Graphic Fiction submissions must be submitted as high resolution graphic files
  • Nonfiction: up to three pieces, 2000 words total
  • Poetry: 3 poems max, not more than one page each

Art Entries

Art entries are also accepted all year, but please know that:

  • Art submissions entered by the last Friday of the Fall term are eligible for the January/February selection for the upcoming issue; all submissions made after that will be considered for the following year. Example: A piece of art submitted in January will not be considered until the following January!
  • Finalists may be contacted via VC email by Jan./Feb., and will need to provide a high-resolution copy of their selected piece(s) suitable for reproduction in print OR may be asked to bring in the art to be professionally photographed here on West Campus.
  • Any finalist who does not respond to the email message/provide the art may not get published
  • All entries MUST be students enrolled for classes during the year in which they submit, or their entries may be disqualified

Upload a graphic file of your art submission(s) (7 max). Each submission must be submitted separately. Please give each piece a title. All entries must be submitted as high resolution graphic files at the following specifications:

  • JPG, TIFF, PDF file
  • Please remove all text from art submissions, including artist/title information
  • Minimum dimension of 8" on the shortest side (make sure the dpi is 300 or higher)
    **NOTE! Any entry not meeting these criteria CANNOT BE USED. Please follow.

If you need help resizing your entry to meet the DPI, please consult these resources (these links take you to an external website not affiliated with the Phoenix or with Valencia College):

The following formats are unacceptable: GIF, PNG, BMP

ALL entries are automatically entered to win $100 in each of the four categories, courtesy of Student Development.

Submit Work

ALL entries are automatically entered to win $100 in each of the four categories, courtesy of Student Development.

Any entry NOT selected by the Phoenix may be used elsewhere; see this FAQ for more information.

All cash winners All cash winners will be posted to our Engage Page (link) each January. Winners will also receive an email. All checks will be mailed to the address each student has in MyVC.

Questions? Please read FAQs

Round Table Discussion

This video is for instructional use to help students understand better how to get their own creative nonfiction pieces published in the Phoenix. If any Valencia College instructor would like a copy of the student pieces discussed in the video roundtable to use in class, please email Jackie Zuromski at jzuromski1@valenciacollege.edu and she will send the document to a professor with a Valencia email account.