Because I'm in the Creative Writing MFA program, I have definitely become more invested in the idea of publishing. Writing my project proposal for this class has helped me to solidify my future publication goals, mainly because I plan to write extensively while I'm in London, so this will help add to my pool of publishable material. But it's also been helpful because it has made me more alert to the type of literary journals and other places where I could publish my work. I've been researching some literary journals lately in hopes that I could find some that publish the type of work I write. Also, it shows me what I could aspire to as a writer--shows me what kind of work is being published in the current literary atmosphere. I thought I'd share a couple examples of current literary journals where I could send my work:
Ruminate Magazine (http://www.ruminatemagazine.com/)
Ruminate's tagline is "chewing on life, faith, and art," which immediately interested me because I feel that my beliefs and faith come up in my writing, and sometimes it's hard to find a venue eager to publish spiritual writing. From what I can tell about the magazine, they publish mainly fiction and poetry, but they seem to have at least a couple of essays in each issue. So it might be harder to publish essays, but it's possible that they don't receive as many nonfiction submissions (and from what I've heard, that is often the case). So the fact that they publish less essays than they do short stories and poetry shouldn't necessarily discourage me from submitting. They publish quarterly, and they look for pieces that "resonate with the complexity and truth of the Christian faith." Although the essays I write in London may not be essentially "spiritual" writing, my faith has a way of creeping into my writing, so it's something that I often drift into. One of the essays I read could also be categorized as a travel essay, but it dealt with spiritual issues. This is an interesting magazine I'd love to continue exploring.
Ecotone Journal (http://www.ecotonejournal.com/)
The Ecotone website says that they look for work that "seeks to reimagine place." Thematically, place often comes up in my essays, because I think that so much of who we are as people comes from where we originate. So any attempt to explore myself as a person tends to come back to an exploration of place. Place will be an essential part of my field studies project, as I will be looking at the connection between British essayists and London, and because I will be in London there will be an added dimension of my own experiences with place. This journal seems to publish a lot more nonfiction than Ruminate does, which is good to know. I always love to know when journals either favor or welcome a lot of nonfiction and personal essay. Especially because my field study project as well as my master's thesis will be a collection of personal essays. Good to keep in mind!
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