Submit

We accept short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, photography, visual art, and open media (i.e. creative works limited only by your imagination).

Creative Nonfiction

True stories, well told ranging from memoir, short stories, and personal essays to lyrical essays, literary journalism, and travel writing. Creative nonfiction is usually a combination of scene, summary, and reflection generally rooted in personal experience. CSW limits submissions in this category to 5,000 words, titled. Untitled works will not be accepted.

Poetry

Poetry submissions may be any poetic form including but not limited to sonnet, limerick, haiku, acrostic, pantoum, villanelle, and free verse. CSW limits poetry submissions to five pages each, titled. Untitled works will not be accepted.

Short Fiction

Short fiction submissions may be any type of short fiction including but not limited to short story, flash fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy. CSW limits short fiction submissions to 5,000 words, titled. Untitled works will not be accepted.

Visual Art

Visual art submissions may be any type of two- or three-dimensional artwork in any medium (including digital art). Untitled works will not be accepted. All works must be submitted as digital files in .JPG or .TIF format. An artist's statement of no more than 250 words must accompany each submission. When preparing your statement, please consider including the intent behind the piece, the creation process, the implications, etc. Image resolution must be 300 DPI or more, and color format should be CMYK, not RGB or other color formats. RGB files will result in incorrect color reproduction.

Photography

Photography submissions my be black and white, color, or any combination of the two. Along with single images, diptychs, triptychs, and photo essays are accepted. Untitled works will not be accepted. All works must be submitted as digital files in .JPG or .TIF format. An artist's statement of no more than 250 words must accompany each submission. When preparing your statement, please consider including the intent behind the piece, the creation process, the implications, etc. Image resolution must be 300 DPI or more, and color format should be CMYK, not RGB or other color formats. RGB files will result in incorrect color reproduction.

Open Media

This category accommodates works that do not fit the aforementioned categories. This includes, but is not limited to, films, music, comics, textile arts, design, and architecture. If you are submitting a composition, include sheet music. Untitled works will not be accepted. An artist's statement of no more than 250 words must accompany each submission. When preparing your statement, please consider including the intent behind the piece, the creation process, the implications, etc.

Send any questions about the submission process or the open media category to csw@unm.edu. Please label the subject field as “Submission Questions.”

Conceptions Southwest (CSW) contributors must be undergraduate, graduate, or continuing education students; alumni; faculty; or staff of the University of New Mexico.

Works submitted to CSW may not have been published elsewhere and may not be simultaneously submitted to another publication. CSW claims First North American Serial Rights. This bars works submitted here from appearing in or being submitted to any other publication until after the upcoming CSW release. Rights revert to the author upon publication.

Please acknowledge that in submitting your work to CSW, you agree to allow staff to edit your work for publication purposes. This includes editing for grammar errors and to fit the CSW style guide as well as Chicago Manual of Style rules. We will notify you of any changes we make and, after acknowledgement and approval, the edited piece will be used for publication. The version of the piece(s) submitted will be what is considered and no changes besides those relating to grammar will be accepted after the deadline.

Submissions may be in any language; if they are in a language other than English, an English translation must be provided with the submission.

You may submit a total of five works in any combination of categories. If you exceed this amount, CSW reserves the right to invalidate any and all of your submissions. Should you submit multiple entries, please submit them as separate files.

Deadline