Submit to Catch!
What are we looking for?
General Guidelines and Common Questions
Catch accepts all kinds of art including put not limited to poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, screenplays, music, painting, photography, sculpture, costume design, graphic design, drawing, dance, or short film.
We are looking for polished work that has ideally been through a workshop or had other creative minds evaluate it.
We submit Catch to prizes with the Associated Collegiate Press and the Association of Writers & Writing Programs and thus adhere to their guidelines and standards.
Submitted works must be anonymous. If your name appears anywhere on your submission, it will not be evaluated. Upon acceptance, editors will reach out and ask what name you would like your work to appear under. You can use your name, choose to stay anonymous, or use a pen name.
General Questions
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Catch is a literary magazine that publishes student art and writing.
Quiver is a genre literary magazine that publishes student art and writing within a genre (horror, romance, comedy, etc.).
Cellar Door is a literary magazine (currently hosted within Quiver) that workshops and publishes all submissions of student art and writing.
The Knox Student (TKS) is a student-run newspaper on campus.
Common Room is an online publication that publishes student analytical textual criticism.
X Journal publishes student visual art.
Knox Magazine is published twice yearly by the Office of Communications.
Visit this Knox Magazine article to read a more in-depth answer to the differences across campus magazines.
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Submissions are only open to all currently-enrolled Knox College students, or postgrads within one term of graduation.
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For single works well over 20 pages, please submit roughly 20 pages and indicate that the submission is an excerpt. Editors may ask to view the entire work to gauge a story better. If accepted, the author can choose to have their entire work published on our website along with the excerpt in the physical book.
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Any work submitted outside of a submission drive will automatically be considered for the next! We have a call for submissions early Fall Term and mid Winter term each year.
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Yes! We accept work that has been previous published on and off campus. Be sure to check with the previous publication to ensure they allow your work to be published elsewhere—as Catch will count as re-publication.
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Yes! We look forward to resubmissions.
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The art submitted can be of any theme or genre unless otherwise stated. Some books in the past have had a theme, but this is not recurring. We encourage pieces that fit into a genre (romance, horror, etc.) to also submit to Quiver!
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Catch does not publish purely pornographic content or hate speech. However, a piece will not be rejected outright due to the inclusion of sexual content. Additionally, we are unable to accept fan art and covers of songs due to copyright.
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With art pieces, editors are happy to help with properly documenting the work. This process may look like reaching out to catchmag@knox.edu to set up a time for editors to help photograph, scan, video, or otherwise document the work. If a work has been submitted and the editors are interested in a different documentation (i.e. clearer image, brighter image, scan), the artist will receive directions on how to proceed. Often editors will initiate a “conditional acceptance” wherein if better documentation cannot be met, the piece will not be accepted for the time being.
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Catch prides itself on being grounded in the uniqueness of humans and the human experience. We want artwork that expresses the artist’s personal experiences without the aid of artificial intelligence. An exception may be granted if the artwork is in communication with the realities of AI and uses the intelligence to display this point. Outside of that, Catch will not accept pieces that have used AI.
Poetry Guidelines
Limited use of cliché is important to us. Ideally, the poem you submit will avoid cliches and present the reader with an object or theme in a fresh, unique way. We prefer strong imagery over abstraction and appreciate poems guided by a sense of purpose from the writing process.
We would like poems that are not less than 14 lines (or a reasonable equivalent in prose poems), unless there is a sense of extreme strength in the poem and it must be shorter.
Please separate each poem onto its own document.
Art Guidelines
Art is a broad discipline! We accept any visual art that falls outside of the other submission categories, including, but limited to, painting, photography, sculpture, costume design, dance/choreography, graphic design, knitting, printmaking, film, or lighting design.
When submitting images please consider how the formatting and framing of your work affects its interpretation. Remember that this is going in a printed book.
For images of physical media, try to take photos with a blank background and even lighting. Be intentional about cropping and editing the image before submission.
With art pieces, editors are happy to help with properly documenting the work. This process may look like reaching out to catchmag@knox.edu to set up a time for editors to help photograph, scan, video, or otherwise document the work. If a work has been submitted and the editors are interested in a different documentation (i.e. clearer image, brighter image, scan), the artist will receive directions on how to proceed. Often editors will initiate a “conditional acceptance” wherein if better documentation cannot be met, the piece will not be accepted for the time being.
If a submission includes an image series, the Art Editor may not accept all the images submitted unless the submitter explicitly states that the images must be accepted together.
Due to copyright concerns, fan art is not eligible for submission.
We prefer .png or .jpeg file types unless there are extenuating circumstances—though the file type will not be a factor in rejection or acceptance.
Music Guidelines
We prefer .mp4 file types—though the file type will not be a factor in rejection or acceptance.
Due to copyright concerns, covers are not eligible for submission.
Upon acceptance, the music will be featured on Catch’s website and YouTube channel. The physical book may feature a design and/or lyrics accompanied with a QR code leading to Catch’s website.
Creative Nonfiction Guidelines
Upon acceptance editors may ask the author to reach out to people included in the piece to be sure that publishing their names is acceptable.
At this time, we are not publishing analytical nonfiction (please submit those to Common Room!).
Fiction & Drama Guidelines
For single works well over 20 pages, please only submit roughly 20 pages and indicate that the submission is an excerpt. Editors may ask to view the entire work to gauge a story better. If accepted, the author can choose to have their entire work published on our website along with the excerpt in the physical book.
We accept both screen and stage plays. Please follow correct formatting practices for each.