Are you tired of writing all day—your pencil worn down to a stub, your laptop keys well-pressed—only to have your magnum opus sitting on your desk with nowhere to go? Begging to be published? Not to fear, dear writer. The multitude of student-run magazines at Emerson College has got you covered.
To guide you through your literary options, The Beacon arts editors spoke with the heads of a few Emerson mags to show you the variety of ways a scrappy young writer like you can contribute:
Stork Magazine
Storks are commonly known as the long-beaked birds that deliver newborns to expecting parents. With a profession this important, it’s no wonder that countless Emerson students have trusted Stork Magazine with their literary babies.
Established in 2005, Stork is Emerson’s oldest fiction-only literary magazine, publishing short fiction in the fall and flash fiction in the spring. Stork Magazine’s fall issue is open for submissions of any genre of fiction until Oct. 1. If you’re worried about the length of your piece, don’t fret! Stork will be reading submissions ranging from four to thirty pages (double-spaced, of course!).
Whether or not you are chosen for publication, you’ll receive notes from the Stork staff.
“Every single story submitted to us will receive a detailed edit letter going over our workshop discussion,” said Sydney Flaherty, senior writing, literature, and publishing student and Stork’s co-editor-in-chief. “This makes Stork super useful for revising stories and improving your writing.”
As far as fiction goes, “students are encouraged to submit literally anything they want to,” said Flaherty.
So, how about you leave your newborn fiction piece with Stork to deliver to expecting readers?
YOUR MAGAZINE
Do you like living—hold the arts? Romance? Style? Or arts (there it is) & entertainment? Your Magazine is for…well, you.
Established in Spring 2012, Your Magazine is a well-oiled machine—pumping out three editions each semester, two digital editions and one in print—and they need all sorts of written pieces and photoshoots to fill up those pages! The mag accepts pitches from any student in the Emerson community, including grad students and students abroad.
Pitches are split into five categories: romance, style, living, arts & entertainment, and editorials.
Your Mag is led by Editor-in-Chief Izzie Claudio, a senior WLP major, who told the Beacon that Your Mag reflects the Emerson Community as a whole—that’s why it’s YOUR mag, folks.
“When you flip through our pages, we want you to feel seen, heard, and represented,” Claudio said. “We invite any Emerson student who has a story to tell, a question to pose, or a passionate opinion to pitch for Your Mag. We’re excited to continue connecting with our wonderful community.”
Claudio and the team have announced themes for each of this semester’s issues.
“You can see all the moodboards and keywords to guide your pitches and get your juices flowing,” Claudio said. “We’ve got some pretty stellar ones this fall, courtesy of our amazing creative director, Emma Bowen, and our fantastic editorial director, McKenna Smith.”
While the pitch deadline for their October edition, “Basics, the pillars of art as we know them,” has come and gone, you have plenty of time to submit for November’s print edition concerning “the highs and lows of a life full of ‘luxury’” (deadline Oct. 12) as well as December’s digital edition asking the question: “What’s your poison, and why do you still drink it?” (deadline Nov. 9).
But remember romantics, Your Mag is a non-fiction operation, so save your fairy tales for our feathered friends in Stork.
Green Magazine
Let’s face it, Emerson has no campus. So how does one connect with nature in such an urban environment? Well, by joining the Emerson Green Collective! And if you aren’t, as their website describes, “promoting an awareness of environmental issues” by actually touching grass, you can at least write for their publication, Green Mag.
The mag’s mission, through various genres, is to empower student voices advocating for sustainability.
Birdi Diehl, co-editor-in-chief of Green Mag, says that Green Mag takes anything and everything—if you can argue to them that it applies to the theme, then it’s good to go. So if you love sustainability—and can make a solid case for your writing—Green Mag is the perfect fit.
Their last issue, “Out of Body,” explored how nature can be viewed through multiple lenses and interpreted as “an extension of ourselves,” said Diehl.
They will hold a general meeting this Friday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. in Walker 230.
ATLAS MAGAZINE
In Greek mythology, Atlas is a Titan doomed to hold up the heavens for eternity. Yikes. Talk about a lot of effort. That same effort, however, extends to the staff of Atlas Magazine, who hold the responsibility of providing lifestyle writing to Emerson Students.
Atlas is a nonfiction lifestyle magazine that publishes everything from short stories to photography to visual art. They release an issue every semester under unique themes selected by the E-Board, like “tenderness” and “reclamation.” To write for the mag, you must apply to be on staff.
According to, once again, Sydney Flaherty, who also serves as Atlas’s Editor-In-Chief, the magazine publishes “nonfiction writing spanning from very journalistic to creative nonfiction, as well as five photo shoots a semester and visual arts.”
Atlas has a theme every semester—this fall it’s “contortion.”
“While Atlas is very organized editorially with verticals, etc., the content itself is always very unique,” said Flaherty. “Authors in sections such as Globe have creative takes on what that vertical means to them, expressing that through interesting formats and articles.”
Atlas the Titan struggles to stay standing with the world on his shoulders, so give Atlas the mag a hand by joining their staff!
Gauge Magazine
There are a lot of mags here at Emerson with very particular purposes, but what if you can’t make up your mind? What if you want to be on a magazine staff where you can write everything? Well, if this is the case, Gauge Magazine might just be the place for you.
Gauge releases an issue every semester, publishing photography, visual arts, nonfiction, interviews, fiction prose, and poetry. What else could you possibly want to write?
Sydney Flaherty, who, you guessed it, is Gauge’s co-Editor-In-Chief, described how Gauge “sets itself apart, especially in the physical magazine. For instance, we had spiral-bound mags for when the semester’s theme was ‘child’s play.’”
“We have a different theme every semester,” said Flaherty. “However, these themes aren’t very strict; it’s up to the staff how they want to interpret them.”
As a mag that prints so many genres, Gauge takes pride in celebrating distinctive and alternative writing. “We typically attract writers interested in unique themes, who get excited about unconventional stories and ideas,” said Flaherty.
Like Atlas, to write for Gauge, you must apply to be on their staff.
Front Porch Magazine
Looking for that Southern charm you’ve been missing? Look no further than Front Porch magazine, Emerson’s premiere mag for Southern literary ambiance.
With their mantra “from the South, for the South,” Front Porch aims to highlight the marginalized voices of the American South. With submissions open until November and a release this December, you have more than enough time to get your feelings about Southern culture on paper.
“It’s just been really cool seeing how many people there are from the South come together with all their different backgrounds and interests here at Emerson,” said Lauren Underberg, a Texas native and Front Porch’s co-President. “It’s something that we feel very lucky to be able to cultivate as a community.”
With this semester’s theme, “Southern Gothic,” Front Porch hopes to print all sorts of photography, illustration, journalism, creative writing, and more.
Of course, the mag isn’t exclusively for Southern students.
As Underberg attests, “we are open to everyone and anyone interested in submitting to us—they don’t need to be from the South.”
So mosey on down to Front Porch for that Southern hospitality you’ve been craving.
EM MAGAZINE
Buh- buh- but Berkeley Beacon, I hate writing! How will I ever get involved? Shhhh—we hush you, dear reader. Because the runway is calling you!
Em Magazine’s literary submissions have closed, BUT if you still want to be featured in one of the most celebrated Emerson mags, Em Magazine is searching for models for the next two weeks.
Founded in 2008, this two-time winner of the Pinnacle Award from the Printing Industries of New England provides perspectives on art, culture, and fashion relevant to college students. Em Mag is split into four main departments: photography, editorial, visual, and design.
Editor-In-Chief, Emily Malkan, Theatre and Performance ‘27, points out that being hired for Em Magazine is more than just getting a pitch picked up—once you’re in Em Magazine, you’re a part of it for the rest of your time at Emerson.
“You are not being hired for your idea or pitch in relation to a theme; you are being hired for your artistry, style/individuality, and passion,” said Malkan. ”Not only do we want to see you create something you are proud of and discover new things through the semester’s guiding questions, but also, we want to see you grow as an artist and as a human.”
According to Editorial Director Maggie Kaprielian, Writing, Literature, and Publishing ‘26, those hired can create anything under the sun.
“EM is a place where ideas flourish and genres are meant to be crossed. The Editorial Director works closely with our group of writers to interpret the issue’s theme and how we can create something out of that,” Kaprielian said. “And the same applies to our visual arts and photography teams.”
Even if you don’t have a piece to submit, you can strut your stuff in Em Magazine this fall.
TL;DR
In short, there is a huge variety of student-run publications to contribute to—including the ones too cool to respond to our emails. We appreciate you all the same.
If you have any further questions regarding certain Emerson magazines, make sure to reach out to them on their respective Instagram pages. Or find Sydney Flaherty walking around. She apparently knows a thing or two about these things.
