by Sammy Zimmerman and Liana Raguso

Euphony is a student-run semiannual literary journal at the University of Chicago. We publish poetry and prose from accomplished and emerging writers across the world, as well as within the University community. 

Every year we receive hundreds of submissions, and we choose the very best to appear in our Winter and Spring print issues and on our website. Every submission receives careful consideration over the course of a three-stage selection process. First, poetry and prose editors read submissions sent by authors to the Euphony inbox and select work to bring to the general body for discussion. Then, pieces undergo review at weekly meetings, which are open to all University of Chicago students. We discuss the strong points and shortcomings of every piece, which often leads to complex hermeneutics and passionate debate. Poetry editor Sammy Aiko describes weekly Euphony meetings as “all the fun parts of English class, with less homework.” At the end of each meeting, we vote on whether to reject a piece or see it again (due to the volume of submissions we receive, we cannot offer edits). Finally, at the end of the review period, we do a final round of discussions and take a vote on which pieces to include in our print issue and on our website.

Euphony aims to give students a space to explore their interests in literature and publishing as well as to foster a campus community that’s passionate about literature and art. To that end, we host open mic events and poetry readings—often in collaboration with other campus arts organizations—and invite members of the UChicago community to share their talents with creatively-minded peers. We also hold an annual prose contest to celebrate the best responses to a particular theme—last year’s contest asked writers to reimagine a myth or fairytale, while this year’s calls for love stories.

Euphony separates submissions by poetry and prose, but we are happy to review whatever you consider poetry, including prose poetry, and whatever you consider prose, including literary essays and creative nonfiction. Though we publish and enjoy a wide range of work, our editorial tastes often run towards vivid poetic imagery, clever and euphonious use of language, and the strange and unexpected—in whatever forms they may take. We like stories that unnerve us, reflections on body and place, extended jokes, linguistic experiments, words arranged in interesting shapes—or writing that hates all of the above. If any of that sounds like you, we encourage you to submit! You can find past issues and submission guidelines at https://euphonyjournal.org/.