Submit – OBSCURA

Obscura’s Mission Statement and Submission Guidelines

A magazine by students, for students.

Obscura Literary and Arts Magazine is the artistic journal of Lehman College of the City University of New York.

Submission Guidelines for Obscura

(Email all submissions to LehmanLitMag@gmail.com)

Obscura accepts work from currently enrolled students and alumni of Lehman College ONLY. We accept poetry, short stories, short plays, essays, and other creative writing. We also accept photography, prints, drawing, and photographic representation of other art work, such as paintings or sculptures. However, we do not accept op-ed pieces, current news stories, or other journalistic work. Format for all Submissions General: Include a cover letter in proper business letter format addressed to:

Editors, Obscura

Lehman College-CUNY

Student Life Building, Room 202

250 Bedford Park Blvd.

West Bronx, NY 10468

Must include the title of the work, a brief description of it, a one to two sentence bio, and contact information (name, email address, phone number) Each manuscript submitted should not have the author’s/artist’s information (all personal information should be in the cover letter). All pages must be numbered.

Fiction Format: Typed and double-spaced; 1-inch margins and in 12-point Times New Roman font. Length: maximum 5,000 words Content must be original and unpublished

Poetry Format: Typed and single-spaced with 1-inch margins and in 12-point Times New Roman font. Length: maximum 5 poems per submission. Content must be original and unpublished

Art Format: Art can be submitted in either black/white or color. Should be scanned or saved at a resolution of 300 dpi. If artwork does not belong to you it is your responsibility to obtain permission from the rightful owner(s). All work must be original and unpublished.

*All work must be original and may not be previously published. By submitting your work, you are agreeing to these terms and are legally responsible for any misrepresentation on your part.

Click here for a PDF of these guidelines!

Goals:

To publish a yearly journal each year which celebrates the work of Lehman students and alumni.
To uplift Lehman College’s artistic community by hosting Open Mic Nights and other events that allow them to share their talents.
To provide students with leadership opportunities and firsthand editing experience to introduce them to the publishing process and prepare them for work in the field of publishing.

Obscura’s Leadership:

Rafiana Martinez, President
Yenick M. Gonzalez, Vice President
Jasmine Gonzalez, Secretary
Tiffany Echevarria, Treasurer
Jennifer Medina, Website Manager
Dr. Melissa Castillo-Planas, Faculty Advisor

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED AND BECOME A PART OF THE OBSCURA TEAM?

Obscura is always looking for new members who are Lehman students! Send us an inquiry indicating your interest at LehmanLitMag@gmail.com, and we’ll walk you through the membership process!

WHEN IS OBSCURA ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS?

Submissions open in May and close in December, on the last day of each fall semester. Work submitted and accepted in the fall will be published in the spring of the following year.

WHO CAN SUBMIT TO OBSCURA?

Obscura is open to submissions from Lehman College Students and alumni. You cannot submit to Obscura if you do not and have never been enrolled at Lehman.

HOW DO I SUBMIT TO OBSCURA?

When submissions are open, you can submit to us via email at LehmanLitMag@gmail.com. Please put “Obscura Submission” in the subject line of your email and attach your work, along with your cover letter and contact information. If you are submitting multiple pieces, each one should be contained in a separate Word file.

MY FRIEND IS AN AMAZING WRITER, BUT THEY’RE AFRAID TO PUT THEIR WORK OUT THERE. CAN I SUBMIT IT FOR THEM?

No. Your friend should submit on their own, when they feel ready to take that step with their writing.

HOW MANY PIECES CAN I SUBMIT TO OBSCURA?

You can submit as many as five individual creative works to Obscura during each publication cycle.

HAve More Questions? Email them to Lehmanlitmag@gmail.com

Thomas Benke: Looking Around In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, in the Chapter “Looking Around,” says this: Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another. Otherwise we’d all just be barking away like Pekingese: “Ah! Stuck in the shit! And it’s your fault, you did this …” Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can’t do that if you’re not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you’re going to get them wrong. She goes on to speak about empathy for other people and also, as an extension empathy for yourself. So, in a sense as you try to write believable, relatable characters, you will come to forgive people their trespasses—because no one believes they are the villain of their story, so you have to write “bad,” or “evil” characters from a point of view where they rationalize what they are doing in such a way that it is the right or only way they see is possible. By extrapolation, then, if you begin to forgive and withhold judgment from your less-than-desirable, or annoying characters, perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to yourself and forgive your own trespasses and sins. This, for me, starts to enter the realm of “writing as therapy,” and though I am a firm believer in that—I practice it to this very day—I think I would caution anyone who thinks that simply writing through things is going to lead you to a place of light and love. I am not saying it can’t by any means. What I am saying is I have wrote through my thoughts and my problems and my desperation and depression for decades and I still had enough baggage on my shoulders to supply an army platoon with rations for a year. In any case, when thinking about craft, it is very important to step into the shoes of all of your characters, especially those characters that you see as antagonists and villians. I believe there are very few universal maxims in writing but one thing is virtually certain: every character you write is your version of that human being. Confucius said “everywhere I go, there I am,” and that is never more true than when you are writing. So if you are writing a character that is distasteful to you, it might be effective for you to ask yourself why that is the case. I wrote a blog for Obscura last semester titled, “The Puppy Had It Coming.” The gist of the article was to pose a puzzle to writers. How can you write a scene where an adult human kicks a puppy across the room and the reader at least understands why. I am not saying there is any way to justify the action or for the readers to be on the human’s side unless they are sociopaths. I am saying you need let the reader know how dark the place is in the character’s mind that he is capable of doing that.