Meet the star writers of the future – and read their work
Many people dream of getting a book published someday, but for an industrious team of York students that dream is already a reality.
The Looking Glass Anthology is an annual collection of creative writing written, edited, and published by students at the University of York.
After yet another academic year of difficult decisions and painstaking editing, Volume 7 is now on sale. A launch party will be held on 8th October on the Heslington West university campus. There’ll be readings, live music, free wine, and of course the chance to buy your own copy of the anthology.
Volume 7 is also available to buy from the YUSU shop on campus or by emailing [email protected].
Isabelle Scott was the editor-in-chief for the academic year 2015-16. She said:
It’s one of those societies that gives you real experience and real skills: managing a team, timelining a project, editing, writing, digital design and liaising with printers, all of which make you stand out to publishers and literary agents as impressive future editors, writers or designers.
Last year’s anthology was particularly special to the society as, for the first time, we created a structural framework based on our Alice in Wonderland name, adding beautiful illustrations, a blurb and chapter headings to guide you through the weird and wonderful writing.
Every year the finished book gets better and better, and I will definitely stay in touch with the Looking Glass network in the future, it is a brilliant community of people who care about publishing. I can’t wait to see what the team does next!
Submissions open
Editorial team members vote on which submissions to accept or reject at informal meetings (biscuits provided!).
Submissions are kept anonymous at this stage, leaving the editors free to be as critical as they like. The upside of this is that it maintains the anthology’s high standard, and every submission receives detailed constructive feedback.
Each year a cover design is also chosen from students’ submissions – but Volume 7 is the first anthology to also contain students’ illustrations inside its pages.
And of course, the anthology wouldn’t exist without its writers. Any University of York student, undergraduate or postgraduate, can submit writing (this also applies to the cover design competition) – you do not have to be a member of the society.
The Looking Glass accepts submissions of:
* poetry, up to 1,500 words
* drama, up to 2,000 words
* prose fiction, up to 3,000 words
Are you a current student and want to get your ideas out there? Submissions for Volume 8 (academic year 2016-17) are already open!
You can also join the editorial team by signing up to the mailing list, joining the Facebook group or coming along to one of the first meetings this term.
The Looking Glass is on Twitter and also has its own website and blog where you can read more about previous editions, careers and writing advice and the publishing industry in general.