Periphery
Periphery Art & Literary Journal is housed at Drake University, a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. They publish: stories, photographs, poems, music, essays, paintings, interviews, new media work, sculptures, graphic narratives, spoken word, comics, prose poems, and genres that have yet to be created or recognized.
They pride themselves on publishing not simply the most excellent submissions but also the most unique, even if conventional genres do not apply. They accept submissions from undergraduate students located anywhere in the world.
Their magazine functions as an on-campus job. They accept applications for open positions each fall and hired students receive monthly payments. They have a faculty advisor and are overseen by Drake’s Board of Student Communications.
How does your magazine fit into your broader campus or literary community?
Periphery is one of six publications at Drake University. The others include DUiN, Drake Magazine, Times Delphic, Drake Political Review, and Drake Broadcasting System. We are the only publication on campus whose written portion features solely creative writing.
What have you found most exciting about working for or advising your magazine?What I find most exciting about working for our magazine is seeing all the creativity and skill that undergraduate writers and artists have to offer.
—Avery Hjelm, Editor-in-Chief
Where are you right now in the production cycle for your next issue?
We’re halfway through the production cycle for our 63rd edition. Our spring submission window will be open December 26, 2025 - February 20, 2026. After that, we will finalize our acceptances/rejections and officially put the journal out in late April or early May 2026.
Describe your magazine in three emojis!
🕯️🌟🫧
What do you think is the biggest challenge faced by undergraduate literary magazines?
I think the biggest challenge faced by undergraduate literary magazines is a tie between getting more submissions and getting recognition from a broader community. As a publication that features creative writing, we are usually well-known by a small, niche community, but I think many literary magazines are still striving to get a broader audience invested in and contributing to their magazines.
—Avery Hjelm, Editor-in-Chief
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
We’d like to highlight that we accept both literary AND art submissions from undergraduates. The journal tends to include slightly more literary submissions, but in recent years, we’ve been moving towards a more 50/50 split.