Applause is an award-winning literary journal housed at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. We have been publishing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art and photography since 1980. We are a proud member of the Southern Literary Festival organization and we have traditionally published our print issue each spring.

 

The 2020-2021 academic year is a time of transition for Applause as we move, this year, to a national literary journal devoted to the advancement of undergraduate work on the national stage from an undergraduate literary magazine that used to publish work only from University of Arkansas-Fort Smith students.

 

While we will continue to honor our local legacy and make previous issues available electronically as we move forward with our transition, we believe we can be of maximum service to our current students as well as undergraduate writers across the country by accepting submissions from any student currently enrolled in an undergraduate literary program at any university across the country except for students at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, so we adhere to the ethical standards according to the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.

 

We will accept submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, art, and photography from 11/13/2020 until 2/14/2021 through Submittable. Our submission guidelines can be found on our submissions web page.

 

We are an annual journal and, as of this academic year, will publish a print journal that will also be made electronic at the time of publication. We acquire First North American Serial Rights. We cannot currently pay contributors, however, contributors will receive a copy of the issue in which they appear free of charge. Our response time is approximately three months.

 

Each annual issue will be a themed issue and our current call for submissions is as follows:

 

Micro-Empowerment noun and verb:

 

Micro empowerments of the everyday and mundane can be a micro focus on anything from a life-threatening situation to the act of washing the dishes. We are excited about the new ways we can find to experience the mundane. To embody this idea of micro-empowerment, we believe writers can be productively obsessed by and not disenchanted by what happens during the process of creation. We’re excited by work that includes its influences, studies them, lets them grow on the page; to take a seemingly mundane experience, and then to not exclude the small changes we’ve had in life, but to realize that every tiny thing stimulates our essence as human beings.

 

Empowerment is a word traditionally thought of as pertaining to the large, the "important," the ideas and movements that shape culture and society, but we all know that everything large is made up of many small things. To that end, Applause is interested in the little things that make yourself feel strong, the moments you experience that feel like unity, and the unexpected moments of triumph during the day. Applause is looking for that link between the mundane and the things that give us reason to grow.