2026/2027 Submissions Call:
The Tower is an undergraduate print literary magazine produced by students at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. The magazine is distributed on the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus for free. This year The Tower is seeking fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, visual art, and hybrid submissions from undergraduate students at any university or college in the state of Minnesota pertaining to the theme of “Filth.”
Filth takes many forms. It creeps under our fingernails after a dig in the garden, lingers in the dusty corners of our dining rooms, and spins webs in our minds. Filth is in our bodies; in our sweat and dirt. It’s in the mess we make and the clutter we leave behind. From dirty college houses to raunchy magazines, filth is everywhere.
Just like flowers in the dirt, something beautiful can blossom out of the unpleasant. What gems come out of the muck? Where has filth crawled into your life? What grime can you seem to never get rid of?
We accept submissions starting on October 20th, 2026 through our Submittable, which is accessible on The Tower website. Please include a short cover letter with your contact information and a brief author bio written in the third person, suitable for publication, including your year, major, and institute of study. Further specifications are available in each genre’s Submittable. We plan to respond to submissions early in the spring semester, and the issue will be published in late April. Please email us at thetower@umn.edu with any further questions.
Submissions close January 3rd, 2027.
Acquisition Standards:
- We look for works from Minnesota undergraduate students (who may be attending any university in Minnesota) that are original, authentic, and emotionally resonant.
- We encourage submissions from LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists to give voice to the many perspectives and communities that call Minnesota home.
- We do not publish work that is hateful towards any marginalized community.
- We do not accept submissions that in any way employ generative AI in production. AI may be a theme or subject, but may not be used as a tool.
- We accept simultaneous submissions on the condition that if a piece is accepted elsewhere, the artist communicates this with the editors and withdraws the piece from consideration.
- The Tower reserves the right to rescind planned publication at any time according to the guidelines outlined above.
Submitting Your Creative Nonfiction:
- You may submit up to two works of nonfiction. If submitting multiple pieces, please submit each one separately.
- 2,000-word limit per piece.
- Submitted pieces must be 12-point font, double spaced, Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins.
- Submit as a Word/Google Doc (.doc or docx. file). Please name the file with the title of the piece.
Submitting Your Fiction:
- You may submit up to two works of original fiction. If submitting multiple pieces, please submit each one separately. They must not be excerpts of the same story.
- A maximum word count of 3,000 per piece.
- Submitted pieces must be 12-point font, double spaced, Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins.
- Submit as Microsoft Word (.docx), (.doc), google document, or PDF if necessary.
Submitting Your Poetry:
- Please submit no more than five poems per submission period. If you are submitting multiple poems, submit each separately.
- We accept poems of any format and style, up to two pages in length.
- Please submit your work as a PDF attachment and name the file with the title of the poem.
Have any submissions that don’t quite fit into the other Genres? Want to create something new and unique, Submit to the Hybrid category! We will consider any media that may not fit into the other genres or unique works!
- You may submit up to five hybrid works. If submitting multiple pieces for a submission, please submit them together.
- If applicable each hybrid work should have no more than 1000 words.
- No more than 5 individual files for each submission.
- File types allowed are: DOC/DOCX JPG, PDF, PNG, TXT, Word, and XLSX.
- Submit your photography, paintings, drawings, comics, etc. as high-resolution, print-quality images. (High-resolution, print-quality images: 300 dpi, in JPG or TIF file format. Use a CMYK color profile.)
- Please keep in mind accepted submissions will be printed and may experience changes to fit the medium.
- Submissions that clearly fall into another written category (Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry), will NOT be accepted.
Submitting Your Visual Art:
- We accept up to ten pieces of visual art.
- If you are submitting multiple pieces, please submit them separately.
- Name the file with the piece’s title.
- Submit your photography, paintings, drawings, comics, etc. as high-resolution, print-quality images. (High-resolution, print-quality images: 300 dpi, in JPG or TIF file format. Use a CMYK color profile.)
- Please do your best to adhere to the “Filth” theme assigned to this issue. We encourage creative and liberal interpretations of the theme, but are aiming for a cohesive look. Have fun with it!
We Do Not Accept:
- Fan art such as portraits of famous people/fictional characters; photographs of concerts or performances; imitations of posters, logos, brands, etc.
- Social-media-inspired art and writing such as portraits with Instagram filters, meme imitations, tributes to YouTubers, etc.
- Already published visual artwork. This includes but is not limited to magazines, social media, personal websites, and sites like Redbubble.