Unlikely Academia Submissions Open

It’s January 1st, which means not only a new year, but that our Unlikely Academia issue is officially open for business. By which we mean submissions. In case you need a refresher, here’s what we’re looking for with this issue.

Stories about studying and the act of learning. Stories set in unusual schools like Hogwarts, Brakebills, and the Unseen University (Note: please don’t set your story in any of these specific schools unless you happen to be J.K. Rowling, Lev Grossman, or Terry Prachett). Stories focusing on the students and faculty of unorthodox majors like Decision Sciences, Theme Park Engineering, and Bowling Industry Management and Technology (these are all real majors offered by real universities). Researchers digging deep into forbidden tomes (preferably not the Necromnomicon; it’s been done.) Fictionalized scholarly articles on the Ethics of Motorcycle Taming or the Alternate History of Space Flight in the Mongol Empire (think Marie Brennan’s Lady Trent series).

As always, we want gorgeously-told tales, gripping characters, and unique worlds to explore. Genre doesn’t matter, along as your tale involves schools, studying, or academia in some integral way. Although we won’t rule them out completely, we’d prefer not to receive stories involving study related to any of our previous or recurring themes (insects, coding, maps, architecture, etc.)

We want stories with diverse viewpoints, characters, and settings. We’re particularly interested in stories by authors from traditionally under-represented groups, including, but not limited to POC, QUILTBAG, non-binary, ESL, and neuro-diverse writers. We love stories from new authors and established authors alike. We’re more than happy to receive submissions from anywhere in the world, as long as the story is in English. We’re open to translated works as well, as long as they’ve never been published in English before.

Full guidelines can be found here. Happy writing and submitting. We can’t wait to see what you send us!