The Watermark is UMass Boston’s student-run literary journal, publishing graduate and undergraduate students’ poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art. The journal’s main goal is to provide a means of publication for the student body, as well as a forum for students to share their work with the literary and artistic communities of Boston. Additionally, the journal co-sponsors events with other clubs and departments on campus, including poetry readings and art shows.
Las year, in conjunction with The Watermark, the English Department hosted several world-renowned poets, such as Donald Hall, Adrienne Rich, and former poet-laureate Robert Pinksy. Since The Watermark’s founding in 1994, the journal has been published annually at the end of the spring semester. This year, for there first time, there will be a fall edition as well.
The first ever fall edition will feature primarily poetry and black-and-white artwork, as those are two genres that receive the most submissions. Of course, the spring issue will feature works in all four genres (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art), and submissions for both are welcome. The submission deadline for the fall issue is October 20, and may be e-mailed or dropped off in person at The Watermark office.
Submissions are read and voted on anonymously by five to seven students, and works receiving a majority of positive votes are selected for publication. In the last issue, out of over 200 submissions, eight poems, seven fiction pieces, four non-fiction pieces, and 44 works of art were selected for publication.
Copies of the latest edition are available at the English Department, various information tables around campus, and of course The Watermark office located on the second floor of the Campus Center. For more information about The Watermark, the submission process, how to get involved, e-mail [email protected], call 617-287-7960, or just drop by. Starting next week, check out the new website at www.watermark.umb.edu. Erica Mena, co-editor of The Watermark says, “Students here are incredibly creative and talented. The Watermark is a venue to show that talent to the faculty and other students here, and to the larger literary and artistic community.” So, show what you got and submit your work!