Greetings,
Spectrum Literary Journal is currently open for submissions, and for Volume 69 our theme is consumption. With this in mind, the editors encourage you to reconstruct and complicate what it means to consume or be consumed. Spectrum is an annual publication of art and literature based out of UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies and is proud to call itself the oldest literary journal in the UC system. For the past 66 years, the magazine has celebrated a spectrum of voices, genres, and topics reflective of the wide range of human experiences, from both new and established writers. We’re particularly passionate about work that defies, bends, or manipulates genre, and we welcome submissions of prose, poetry, visual art, and hybrid literary forms.
Volume 69 will be published in June 2026 and we will be accepting submissions until midnight on December 31st, 2025. Visit spectrum.ccs.ucsb.edu/submission-guidelines for more information and to submit your work. Here we have attached a full explanation of this volume’s theme.
To learn about our past volumes and stay up to date, check out our social media! You can find us at @spectrum_lit on Twitter or @spectrum_lit on Instagram. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] with any questions. Please share our call with any students and colleagues engaged in creative work as well as literary organizations that may be interested.
We are so excited to read your work.
Warmly,
Spectrum’s Editorial Staff
