Britt Bardman
Staff Writer
The Owen Wister Review (OWR), University of Wyoming’s literature and art journal, is accepting submissions from now until next Tuesday.
The nationally acclaimed annual art and literature magazine will be accepting poetry, prose, creative nonfiction and visual arts content from the public.
For the visual arts, the journal is taking photography, pictures of paintings and pictures of sculptures. UW students, faculty and the western community at large are welcome to submit their work for consideration.
This year’s theme for the Owen Wister Review is “by the west, for the west,” although “it’s not necessarily cowboy related,” said Kristen Cheser, co-editor of OWR.
Western influence has always been an important part of the journal after its founding in 1978, since the founders of OWR intended to allow people in the western area to have a platform.
“Do not worry if your poetry, prose or art is lacking references Big Horn Mountain or the Buckhorn Bar, descriptions of Elk or open land, or images that capture the Minerals’ Industry or is set during Frontier days; we want to read it and consider it for publication regardless of its location or theme,” stated OWR’s website.
OWR was named after Owen Wister, an American writer and author of “The Virginian,” a 1902 novel set in Wyoming that describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch. Wister’s novel is set in Medicine Bow, a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, located just under an hour drive from Laramie. “The Virginian” is considered the first true fictional western.
OWR aims to produce a high quality publication – not only by accepting exceptional submissions, but also by working with writers and artists whose submissions are promising but do not initially meet the editor’s standards.
“If the story is generally good and we want to accept it, but it is a little off, we’ll talk to the creator to get it all cleared up,” said Cheser.
Acceptance to OWR is not based on content or subject matter alone, but rather on the basis of quality. OWR co-editors have the right to edit pieces for basic spelling and grammatical errors and to decide final acceptance. All submissions are required to be unpublished, original works that are not submitted elsewhere.
“We’re hoping to give UW students and the general public a headstart in the world of literature by allowing them to submit their work,” Cheser said.
Student poetry, prose, art/photography and creative non fiction work can be submitted through email at owr@uwyo.edu or by mail. The address for mailed submissions and other information including requirements and guidelines for submission is available on OWR’S website, https://owenwisterreview.wordpress.com/.
