About
There is a three-acre footprint of grass and brick-laid paths in the center of the University of Montana campus. It is the shape of an oval, and through it, university life passes.
In the fall of 2007, a group of undergraduate creative writing majors conceived the university’s first undergraduate literary magazine, to provide a forum for young artists, poets, and writers to submit, publish, and share their work. They called the project The Oval because like the swath of earth it’s named for, the magazine would provide an artery through which university life, in the form of art, could pass.
Submissions, editing, marketing, design, and distribution are all handled by The University of Montana undergraduates. In their free time, on their bikes, in stolen hours between classes, on sacrificed Sundays, in common rooms and vacant classrooms, each year, The Oval is sewn together by the tireless work of young writers who sense the vitality of creative craft. Providing a platform for the work of their peers, they feel, is essential.
The Oval is published annually in the spring. Submissions for short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art are open from January 15th to February 28th.
Submissions for the next volume of The Oval: Undergraduate Literary Magazine
To submit, you must be an undergraduate at the University of Montana.
Submissions are outlined as:
- Two pieces of fiction or of dramatic works, limited to 5,000 words each, double-spaced, submitted as Word documents.
- Two pieces of non-fiction, limited to 5,000 words each, double-spaced, submitted as Word documents.
- Five poems, each must be submitted in separate Word documents.
- Three pieces of visual art.*
An individual may submit to more than one genre.
Under Cover Letter/Biography, please include a brief biography (40-50 words) written in third person, your UM student ID number (790) and, if submitting to the visual arts category, the original medium of your work.
*The Oval defines Visual Art as photographed or scanned art compositions, including but not limited to original paintings, drawings, mixed media, sculpture, and digital art. Submissions must be formatted as a high-resolution JPEG file. Other file formats will not be accepted. Please include the original medium of the art in the biography.
Submissions are open now and will close on March 3, 2024.
CREATIVE WRITING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
The creative writing program has flourished at the University of Montana thanks to talented and patient faculty, eager aspiring writers, and courses designed to immerse students in both elements of craft and the pursuit of publishing. Check out these links to learn more about the University of Montana’s creative writing program and its graduate literary magazine CutBank.
The University of Montana's Oval Literary Magazine 