UA News

The goal of the UA student-run Persona magazine to help writers strengthen their pieces for publication in the magazine and in other publications in the future.

Undergraduate student artists looking for a chance to have their work published can contribute to Persona, the annual University of Arizona undergraduate literature and art magazine.

Designed, edited, produced and marketed by UA undergraduates, Persona provides writers and artists in virtually any field and medium with the opportunity to have their work be recognized by the artistic community and
published.

The goal is to help writers strengthen their pieces for publication in the magazine and in other publications in the future.

"I don't think people realize the talent that is there at the UA," said Persona Editor-in-Chief Kate Ismeurt, who has been with the magazine for three years.

"We're a great community," said Ismeurt, an Honors College student studying creative writing. "It's a professional organization that has a lot of fun."

The magazine was created in 1978 and has since received awards for design on two occasions from the Associated Writing Program, an organization that contests for literary magazines to compete for national recognition.

Artistic submissions of all types are welcome from literary works such as short stories, plays, fiction, and poetry to photography, short films, paintings and sculptures.

Ismeurt said the magazine most often gets poetry submissions, "but we'd love to see more fiction, non-fiction, plays."

And for the first time, writers will also have the chance to farther develop their skills by having their work critiqued.

"It's a more intimate setting for us to talk to people who maybe aren't sure about submitting," Ismeurt said. This new policy was created in response to previous writers who did not get their work published asking what they could have done differently.  

While the the last day to submit work for consideration is February, Ismeurt encourages writers and artists to submit their works early, particularly for those who would like feedback. "And once you get feedback you can resubmit," she said.

Resubmitting is highly encouraged by the staff.

"Its unfortunate when a piece has so much potential, but there are a few details that should be changed," said Elisa Meza, a UA English major and Person's publicity director. 

Meza referenced pieces the staff calls "borderline," which are those works that are strong enough to be published but have some minor problem. 

Ismeurt said another challenge the magazine faces with written submissions is length.

Editors want to make sure there is enough room for as many people to be published as possible, Meza said. That means that even a submission the magazine's staff deems to be strong enough to be published, it will be turned down if it is too long, she added.

But ultimately, the magazine's editors choose not to limit the subject of a piece, Ismeurt said noting that as far as content goes, "we like things that are a little bit deeper.