Submission Guidelines

The print 2026 Northern Lights is now available at the Green Bay campus library and in Student Services at the Manitowoc and Sheboygan campuses. Thank you to all who submitted.

Our team will be seeking fiction, creative nonfiction, art, photography and interactive digital stories for the Spring 2027 Northern Lights Literary & Arts Journal starting in March 2027. If you submit earlier, however, we'll happily keep your work on file until then. Submit a few works of your own, and you just may end up in the journal. But first, let’s cover a few guidelines.

Submit Your Work

What to Submit

We're looking for:

• Fiction: short stories, flash fiction, micro-fiction
• Essays and creative nonfiction
• Pop-culture analysis
• Poetry
• Artwork that can be clearly reproduced on a 8.5 x 5.5 sheet of paper
• Photography
• Interactive digital stories*

Do you have a pair of submissions that complement each other, such as an illustration that you want to accompany a short story? Just leave us a note in your submission file about which pieces go together, or email Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, the faculty advisor.

*We'll publish those we select on this website, and we'll include links and a short description in the print journal.

How Many Pieces You Can Submit

Who Can Submit

Submissions are open to students at all four UW-Green Bay campuses (main, Marinette, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan), as well as any UWGB alumni, faculty, and staff who are interested in submitting.

Length requirements

• Short stories: 3000 words maximum (500-1000 words is ideal, if you'd like your story to appear in the print journal)
• Poetry: 50 lines maximum
• Flash Fiction: 100-500 words requirement
• Essays: 3000 words maximum

Specifications for Art & Photography

We require all art and photography to be submitted electronically. Photos and scans of artwork should be high-resolution: 300 dpi or higher, and at least 4 to 5 inches across.