How it works

• Submit your work according to the Submission Guidelines.  Be sure to include a Submission Form so we know where to reach you.  If you are submitting in both poetry and fiction, please submit two forms.
• Bemidji State University student editorial boards (one in poetry, one in fiction) read the submissions and select work that will go into the anthology.
• You will receive an acceptance or “regrets” letter by the end of December.
• If your work is published in New Voices you will receive two complementary copies of the book and will be invited to read your work at the Publication Reading & Reception in April.

Additional Information

• It is very important that an address where mail can be sent is included on the Submission Form. This is usually a home address, but it could be a teacher’s address or someone else’s.
• Submissions are not accepted from middle or junior high school students.
• Creative nonfiction is not accepted.
• Home school students are encouraged to submit their work.
• We usually receive more than 1,000 pieces of writing.  If your work is clearly labeled and includes a Submission Form, it is much easier for us to keep track of your work and to notify you of the outcome of your submission.

You should submit to New Voices if...

• You work hard at your writing
• You would like to have an audience for your work.
• You are a high school student in Minnesota.  Home school submissions are encouraged.

What it means to be accepted for publication in New Voices

• Your work was chosen from about 1,000 submissions.
• Your work will be published in the New Voices anthology, along with the work of about sixty other high school students.
• You will retain copyrights to your work.  New Voices only asks for “one-time” rights.
• You will be “paid” with two free copies of the anthology.  You may purchase additional copies for $5.00 each, with at the Publication Reading & Reception, or by mail (plus cost of postage).
• The English Department will notify your English teacher about your accomplishment.
• The Bemidji State University News Service will notify your home town newspaper about your accomplishment.
• You will be invited to the New Voices Publication Reading & Reception in April, on the Bemidji State campus.  At this event you can pick up your two copies of the book (and can purchase more, if you would like to).  We will also ask you to read from your work in the book.  If you prefer, you can ask someone else to read your work for you.

If your work is not accepted

• We can only publish about seventy pieces from about 1,000 submissions.  If you are not accepted this time, we hope you will submit again next year.  Although it is, of course, disappointing, to not be accepted, it only means that your work was not right for New Voices at this time. 

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative & Professional Writing

• The Bemidji State English Department offers a BFA in writing.  For additional information, visit www.bemidjistate.edu/writersconference or email Maureen Gibbon at mgibbon@bemidjistate.edu.
• Whether you write for the love of it or hope to write for a living, the BFA at Bemidji State can prepare you for your future as a writer.