Call for Submissions from Undergraduate Students: The Blue Route

 

The submission window for the next issue of The Blue Route will be open from September 15 to November 15, 2025.

The Blue Route is an online undergraduate literary journal run by students and faculty at Widener University. We publish short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction written by undergraduate writers from any school other than our own.

NOTE: We do not accept AI generated work.

WHO CAN SUBMIT: Undergraduate Students: Only previously unpublished work of current undergraduate writers will be considered. In order to verify your status as an undergraduate, we ask that with your submission you send along the email of a faculty member from your department. Until we gain confirmation of undergraduate status from this reference, we will not be able to publish your work.

Statement on Inclusion. While we gladly welcome works from all undergraduate writers (besides Widener), we specifically encourage submissions from underrepresented groups, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent writers, as well as writers with disabilities.

Note to Widener Students: At this time, work from Widener students will not be accepted. Widener students are invited to submit their work to Widener Ink, the university’s print journal.

Frequency of Submission: If your work has been published in The Blue Route, please wait at least one issue before submitting again.

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

We want good, highly imaginative writing about contemporary life as you see it. We’re not interested in romance, detective, horror, sci-fi, and other genres, unless the piece somehow rises above the conventions associated with those types of writing. We’re also not interested in writing that clichéd, overly influenced by TV or film, features flat characters, emphasizes end rhyme above all else, and/or exhibits a general insensitivity to the beauties and subtleties of language. No pornography. No racism. No sexism. If you use profanity, remember a little goes a long, long way.

As stated above, we DO NOT accept previously published work. However, we DO accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Our response time is about three months.

PROSE: Submit 1-3 pieces of fiction or creative nonfiction totaling no more than 2500 words. Payment: 25 dollars.*

OR

POETRY: Submit up to 3 poems. Payment: 25 dollars.*

*An important note about payment: Payment is issued through our university’s business office in the form of a check. We are sorry to say that we are unable to provide payment in any other form.

To increase your chances of acceptance, be sure to 1) carefully follow submission guidelines and 2) read a few recent issues of The Blue Route to get a sense of the kind of work we publish.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Please write “Poetry–Your Name” or “Fiction–Your Name” or “Creative Nonfiction–Your Name” or “Artwork-Your Name” in the subject line of your email.

In a similar manner, please make your name as well as the genre of the piece clear in the title of the file(s). Send your work in an attachment in .docx format.

PLEASE DO NOT put your name anywhere on your submission. Instead, in your submission email, provide the following information: Name (First and Last)
Pronouns
School (full name of college or university you currently attend)
Title of Submission(s)
Name and Email of Faculty Contact for Enrollment Verification
A Brief Biography (No more than 100 words and written in the third person.)

Send all poetry and prose submissions to:

wutheblueroute@gmail.com

Submissions that do not follow the directions above may be deleted.