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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

We accept submissions via post or email. Please limit submissions to one short story or one creative non-fiction piece (4,500 word limit), five poems, two pieces of visual art, or one essay dealing with the literary arts in MLA format.  Essays may include any aspect of the creative experience; they may also include author interviews provided a signed letter of release from the interviewed artist is included with the submission.  All submissions must be received by the deadline date of February 15th. All work must be the original creation of the submitting author, except translations, in which case, written consent from the original author must accompany the submission.  We will request an electronic final version of all accepted works prior to publication.

Postal submissions must be typed, double spaced, and contain an SASE. If you wish your manuscripts to be returned, please let us know that upon submission and include sufficient postage on the SASE.

Postal Address:

       Oracle

        BPC Box #2035

       PO Box 197

       Mount Vernon, GA 30445

Electronic submissions should be sent as an email attachment as a ".doc" or ".rtf" formatted file.  All electronic submissions will receive acceptance information in an electronic reply to the original email.

Electronic Submission:

       oracle@bpc.edu

Oracle requires first American serial rights, and all rights revert to the author upon publication.

Artistic Considerations:

Aristotle wrote in his Poetics that "Tragedy is an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties."

Philosophically, we agree with these sentiments, and we perceive fiction to be an act of written story-telling and myth-making, complete and unified in its character, plot, setting, and conclusion.  We perceive that poetry benefits from the same artistic restraints, adding Poe's invitation to emphasize one idea per poem, Pound's encouragement to "make it new," and Eliot's reminder to revere what is beautiful and powerful from the past. 

We appreciate work that is written in attentive, clear, disciplined language,  work that exemplifies the human struggle to find truth.  We believe that Aristotle's desire for "sensuous presentment" invites beauty and originality, and it excludes crude constructions, foul language, and narcissistic rants. 

We admire work that is fresh and vital; we tend to pass on work that reads like it hasn't been revised.

Simple matters which sometimes seem overlooked include: grammatical integrity, typographical accuracy, and correct name, address, email, and phone number.  On longer works, please number pages consecutively.

Views expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle, the staff, or the agents of Brewton-Parker College.