HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about Levitate Magazine.
LANG: Levitate Magazine is a literary and visual arts magazine published by The Chicago High School for the Arts. While our editors are high school juniors, our contributors are at all stages of their careers and from all over the world. We want to showcase emerging writers and artists, and those from under-represented communities because that’s who we are; but we want to showcase them side by side with more established contributors because their voices are as valuable.
HOPKINSON: How/why was Levitate Magazine originally started?
LANG: Levitate was started when ChiArts added a Creative Writing program to our other conservatories (visual and performing arts). Like other student-edited publications, it is a teaching tool for our students, but also an outlet for writers and artists looking for a platform.
HOPKINSON: Who is your target reader audience?
LANG: Our target audience is anyone who loves writing and visual arts. We don’t limit ourselves.
HOPKINSON: What type of work are you looking for?
LANG: We strive to assemble a collection of literature and art designed and written with purpose and demonstrating a passion for the work. We are open to unconventional work, while still appreciating the traditional. We are committed to publishing literature and art that is inclusive of diverse identities, perspectives, and crafts. We encourage new voices, but accept work from established artists and writers as well.
For issue #5, we hope to include a themed dossier in this issue, responding to our current times. Beginning in March 2020, we have learned to live in a way that we have never lived before in our lives. We feel isolated emotionally and socially, and maybe we already felt that way before the pandemic. At the same time, there are so many things that we are waking up to now, though our awakening is long overdue: the corrupt justice system, the need for police reform, the need for reform across our government. Respond to the theme in any way that makes sense to you, but please identify the genre of your submission and follow the guidelines for that genre though you submit your work in this category.
HOPKINSON: What do you wish you’d see submitted, but rarely comes in?
LANG: We get more poetry and fiction submissions than creative nonfiction and visual arts, so we’d like to see more of those genres. In creative nonfiction, while we enjoy memoir, we’d like to see a wider variety of approaches.
HOPKINSON: What are some of your favorite lit mags/journals?
LANG: We especially enjoy Kenyon Review, Cincinnati Review and Ecotone.
HOPKINSON: What is your favorite part of being on staff with Levitate Magazine?
LANG: It’s a wonderful opportunity to read a wide variety of writers, and it’s fascinating to see our editors, emerging writers themselves, respond to this panorama of work.
HOPKINSON: Where can we send submissions?
LANG: Our guidelines and a link to our Submittable page is on our website at www.levitatemagazine.org.
HOPKINSON: If someone has a question, how can they contact you?
LANG: Our email is levitatestaff@gmail.com
Click here to read submission guidelines.
DEADLINE: February 28, 2021 (or until they reach their cap)
SUBMISSION FEE: None
FORMS: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art
FORMAT: Online
ISSUE FREQUENCY: annually
SUBMISSION METHOD: Submittable
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Yes
PAYMENT: None
SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook, Twitter, Linktree
DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/25772/levitate-literary-magazine
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