SUBMIT YOUR
WORK TO DESCENT

Thank you for submitting to Elysian. Learn more about this semester’s theme and check out our submission guidelines below:

Issue No. 7: Elysian Launches April 19th, 2023. Follow @descentusc on Instagram for issue and launch party updates. RSVP HERE.

Harmonious bells chime as resplendent gates open magnificently. Welcome to this elysian realm, where your cups never empty and your glory never fades under the brilliance of the ever-midmorning sun. With Descent’s seventh issue, Elysian, we invite you to dance with delight and defiance. What ghosts of heroes will you sing here? Who deserves eternal bliss? 

 
Interested in contributing to Descent's 
Spring 2024 print and digital issues?

Submit to our
Spring 2024 Issue

If you're interested in being published in a print magazine that elevates APISA voices, Descent encourages you to submit to our semesterly issue. We accept literary, art, and multimedia submissions from both undergraduate and graduate students at USC to publish in either our print magazine, socials, or website.

All submissions must align with your interpretation of our theme, and follow our submission guidelines (see the bottom of this page).

Submissions for Descent’s Spring 2024 issue, Elysian, have closed. We hope you submit to our Fall 2024 issue!

Enter our annual
writing contest

Descent x Kaya Press

Coinciding with the release of our issues, Descent Magazine invites you to submit your work to our semesterly writing contest! Thanks to our partner Kaya Press, the winner of the contest will receive a surprise book from Kaya’s catalog, in addition to publication in “coalesce.” Any honorable mention(s) for the contest will receive Kaya swag, in addition to publication in the issue.

Submissions for Descent’s annual writing contest have closed.

Submission
guidelines

As a USC student organization, we currently only accept submissions from USC students. Grad students are also encouraged to submit.

Guidelines regarding specific types of submissions:

  • Fiction/prose submissions must be maximum 2500 words, 1.5 spaced.

  • Poetry submissions must be maximum 4 pages, 1.5 spaced.

  • Art submissions should be a minimum of 300dpi. We accept .png, .jpg, and .tiff formats.

General information

  1. Multimedia submissions are welcome! We’ll work with you to find the best way to represent your work. Please submit a YouTube/Vimeo link for review, and we may ask you to send us the file of your work.

  2. We do accept previously published work. Please let us know where else it has been published.

  3. You are welcome to submit multiple pieces and to multiple genres.

    • Please submit separate submissions for each genre/work.

    • Please specify if you’re submitting a collection of pieces (and the order) you want to be reviewed as a whole.

  4. We may request that you edit your work prior to publication.

  5. We will send a copy of the final draft of the magazine so that you can review the formatting of your submission prior to publication. If you do not respond with changes within the set time, we will move forward with publishing.

By submitting your work, you agree to the above terms.