SUBMIT YOUR
WORK TO DESCENT

Thank you for your interest in submitting to the 11th issue of Descent Magazine! Our Spring 2026 theme is Kaleidoscope. Read more about the theme and how to submit below.

Kaleidoscope

Spring 2026 Theme

In the mirror, patterns shimmer and morph. Reflections hum in colorful waves. Your vision tells the truth… or does it? Glass fractures into fate, into infinite beauty.

With Descent’s eleventh issue, we entrust you with the dizzy illusion of a kaleidoscope.  Construct pieces that mesmerize. Take delicate ideas and smash them into shards. Spin. Disorient. Lose track of the glitter. And above all, don’t stop looking.

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

Submit to our
Spring 2026 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.

Submit your work

Are you interested in modeling in a future Descent Magazine Issue? Fill out the form below to tell us about yourself and we will add you to our model list. Everyone is welcome — you don't have to be of APISA descent or have prior experience to model!

Model for Descent

Want to build your modeling portfolio?
Apply to model

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 our issue.

Enter our writing contest

Descent x Kaya Press
Entries 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.