Pendragon is Siena’s very own Literary Magazine; in which students can submit any form of a creative medium (short stories, poems, artwork, photographs, etc.) and the Editorial Board reviews it anonymously and then selects the best works to be publish in that issue. President, Miranda Nagell, gave me some insight on how careful their review process really is. She explained that the submissions are numbered as they come in with no name. Then the board members rate each individual submission on a scale of 1-5; five being the best thing they have ever read and one being the worst. The scores are then added up and depending on how many pieces they have room for in that addition, that number of pieces with the highest sum of ratings are then published.
The anonymity of the critique minimizes the intimidation factor and promises an unbiased eye. Obviously, no one wants his or her work critiqued but in the real world you and your work are nothing but critiqued so submitting to Pendragon is a great trial run.
Two semesters ago I had an extra credit opportunity to submit a short story from one of my classes to Pendragon. Whether or not it was published was not the point. It was just to get awareness of Pendragon out there and to encourage the students to submit. To my surprise they published my short story.
When I graduate I don’t plan on being an author. Honestly, I don’t even write short fiction unless it is for a class. But the feeling of having a short story I wrote published in an academic literary magazine was a great feeling. I felt accomplished that my work was good enough to get published, even if it was only for a class.
I stress the importance of trying new things and getting your name out there. Even if your work does not get published, you still made the effort to submit it and you then have room for improvement.
With the publication you get two free copies of the journal, another line on your resume, and bragging rights.
The submission deadline for this year’s addition is February 21st, 2015.
Click here for the guidelines: https://www.siena.edu/academics/schools-departments/departments/english/pendragon/pendragon-submission-guidelines/
Click here for more information about Pendragon: http://www.siena.edu/academics/schools-departments/departments/english/pendragon/