Submissions


Our submission period has been extended! Please send us your submission by February 5 to be considered for our 2024 issue. 

As always, we thank you for sharing your work with us and welcome your inquiries about our policies and process.


General Submission Guidelines:
 


We welcome submissions of previously unpublished English translations of literature composed during antiquity in any language, as well as visual art and other non-textual media that engage with the practice of translating ancient literatures.
 

We recognize that the chronological boundaries defining historical periods are often ideological and that the terminology used to discuss literary periods can vary widely across cultures and languages. We define the “ancient” in Ancient Exchanges quite broadly. If you use the words “classical,” “premodern,” “medieval,” “antique,” “archaic,” and/or “old” to describe the literature you translate, you are likely in the right place.

Submissions should be sent by email to ancient-exchanges@uiowa.edu with a single attachment (preferably .doc or .docx) that includes all the following items:

  • Your translation and the original text(s) in a copy-pastable format (preferably not PDFs);
  • Brief (50–100 words) biographies of both translator and author (and/or context of the work, if there is no known author);
  • A translator’s note (under 1000 words) that speaks to your process of translation, which may include but is not limited to: particular challenges and rewards of the source language/text, discussion of particular key passages or words, and contextual details to aid the non-specialist reader. (See past issues for examples of translator’s notes we have published.)

Please collate the items above into a single attachment (.doc or .docx preferred) with the file name formatted as follows: translator’s name_title of translation_original language.doc (e.g., Chapman_Iliad_Greek.doc). The subject of your email should include your name and the words “translation submission” (e.g., “Chapman translation submission”).

We gladly welcome collaboratively translated submissions, as well as those that feature the work of more than one author. In such cases please include bios for each translator, artist, and/or author represented in the submission.

In the Classroom:

Each issue’s “In the Classroom” essay may be a guide for or reflections on using literary translation and Ancient Exchanges as pedagogical tools. Writers and teachers interested in contributing to our “In the Classroom” feature should query the section editor by emailing ancient-exchanges@uiowa.edu, subject line “In the Classroom.” Please note that while In the Classroom essays may reference student responses to translation prompts you’ve assigned, student work should not be included in your submission for this feature. (Interested students are welcome to submit their own work for consideration as translation submissions according to our general submission guidelines outlined above.) See past issues for examples of In the Classroom essays we have published. 

Visual media:

Please submit photos or scans of visual media in .jpg format with the file name formatted as follows: artist’s name_title_medium.jpg (e.g., Caravaggio_Medusa_oil-on-canvas.jpg). Files should be at least 1000 × 1000 pixels in size, and 72 dpi resolution.

For stand-alone artwork submissions, the subject of your email should include the name of the artist(s) and the words “art submission.” In addition, please include the following in a single attachment (.doc or .docx preferred): 1) a brief (50–100 word) artist’s bio and 2) an artist’s statement (under 1000 words) about the work and its relation to antiquity and/or the practice of translation.

Other submissions: 

For writing that is relevant to the interests of Ancient Exchanges but takes a form other than translation or translation pedagogy (e.g., creative essay, review, interview, etc.), please query us before submitting. Simply send us an email with a brief description of the project, and we can discuss whether/how the project might fit into an upcoming issue.

Length considerations:

While the appropriate length of your submission may depend on the nature of the work, below are some general guidelines based on our previously published issues. Please note that word/line counts refer to the translated text, which may differ considerably in length from the original.

  • poetry: up to 7 short poems (or a single excerpt of a longer poem up to 200 lines)
  • prose: up to 1000 words of continuous or excerpted prose
  • drama: up to 200 lines of continuous or excerpted drama
  • essays, interviews, reviews: up to 2000 words
  • art: up to 3 stand-alone pieces (or a single series of no more than 10 images)

Policies:

We encourage and celebrate nontraditional and multimodal submissions. We work with each contributor to publish their work in a format that honors their creative vision within the formatting constraints of our site. See past issues for an idea of the possibilities at our disposal, and send us a query if you’re not sure whether your work is a good fit.

We happily accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you notify us if and when your work is accepted elsewhere, so that we can take it out of our submissions pool. We are unable to accept previously published work.

Please consider waiting one calendar year (generally two submission cycles) after being published in Ancient Exchanges before submitting new work to us.