The Olivetree Review is proud to be celebrating 40 years as Hunter College's undergraduate-run literary and arts magazine. We have published hundreds of writers and artists over the decades— among them are the artist Jaishri Abichandani, the novelist Zoraida Córdova, poet Suheir Hammad, short story writer Alexia Arthurs, Lambda Literary Award winner Mark Bibbins, New York Times bestseller Kim Wozencraft, and many more. We are excited for you to join us (or to have you back)!
Please read the category-specific guidelines before submitting. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at olivetreereview@gmail.com.
After several months in our archives, The Olivetree Review is proud to announce a special category of submissions for our 40th anniversary issue. This anniversary issue, to be published in Spring of 2024, will feature republished archival pieces from across the decades— it is our hope that these pieces will inspire you to join in and respond to Olivetree's literary and artistic legacy.
You can view our archival selections in poetry, prose, art, and drama at this link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8s7u7zriigu95gwh3fscl/h?rlkey=s32dfjw8atmqx3wc6kx56sryl&dl=0.
For submissions in this category, we ask that you submit works in response to an archival pieces or pieces. As always, submissions of poetry, prose, art, and drama are all welcome- but for this special category, we also greatly encourage the submission of works in new media such as animation, film and video art, music and sound art, and translation. Keep in mind that you do not necessarily need to respond to a poem with a poem or a monologue with a monologue, in fact, we welcome transformative and multidisciplinary works.
Our requirements for submission in this category are:
- that that your piece(s) must be in response to an Olivetree archival selection or selections (as linked above). If you have an original work of art or literature, please submit it to our other categories.
- that you include a cover page that clearly states the title of the work or works that inspired your submission. You are not required but may also include a short write-up on how your inspiration led to your final product.
For more inspiration, please attend out our on campus workshops where we will discuss individual archival pieces in greater detail! Please direct any further questions to olivetreereview@gmail.com.
This year, we are excited to announce that we will also be accepting readings and performances of submitted poetic works— whether in audio or video format. These performances may only be for works for which you have submitted a written poem.
Please ensure that your name does not appear anywhere on your submission. If you are submitting a reading or performance of your written work and the performer is someone other than yourself, please ensure their credit appears in the audio or video you submit.
Traditionally, we have accepted short stories and excerpts from longer workers— but do not feel limited by this convention. We recommend prose pieces of a maximum of 8,000 words.
Please ensure that your name does not appear anywhere on your submission.
The Olivetree Review has traditionally accepted photography, painting, sculpture, digital art, and other mixed media work. This year, we are excited to announce that we will be accepting animation, video art, and art from code. If there is an artwork you would like to submit but are unable to do so here, please contact us at olivetreereview@gmail.com.
Please title all pieces. Include information about the medium of your work in the your cover letter, if necessary (for example: Gelatin silver print 11"x14", or Oil on canvas 30"x30."). If you are submitting pieces as a series, please note in your cover letter the title of the individual pieces which make up the series and the order in which the individual pieces are intended to appear.
We ask that you submit no more than ten pages or ten minutes of a scene, script, or screenplay. Excerpts from longer works are permitted. Please ensure that your name does not appear anywhere on your submission.
This year, we are excited to announce that we will also be accepting performances of submitted dramatic works— whether in audio or video format. These performances may only be for works for which you have submitted a script.