UCSB Alumni Launch ‘South Hall Literary Magazine’ as a Creative Outlet for College Graduates

It all started in South Hall at UCSB just a few years ago. The Catalyst, an on-campus publication, was housed in this popular campus office building. Managing Editor Andra Veness, Submissions Manager Kiana Perez-Granados, and the rest of their team met working for this UCSB literary magazine and the concept of South Hall Literary Magazine was born thereafter.

After graduating UCSB with English degrees and entering the workforce with freelance gigs, both Veness and Perez-Granados spoke about the difficulty with getting your foot in the door in the writing industry.

“The market is just kinda tight right now, so people who are already in their positions usually stay in their positions. It’s usually hard to find an opportunity to either write and submit something to be a part of the publishing industry,” Veness explained.

In attempting to alleviate this problem, the two collaborated to formulate a literary magazine where college graduates from UCSB and other college-level institutions could submit pieces for publication to ease the process and establish a creative outlet for those in the workforce.

“I just wanted there to be a next step, something to look forward to after The Catalyst at UCSB. So this is a nice segue for us to reconnect as writers and editors and continue the momentum of  what we were doing and having that literary community,” Veness said.

The magazine is accepting submissions in an open-ended format. They are calling for literature, poetry, and artwork, as their magazine is the fusion of various mediums. There is no minimum or maximum word count and the only strict qualification is proof of graduation from a college-equivalent institution. There are no fees because they do not believe in barriers barring people from submissions.

“We want it to be a space for graduates. It doesn’t matter what year you graduated, anyone can submit,” Perez-Granados emphasized.

South Hall and its team have aspirations to expand the magazine and create a space for students currently on campus and graduates alike to share their creativity. For students now, Veness hopes that “when they graduate, they’ll know that there is a space for them because I know that there is always a concern of losing your creative side and passion when you’re trying to work and make money.”

“Sometimes when you’re going into the workforce, you really can’t support yourself on creative exploits. So having an outlet that’s free and relatively accessible, it allows people to continue being creative,” Veness said.

Each piece of literature on the website is accompanied by art, aligning with the magazine’s goal of propagating a space for art and literature to co-exist harmoniously.

“I hope graduates feel encouraged to apply even if they feel like they don’t have experience in creative writing or experience being in a magazine. You don’t have to have prior experience to apply,” Perez-Granados said. “You just have to be passionate about your work. We really just want to help people feel empowered to use their voice.”

For more information on the magazine and to submit artwork or literature, visit their website https://shlmagazine.com/.