Submission Guidelines
LAKE IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS OF ANY KIND FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE.
Lake publishes essays, creative writing and visual arts related to the environment. The word “environment” is used broadly to emphasize natural and biological environments but also our geographical, social, economic, urban and cultural environments as they relate to the natural world. “Arts” includes literature, film, photography, painting, sculpture, performance, and new media. Our focus is on the art that is concerned about the natural world, although we are deeply interested in ecological issues and will from time to time feature ecological investigations that are of literary quality. We publish work that has not been published before in North America by authors and artists who are from Canada or abroad. The journal is committed to high production values, with quality reproductions of artwork, a contemporary design, and an editorial vision that is in search of exceptional art and thought. The journal is published twice a year. We also publish reviews and poetry on our webpage.
General Guidelines
We do not accept email submissions.
All submissions must be word-processed and you should be able to provide an electronic version of the piece in Word or rtf upon request. Lake encourages the economical use of paper: print your manuscript double-sided and use a default setting of .75 inch (or 1.9 centimeters) for your margins. Poetry should be single-spaced; prose should be doubled-spaced. Your name and contact information should appear on each page. Provide a short cover letter with contact information, the title of the piece you are submitting and any relevant biographical/ professional information.
All submissions and queries must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Submissions without an SASE will not be returned or responded to. Entries from outside Canada require international reply coupons (IRCs) or Canadian postage. Foreign postage, including U.S. stamps, is not acceptable for mailing in Canada. Email queries about submissions are acceptable. We may correspond with you via email so do include an email address.
Non-Fiction:
Lake invites writers to submit brief query letters outlining journalistic pieces, accessible academic articles, interviews, reviews and creative non-fiction. We are looking for narratives, interviews, personal essays, meditations, memoirs, reviews or critical essays of relevant books/ film/ exhibitions/ performances or cultural phenomena, and investigative essays, ranging anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 words. We see interviews as collaborative texts and request that a photograph accompany the interview. (See specs on photographs below.) We also are looking for writers to review books.
In your query letter, convey clearly how your piece fits the “arts and environment” mandate of Lake and give us a sense of your approach, why the author and/ or subject is suited to our journal. Please include a CV and sample of your writing. Note that our production lead time is approximately 4 – 6 months so stories with an element of timeliness should be delivered accordingly.
Fiction and Poetry:
Lake publishes poetry and fiction that is concerned with the human relationship to nature.
Unsolicited poetry submissions should consist of five to ten poems, in any style. We also publish long poems, linked poems and sequences. Fiction may range in length from 1200 to 8000 words. Please submit only one story at a time. (In the case of “flash fiction” or postcard stories, it is acceptable to submit up to six very short pieces.)
Lake will consider will consider translations of both poetry and fiction. When submitting translated work, please include a copy of the original text and a copy of a letter of permission from the author and/or publisher.
Visual Art:
Photographers who have produced a range of images on a particular theme are invited to submit their work for inclusion as a photo-essay.
We welcome the submission of photographs of artwork. Please submit a CD with work in .tif format, 600 dpi. Please include an artist’s statement and a short bio.
Visual artists should send us a CD and cover letter and NOT email us a link to a website.
Please send a minimum of 6 separate works.
Send queries and submissions to:
Lake: A Journal of Arts and Environment
Dept. of Creative Studies
University of British Columbia Okanagan
3333 University Way
Kelowna, British Columbia
V1V 1V7
Canada
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as you inform us that this is such a submission. If your work is accepted elsewhere, notify us immediately.
