We are now accepting submissions for the second year of Austin Expression.

If you’re not familiar with it, Austin Expression is a literary magazine that debuted in last year’s July-August edition of Austin Living.

I’m not going to lie, Austin Expression has quickly become one of my favorite parts of Austin Living. It gives Austin and Mower County residents a chance to show their creativity. And you never know what you’re going to get for submissions.

With the Austin ArtWorks Festival turning the focus to the arts every August, the July-August edition of Austin Living magazine has morphed into our annual arts issue with arts-focused stories and, of course, Austin Expression.

Even after getting a great response with more than 30 literary and arts submissions last year, Austin Expression is primed to grow in its second year.

For starters, we’re forming a panel of community judges to help the Austin Living editorial staff select the best submissions to print in the magazine. After all, Austin Expression is a community publication, and we want the community to have a say in which pieces print.

The cost to submit is free and people are welcome to submit more than one piece; however, we don’t pay for publication. We are, however, working out some prizes to award to the top submissions, which will also be selected with the help of the judges panel.

What can be submitted?

As was our mantra last year: We’ll accept anything that can be represented in print. That means art; poetry; short stories; song lyrics; mixed media; photographs; illustrations; pictures of sculptures, pottery and origami; and more.

However, we are again limiting written submission, especially fiction and nonfiction, to 1,500 words or less due to space limitations.

We also ask those submitting visual pieces to send the largest possible file sizes. Austin Living is a glossy magazine, so higher quality images will print the best. That may mean sending images in multiple emails or even via sites like Dropbox. That’s perfectly fine.

The deadline to submit is May 13. Submissions should be sent to newsroom@austindailyherald.com with “Austin Expression” in the subject line. Along with an email, please include a phone number if we have questions.

With questions, feel free to contact me at newrsoom@austindialyherald.com or 507-434-2235.