Witness, a nationally recognized literary magazine
As Managing Editor, I spearheaded a successful rebrand for the magazine. I personally wrote the core messaging, including the new mission statement, to redefine the brand's identity, articulate its evolved editorial vision, and attract a broader, more diverse audience of writers and readers.
Managing Editor
Brand strategy, brand voice & messaging development, copywriting, editorial leadership, audience analysis.
This rebrand was well-received by subscribers and stakeholders, led to a refreshed and more clearly defined brand identity, and contributed to subsequent audience growth and increased engagement.
Witness blends the features of a literary and an issue-oriented magazine to highlight the role of the modern writer as witness to his or her times. Launched in Detroit in 1987, the magazine is best known for showcasing work that defines its historical moment; special issues have focused on political oppression, religion, the natural world, crime, aging, civil rights, love, ethnic America, and exile. The issues "New Nature Writing," "The Sixties," "Sports in America," and "The Best of Witness, 1987 – 2004" eventually appeared as university press anthologies.
In 2007, Witness moved to the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The magazine now publishes one special print issue and two general online issues each year and increasingly seeks out work that contextualizes the American experience by highlighting issues of global concern.
Witness seeks original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and photography that is innovative in its approach, broad-ranging in its concerns, and unapologetic in its perspective. The magazine blends the features of a literary and an issue-oriented magazine to highlight the role of the modern writer as witness to their times.
Our mission is to amplify extraordinary voices, feature writers from every part of the globe, and highlight pieces that speak to the present moment in an enduring and distinctive way. The magazine seeks to open up conversations surrounding oppression and transcendence, prejudice and compassion, fear and raw honesty. The editorial team is also proud to feature the work of emerging voices alongside that of established writers.
Launched in Detroit in 1987, the magazine is best known for showcasing work that defines its historical moment; special issues have focused on political oppression, religion, the natural world, crime, aging, civil rights, love, ethnic America, and exile. The issues "New Nature Writing,” "The Sixties," "Sports in America," and "The Best of Witness, 1987 – 2004" eventually appeared as university press anthologies.
In 2007, Witness moved to the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The magazine now publishes one special print issue and one general online issue each year and increasingly seeks out work that contextualizes the American experience by highlighting issues of global concern.
Witness seeks original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and photography that is innovative in its approach, broad-ranging in its concerns, and that dazzles us with its unique perspective. We often enjoy material that ventures into international terrain.
Witness has published work by Lee K. Abbott, Paul Auster, Rick Bass, Madison Smartt Bell, Charles Bernstein, Robert Bly, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Maxine Chernoff, Clark Coolidge, John D’Agata, Stephen Dixon, Mark Doty, Stephen Dunn, Stuart Dybek, Russell Edson, Pete Fromm, Albert Goldbarth, Donald Hall, Ha Jin, Maxine Hong Kingston, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Gordon Lish, Joe Meno, Josip Novakovich, Joyce Carol Oates, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Peter Orner, Carl Phillips, George Saunders, Charles Simic, David Shields, Gary Snyder, Terese Svoboda, and Terry Tempest Williams.
Witness is published three times a year: one themed print issue in the Spring, and two nonthemed online issues in Summer and Winter. Unsolicited work is welcome for all issues.
January 15–March 31: Themed print issue. The theme for Spring 2018 is “Abandon”.
September 1–November 15: Non-themed Summer and Winter online issues. All submissions will be considered for both issues. Please do not submit thematic work during the general reading period and vice versa. Visit our Submittable page for details.
We do not accept previously published work. This requirement applies to material that has appeared online in any form or format, including personal blogs.
We accept all submissions electronically via Submittable. We do not accept any submissions via email or post. A submittable.com account is free, but there is a $[redacted] fee per submission to help defray administrative expenses.
One active submission in each genre is allowed. We do not accept multiple submissions for any single genre, though you may submit up to five poems or three pieces of flash fiction (under 1,000) as a single submission. Limit prose submissions to 8,000 words maximum. Please wait for a response regarding a submission before sending more work.
We allow simultaneous submissions, provided you promptly withdraw your work via Submittable if it has been accepted elsewhere. In the case of poetry, if part of your submission has been accepted by another publication, please notify us by adding a note to your submission in Submittable.
We attempt to respond to all poetry submissions within four months; response times for fiction and nonfiction may be six months or longer, depending on the volume of submissions.
Witness seeks original fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that is innovative in its approach, broad-ranging in its concerns, and unapologetic in its perspective. The magazine blends the features of a literary and an issue-oriented magazine to highlight the role of the modern writer as witness to their times.
Our mission is to amplify extraordinary voices, feature writers from every part of the globe, and highlight pieces that speak to the present moment in an enduring and distinctive way. The magazine seeks to open up conversations surrounding oppression and transcendence, prejudice and compassion, fear and raw honesty. The editorial team is also proud to feature the work of emerging voices alongside that of established writers.
Witness is published twice a year: a themed Spring print issue, and non-themed Fall/Winter online issue.
August 15-October 1: Themed print issue. We also open our call for the Witness Literary Awards during this reading period.
January 15-February 29: Fall/Winter online issue.
Please do not submit thematic work during the general reading period and vice versa.
(Submission windows are subject to early closure if submissions exceed the maximum number we can consider per issue.)
We do not accept previously published work. This includes material that has appeared online in any form or format, including personal blogs.
We do not accept multiple submissions for a single genre, though you may submit up to five poems as a single submission.
One active submission in each genre is permitted, but please wait for a response to your submission before sending more to that genre. We work to respond to all poetry submissions within four months; response times for fiction and nonfiction may be six months or longer, depending on the volume of submissions.
We allow simultaneous submissions provided you promptly withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere. In the case of poetry, if one of your five poems per submission has been accepted by another publication, please notify us directly at witness@unlv.edu.
The fee for a general submission (non-contest entry) is $[redacted] and the fee for a contest entry is $[redacted]. Witness pays $[redacted] for every 1,500 words of prose and $[redacted] per poem, ($[redacted] for long poems, 3+ pages) for both print and online work.