2019 CCS Spectrum Literary Magazine

Help us reach our goal of $5,000!

Since 1957 undergraduates in the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara have staffed and published Spectrum Literary Journal, a national publication and the longest-running literary journal in the UC system. Over the years, Spectrum has published stories and poems by CCS Faculty Teddy Macker and Jervey Tervalon, and essays by CCS first Provost Marvin Mudrick, as well as the work of luminaries like William Carlos Williams, Raymond Carver, Samuel Beckett, and too many other emerging authors to name. In recent years, we have focused on publishing writing that takes risks while still achieving literary excellence.

We are CCS undergraduates, the editors and staff of Spectrum, working to publish the 62nd issue of the magazine while raising funds to provide for the future of the magazine. We receive hundreds of submissions every year from writers all over the US and abroad. Over the last three years, our undergraduate editors have attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference to represent Spectrum at the conference book fair, a gathering of over 700 independent presses and literary journals.

In an era where literary journal giants like Tin House and Glimmer Train have moved to digital-only operations, we are proud to have created print issues of our journal annually for 62 years. Perhaps more importantly, our journal gives the writers and editors of tomorrow hands-on experience in the art of publishing words in print.