"All the world is full of inscape and chance left free to act falls into an order as well as purpose."
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
PCC Inscape Magazine celebrates the creative writing and scholarship of PCC students, faculty, staff, alumni and also celebrates the work of writers beyond our community.
The journal began publication in 1943 as Pipes of Pan and later renamed itself INSCAPE MAGAZINE and is associated with PCC's ENG 7: Inscape Magazine Production course. Students read and edit submissions and compose interviews and blog pieces for the magazine and its website, www.pccinscape.com. Students gain real-world literary production and editing skills.
Thanks to a grant from the Student Services Initiative at PCC, we publish at least one print journal per year and funding pending, additional specialty print projects. We are in process of raising $5000 in a growth fund to establish PCC Inscape funding as internal and institutionalized. Our magazine has printed the work of Octavia Butler and other well-known alumni. To support our funding, please donate and designate your donation for Creative Writing here
General Guidelines
****PLEASE NOTE: In order to submit to us, you must create a free Submittable account. You can create one using your Facebook/Google account logins, or create one using your email. If you're unable, please query about your piece at pccinscape@gmail.com
Submissions are accepted during academic semesters. Please note that our active reading cycles correspond to the academic calendar at Pasadena City College and your submission may be held over to the next semester's staff. Submissions made during the summer or winter intersessions (June through August and late December through January, respectively) may not be reviewed until the beginning of a new academic term. We are grateful for your patience. All work is considered for both print and online publication.
If at any point you must withdraw your work, please do so on Submittable. Simultaneous submissions are ok, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Please allow us up to 4 months to review your work if you've submitted it during the current academic calendar.
Please note that student work may be edited for grammatical concerns. We may query for deeper editing so please monitor your email for submittable communications from us.
For questions about active submissions, please communicate with us through Submittable or contact pccinscape@gmail.com
The Handley Award
Current PCC students are eligible for the Handley Award, a creative writing scholarship that recognizes excellence in creative writing. There is no application for this award; to be considered, you must be a current PCC student. You should indicate this status in your cover letter. Recipients are notified of their award each Spring.
Welcome to the submission portal for poetry.
Please review the following guidelines:
- No more than a maximum of 5 pieces or 10 pages of poetry.
- Submit each piece as an individual file clearly labeled with your last name, email, phone, and the title of the piece.
- Please include a short (200 words or less) bio written in third person and the titles of each piece submitted for potential publication.
- Use spacing and formats appropriate for your poems -- submit them in the style in which you would like them to appear in print, should they be published.
Welcome to the submission portal for fiction.
We are currently accepting short stories and flash-fiction. Please review the following guidelines:
- No more than 1 short story up to 10 typed, double-spaced pages or up to 3 flash non fiction pieces 750 words or less.
- Submit each piece as an individual file clearly labeled with your last name and the title of the respective piece.
- Your cover letter should indicate your affiliation with PCC and should include the following: a short (200 words or less) bio written in third person, the titles of each piece submitted for potential publication.
- Please double space your manuscript(s) and include page numbers.
- If you are a PCC student and are submitting work you completed for a class, please remove all course-specific information (such as an MLA style heading) before you submit your work.
Welcome to the submission portal for creative non-fiction and Critical Essays.
We are currently accepting literary non-fiction pieces (up to 10 pages or 3 Flash/short pieces 750 words or less) as well as academic literary criticism (up to 10 pages typed, doublespaced in MLA format) for potential publication. Please review the following guidelines:
- No more than 10 typed, double spaced pages or up to 3 flash non fiction pieces.
- Submit each piece as an individual file clearly labeled with your last name and the title of the respective piece.
- Please prepare a short, formal cover letter to accompany your submission. Your cover letter should indicate your affiliation with PCC and should include the following: a short (200 words or less) bio written in third person, the titles of each piece submitted for potential publication, and your current mailing address. Current PCC students should also include an anticipated graduation or transfer date to be considered for the Handley Award.
- Please double space your manuscript(s) and include page numbers.
- Please REMOVE all "course information"
Welcome to the submission portal for visual art.
We are currently accepting photography, illustration, and other artwork for potential publication in our Spring 2022 print issue of Inscape. Please review the following guidelines:
- We accept a variety of artwork for potential publication, including comics and visual narratives. Please use this portal to submit comics and visual narratives, as opposed to Creative Non-Fiction or Fiction, to ensure the appropriate editorial team reviews your piece(s).
- Multiple submissions are welcome, but please limit yourself to no more than five stand alone pieces. If you have additional pieces you would like to submit for consideration, please wait for the next publication cycle.
- Submit each piece as an individual file clearly labeled with your last name and the title of the respective piece. jpg or png
- Please prepare a short, formal cover letter to accompany your submission. Your cover letter should indicate your affiliation with PCC and should include the following: a short (200 words or less) bio written in third person, the titles of each piece submitted for potential publication, and your current mailing address. Current PCC students should also include an anticipated graduation or transfer date.
- Please submit your work as high resolution JPGs or PNGs.
- If you are a PCC student and are submitting work you completed for a class, please remove all course-specific information (such as an MLA style heading) before you submit your work.
PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT WORK FOR PUBLICATION IN THIS PORTAL. IT WILL NOT BE READ FOR PUBLICATION AND WILL BE DELETED.
Inscape Magazine is a student-run publication at Pasadena City College in print since 1942! We published one of the first stories by award-winning alumna Octavia Butler in our very pages! Our archive is housed at the Pasadena City College Library.
While we receive a small grant each year from PCC Student Services, the Covid-crisis has left our funding up in the air. We appreciate any donations for the publication of our print magazine and Editor's prizes. The magazine is attached to the ENGL 7 course, which teaches students how to work on a professional literature magazine, how to take on editorial roles, how to interview professional artists and writers and how to compose culture-content for our Feral Parrot blog. Students also choose awardees for the Handley Award Scholarship for Pasadena City College students as well as other editorial prizes.
We publish at least 1 print issue per year and online content at pccinscape.com
We are a community publication and we primarily publish work by PCC Community Members and occasionally artists and writers from elsewhere.
Our Creative Writing program at Pasadena City College is a member of the AWP Associated Writing Programs Affiliate Members and the Community of Literary Magazines and Small Presses.
Please consider donating by mailing a check made out to PCC Inscape Magazine to:
Attn: Dr. Kirsten Ogden, Inscape Magazine
English Department - Creative Writing Program
C 245 - Pasadena City College
1570 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106
You can also donate here through submittable at a rate of $10.00 or more (as submittable takes a small fee for processing donations).
Your name will be featured as a donor in our publications.
Please DO NOT submit work for publication here. It will not be reviewed and will be deleted.
Our latest 3 issues are gorgeous!
Our Winter 2021 issue was themed "DARK & LIGHT" and features a selection of carefully curated work in a full-color issue edited by our student editors Coco and Amanda Ly. The issue features poetry, prose, and hybrid work. (Vol 77, Issue 1).
Our Fall 2020 issue edited by student editor Kristen Simental is a fantastic focus on stories written by students and PCC Community members. The issue boasts several outstanding interviews, including with Mississippi Review editor Adam Clay, a profile of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca who visited PCC in Spring 2020, and an interview with cover artist Jenny Kessler as well as wonderful photographs from other artists in the PCC Community. (Vol 76, Issue 1).
We still have copies of our double-sized Spring 2020 issue (Vol.75 - No.1) edited by student editors Alicia Wilson and Sean Ban. The issue features stunning artwork by Canadian artist Laurie Lynn-McGlynn as well as superb, carefully selected poetry and prose and an essay series exploring California Literature.
If you are a student, we'll send you your copy! Include your mailing address. If you're able to donate to off-set the cost of mailing, we REALLY appreciate it! Please Note: At this time, we are unable to ship internationally due to Covid 19 unless you are a contributer. Please contact pccinscape@gmail.com ATTN International Mailing and we'll do our best.