New student-run magazine seeks speculative fiction artists

Attention, Earthlings: A new student-run publication has touched down on your planet and is now accepting submissions for its first edition.

The “Matter of the Imagination” magazine, which is still in its early stages of development, will focus on all things speculative fiction. The genre encompasses both science fiction and fantasy. The magazine was thought up one month ago by seniors Owen Gibbs and Jake Cherry, who now serve as its president and vice president.

Gibbs and Cherry said they hope to reach sci-fi enjoyers in the Bozeman community and give them a platform to share their art.

“I wanted to see if there was a local sci-fi fantasy magazine, because I wanted to be a reader,” Gibbs said. “And then when there was none, it was like okay, I’ll do it myself.”

Cherry said that speculative fiction is a broad genre. “It’s anything that has any sort of magic, whimsy, technology and explores different themes,” he said. “And that can even be done through art depicting fantasy lands or far-off cyberpunk-type features.”

Honors College professor Kent Davis, the magazine’s advisor and a published speculative fiction author, was approached by Gibbs and Cherry with the idea for the magazine last semester.

“The thing [that makes it special] is it gives you the opportunity to really harness your imagination. That lets people deal with contemporary issues in ways that are free of expectation,” Davis said. “It’s just a way to have a massive amount of fun.”

Gibbs said people are pulled towards speculative fiction because they crave authenticity in an otherwise inauthentic world. “These fictional worlds are used as a tool to emphasize certain aspects of humanity and what the human experience really boils down to being,” he said.

Senior Hollin Keintz, the treasurer for the magazine, said it is designed to be a space where people can have their speculative fiction work published.

“It’s such a specific thing that doesn’t get a lot of recognition,” Keintz said. “That’s what we’re trying to do — give it a place to be recognized.”

While the magazine is open to literary submissions, it is also seeking other forms of media.

“People can kind of come in with whatever they’ve created,” Cherry said. “We want writers, artists, people who write essays, photographers — anything in that kind of realm.”

The magazine currently relies on freelance work and students are encouraged to submit anything that falls under the speculative fiction genre.

“For all we know, there’s the greatest story we’ve ever seen scribbled in somebody’s notebook in a backpack,” Keintz said. “If you don’t submit, we never actually get a chance to see how good everybody is.”

For those interested in submitting, head to the “Matter of the Imagination” dropbox at https://matteroftheimagination.com/contact/. The submission deadline is Nov. 1.