"In the tin can of photos and trinkets I took back to Durham from Georgia, I added my brother's shoe. It is senseless to run from the past..."
~Rachel Medlock, "Inventory of a Room," Vol. II, issue 3

"At first I felt bad for him looking so ridiculous in front of so many...but then I thought, 'No, this is as it should be.' I was embarrassed because this was profoundly personal experience he was going through, and I was watching it like a Roman spectator at the Coliseum."
~Doug Friedlander, "Ode to Aversano," Vol. II, issue 2

Just this once, give your faith and your doubt and your simplest, sweetest, and hardest moments the benefit of your time.


The best guideline for getting started is to check out some past issues and see the kind of content we generally publish. Submissions should fall into one of the following categories:

  • Personal Narratives/Commentary-style essays
  • Artwork
  • Photography
  • Poetry
  • Interviews
  • Book/Movie Reviews
Recommended length of written submission is up to 2000 words, but we certainly consider longer pieces. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, usage, and style. Authors will be consulted about edits.

Submission Policy
All contributors will receive three free copies of The Symposium in which they are featured. All submissions become the property of the Self Knowledge Symposium, unless otherwise agreed. The Self Knowledge Symposium retains the right to publish entries in any manner, including print publication, distribution via the Internet, and audio recording. Authors may require that their names not be used in publication, if they wish. Submissions cannot be returned to the authors.

How to Submit
All submissions should be sent to The Symposium editor at Submissions@SelfKnowledge.org. Please submit written pieces in the body of the email or as an attached rich text format document. Artwork should be submitted as a GIF, TIFF, or EPS file. Submit snail mail submissions to:

The Symposium
101-3 Bryan Center
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708

Please include a short biography with all submissions that includes the name you would like in your byline, your school, year in school, and major or your company, mailing address, phone number, and email address.

Contributors will be notified as to the status of their work within two months of receipt of the submission. Rejected submissions will receive a standard letter of reply. If the Review Board's curiosity is piqued, however, we may give additional comments and suggest resubmitting a revised version.

Submissions are accepted any time before the deadline.

Thank you for your interest in The Symposium. Contact The Symposium at Editor@SelfKnowledge.org for additional information.


"If poetry were anything—like dropping an atom bomb—which anyone did, anyone could become a poet merely by doing the necessary anything; whatever that anything might or might not entail. But (as it happens) poetry is being, not doing. If you wish to follow, even at a distance, the poet's calling (and here, as always, I speak from my own totally biased and entirely personal point of view) you've got to come out of the measurable doing universe and into the immeasurable house of being...and remember one thing only: that it's you—nobody else—who determines your destiny and decides your fate. Nobody else can be alive for you."
--ee cummings

Finally, a request from your humble Webmaster
We would love to hear what you think about our site . . . really. Please send all your comments, questions, recommendations, or (of course) broken link reports, to: Info@SelfKnowledge.org