About the Journal

The Digital Literature Review is an undergraduate journal featuring peer-reviewed research by multiple contributors from various universities and academic disciplines. Each issue of the DLR will focus on a compelling theme that inspires original, thought-provoking research. In its current theme of Multispecies Encounters, the journal will feature analysis of human and nonhuman interactions in a variety of media. This annual, student-run journal is a product of Ball State University’s immersive learning initiative and is supported by the BSU English Department and the Office of the Provost.

Submissions are now open for the twelfth issue of The Digital Literature Review, “Finding Home: Migration, Exile, and Diaspora in Literature.” This year, we are looking for writing that examines migration studies: an interdisciplinary field that explores the history, context, and consequences of migration. Our identities as humans have been sculpted by the places we have lived in and the places we have left. This connection between our identities and our homes is deeply intertwined with this year’s topic. Essay submissions might include but are not limited to: 

• immigration and how gender or class or caste or religion or sexuality organizes the immigrant experience 

• migration and the environment 

• human and nonhuman (plant, animal, insects, and material) migrations - parallels or comparisons 

• exile  

• the migrant's return home or the impossibility of return 

• intergenerational migrant experiences and conflicts  

• migrant labor 

• refugee narratives 

• genre and the migrant narrative 

 

Essays must be anchored in a work of literature, cinema, or other artistic media and relate to the journal's theme of migration. They must also be supported by scholarly research. We encourage submitters to explore the many nuances of migration studies within their essays. 

 

All essays must be submitted as a Word document. Submissions should be between 2,500 and 5,000 words and adhere to MLA citation and formatting guidelines with double-spacing and 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Please direct any questions to dlr@bsu.edu. All journal submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. Friday, January 31st. 

If you are a Ball State student and are looking for an immersive learning experience, e-mail dlr@bsu.edu to get involved.

Publishing is supported by Ball State University Libraries in Muncie, Indiana.