CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 2026
Open April 11th, 2025 to February 13th, 2026. All CNM students enrolled during Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2025, as well as Spring 2026, are invited to submit works of art, poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, music, and multimedia. For the first time, Leonardo is calling for culinary art* and architectural design* submissions.
Please email us at leonardo@cnm.edu with any inquiries.
Student-Editors are part of the CNM Honors program and are enrolled in the following class: Honors (HNRS) 1120, Literary Magazine Publishing, offered every Spring semester.
For All Submissions: Students may submit up to three pieces in each genre. Submissions should be saved with your first and last name as you wish it to appear if published, followed by title and genre. (Ex.: FirstName_LastName_Title_Genre.docx).
For All Written Submissions: When formatting your document, use double-spaced 12 point font. Special formatting must be intentional and must not alter the length of your document.
Writing: Five pages maximum per piece will be considered for print publication. Longer submissions will be considered for publication online in Leo Longform. Attach individual pieces as Word Documents and include its appropriate genre (FICTION, CNF, or POETRY). Please do not submit PDFs; your formatting will not be reflected accurately.
Visual Art: Submit pieces – printmaking, paintings, drawings, graphic design, sculptures (ex. welding, cardboard, clay, etc.), ceramics, jewelry, photographs, trigonometry art, architectural design, etc. – via email as a .jpeg or .png file and include ART as the subject line. Please submit a high-quality photo which clearly depicts your work with minimal background interference, 300 DPI images preferred. No originals, please; we do not return work.
Music: Submit pieces as MP3 Audio Files or YouTube/Soundcloud/Bandcamp Links. No more than a maximum combined length of seven minutes may be submitted. Please record high-quality audio in quiet surroundings. Sheet music submissions are also encouraged. Lyrical content will also be considered for print publication.
Digital Multimedia: Individual pieces including audio (i.e, podcasts), video games, short documentaries or films, animations, and coding, may be considered for print publication or online publication. All published digital submissions will be found on the website. Stills and artist statements from multimedia work will also be considered for print publication.
*Culinary Arts: Recipes (include name and description of dish along with ingredients and instructions) and photos of culinary pieces may be submitted. Please submit a high-quality photo which clearly depicts your work, 300 DPI images preferred.
*Architectural Design: We accept architectural graphics, blueprints, renderings, and schematics. Please submit a high-quality photo which clearly depicts your work, 300 DPI images preferred.
Tips for submissions
- When submitting multiple pieces, please submit a separate submission form for each. Always use the file types specified (.docx, .jpg, .png, .mp3, .mp4). Please do this even if you are submitting in the same section or genre.
- Fine Art Submissions: Take the best quality photo possible of your work to show off your piece the best you can. (Smaller aspect ratios on smartphones take photos in higher resolutions! I.e.: 3:4 or 1:1 over 9:16)
- What about Content? Your content can be whatever you please; evocative prose, worldly observations, reflecting on contemporary issues, etc. Try not to worry about whether or not your work “fits”!
- Describe your medium. Whether it be what paint you’ve used, the kind of canvas, or what camera or film you’ve used for a photo, we want to know.
If in doubt, ask yourself: Do you love it? Is it interesting or beautiful or both? Does it push boundaries to make to the viewer/reader think? Is it finished? If the answer is yes to all the above or most of the above: GO FOR IT! We’ll be happy to consider your work, see your view of the world and present that perspective for others to experience.
We hope to create something wonderful and exciting with you!
By submitting, you agree to allow your work to be published in print or on the Internet through Leonardo’s website or social media.
By submitting work, contributors affirm that they are the original author and hold the rights to their piece. They understand that unless otherwise specified, the publication of this work grants first serial rights to Leonardo, after which all rights revert to contributors after publication.
Censorship Policy: It is Leonardo’s policy that we, as an editorial team and publication representing the larger CNM community, do not engage in censorship, as doing so would undermine how we demonstrably value the diversity of genuine, honest student voices and the history, culture, lived experience, languages, and ideas that those voices bring.
An exception to this policy is in the case of publishing work that could be considered legally “actionable”. An example of this would be a work that contains defamatory statements, plagiarism, copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, publishing confidential information without consent, and publishing content involving minors. Further, considerations involving minors revolves around safety due to their status as vulnerable individuals; this includes aforementioned categories and sexual content or exploitation.
Leonardo Magazine 