The Blue Route

January 2010 issue

Widener University
http://theblueroute.org/links.html

Review by Amanda Santangelo

Widener University’s online literary magazine, The Blue Route is as good as literary magazines get, with the added perk of unlimited readership on the internet.This concept of an online journal that accepts work from undergraduate writers across the country is extremely enticing for students because the entire internet can view your published work at any point.

Adopting its name from the highway of the same name that runs through the suburbs of Philadelphia, The Blue Route’s website states that the name “connotes a certain mood and a certain direction. The Blue Route suggests one possible path to where you might want to go.” This aphorism is a pretty accurate depiction of the fiction and poetry featured in the journal. From the lyrical familial narrative poem “Times You Were” by Halle Kostansek to the haunting flash-fictional account of a female suicide bomber, “Istishhadiyah” by Stephanie Ciner, each work takes the reader on an insightful and lasting journey.

The January 2010 issue is currently featured on the magazine’s main page, and the staff is currently accepting submissions for the next issue with a deadline in April. Undergraduate students across the country may submit up to 3,000 words of prose and no more than five poems. In order to be considered for publication, the name of a faculty member currently working at the students’ current school must be included in the submission. I’d say this process is well worth it, since those authors selected for publication receive twenty dollars for their work, in addition to being featured in this top-notch literary publication.