Write for Us
“Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality.”
C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism
The literary tradition imaginatively chronicles the experience of sinners and sufferers through the ages. When engaged with, it both enlarges our own limited perspective so we may see compassionately through the eyes of others, and also holds up a mirror to human nature – in particular, our weakness – thereby highlighting our need for true relationship. CenterForLit’s blog, The Hovel, aims to act as a doorway to this kind of community by facilitating life-giving conversation about the reading experience, literary education, and literature’s great ideas.
OUR VISION
The Hovel is a CenterForLit online publication introduced in 2016 for a two-fold purpose. First, The Hovel works to recapture sound literary criticism (interpretation) in a clear, common voice. It does this through a return to respect for the author, an insistence on the support of textual evidence for all readings, and a desire to make the study of literature approachable for everyone. Second, The Hovel mediates literature’s continued relevance to the common human condition in a way that will challenge and ultimately encourage its readers with the need and hope for the gift of grace in a fallen world.
The literary tradition provides a community of sinners and sufferers that both enlarges the reader’s experience so he may see compassionately with the eyes of others, while also holding up a mirror to his own needy creaturehood. The Hovel aims to act as a gateway to this community by facilitating conversation about literary education, the reading experience, and literature’s great ideas with a casual and empathetic tone.
Submissions
We welcome unsolicited articles 800 – 1500 words in length. Please first read around in our blog to get an idea of the content we curate. The subject of the piece should consider concrete, daily experience in light of universal ideas as exampled in literature or other artistic story-forms, and should be human and conversational in tone. We will edit for accuracy, style, length, and tone.
Essays can be submitted by email to emily@centerforlit.com. Although we carefully consider each piece received, we will not respond to every submission. We reserve the right to refuse publication without explanation. Please do not send previously published material.
At this time we do not pay for published work, but we will give credit to the author. Please include your name and a brief bio with your submission.
We appreciate the vulnerability involved in sharing your written work and are grateful to all who choose to do so with us.