Watershed is a magazine of our environment and culture. By
investigating the intersections between man and the environment, we
address the question: "What is natural?" Informed by a need for
cultural change, its pages provide a forum for provocative, creative
and critical work that engage issues pertinent to the natural world in
which we live.
Motivating Watershed is the consideration that a wilderness
pure from man's intervention no longer resonates with our generational
experience. More and more the natural has become incorporated into the
urban landscape. More and more we live in landscapes that, though held
together by concrete and steel, have become natural. Having grown up in
increasingly suburban neighborhoods, our experiences attest to a nature
progressively mitigated. The landscapes of our youths were not the
fecund jungles of Robinson Crusoe, but the landscapes of soccer fields,
manicured lawns and streams running beneath bridges. We have come to
know nature in the midst of men, and it is here that, in this century,
we must come to understand what is natural.
Some Questions
Such experiences raise a host of questions: Are there
differences between the trees that shade our streets and the trees that
fill our state parks? How do we delineate between the natural and the
artificial? Is such a boundary to be found? If not, where has it gone?
How do our conclusions impact that the way we live our lives? How are
these issues relevant to your life? To what you eat? To what you think?
The Requirements
Twice a year the Watershed journal explores the issues relevant to an emerging alternative perception of the natural world through prose, poetry, art and essays. Watershed Web publishes material continually. Submissions that simply cannot find space in the journal may be requested for the webzine. Submission guidelines are available below and
upon request.
If you are proposing an essay your query should include:
A detailed description of your proposed topic and argument.
A brief description of how your argument relates to the vision of the magazine.
An example of previous work.
If you are submitting a manuscript you should:
Double space and print your manuscript on one side
only with only the title appearing on the manuscript (do not print your
name on the manuscript).
Provide a cover sheet that includes the following
information: title, author's name and address, phone number and email
address (if available).
If you would like your manuscript returned, please provide a self-addressed stamped envelope.
If you are submitting art you should:
Electronically submit low resolution copies for our initial
viewing. We will request high resolution images if your work is
accepted.
If you do not have electronic copies available, then
hardcopies may be sent to the address below. Please note: We are not
held responsible for work damaged en route. We will handle it with care
when we receive it, but otherwise we make no promises.
We make every attempt to respond promptly to your inquires. If
we don't get back to you within a week, please send us an email.
If you are uncertain about your idea, and wonder if it is
suitable for the journal, we encourage you to send us an email. We'd be
more than happy to discuss your idea with you.
Submissions should be submitted electronically to when
possible. Otherwise, they can be submitted in hardcopy to:
[Kind of Work:Poetry, Fiction, etc.]
Watershed
Box 1930
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
