Fresh Writing is a collection of exemplary first-year student writing at the University of Notre Dame. We consider essays—both traditional and multimodal—written by students in their first year of study at Notre Dame. We are especially interested in essays that are argumentative in purpose or inquiry-based in nature, with a clearly defined scope and audience. Specifically, our editorial board reviews and selects essays with the following criteria in mind:
The piece successfully displays the essential rhetorical features of the genre. A researched argument, for example, will incorporate a sufficient number of sources and place different arguments in conversation with one another. A narrative essay might be selected for its distinctive voice, striking images, and insightful or surprising conclusion. A photo essay or video composition will be exemplary of how to employ visual or aural rhetoric for a distinctive purpose and signal its intended audience.
Rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) are appropriately balanced and employed ethically. Reasonable counterarguments are addressed fairly. Evidence for the claims comes from credible sources, and sufficient reasoning is offered to defend each claim.
The piece serves as an exemplary model of how college writers can practice intellectual courage, generosity, honesty, humility, knowledge, and wisdom.
The purpose of the essay is clear and the content is engaging. The writer establishes a distinct voice, reflecting a sophisticated control of language and diction. Attention to structure is evident in effective transitions, an orienting introduction, and a conclusion that provides rhetorical closure.
The essay engages new ideas, proposes creative interpretations, perspectives, or solutions, takes on topics or problems which are understudied and/or extraordinarily relevant in disciplinary or public arenas. In other words, the essay takes some risks in its content or form, and those risks result in a product that should promote valuable discussion or otherwise challenge readers in a productive way.
Note: An essay need not be perfect in all categories. Strengths in one category can sometimes make up for weaknesses in others. Successful submissions will be at least good in all categories and extraordinary in at least one.
We are now accepting submissions for the 2023 issue of Fresh Writing. To be considered for the upcoming issue (due to be published in the summer of 2023), essays must have been written by a first-year student during the Spring 2022 or Fall 2022 semesters at Notre Dame. Though submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis, the final deadline for consideration for the next issue is January 6, 2023.
To nominate an essay, instructors should notify students of the instructor's wish to nominate the essay, then submit the essay on the student's behalf at https://uwp.submittable.com/submit. Students should not submit their essays directly.
For traditional, print-based essays: .doc or .docx.
For audio: .mp3 or .wav
For video: .mp4, .mov, or .wmv
For initial consideration of multimedia essays, we will allow the submission of a URL to a file housed elsewhere. If the essay is accepted, however, we will need the original file to be housed on our own server.
All submissions should reflect the student writer's original thinking, with any borrowed ideas or material appropriately cited within the text and on a corresponding list of Works Cited (preferably in MLA format, though we will allow other documentation styles).
For submissions involving borrowed images, video, sound files, or other multimedia, we hold the writer responsible for educating themselves on U.S. Copyright Law and Fair Use Doctrine (we recommend visiting the Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center as a starting point). For the purposes of Fresh Writing submissions, we ask that any borrowed material included in the submission meet one of the following criteria:
a) the borrowed material is the writer's own, original work (e.g., a photograph taken by the student writer)
b) the borrowed material is in the public domain or otherwise free of copyright
c) the borrowed material is used with written permission of the copyright owner (must demonstrate this and provide appropriate citation information) or
d) the borrowed material is used in accordance with Fair Use guidelines (with appropriate citation information still provided).
If you have any questions about submission guidelines for the 2023 volume, please contact the editors, Nathaniel Myers (nmyers3@nd.edu) and/or Damian Zurro (dzurro@nd.edu).