The Javelina Express

Javelina Express logo and description
	*The Javelina Express* is a student-led literary and arts magazine published with the support of the Provost's Office and the Department of Language and Literature at TAMUK. The magazine showcases the culture of South Texas and the talented voices of the Javelina Nation.

Currently, the magazine is published twice a year, once during the Fall and once during the Spring semester. Please see below links to the e-magazine issues digitally available at no-cost.

Also, you can find information on the magazine's history, submission guidelines, and literary and arts competitions for students at the university and for juniors and seniors at participating local high schools.

Javelina Express Call For Submissions Fall 2025
	The Javelina Express is accepting submissions for our Spring 2026 issue. Issue 6 has an open theme--submissions on all topics are welcome! If you have stories, poems, essays, or artwork, please email them to us at javelina.express@tamuk.edu. Also, please follow the link below and fill out the Author Agreement form: https://forms.office.com/r/nPtJmxvrvz We accept submissions in English and Spanish. Please submit your work by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 15, 2026. Make sure to check out the Submission Guidelines. General submissions are accepted from the entire university community: all students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We look forward to reviewing your submissions.
Issue 6: Creative Writing and Artwork Competition with Local High Schools We are, once again, accepting submissions for publication from juniors and seniors at select local high schools. Seniors at participating high schools are also eligible for the Spring Annual Creative Writing and Artwork Competition with scholarship awards. Please look for detailed information below and check to see if your high school is participating. If you have any questions, please email us at javelina.express@tamuk.edu.

Click on the images below to access the issues as e-magazines.


List of issues of The Javelina Express

Issue 1 (Spring 2022)	Issue 2 (Fall 2022)	Issue 3 (Fall 2023)	Issue 4 (Spring 2025)

The Javelina Express was launched in Spring 2022 led by a team of 10 student-editors under the guidance of Dr. Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay. Since then, 3 additional issues of the magazine have been published featuring short stories, poetry, non-fiction, artwork, and photography from students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Submissions are solicited through Call for Submissions sent out periodically. You can check out the Call for Submissions for Issue 6 to be published in Spring 2026 here.

General guidelines:

Please make sure that the piece you submit has not been published anywhere else before
Please send us your submission as a MS Word document (Times New Roman 12 pt. font) and a pdf file
The ideal maximum length for short stories to be included in the magazine is 1500-1800 words
Please submit high-resolution images (preferably 300 dpi) of your artwork for consideration

Every Spring semester, The Javelina Express hosts a creative writing and artwork competition for senior students at select local high schools in the following categories:

Poetry
Short stories
Artwork

Winners in each category receive scholarship support to the university in the amount of $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. Winners also receive a certificate of achievement and are published in the Spring issue of the magazine.

Eligibility: Senior students in the following high schools graduating at the end of the Spring 2026 semester are eligible for the competition:

Kaufer Early College High School
Premont Collegiate High School
Santa Gertrudis Academy High School
H. M. King Early College High School
Bishop High School
Calallen High School
Banquete High School
Alice High School
Tuloso-Midway High School
Sinton High School

If your high school isn't included in the list, please reach out to your school counselor to find out how you can participate in the competition. You can also contact Dr. Ani Mukhopadhyay at kuam2132@tamuk.edu for additional information.

The following students won in the Spring 2025 competition:

Poetry:

1^st- “No One Leaves Hungry” by Colleen Fischer (Bishop High School)

2^nd - “Night Shift” by Mouricio Rodriguez (Kaufer Early College High School)

3^rd - “Nyctophilia” by Connor Perkins (H. M. King Early College High School) &

“Puentes Entre Dos Mundos” by Daniel Jimenez (Kaufer Early College High School)

Short Stories:

1^st - “Did She Know” by Julia Marie Partain (Kaufer Early College High School)

2^nd - “The Price of Resurrection” by Aaron May Gilchrist (Santa Gertrudis Academy High School)

3^rd - “The Gas Station Between Worlds” by Alessandra Zavala-Sanford (Kaufer Early College High School)

Artwork:

1^st - “What I Don’t See” by McKenzie Siller (Santa Gertrudis Academy High School)

2^nd - “By the Bay” by Alyssa L. Sanchez (Kaufer Early College High School)

3^rd - “Life of an Indoor Cat” by Zoey Unique (Kaufer Early College High School)