The Javelina Express
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.
Submissions are solicited through Call for Submissions sent out periodically. You can check out the Call for Submissions for Issue 5 to be published in Fall 2025 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 semester are eligible for the competition:
- Kaufer Early College High School
- Premont Collegiate High School
- Santa Gertrudis Academy High School
- M. King Early College High School
- Bishop 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:
1st - “No One Leaves Hungry” by Colleen Fischer (Bishop High School)
2nd - “Night Shift” by Mouricio Rodriguez (Kaufer Early College High School)
3rd - “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:
1st - “Did She Know” by Julia Marie Partain (Kaufer Early College High School)
2nd - “The Price of Resurrection” by Aaron May Gilchrist (Santa Gertrudis Academy High School)
3rd - “The Gas Station Between Worlds” by Alessandra Zavala-Sanford (Kaufer Early College High School)
Artwork:
1st - “What I Don’t See” by McKenzie Siller (Santa Gertrudis Academy High School)
2nd - “By the Bay” by Alyssa L. Sanchez (Kaufer Early College High School)
3rd - “Life of an Indoor Cat” by Zoey Unique (Kaufer Early College High School)