Mikrokosmos, Wichita State’s student literary journal, has entered its 50th year of publishing student work.
“From the onset of this program, Mikrokosmos has been a thriving part of WSU,” Anna Pellerin, the editor-in-chief of Mikrokosmos and its online offshoot, Mojo, said. “I think it stuck around because it’s a huge draw for the school.”
Mojo came back in 2024 after a four year COVID-19 hiatus. While Mikrokosmos traditionally focuses on publishing local work, its editors have developed Mojo as a way to extend the search for written literature nationwide.
Brodie Staton, one of the undergraduate editors for Mikrokosmos and Mojo, joined the staff after he submitted work in a prior year and wanted to get more involved in WSU’s English department.
“I hadn’t been interested in poetry at all up until about a year ago,” he said. “Somebody recommended (a piece to) me, they said, ‘OK read this, but read it out loud this time,’ and I did that, and something clicked.”
The group of contributors is primarily made up of Master of Fine Arts students, but any student at the university is able to join the staff or submit their works.
Each year, Mikrokosmos hosts a contest for Wichita State student writers. The last application period was in November 2025, but it changes from year to year. Anyone who is affiliated with the university can apply, from current students to alumni.
“We host a contest for fiction and poetry, and they are judged by non-WSU (affiliated) people,” Pellerin said. “Our fiction contest is being judged by Brian Druckenmiller in upstate New York. He’s published an absurd amount of short stories. And then for poetry we have Michael Pryor, who was Wichita State’s visiting poet last year.”
The first, second and third place contest winners receive cash prizes. This year, all entries will be published in Mikrokosmos.
“(The number of submissions) varies from year to year,” she said. “Last year we got tons, this year we didn’t get much.”
Pellerin came to Wichita State to complete her master’s in fine arts. She said the publication was a big draw for her.
“I only wanted to apply to schools that had literary magazines, and WSU checked both of those boxes,” she said. “(It) had a magazine run by graduate students, so I knew it was something I was interested in doing.”
The magazine is currently processing its submissions. Pellerin said that this year, several came from contest participants, but Mojo received 118 poems, 59 fiction pieces and 10 nonfiction pieces.
The MFA in Creative Writing program at Wichita State itself is in its 52nd year, and Mikrokosmos has been around almost since its inception.
“Not only is it something fun and exciting to do, it also is just a gateway to so many different job opportunities,” Pellerin said. “If you want to get into editing, if you want to go further in grad school and eventually start your own literary magazine, this is where you establish those skills.”
This year is Pellerin’s second year as editor-in-chief.
“To be a part of this, I feel like I’m leaving a mark at WSU, because so many wonderful writers come through these programs,” she said.
Submissions for the next volume of Mikrokosmos will open at the start of the fall semester.
“Submit (your work), send in everything to everywhere,” Staton said. “That’s how you can improve, and submitting to Mikro is free.”
This volume, which is the 72nd, will come out in May. Copies can be purchased for $5 by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
