Founded in 2004, The Birch Journal is the oldest national undergraduate journal dedicated to Eastern European, Eurasian, and Slavic studies. It is entirely run and produced by Columbia undergraduates. Our mission is to celebrate not only the region’s diversity, but also the significant variety and interconnections among students worldwide who are contributing to the discourse. We believe The Birch Journal—as a forum for discussion, debate, and inquiry—has never been so necessary.

We are opening submissions for the 2024-2025 school year!

We invite undergraduates to submit essays concerning regional culture, history, and politics, as well as literary criticism, creative works (short stories, memoirs, poems, translations), and art/photography for publication in our annual spring print issue. All print submissions will undergo a double-blind review process.

Anything you may have written for an undergraduate class in the field of interest is eligible for publication. We encourage you to get your submissions in early. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Sunday, December 31, 2024.

If you are interested in reviewing past issues of The Birch Journal, please see our website: https://www.thebirchjournal.com/. 

The Birch Journal also accepts rolling submissions for our online journal, Slova. Academic articles, short articles (such as reviews or op-eds), short stories/poetry, short-form translation, and art/photography are welcomed. Blog submissions are ideally topical and written for a wider audience. 

If accepted, for either print or blog, your piece will be subject to at least one round of editing.

If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].

Submit to The Birch Print Edition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPaAhYj8Eb60If1Km-wSv5Jf0qZBnZx1nLeICzzn7Yik0PVQ/viewform

Submit to The Birch’s online journal, Slova: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBPI4b6lkK5so_cYFhX6Ii2hcbpyCcxm8NYqdJqbE64PVNOQ/viewform

Kindly,

The Birch Journal Editorial Staff