Chapman’s new speculative fiction magazine Ouroboros debuts first issue

The student-run magazine features short stories written by students that include elements of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Graphic courtesy of Ouroboros

Chapman University’s newest student-run magazine, Ouroboros, takes readers into the world of dystopian societies, private beaches in the sky and a sea with a mind of her own — and that’s all in just the first issue.

The publication accepts student submissions year-round and focuses on stories within science fiction, fantasy and horror. The first edition is out now on their website, featuring a variety of short fictional stories with enthralling imagery that may make your heart pound.

“I feel like in some creative writing classes I've had, speculative fiction has been treated a little secondary to realistic or more historical stuff,” said founder Collin Brown, a senior creative writing major and current editor-in-chief of Ouroboros. “It's nice to be around people who appreciate the genre as much as I do.”

The first issue opens with a captivating tale written by Olivia Garcia, a sophomore creative writing major, about two young adults living in an underground community after an asteroid strike leaves Earth in ruins — and not everyone can afford the trip to Mars for refuge. Garcia told The Panther that the story, titled “Circle of Metal,” was influenced by the pandemic. 

“I wanted to encompass this feeling of being a secondary character in your own life,” Garcia said. “My main characters know that there’s a better world out there for those people on Mars, but they’re just kind of forced to live in this less-than-ideal world and there’s no way of escaping it.”

Garcia has been writing since she was young, but this is her first published piece. She found out about the magazine through a “Creative Writing: Special Topics” class in speculative fiction, taught by Chapman English professor Elizabeth Harmer.

Brown, who grew up loving speculative fiction, first came up with the idea for the magazine around three semesters ago. Despite outreach being restricted due to the pandemic, Brown was able to establish an editorial board and hire a graphic designer via simple word-of-mouth. With the help of his team, he debuted the first issue of Ouroboros at the end of January.  

“They were talking about it in the online class we had together,” said graphic designer Bailey Smith. “I really like sci-fi, so I just put in an application and ended up designing the first edition.”

However, emphasis on speculative fiction shouldn’t deter students from submitting writing they feel doesn’t fit into the category. The magazine’s guidelines assure prospective applicants flexibility, noting that any story including an element out of this world — no matter how big or small — is welcome.

“A lot of people are quick to associate it with only sci-fi, but after the class and even if you just read through the magazine, (speculative fiction is so) diverse,” Garcia said. “It pertains to anything that deals with the imagined or fantastical elements.”

Similarly, Smith raved about the large scope of topics that the genre covers and encouraged writers and artists alike to submit their work.

“It’s a space where no one can say no,” Smith said. “And I think that’s really beautiful and really powerful … This genre is so much more approachable to beginning artists and writers; it gives us a lot of opportunity to reach out to people who are interested but have never had the courage to go out and just try something.”

The magazine extended their submission deadline to April 23, with the second issue set to be released by the end of the semester. Interested students can find out more information on their website and can reach out to the editors on their Discord or Instagram. 

“I’m hopeful that speculative fiction will play more and more of a part in the creative writing community at Chapman,” Brown said.