How to write for us

We look for work that is ‘informally essayistic’ - critical but easy to digest. We also encourage writers to refrain from in-text references or bibliographies. While we generally ask that articles are no longer than 1,200 words, we accept pieces with extended word counts for our print editions.

These key principles should guide your work: 

  • Historicity. “Always historicize!” proclaims Fredric Jameson. Analyse concrete historical examples, contextualise debates in material terms - particularly for our Politics and History sections.

  • Interdisciplinary methods. Apply theories across disciplines, analyse diverse examples, be playful with structure and typography. 

  • Immanent Critique. We are primarily focused on criticism, e.g., analyses which reveal the flaws and contradictions of broader structures of ideology/power within society. This can either mean creating one’s own critique or responding to others.

  • Cultural analysis. Beginning with Williams’ claim that  “culture is ordinary” and the model of Mark Fisher’s k-punk writings, articles should connect ideas and analyses to notable elements of culture (books, TV shows, social media) - anything worth highlighting as culturally insightful; nothing is above or below the scope of interpretation. 

FAQs

  • If ever in doubt about the suitability of a piece of writing for Counterblast, submit it! Our editors want to see it, and it is likely that we can come to an agreement in the editing process.

  • Definitely not - write your article as you see fit before anything else. The guidelines indicate what we would like to emphasise as we have conceived our project.

  • We’'ll happily publish anyone as anonymous or under a pseudonym.

  • Anyone! This publication is run by a group of students run at Scottish Universities, so our network is predominantly among students in Scotland, but this does not exclude others from writing for us.

  • Aside from fiction and literary work, we encourage experimentation with the format of what you write. We also welcome pitches for interviews and transcripts of conversations, debates or speeches.