El Portal’s Major Milestone

By Stefan Kiesbye

Editors leave, students graduate and often the money runs out. El Portal was founded in 1939, and although it lived under a different name for several years, it has survived. Under the guidance of new editor Alexandra Itzi, a graduate student in the Department of Languages and Literature, the magazine is now accepting submissions from writers in English from around the world.

Alexandra Itzi

The new, 75th anniversary issue reflects the diversity of voices and styles of contemporary literature, with students publishing their work alongside writers from Florida, Hawaii and Russia.

“We’re especially proud of this issue,” says Alexandra, “as it represents a new, bolder future but also contains a grateful nod to the past.” Included is science fiction great and El Portal benefactor Jack Williamson’s 1928 story, “The Metal Man.”

Alexandra has also re-booted the magazine as an outlet for writing about the West, in all its forms and incarnations. West can be a bullet-riddled 1985 Grand Marquis sitting on a front lawn, a gleaming spaceship hovering over Roswell, a cowboy paying his latte with the Amex-card, the dust storm sanding your car, the champagne underneath the Hollywood sign, or green chili-and-cheese burritos from the gas station. West is a geographic location, a dreamscape, a fixture of the mind. “But most importantly,” Alexandra says, “we want to attract the best writing.” El Portal’s deadlines are March 31 and October 31, and you can contact the editor via elportaljournal.com.