The Public Journal is a network of college magazines that publishes confessional literature. It is a poignant, juicy, and racy exchange between anonymous strangers. A comfort, a dirty secret, and a raw, lovely truth. Or, you can describe the magazine the way Newsweek's Current magazine did: "Think about leaving your diary unlocked precisely so that your mom would read it."

The Public Journal publishes: journal entries, flat-out confessions ('I love fat people porn'), reflections, lists of anonymous responses to topic prompts (Embarrassing Details About My Family), letters, prose, you testicle X-ray from the doctor, and anything else that fits this non-existent format. You can give us a story too, but it must be REAL. Popular topics include: the sexual escapades of the reckless and rash; tortuous anxieties hiding behind façades of affability; bizarre (and unexpectedly common) personal habits; withheld anger; the vainglorious triumphs and dark insecurities of the Ivy League arrogant; expressions of the remorseful and impulses of the depressed; shameful desires; never-spoken-of childhood secrets, and stories about pee. You have sparkly insides. It is important that you know them, that we know them, that you share them. YOU. I. ME. WE.

At each Public Journal college branch, a small student staff self-publishes a 60-100-page collection of the kind of material described above. Submissions are solicited over the course of semester by holding meetings, distributing promotional material on campus, writing regularly to an extensive email listserve, and initiating Public Journal events like public art installations and launch parties. In sum, the staff works like untamed rabbits of overflowing creativity to get the job done. All issues are distributed at no charge for the campus community's consumption.

In summary, focusing inward = blooming outward. A little self-obsessing = understanding the people around you. Your reality is a most stunning work of art. The Public Journal asks that you write it all down..

If you'd like to start a college branch of your own,  contact us.

If you'd like to submit to The Public Journal, go here.