Submit to Gandy Dancer by Oct. 8th!
Photo courtesy of Gandy Dancer
The Gandy Dancer logo which consists of two railroad workers. "Gandy dancer" was often used as a slang term for early railroad workers and inspired the literary journal's name.
If you frequent the English department—as a major, minor, concentration, or just a friend of the department—there is a good chance you have heard the words “gandy dancer.” A quick Google search will inform you that it is defined as “slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States and Canada,” but for the writers, artists, and creatives of the SUNY system, it means more: an opportunity to publish their work statewide. Gandy Dancer is a SUNY-wide literary journal entering its 14th year of publication this fall. Putting out two issues (spring and fall) every year since its founding in 2012 at SUNY Geneseo, the magazine has been steadily accumulating an impressive body of work from some of SUNY’s brightest writers and artists. As this year’s team prepares for another issue, Gandy Dancer is putting out a call for your best work.
For those unfamiliar with the journal, Gandy Dancer takes submissions of art, poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction exclusively from current SUNY attendees, including graduate, transfer, and community college students regardless of major. Although the journal’s focus remains steadfastly with student talent, its range is by no means limited; supplementing the work received from students, each issue features a book review, author interview, and a “post-script” written by a SUNY alum. The magazine—as well as the class in which it is assembled, ENGL 426/428 Editing and Production Workshop—puts readers, editors, and creators alike in conversation not only with each other, but with more established writers as well.
Although a member of Gandy Dancer’s managing editing and production staff this year and fairly well-acquainted with its ins and outs, I decided to chat with an English department institution and founder of the journal, Rachel Hall, to give more insight into why the work matters and what it offers to students across all of SUNY. Discussing the history of the journal, Hall was reminiscing about the birth of Gandy Dancer with special attention to one student in particular, a math major with a passion for creative writing named Suraj Uttamchandani: “He was instrumental, he was like, ‘We’re gonna do this.’ He’d come to my office and say, ‘Let’s work with the Milne people, let’s get it online.’” After debuting online issues in its first year of publication, the efforts of a passionate, interdisciplinary team of students and faculty turned Gandy Dancer into a real print journal, with 13 years’ worth of work on display in the Milne Library collection.
After many years as the journal’s faculty advisor, something Hall is particularly delighted to see are the successes of those who participated in Gandy Dancer. She referenced several students who went on to establish careers as literary agents, including Amy Bishop and Rebecca Williamson, who served as managing editors, as well as Bibi Lewis,a poetry editor who was also published in the journal. Many other students of Gandy Dancer went on to work with other prestigious literary journals, including The Kenyon Review and Ecotone, and even publishing houses like Lookout Books and Trio House Press. In spite of what some may view as a limited scope given Gandy Dancer’s specific requirement of current SUNY enrollment, the opportunities it offers to aspiring editors, writers, and artists are boundless.
This being Hall’s last year teaching at SUNY Geneseo, she is hopeful for the future of Gandy Dancer and the new work to come this year, saying, “That’s kind of the thrill of this is that you’re always getting to see new stuff.” As the journal’s production has become institutional in the English department, working with Milne digital publishing expert Allison Brown to ensure that the process of editing, assembling, and printing always goes smoothly, and has attracted more and more attention from prospective contributors across the SUNY campuses, the years to come are full of promise for Gandy Dancer. So get excited and reach out to friends at other SUNYs, look through your portfolios, whip something up if you are feeling inspired.
Toward the end of our chat, Hall observed that “Boy, we need art now more than ever. There is so much grim and dark out there, we need the artists and writers to help us make sense of it all.” Gandy Dancer offers us all the chance at a real conversation, a way of understanding ourselves and our experiences in creative ways. Come help us build it!
Submissions are officially open, with the deadline for our fall issue, 14.1, just a few weeks away on October 8, 2025. You can review our submission guidelines and submit your art, poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction on the official Gandy Dancer website and follow us on Instagram for updates about the journal @gandydancermag. We cannot wait to see what you have in store for us.