The Oracle | The University of South Alabama

Published annually since 2003, Oracle Fine Arts Review accepts submissions each fall semester in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art, and hybrid work. To get an idea of the kind of work that interests us, please view a previous issue in our archive. Print copies are available in the English department office at no charge to USA students, faculty, and staff. All submissions should be previously unpublished. Questions can be sent to oracle@southalabama.edu.

Oracle is supported by the University of South Alabama Student Government Association, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Departments of English and Visual Arts. We are a student-led publication that aims to include and amplify a diverse chorus of voices.

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Editor's Letter

In the years since its inception, Oracle: Fine Arts Review has become synonymous with virtuosity, inclusivity, and opportunity. Our team is passionate about upholding this standard of excellence as we prepare to create our newest edition. There are several exciting events in store for the academic year ahead, and I am optimistic that this year’s Oracle will continue to impact both heart and mind.

Since launching in 2003, this student-led journal has showcased a wide variety of visual art, poems, and prose. Under the direction of former Editor-in-Chief Mariah Conrey and her talented staff, the previous edition of Oracle was given life. Each piece therein stirs the artistic soul and encompasses the magic of creation. Free print copies are available in the English Department of The University of South Alabama. You are always welcome to stop by and grab a copy of your own.

This year's thematic focus is time, inspired by the force that binds us all. Submissions are open now via Submittable and close on November 1. Our team cannot wait to debut your invaluable contributions in the 2024-2025 edition this Spring.

All the best,

Trinity Walker, Editor-in-Chief

Staff

Trinity Walker, editor-in-chief
Jessica Jordan, managing editor
Isaac Nevarez-Bacon, poetry editor
Gavin Robinson, poetry editor
Mikayla Satterlee, poetry editor
Ari Theodore, poetry editor
Rebekah Chappell, prose editor
Jamaria Harris, prose editor
Kaytlin Thornton, prose editor
Roe Van Derwood, prose editor
Caleb Johnson, faculty advisor

Current Issue

Spring 2024

Oracle Magazine Cover

Short Stories

Graveside by David Bradley

They were a harsh-looking people, gathered around the grave, and not many of them, either. It was a hot summer afternoon, but they all looked as if they’d been scourged by too many winter winds. They stood silent as a minister said words over my uncle, final words for a man he clearly knew better than I did. He’d been a favorite of mine when I was a kid, the one romantic wanderer in my life before I had any idea what that was or how I’d be attracted to them. He was the oldest of my mother’s four brothers, old enough that he’d signed up as soon as he got the news about Pearl Harbor; smart enough that he’d been sent straight to Officer Candidate School; cursed enough that he’d led a squad of tanks face to face with Rommel somewhere in North Africa. He buried the memory of that fiery defeat somewhere deep inside, refusing to disinter it until he was confined to his deathbed for a second time. I remember my mother coming home from one of her final visits when he was dying, crying to me, “After everything he did in his life, why is that what he has to go back to now?”

A Father's Son

The mourners were not plentiful the day of the funeral. Vasudev had not been a popular man in this life, having dedicated very little time to cultivating and maintaining relationships.