OLLI Newsletters
2024 Issues
Reflections Magazine
The 2023 edition – Available upon request via email. Email us at olliatusm@maine.edu for a copy!
Please see our submissions guidelines below
You must be an OLLI at USM member.
You may submit up to two items in each of the following categories: Prose, Poetry, Photography, Art
Your work must be original, created solely by you, and not previously published online or in print. Multiple submissions are okay, but you must let us know if your submission has been accepted elsewhere. Email the Submissions Manager (see below) if you have any questions.
If you haven’t done so already, save your work on your computer as a document or image file. Do not put your name anywhere on your work. (Artwork is an exception.)
Highlight and copy the following outline and paste it into your e-mail:
- My name as it should appear in the credits:
- The name of my work:
- The category of the work (Art, Photo, Poetry, Prose):
- My phone number:
- My e-mail address:
NOTE: Information about me (in the third person (e.g., “Mary Shelley has written several….”):
Word limit: 35 (Please count them; we may have to shorten your account if it’s too long.)
For all art and photos
- This is the medium I worked in (photo, oil, watercolor, ink, pencil, etc.):
- This is what inspired my creation:
- Word limit: 20 (Please count them; we may have to shorten your account if it’s too long.)
Now attach your submission to your e-mail.
Don’t send the work separately. It must be sent as an attachment to your e-mail.
Send a separate e-mail for each work you submit.
Every e-mail must have the information outlined above. If you submit five items, you will send us five e-mails. If you send a single email with multiple entries, it will be returned to you.
Written work
We prefer Times Roman, 12 pt.
Poetry should be single-spaced.
Prose should be double-spaced.
NOTE: Prose has a 1,000-word limit.
We accept files from Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Do not use Apple Pages or Adobe PDF. They don’t work in our system.
Take a digital photo and send that in. The PhotoScan app from Google Photos is very useful and is available for both Android and iPhone devices. It allows you to crop out around the perimeter of the photo and square up the corners.
**You do not have to cover your name. The Submissions Manager will save your original and then make a copy and blur the name.
We accept these formats: jpg, jpeg, gif, tiff, png.
The definition of any photo must be sharp enough for publication. The size of a jpg or jpeg file is a good rule of thumb. Try to send a file that is at least 500 KB (Kilobytes). File sizes over 1 MB (Megabyte) are a bare minimum for full-page printing. The photos in the 2023 Reflections averaged well over 4 MB.
The size of a photo is usually found by displaying the photo and clicking on “Properties” or on an information icon that looks like the letter “i” in a circle. You can also consult your help files, visit a phone or computer store, or search online for how to determine the file size of a photo.
NOTE: Many photos arrive to Reflections (usually from iMacs or iPhones) as thumbnails, which are too small and not suitable for publication. We need the originals. Methods vary with the phone or computer you are using. Check your help files or search online for how to send a photo in its original resolution. Thumbnail submissions may be sent back to you.
Send the e-mail to Tim Baehr, the Submissions Manager, at tim.baehr@gmail.com.
Submissions will be acknowledged starting sometime in March and continuing into May.
Acceptance notices will be sent around late September or early October.
Thanks to all brave OLLI members who wish to share their creative work!