Seven canyons run through the Salt Lake Valley. Kit Stevens explains that, “It’s the idea of having work come in from different parts of the city and state and collecting in a pool– like the Great Salt Lake.” Seven Canyons Review, aptly named for that idea, is run by co-editors in chief Stevens and Daiyan Ke. The 2025-26 year is the literary magazine’s first year in production and it promises a new, energetic era for the literary scene at the University of Utah.
A literary magazine is a periodical publication that showcases literary and artistic work and publishes it. More than that, Ke explains it is an opportunity “for people to grab onto some texture when trying to climb up the slippery wall of publishing.”
Seven Canyons isn’t just for writers, however. It accepts a variety of submissions from undergraduates at any university or college in the United States. “Aside from typical paintings and drawings and stuff, we had somebody submit a picture of some theatre lighting they had mocked up.” Stevens explains, adding, “There’s very little restriction on what you can do. And if you think for some reason you can’t do something, then you should email us and we’ll probably tell you yes.” In fact, Seven Canyons Review will be printed and published digitally, with the latter edition allowing for video or audio submissions.
Getting to this point–where publication is possible– hasn’t been easy. Ke says, “ When it comes down to the hands-on operation stuff, there is no guidebook to follow.”
Stevens details the process of getting Seven Canyons Review up and running, “We went around and got signatures from people in the English Department and then we got our advisor on board– who is Matt Tucker.” Tucker is a notable name in the literary world; he worked for Quarterly West– the graduate literary magazine– and now works for Western Humanities Review, which is a professional publication. After getting Seven Canyons Review running on a university level, “the next hurdle was fundraising.”
Stevens reveals, “We have now just been fully funded. We are partially funded by student media and we got some funding from the Honors College– which we are super grateful for. The other portion was self-fundraised.” The need for this funding comes from the costs of printing and while the University has had an online literary magazine before, Stevens says, “we wanted to have that physical product that we could distribute to get people excited about it.”
Community, Ke emphasizes, is an important part of this project. Often, creating art can be a solitary endeavor. “I think that when you have other people there, other people who wanna do the same thing as you, I find it personally inspirational for one and it definitely revitalizes my drive to keep going.”
Submissions for Seven Canyons Review are due January 25th, 2026. Printing will likely finish sometime in April. “I think that we will be successful with it. And I think that the students here are great artists, great writers.”
To submit visit: https://sevencanyons.subfolios.com/submit
For more information on Seven Canyon Review, you can visit their instagram page: @sevencanyonsreview
