Harmony is a visual arts and literary journal featuring works by students, faculty, staff and patients of all colleges within the University of Arizona Health Sciences campus and the entire University of Arizona system, as well as national and international contributors. The magazine is a collaborative effort between the Curricular Affairs office’s Medical Humanities program and student editors, and features essays, short stories, poetry, visual art and photography. Harmony accepts submissions of original, unpublished work related to the world of medical humanities.
Harmony magazine is published once a year. Written and visual submissions related to the world of medical humanities are considered. All university students and staff, Banner employees, and community individuals, as well as national and international contributors, are welcome to submit.
Submissions will be considered for the following awards:
- Mathiasen Prose Award: Best submission in prose
This award is in honor of Dr. Helle Mathiasen, who was the founder and director of the Program in Medical Humanities at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Her legacy in the humanities and medicine is evident in her national and international scholarly lectures and publications. - Huynh Poetry Award: Best submission in poetry
This award is in honor of Julie Huynh, who was a five-time editor of Harmony Magazine and a talented poet. Additionally, she won several awards and accolades in recognition of her work as a physician-scientist with an interest in pediatric hematology/oncology. The College of Medicine – Tucson lost her too soon to a rare cancer in 2022. - Ryan Visual Arts Award: Best visual arts submission
This award is in honor of Dr. Kenneth Ryan, who was the College of Medicine dean for academic affairs from 2000 until his retirement in 2007. Between 2001 and 2004, he also served as interim dean of the College of Medicine. In those roles he was a strong supporter of using the visual and performing arts to teach humanism in medicine. - Parada Medical Student Award: Best overall submission from a University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson medical student
This award is in honor of Rebecca Parada, a former special events program coordinator who worked tirelessly to organize medical humanities programming for medical students and the university at large.
Monetary awards are awarded to U.S. citizens living in the United States. Residents of other countries are welcome to submit their work and may be selected as an award winner, but no monetary award will be given.
Submission Guidelines
- To ensure that the work is reviewed anonymously, please do not include any identifying information within the file itself
- Include a cover letter with your name, current mailing address, how you heard about Harmony (website, email, flyer, etc.), and a brief one- to two-line bio. Identify if you are a medical student, and if so, what year
- Title each entry
- All entries must be submitted in separate emails. No grouping of multiple submissions in one email.
- Harmony cannot guarantee that submissions (once accepted) can be pulled by the author for use in another publication
- Previously submitted work to Harmony will not be considered
- Monetary awards are awarded to U.S. citizens living in the United States. Residents of other countries are welcome to submit their work and may be selected as an award winner, but no monetary award will be given.
Submit to Harmony
Submissions for the fall 2026 edition of Harmony Magazine have concluded, and awardees have been notified of acceptances. Please check back in the fall (August/September 2026) for submission details on the upcoming 2027 edition!
Written Work
Limited to one piece of prose or four poems.
- Submissions must be 5,000 words or less, typed in a Word document, using 12 pt. Calibri font, doubled-spaced
- Harmony is not responsible for spelling and grammar errors. Please provide a clean, error-free version, or the submission will not be considered
- Include page numbers within header on each page
Visual Work
Limited to four entries.
- TIF or jpg format, in CMYK color mode; do not use a different format as the quality of the image will be reduced.
- Resolution of at least 300 dpi, using approximate standard sizes such as 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10. Please do not submit entries of non-standard sizes or they will be edited to fit our dimensions.
Tentative Timeline
- Submissions Open: August 2026
- Submissions Close: October 2026
- Notification of Acceptances: January 2027
- Announce prize winners: March 2027