Novus engages upper level English/Creative and Professional Writing Track majors in experiential learning by providing a collective publishing environment. Student editors are able to be involved with all aspects of publishing, including reading submissions, editing, correspondence, promotion of events, and more.
Pictured here are our Student Editors for this Spring’s 2026 Edition:
Leonydes Matis, Assistant Managing Editor, is a senior at Cumberland University, graduating with an English/Creative and Professional Writing major. She has been a Novus editor for two semesters, working on both our print and digital journal. She is a proud Romanian-American with a “heart for the Lord.” Her first love is fiction and she aspires to be a full-time author who doesn’t shy away from different forms of writing, nor strange or big ideas.
Ashley Wood, Senior Editor, is a senior at Cumberland University, graduating this spring with a Creative and Professional Writing degree. She mainly enjoys writing fiction and has completed a novel manuscript inspired by the dangers of artificial intelligence. She has been published in Novus Literary Arts Journal and has plans to attend a M.F.A. program following graduation.
Christian Fisher, Editor (not pictured.)
NOVUS is an international literary journal housed at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee.
As a journal of high literary merit, NOVUS publishes the work of national and international poets, writers, and artists with established publishing histories, alongside the very best of our student undergraduate work. Quality is our main objective, and we strive to spark inspiration with material that reflects the origins of our name: “new and novel” with a fresh spirit and unique voice. We hope to enhance and maintain a community that cherishes creative expression by supporting original, modern perspectives on the human condition, as well as timeless narratives with resonant voices.
NOVUS seeks work that embodies the spirit of any work that is “new and novel.” This is interpreted broadly, but writing that is well crafted and exudes a fresh and innovative approach is welcomed and often accepted. See Christine Friedlander’s “Light Guard” in the 2019 archives for just one example. We focus on pieces that move us through the unique use of language, and we are especially interested in works that exhibit new, modern perspectives on life and the environment around us. We also love a traditional story well told with a compelling voice. We love voice-driven pieces and are open to any literary (no genre writing) work in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. We will also consider plays for our digital editions only.
Submissions open in late January each year for our Spring Digital Editions (see Submittable) which are published in early May annually. Submissions for our Fall Print Edition open each year in September, with a publication date of late November, early December. For any questions or more precise information, please email novus@cumberland.edu.