Portals: A Journal of Comparative Literature is a graduate student journal published by the Comparative Literature Student Association of San Francisco State University. Portals was created to publish the best graduate work exploring comparative literary topics. We extend our call for papers to students from all over the world in the attempt to create a diverse and exciting publication.

Now accepting submissions for the 2021 issue.
Email submissions at portalsjournal.com

At Portals, we are interested in the figurative power of doors and windows, while also exploring the frames, jams, and walls that permit them. We position the journal in the dynamic, interstitial space that is the field of comparative literature. By “comparative” we mean the analytic juxtaposition of two distinct elements, at least one of which is literary in nature. However, we are in this field because we feel that comparative analysis challenges disciplines across the spectrum of academic inquiry, and we are eager to enact this challenge in what we choose to publish.

Portals was first published in 2003. In 2005, the editors of Portals took the journal online. We believe that in digital form Portals joins the international community of scholars and writers who consistently revise and enliven our field. We also believe in access to information. Printed versions of previous “material” issues are reformatted and archived on our site, along with the 2002 issue of Powerlines, the predecessor to Portals.