At Southwest, we form ministers and counselors who are faithful, imaginative, and able to communicate God’s healing presence through their words and works.
Open Book brings together the entire range of these expressions — creative, reflective, scholarly, and contemplative — to celebrate each unique offering and to witness collectively to our experience of God’s love in the world.
Open Book allows you to ...
stay up-to-date
on the latest releases from our campus
explore the archives
and search for content by theme or author
discover how you can contribute
to our community collection
Click below to learn more about each collection housed in Open Book.
Encounter is where faculty and students in the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program share wisdom about mental health, spirituality, healing, and careers in counseling.
To find works in this category, click here.
Here you can find digital and photo documentation of live events on campus.
To find works in this category, click here.
Faculty Publications houses the latest works authored by seminary instructors and professors.
To let us know about a recent publication, email keela.vaughn@ssw.edu.
To find works in this category, click here.
Prayers and Practices is a collection of seasonal, liturgical, and contemplative offerings for use in personal and communal devotion. It includes Southwest’s annually published Advent meditations.
To find works in this category, click here.
Soul by Southwest is the literary and visual arts journal published by the seminary’s Center for Writing and Creative Expression. The journal features works by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the seminary from Central Texas and beyond.
Submissions
What: We publish words, images, and multimedia pieces that inspire, delight, question, and reveal, including short fiction, poetry, essays, reflections, musical works, photographs, and representations of other visual or three-dimensional art. We do not print academic or analytical writing, but we realize that genres are fluid. Please submit any questions about form or content to soulbysouthwest@ssw.edu.
When: We accept submissions year-round and publish content on a rolling basis.
How: All works will be considered, but we ask that you keep these preferences in mind:
- Each written work should be submitted in a separate Word or Google document.
- Prose pieces should be no more than 1,000 words, although we will accept proposals for longer works.
- Images should be in jpeg format, +/-2000 dpi. Photos or scans of paintings, sketches, and other visual media are welcome.
Where: Please submit your works using the Google form found here.
To find works in this category, click here.
In this weekly blog, faculty and students offer insights on issues of current interest and pose questions for readers’ personal reflection.
Contact: keela.vaughn@ssw.edu.
To find works in this category, click here.
Here you can find the latest works authored by seminary students and alumni.
To let us know about a recent publication, email keela.vaughn@ssw.edu.
To find works in this category, click here.
About The Team
Dr. Claire Miller Colombo
Dr. Claire Miller Colombo teaches writing, theology, and the arts at Southwest and directs the seminary’s Center for Writing and Creative Expression, which publishes the Open House arts journal Soul by Southwest. Halfway through her Ph.D. program in English at the University of Texas, she realized she would rather be studying theology. She ventured onto the Southwest campus in 2010 to do just that, and never really left.
Eric Scott
As Vice President for Communications and Marketing, Eric is responsible for coordinating both internal and external communications, brand development, press relations and the development and implementation of the seminary’s strategic marketing plan. Eric has more than 20 years experience in the non-profit sector, holding roles in communications and development for iconic cultural institutions and social service providers in both Austin and New York City. A native Austinite and proud alumnus of the University of Texas, Eric lives in Southwest Austin with his wife, Laura, and their two daughters.
Keela Vaughn
Keela became our Marketing Associate in 2019, helping facilitate internal and external communications for Southwest. She uses her passion for “subcreations” to serve God and love others. She was born and raised in Lubbock, TX, and has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in English from Texas Tech University (wreck ‘em). Keela lives in Round Rock with her husband, Colton, sipping local brews and devouring good stories in any form.