Laurus is both a registered student organization at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and a print literary magazine that publishes writing and visual art created and edited by UNL undergraduates. The magazine accepts poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and scripts, as well as photography and other artwork. Laurus is supported by the UNL Department of English and the Orin E. Stepanek Memorial Fund from the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Our name comes from the early modern Latin word for wild laurel, a winter flowering evergreen that does not seem to grow in Nebraska but is featured in our original logo.
Our History
Continuously in print since 1983, Laurus has published early works by such notable writers as Timothy Schaffert (1990), Amil Quayle (1987, 1989), Amy Knox Brown (1987, 1989), James Cihlar (1989), Erin Flanagan (1994), 
Rainbow Rowell (1996), and Danielle Luther-Luebbe (2005). Schaffert was also an editor in 1991, as was Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Martin in 1992.
Over the years, Laurus has had many faculty advisors, but Professor Emeritus of Poetry Greg Kuzma enjoyed the longest tenure through much of the 1990s and 2000s. This is how he described his experience:
My work with Laurus was the most important service work I did for UNL. During the years I was advisor, Laurus became entirely an undergraduate literary and fine arts magazine, printing only undergrads and edited by undergrads. I had no hand in the choices selected to publish, although I did do a lot of the proofreading. We worked hard to print full color covers, gained funding from the Art Department to support cover art and inside art, and reached out across campus to try to become a campus wide magazine. For many years Laurus was the most exciting thing I did at UNL.
Today, Laurus continues its tradition of publishing student creative work while providing a group of committed undergraduates with real world experience in editing, publishing, budgeting, designing, and managing a print magazine of exceptional quality. In 2025, the 2023-2024 issue of Laurus was honored with the Bronze Award for Booklets by the IPMA (In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association).
If you would like to purchase previous issues of Laurus, please contact us at laurusmagazine@gmail.com. And if you’d like to join our organization, please apply to be a Laurus member.