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About us

Orbital is the official and largest student publication at Royal Holloway, established on-campus in 1986. We release wide-ranging articles in both our student-led magazines and on our website. We produce two full-length magazines per term, and upload fresh articles regularly to our website during term time. The magazine is distributed online, on-campus, and in the wider community. Our pieces have regularly been picked up by mainstream outlets in the past. We aim to give all our student writers & journalists the opportunity to be published, whilst offering support and guidance on writing in a way that best communicates what matters to you.

It’s not all journalism though! If you’re interested in photography, illustration, design, podcasts, event management, marketing, or fundraising, we also offer experience in all these areas; student media participation is a tried and tested route into the industry of television, publishing and journalism. You don’t need to have experience to join; just bring an enthusiasm to create content that is meaningful to you, and we’ll teach you everything you need to know.

Orbital provides great opportunities for both career and personal development, with a combination of educational and social events. We also have accesss to press-events across the UK (e.g. meet and greets, journalism conferences).

Membership

All students can submit articles to Orbital Magazine without a membership, but we only fully-integrate members. Our regular contributors & the editorial team buy memberships to access premium editing and proofing services, support & guarantee the publication of their work, and help cover the costs associated with priniting for the wide audience we reach. Membership also grants access to our media suite in the SU building, and to our community of future contacts and writers. We strongly recommned purchasing a membership to get the most out of Orbital, both socially and via invaluable work experience!!

As an Orbital member you will receive:

• Feedback from our editorial team on all articles submitted
• Every piece you publish with us will go through a professional editing process
• Careers and development advice from the team and guests in the industry
• Exclusive access to industry events
• Access to Orbital's very own office in the Student Union building, which we share with Insanity Radio
• Access to InDesign and Photoshop

Events and Activities

Over the course of the year we host a variety of events and are always open to suggestions. The type of events you can expect to see include:

• Writing and skills workshops
• Career-focused events
• Conferences
• Regular socials, both alcohol and non-alcohol based

Contact Us

We’re excited to welcome new students and encourage you to PM any of our socials, or directly message our editor-in-chief, Olivia Taylor, or our deputy editor-in-chief, Beth McCowen, to ask any questions / find out more!

Get in touch with our editing team at the following emails:

• Editor & deputy editor: editor.orbital@royalholloway.su
• News section: news.orbital@royalholloway.su
• Opinion section: opinion.orbital@royalholloway.su
• Culture section: culture.orbital@royalholloway.su
• Sports section: sports-socs.orbital@royalholloway.su
• Lifestyle section: lifestyle.orbital@royalholloway.su
• Creative writing section: creative.orbital@royalholloway.su