There are 25 themed calls for non-fiction submissions in the 17 markets listed here. Some themes are: wild; parenting and food; space (and food); climate change; hard science stories; retirement myth-busting; Africa; Halloween; fall fun; back to school; Tolkien (Not the Fellowship. Dragons welcome); and enjoying life. A few specify deadlines, but most do not, so it may be a good idea to get pitches in early. – S. Kalekar

Bitch Media #92: Wild
This magazine looks at pitches that offer a feminist analysis of culture. They have extensive guidelines: Wild “is a small word denoting big ideas, big feelings, and big fears… . It holds the unsettling awareness of all that we don’t know and can’t control—nature, opportunity, freedom, unpredictability, daring, chaos.

It’s also, historically, a word frequently used to describe the “other”—those who were seen as a danger to established societies, beliefs, and cultures ordered and dictated by the most powerful. … Thus it’s not surprising that “wild” in its most potent form exists as a social construction, the word often wielded to police the respectability, modesty, imagination, and ambition of those who live, love, and simply exist outside what’s classified as “normal.”

But wildness also denotes the generative potential of exploration and opportunity. … How do gender, race, education, and other identities and backgrounds challenge status-quo portrayals of the wildness we embrace, the wildness we reject, and the wilderness of our own imaginations? … We want a range of essays, analysis, and interviews on what wild means and how it drives our lives, work, imaginations, relationships, and histories.” Features pay $700-1,000, dispatches pay $350, and culture pieces pay $250-700. The deadline is 5 July 2021.  Pitches for the website (unthemed) are accepted on an ongoing basis. Details here and here.

Motherwell: Motherwell Books; Parenting and Food

They publish essays about parenting, capped at 1,200 words. Apart from the themes below, they publish personal essays and perspective pieces on parenting, as well. Some of the shorter pieces and formats are unpaid (see guidelines).

• Motherwell Books – This is a new platform on the site “where we will be curating and showcasing the best books for parents and parents-to-be. We’re currently looking for posts related to reading and writing, themed book lists (e.g. for new moms, parenting teens, empowering girls), and articles and essays that are centered around a parenting book (or books) that aren’t your own.”
• Parenting and Food – They want stories “that delve into all the ways in which these two areas of life can intersect. Interpretations might include: cultivating cooking skills with your kids; body image around pregnancy; raising picky or limited eaters; managing food allergies; coping with weight concerns, at either end of the spectrum.”
  Details here.

New Naratif: Southeast Asia
They welcome pitches from freelancers in Southeast Asia (or from the Southeast Asian diaspora) about stories and issues that matter to Southeast Asia and Southeast Asians. They publish articles (research, journalism, comics, videos, podcasts, etc.). Work has to be “of importance, meaning, and relevance to the people of Southeast Asia;

which governments/establishment interests discourage or actively suppress from being told, and which the mainstream media cannot or do not want to carry; which explain and explore important forces which shape our lives, which help increase or change our understanding of the world around us, or which help us understand why we think and act the way we do; which transcend narrow boundaries of race, religion, or state, to reflect Southeast Asia as it is lived and experienced by its people.” Pay is in US dollars; $250 for text, $50 per photo, $200 for a 7-10 minute (edited) audio package, $150 for a recorded op-ed or interview. Details here.

Sliced: Space
This is a new Canadian magazine about food journalism. They want pitches on the Space theme for their third issue. They welcome international submissions, as well as pitches from non-food writers – tech, culture, environmental, political, agricultural, and more are encouraged. Also, “Sliced’s first issue will go live in the middle of June. We want to produce serious, timeless writing that interrogates food. We’re interested in everything from its history and culture to nutrition, scientific innovations, production, agriculture, and more.” Pay is CAD0.15/word for 1,200 words. Details in the editor’s Twitter thread here.

The Calvert Journal: Two themes
The Calvert Journal is a magazine of culture, innovation, photography and travel in the New East: Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. They publish features, interviews, personal essays and opinion, travel, and photography. They’re looking for “pitches to mark 30 years since the end of the Soviet Union. Articles can be on individual countries or the bloc as a whole — just make sure there’s a cultural angle” – the issue will run in August, when most of the republics declared independence. They are also looking for more contributions for their Women Recollected series, which looks at the forgotten female pioneers of 20th century culture in CEE + Central Asia. Pay is £150 for photo essays or stories, and £200 for features. Details here (Twitter thread) and here (writers’ guidelines).

Climatetracker.org: Climate change stories
Climatetracker.org is an international non-profit organization, aiming to support, train and incentivise better climate journalism globally. They accept pitches for climate change stories from young journalists (ages 18-35). They look for climate change stories with an emphasis on people from developing countries all over the world, and they pay €150 – see details on how to pitch them.
Apart from these, they also want pitches on food, farming, and climate stories, and are looking to train, mentor, and help six early-career journalists with in-depth publishing on these topics – they’re looking for writers from specific places for this project (specific cities/regions in Nigeria, Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, Ecuador, Belgium, Kenya, Tanzania – see guidelines), and pay is a stipend for two months of €180 per month and then a grant for an in-depth story of €350; the deadline for pitching stories for this project is 16 June, 2021. Details here.

bird: Africa
bird is a story agency from Africa No Filter, and they are looking for African creators; they want stories of art, culture, creativity, tourism, and innovation – multimedia content that “connects with the continent”; “You’ll use mobile storytelling to profile ordinary people, places and things that shift the prevailing stereotypical narrative about Africa.” Pay is $200 per multimedia story. Details here. Also see Africa No Filter’s grants for journalists and creatives; the grants are for individuals and organizations.

Salon: Hard science stories
The Science and Health editor of Salon is especially looking for pitches on hard science stories. “I’d love to see more pitches on astronomy, particle physics, bio, virology, genetics, astrobiology, abiogenesis and the like”. Details here (Tweet) and here (editorial contacts).

Real Simple: Retirement myth-busting
Real Simple is part of the Meredith Corporation. They publish work on food, home, style and beauty, health, life, and money. They are looking for pitches on retirement myth-busting. The editor will only consider pitches with headline(s) and dek. Pay is $200-300. Details in the Tweet here.

The New Statesman: How we live now
The New Statesman is a UK-based magazine of politics and culture. They are currently looking for pitches on deeply reported and narrative-driven pieces (3,000 words+) “that gets to the heart of how we live now.” The editor is interested in “climate, inequality, science, internet culture, crime, sport, health & more.” International reporting and writers are welcome. Details in the Twitter thread here.

Vitals: Women’s health and sustainability
An editor for Vitals, a women’s health and sustainability blog, has issued a call for pitches. “I’m looking for smart, interesting content from diverse voices that can pushes boundaries and starts conversations. Our content is trans inclusive just FYI so please bear in mind when pitching.” The editor can commission 4 pieces in a month. Pay is £200 for an 800-word piece. Details here.

Understorey Magazine: Rural and remote living
The magazine only accepts submissions from women and non-binary writers who have a close connection to Canada. They are accepting creative non-fiction (personal essays) from writers and artists living in rural and remote areas: on parenting, creativity, health, employment, access to services, climate change, education, and all other facets of life outside urban centers. Some theme suggestions on their website are: “How to you maintain connection or learn to live without it? What are the challenges and opportunities for writers and artists who live outside large urban centres? How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected you and your community?” Submissions should be up to 1,500 words. They also publish fiction and poetry, as well as artwork. Pay is CAD150 for writers and CAD75 for artists. The deadline is 21 June 2021. Details here.

Western New York Family: Back to School; Shape the Future – Education & Careers; Halloween; Fall Fun
This magazine is 90% freelance written, and is available both online and in print. Articles submitted should address current parenting issues with a Western New York tie-in whenever possible. According to their editorial calendar, the themes for September are Back to School, and Shape the Future – Education & Careers; for October, the themes are Halloween, and Fall Fun. There are other themes listed, as well.
Also, they are specially in need of articles for their Tweens & Teens, and Special Needs columns, their ‘Shape the Future’ section, material written by fathers, and articles on making a working parent’s life easier as they juggle multiple roles and responsibilities are also at the top of our list. The magazine’s focus is on how and where to find family-oriented events, as well as goods and services for children, in Western New York (the Buffalo metro area). There is an “Up Front” focus article in each issue, as well as additional articles, and regular columns. “Evergreen” articles are highly desirable. Seasonal pieces must be submitted at least 3 months in advance of the issue month. They prefer completed manuscripts over queries. Pay is $40-150 depending on type and length of article, and whether it is a reprint or an original, or assigned piece. Details here (guidelines; you can also download the editorial calendar from here).

Sasee: The Perfect Age; Enjoying Life; Feels Like Home
They want first-person, non-fiction material that is for or about women, of 500-1,000 words. Essays, humor, satire, personal experience, and features on topics relating to women are their focus areas. They do not publish fiction or poetry. They have three upcoming themes: The Perfect Age (deadline 15 June 2021); Enjoying Life (deadline 15 July 2021), and Feels Like Home (deadline 15 August 2021). Details here.

American Theatre: Fall season preview; Special issue on approaches to training
This is a publication covering theatre in the US. They have an online as well as print edition. Two of their upcoming themes are Fall season preview (September 2021 issue) and Special issue on approaches to training (November 2021). They ask for a two-month lead time for material for their print issue. Pay is unspecified. Details here (editorial contacts) and here (theme calendar).

Academia Lunare for Speculative Non-Fiction: Not the Fellowship. Dragons Welcome.
Academia Lunare is the Luna Press Publishing academic branch for speculative and general non-fiction. Their Call for Papers include essays from academics, independent researchers, fans and creative writers, appealing to both the casual reader and a more research-oriented one. The theme for their 2021 call for papers is ‘Not the Fellowship. Dragons Welcome.’ Their guidelines say, “Writers are invited to engage with a fictional character of choice from any of Tolkien’s works who is not part of The Lord of the Rings’ Fellowship. Though they can be characters of LOTR.
Friends, foes or neutral; dead or undead; divine beings, beasts (of the mythical or animal variety), or other. We welcome all. Bill the Pony, though undoubtedly an honorary member of the Fellowship at least according to Sam, is – for our purposes – fair game.
The purpose of this Call for Papers aims, on the one hand, at bringing to the fore more of Tolkien’s characters who do not receive the same attention as the Fellowship. On the other hand, we want to tackle these less appreciated characters in new ways, and in the light of a contemporary sensibility.” See guidelines for some ideas around the theme. Writers should send a proposal in advance. Word limit is up to 6,000 words; successful papers will receive a one-off payment of minimum £30, depending on the number of papers accepted. The final submission deadline is 31 August 2021. Details here.

Full Stop: Editorial Fellowship
Full Stop is an online journal of literary and cultural criticism. They focus on debuts, works in translation, and books published by small presses. They publish reviews, interviews, and features, a blog, and they also have a quarterly. They invite applications for two Full Stop Editorial Fellows. These three-month long fellowships will invite early-career writers or editors to independently envision, commission, and edit an issue of the Full Stop Quarterly. Each separate fellow will receive a budget to commission non-fiction essays and art, as well as guidance from the Full Stop editorial collective on every step of the process. The resulting quarterly issues will be released in the Fall and Winter of 2021. While the fellows will be given a wide berth to determine the theme of their issues, the core values of Full Stop must remain intact — supporting the work of critics, small presses, and the aesthetically, linguistically, and socially marginalized communities of writers they represent. Fellows will get a stipend of $1,000. The application deadline is 1 July 2021. Details here.

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.