{"id":12447,"date":"2025-05-02T11:46:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/?p=12447"},"modified":"2025-05-02T11:46:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:46:48","slug":"25-themed-calls-essays-articles-and-reporting-for-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/uncategorized\/25-themed-calls-essays-articles-and-reporting-for-may-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Themed Calls Essays, Articles, and Reporting (For May, 2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


By S. Kalekar

<\/strong>These are calls for non-fiction pitches \/ submissions. Some of the themes are: dream; invisible chains: contemporary slavery and forced migration; writing education; tidal; best dressed; dirty energy, dirty south; destination weddings (for New Mexico); and personal essays on climate change and\/or climate issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


American Craft: Dream
<\/strong>This is a magazine about American craft and its makers. They publish reported articles, essays, and opinion pieces. \u201c<\/strong>From the handmade that we use in our homes every day to the fine craft honored in museums, we cover inspiring craft being made today. We also showcase craft organizations making a difference in their communities, thought leadership in the field, and the importance of craft in contemporary American culture.\u201d They publish articles, essays, and opinion pieces \u2013 on artists, craft that brings together a community, handmade goods, galleries, and much more. For Winter 2026, they will publish work on the Dream theme; they have detailed guidelines, please read them carefully. The issue will also have special coverage, and the themes for those are: education<\/strong>; furniture<\/strong>; and quilts<\/strong>. Stories for American Craftare generally assigned at 400-2,<\/strong>000 words; pitch via the form on their guidelines page. Their pay is $0.50\u2013$1.00\/word.Pitches for the Dream theme are due 12 May 2025. Details here<\/a> (scroll down for theme details). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Revelator: Three themes<\/strong>
Their website says, \u201cThe Revelator<\/em>, a news and ideas initiative of the Center for Biological Diversity, provides editorially independent reporting, analysis and stories at the intersection of politics, conservation, art, culture, endangered species, climate change, economics and the future of wild species, wild places and the planet.\u201d They have detailed guidelines. About the current call for pitches they say, \u201cOur primary focus for now includes stories set in the United States along three major themes:
What we\u2019re losing: <\/strong>Stories about species, ecosystems, environmental justice communities, climate battles, or other aspects of life on Earth at risk.
What we\u2019re saving:<\/strong> How people are working to understand, stabilize, or reverse a major threat.
The Trump administration:<\/strong> What damage was done the first time around that we\u2019re just starting to understand? How did people and communities recover after the first Trump administration? What are organizations doing to defend against the second? (Stories about regressive state or local governments are also welcome.)
Got a story that doesn\u2019t quite fit these three themes? Try us anyway.\u201d They do not accept pitches about their parent organization, the Center for Biological Diversity, or issues in which they have an active involvement. Their features usually run 1,000-1,500 words, pay $300-$500, and are distributed them under a Creative Commons license. Commentary submissions are unpaid. Please note, they will be extremely selective in accepting pitches. Details here<\/a>.\u00a0

IHRAM Press Publishes: Invisible Chains: Contemporary Slavery and Forced Migration<\/strong>
This is a call from the literary magazine of the International Human Rights Art Movement (IHRAM). For the second quarter, their theme is Invisible Chains: Contemporary Slavery and Forced Migration. \u201cA poignant reflection on contemporary slavery and forced migration, this issue delves into exploitative labor practices, human trafficking, and the loss of human rights. It examines the economic and personal challenges faced by migrants, including discrimination, culture shock, and the lingering mental health effects.
We are dedicated to publishing firsthand experiences of forced migration, factual retellings on contemporary slavery, reflections of the author\u2019s personal experiences with the economic challenges or discrimination, and feelings of hope and perseverance. We encourage submissions from all over the world, regardless of gender or identity.\u201d\u00a0 Send essays of up to 2,500 words; they also accept short fiction, poetry, and art. They pay $50 for written work. The deadline is 1 June 2025. Details here<\/a>.

Writer\u2019s Digest: Celebrating the Whimsical & Weird<\/strong>
Writer\u2019s Digest is a print and online magazine for writers, which aims to \u201ckeep readers abreast of industry trends, of the latest writers who found success and what they did to achieve it, and of innovative ways to improve and empower the inner raconteur\u201d of their readers. They consider completed manuscripts on spec, as well as original pitches. They say writers should allow 2-4 months for a response. They\u2019re open for submissions for their November\/December 2025 theme, Celebrating the Whimsical & Weird. \u201cFrom the time we\u2019re children, the whimsical and weird draws us in and makes us imagine worlds beyond our own, creatures that exist only in our imaginations, and endless possibilities. In this issue, we celebrate whimsical and weird writing by exploring fantasy writing, magic, talking animals, monsters, unusual writing formats, and much, much more.\u201d You can read about that here<\/a>; pitching for each theme is via a form on their website, which will close when that issue is filled. Apart from features, they have several departments and columns. They pay $0.50\/word for first world rights for one-time print use and perpetual electronic use. They do not pay for unsolicited online articles and guest posts, except in rare cases when the content is highly focused or unique, in which case they pay $50-$100. General submission guidelines are here<\/a>.

Poets & Writers: Writing Education
<\/strong>They publish articles of interest to emerging and established literary writers. They publish News & Trends, The Literary Life Essays (on the more contemplative aspects of writing, ranging from creative process to the art of reading), The Practical Writer (advice and how-to articles that offer nuts and bolts information about the business of creative writing), and features \u2013 articles, essays, profiles, and interviews regarding American literature. According to their section for advertisers, for September\/October 2025, the issue theme is \u2018Writing Education\u2019 (see \u2018Upcoming Issues and Deadlines\u2019 here<\/a>). They do not publish fiction or poetry, or reviews. They take both, story proposals, and articles on spec, and take 4-6 weeks to respond to queries or manuscripts. Details here<\/a> (themes) and here<\/a> (writers\u2019 guidelines).

Esquire: Essays on media, film, TV, music
<\/strong>An editor at Esquire<\/a> has issued a pitch call for AAPI writers: \u201cPutting out a pitch call for Esquire: If any AAPI writers want to send me their incredibly thoughtful and well written essays that reflect on media, film, tv, music that’s prescient and resonates with our current cultural climate, please send them to me\u201d. See the pitch call \/ thread here<\/a>.

The New York Times: Modern Love<\/strong>
Modern Love is a nonfiction column of the New York Times. They want \u201chonest personal essays about contemporary relationships. We seek true stories on finding love, losing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoption, polyamory, technology, race and friendship \u2014 anything that could reasonably fit under the heading \u201cModern Love.\u201d Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.\u201d Send essays of 1,500-1,700 words. Modern Love has two submission periods, March through June, and September through December. Writers are paid. They especially welcome work from historically underrepresented writers, and from those outside the US. Details here<\/a>.
(Also see their Tiny Love Stories<\/a> column; these are also personal essays similar in theme to Modern Love, but much shorter, of 100 words.)\u00a0

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Lines Magazine: Zombie ideas<\/strong>
New Linesis an American magazine that\u00a0publishes \u201cessays and reportage on a wide range of subjects that focus broadly on the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. We also cover politics, culture and controversies in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Russia and Central Asia, and conduct deep-dive investigative journalism based on open-source intelligence and leaked data.\u201d They publish works \u201cthat aim to make the past relevant and the present grounded in history.\u201d You can read about them here<\/a>. Their political editor has issued a pitch call: \u201cZombie categories, Ulrich Beck argued, \u201care dead but somehow go on living, making us blind to the realities\u201d of the world. What are some zombie ideas today that should be consigned to the rubbish bin of history?\u201d See the pitch call \/ thread here<\/a> and their general submission guidelines are here<\/a>.

Steve Jobs Monograph<\/strong>
\u201cSteve Jobs Monograph is an upcoming publication on the 2015 film Steve Jobs<\/em>. The mission of the work is to be a single volume dedicated to a single film, recognizing that to appreciate a work as more than the sum of its parts, one must first understand the parts. We are looking for eight (8) well-researched, well-written pieces, each approaching the work through a different element of the filmmaking. Original research and interviews are encouraged, as is a collaborative spirit with your fellow contributors.\u201d The elements to choose from include (but are not limited to) production, performance, and music. They pay $100 and the submission deadline is 15 June 2025; they will accept pitches before that (see guidelines). See the call here<\/a>, submission guidelines here<\/a>, and pitch form here<\/a>.

C Mag: Tidal
<\/strong>C Mag is a Canadian magazine of art and culture, and they\u2019re looking for pitches on the Tidal theme. \u201cFor this issue, we begin from Barbadian poet Kamau Brathwaite\u2019s conception of\u00a0tidalectics<\/em>, which he describes as being \u201clike our grandmother\u2019s\u2013our nana\u2019s\u2013action, like the movement of the ocean she\u2019s walking on, coming from one continent\/continuum, touching another, and then receding (\u2018reading\u2019) from the island(s) into the perhaps creative chaos of the(ir) future.\u201d Brathwaite troubles any easy binary distinction that would separate land from water, and instead prompts us to think through the two categories together, particularly in the archipelagic space of the Caribbean. This helps us trouble colonial logics that separate the land (organized into nation-states and private property) from water. Like the ebb and flow of waves hitting the shore, or the edge between land and sea, we seek capacious engagements with \u201cTidal\u201d\u2013 that which becomes possible when we dissolve colonial binaries. We invite pitches that take up fluidity, borderlessness, the oceanic, and movement and its metaphors in cultural production. What else, more than water, can be tidal?\u201d The deadline for thematic feature, artist project, and column pitches is 16\u00a0May 2025.\u00a0Review pitches, not required to be on theme, are accepted on a rolling basis. They pay CAD0.35-45\/word. Reviews are paid a flat rate (CAD410 for print, CAD210 for online). Details here<\/a> and here<\/a>.

Griffith Review: Best Dressed<\/strong><\/a>
This is an Australian literary magazine and they want fiction and nonfiction submissions (not pitches) that respond to the Best Dressed theme, for their 90th<\/sup> issue. \u201cNo matter how much or how little you care about what you wear, your sartorial choices are inextricably stitched into your social, cultural and personal identities. Clothing not only dictates how we define ourselves and relate to others \u2013 throughout history, it’s also been a mode of expression, resistance, revolution and disruption. Put on your Sunday best for this edition of\u00a0Griffith Review<\/em>, which goes behind the seams to unpick the many paradoxes of fashion.\u201d Do not send poetry (there will be a separate call-out for poetry in June). They mostly accept work from writers in Australia, and some work from overseas writers. They pay AUD0.75\/word for works up to 4,000 words for the print issues. The deadline is 18 May 2025. Details here<\/a> and here<\/a>.

The Islandia Journal: Invasive Miami
<\/strong>Their website<\/a> says, \u201cWe publish visual art and writing which deal with the themes of myth, folklore, ecology, history, paranormal activity, and cryptozoology as they pertain to Florida & the Caribbean.\u201d \u00a0Their latest submission call, on the Invasive Miami theme, is in collaboration with Underwater Publishing. \u201cInvasive species are the subset of established non-native alien or naturalized species that are a threat to currently native species. In our next issue, we invite you to stretch the moral fabric interwoven with the concept of the invasive. We love Miami\u2019s mangroves (native), but also its roosters (invasive). We love Miami\u2019s coconut palms, oolite, parrots, guava pastries, flamingos, glistening white sand, manatees, Florida orange juice, royal poincianas, and coral reefs. Only three of the aforementioned are native; three and a half if you\u2019re feeling generous.
Miami has continually been branded a place where people kind of just \u201cend up.\u201d The same can be said for the boa constrictors out in the everglades. If they could speak, they might plead: \u201cHave mercy on us, we didn\u2019t ask to end up snout to snout with the alligators.”
We welcome any and all essays, drawings, photos, journal entries, and poems.\u201d They pay $0.25\/word for essays that require reporting and research, up to 1,500 words; $100 per short story and for reviews, essay, hidden histories, and criticism; and $50 per poem. The deadline is 1 June 2025. Details here<\/a>.

Taco Bell Quarterly
<\/strong>This magazine is back after a hiatus. \u201cTaco Bell Quarterly seeks literary\/creative essays, short stories, fiction\/prose, poems, comics, art, one act plays, fever dreams, multimedia, stupid status updates, criticisms, manifestos, recipes and anything else that explore any and all elements of Taco Bell. Or not. Shoehorn a chalupa in your short story. Maybe we\u2019ll love it. An elegy for the discontinued menu items? Fine. An experimental essay about marine biology and the XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito? Awesome. Review the new Beefy Fritos Burrito and how it reminds you of the time your grandma died? We want it.\u00a0\u2026 We lean towards pieces that are queer and center their pain\/joy in a Taco Bell.\u201d They opened for submissions on 20th<\/sup> April 2025, and will stay open till end-July, or until their submission cap is met, whichever is earlier; their Submittable<\/a> portal will remain open during the reading period. Send 500-2,500 words for prose; they pay $150. Details here<\/a> and here<\/a>.

Scalawag: Dirty Energy, Dirty South Series<\/strong>
Scalawag covers \u201cthe nuances of life, politics, and culture in the American South … we prioritize pitches from BIPOC and queer Southerners.\u201d They\u2019re starting a new series: Dirty Energy, Dirty South. This series is \u201con environmental (in)justice, and the green transition’s + American reindustrialization’s path through The South\u201d. They have detailed guidelines and suggested topics on the theme, please read them carefully. They pay $0.40\/word for long & short form essays, photo essays, op-eds, reported pieces up to 2,500 words, and $300 for poetry. Pitches on this theme are accepted on a rolling basis. See the detailed pitch call\/thread here<\/a> and general guidelines here<\/a>.

CONE: Indie streetwear brands, and more
<\/strong>This is an independent magazine\u00a0and media platform covering \u201cauthentic and innovative creators across all artforms including\u00a0music<\/strong>,\u00a0film<\/strong>, and\u00a0culture<\/strong>.\u201d They cover the independent music and art scenes within the UK, and also cover major music and culture hubs across the globe. You can read about them here<\/a>. In their latest call for pitches, they\u2019re looking for:
\u201c- Lists on indie designers or artist collabs with big brands
– Interviews\/essays on indie streetwear brands
– Recaps of fashion launches or creative indie brand market entries
– Music festival coverage\u201d. They pay $100-400. The pitch deadline is 25 May 2025. See the pitch call here<\/a>.

Front Office Sports
<\/strong>The editor of Front Office Sports<\/a> has issued a pitch call: \u201cFront Office Sports is looking for pitches of features and featurettes on topics at the<\/strong> intersection of sports, business, and culture<\/strong>. Both evergreen and time-pegged pitches are welcome, and must include a strong business angle.\u201d See the pitch call here<\/a>.

The Audacity: Emerging Writer Essays<\/strong>
The Audacity is a newsletter by Roxanne Gay. Twice a month, they feature essays and memoir by emerging writers only \u2013 those with fewer than three article\/essay\/short story publications and no published books or book contracts. Don\u2019t send fiction, poetry, or any genre apart from nonfiction. Send essays of 1,500-3,000 words. They pay $1,500. Details here<\/a>.

MIT Technology Review: The Body
<\/strong>MIT Technology Review will publish a print issue in November\/December 2025; the theme is, The Body. For print, they run short news stories and profiles\u00a0(500-800 words),\u00a0op-eds, and\u00a0data spreads\u00a0in the front of the book and\u00a0essaysand\u00a0book reviews\u00a0in the back of the book (usually around 2,000 words). They also publish narrative features,\u00a0investigations,\u00a0big profiles, and\u00a0reported essays\u00a0(generally between 2,500-4,000 words); the features are around the issue theme. \u201cRates range from $1 to $2 per word, depending on the experience level of the writer, the story, and the publication route. Deeply reported features pay more than shorter news pieces\u201d and according to their general guide, the pitch deadline for The Body theme is mid to late May 2025 (please see their note about more specific deadlines on the guidelines page). Their general pitch guide is here<\/a>; scroll to the end for themes.

Temporal Lobe Literary: The Hippocampus Anthology \u2013 Personal Histories<\/strong>
Their guidelines say, \u201cWrite, capture, or draw a memoir, a flashback, a feeling. Maybe interview someone close to you; sit them down and let them speak. Tell us or show us how yours or someone else\u2019s existence, stories, and moments have been history\u2014something that deserves to be preserved, written down, and remembered.
How has yours or another\u2019s story been part of something larger in a lifetime? Beyond a lifetime? In the course of many lifetimes? How has this particular piece of the past crept into the present?\u201d They accept nonfiction, creative nonfiction, creative nonfiction poetry, and art on this theme. Length guidelines are up to 15 pages for prose, up to 100 lines for poetry. The deadline is 31 July 2025. They pay $15. Details here<\/a>.

New Mexico Magazine: Music issue; NM State Fair\/Destination Weddings; and more<\/strong>
They want article ideas about New Mexico experiences, with opinionated storytelling and a first-person point of view when appropriate. The story should capture a place in such a way that readers are inspired to follow in the writer’s footsteps. They want to publish a lively editorial mix, covering both the down-home and the upscale. According to their media kit for advertisers, the theme for their August issue is Music; for September 2025, it is NM State Fair\/Destination Weddings. Pay is $0.35-0.40\/word for the magazine. Also see guidelines for photographers and multi-media contributors. Details here<\/a> (guidelines) and here<\/a> (download the 2025 New Mexico Magazine Media kit here, and scroll down for each month\u2019s theme).

Woods Reader<\/strong>
They only accept submissions from writers in the US and Canada. \u201cWoods Reader is a publication for those who love woodland areas: whether a public preserve, forest, tree farm, backyard woodlot or other patch of trees and wildlife. Our readers like to hear about others\u2019 experiences and insights, especially those that make an impression that they think about long after they have finished the article. Submitted content should center around trees and woodlands.\u201d And, \u201cWe buy articles in the following categories with woodland themes: Personal experience; Educational or nonfiction; The Woodland Philosopher; Fiction\/fantasy; DIY article using woodland materials (accompanying photographs requested); Humor blog or cartoon; Short poetry; Destinations\u201d. Please contact them prior to submitting book reviews. They publish works of 500-1,000 words. \u201cWe also buy the occasional longer fiction or true adventure story which may be serialized over up to four issues (2000-5000 words).\u201d Payment is $35 each for short poetry or cartoons, $25 for standalone photos; and $40 to over $100 for longer articles. Details here<\/a>.

The Markaz Review: Out of Our Minds
<\/strong>Their website says, \u201cThe Markaz Review is a literary arts publication and cultural institution that curates content and programs on the greater Middle East and our communities in diaspora.\u201d They run themed issues; the deadline for their Out of Our Minds<\/strong> (mental health issue) is 23rd<\/sup> May 2025. They accept \u201cessay, short fiction, book excerpt, art, film, music, photography or other creative expression, which may spark important conversations.\u201d Submissions range from 750-3,000 words. They pay an honorarium. Details here<\/a>.

The Fuller Project: Issues that impact women
<\/strong>They want pitches on issues that impact women in the US, and globally. They have detailed guidelines, including, \u201cThe Fuller Project pursues stories around issues that impact women. We don\u2019t approach gender and women as beats per se\u2014they are lenses through which we view politics and policy; the economy and labor; racial, social, and criminal justice; climate and environment; health and science; education and learning; violence and exploitation; and more.\u00a0
We are primarily interested in stories that will raise awareness, have impact, and\/or could spur accountability.
It\u2019s not enough for a story source or character to be a woman. What is the clear women- or gender-oriented angle of your story?\u00a0 You should be prepared to make that clear in your pitch and in your story.\u201d They do not want profiles, essays, or op-eds. Please follow their pitch template. \u201cThe Fuller Project pays competitive rates for freelance work. The rate depends on the length and scope of the story, either based on a per word or project rate.\u201d Details here<\/a>.

IJNet: Tips and tricks to help journalists globally<\/strong>
International Journalists\u2019 Network<\/a> (IJNet) has issued a call for pitches: \u201cInterested in sharing tips and tricks that can help journalists globally? We\u2019re accepting pitches! Writers will be compensated US$200 per article.\u201d See the call here<\/a>.

Open Secrets Magazine: Personal essays on climate change and\/or climate issues<\/strong>
This magazine has issued a submission call: ” Open Secrets Magazine<\/a>\u00a0is currently\u00a0accepting submissions\u00a0of\u00a0unpublished first person 1,000-2,000 word personal essays\u00a0\u2026 based on the author\u2019s life experience relating to climate change and\/or climate issues. Deadline: May 31, 2025\u201d. This is a new column, and they will publish (at least) one personal climate-related essay per month through 2025. Marginalized authors will be prioritized. They pay $50. Details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bio:<\/strong>\u00a0S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By S. Kalekar These are calls for non-fiction pitches \/ submissions. Some of the themes are: dream; invisible chains: contemporary slavery and forced migration; writing education; tidal; best dressed; dirty energy, dirty south; destination weddings (for New Mexico); and personal essays on climate change and\/or climate issues. American Craft: DreamThis is a magazine about American…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12457,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12447\/revisions\/12457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}