Features for "Green"
The theme for the Winter 2024 issue of Oregon Humanities magazine is “Green.” For this issue, we’re looking for features exploring any of the many meanings associated with the color: nature and abundance, of course, but also envy, greed, inexperience, and illness.
Green is a capacious color, overburdened with meaning. Tell us a story about greenbacks and green cards, or green rooms, green lights, and greenhorns. Consider the global context of Green politics, greenwashing, or the green economy. Or delve into the delights and mysteries of green thumbs, green tea, or the green man. What’s the significance of the village green in our modern lives? What’s it like to be green with envy or green around the gills?
We welcome all forms of nonfiction writing, including essays, journalism, and excerpts from forthcoming or recently published books. Successful submissions will reflect our vision of an Oregon that invites diverse perspectives, invites challenging questions, and strives for just communities. We encourage submissions from writers of all levels of experience.
We encourage stories created with or by communities—classrooms, neighborhoods, congregations, or any other group with shared interests and experiences. Some examples follow:
- “In These Uncertain Times,” a photo essay drawn from submissions by people across Oregon
- “One-Person Protest,” a class project by our Humanity in Perspective Class
- A collection of memories of the pandemic from students in Warrenton, Oregon
- “Our Story on Our Territory,” a story of the Chinook People’s reclaiming of land
- “What They Carried,” stories of refugees told through objects
- “Stake Your Place,” a profile of a Portland neighborhood
Please send drafts of personal essays, which should push beyond simple narrative and consider larger thematic questions. If you’re pitching a journalistic or researched piece, please send a proposal, links to your clips, if any, and tell us why you’re the person to write this story. Features generally range between 1,500 and 4,000 words. All contributors are paid between $750 and $1,500, depending on the length and complexity of the piece. Currently the magazine is distributed free to 12,000 readers. Work from Oregon Humanities has been reprinted in textbooks, the Pushcart Prize anthology, Utne Reader, High Country News, and Best American Essays, and featured on public radio programs Think Out Loud, State of Wonder, and This American Life.
If you are interested in contributing to this issue, please read past issues and the guidelines for writers. Please note that we only accept work by writers who reside in Oregon, though no proof of residence is required. Then, submit one proposal or one draft by August 21 to editors@oregonhumanities.org.