Oregon Humanities is currently accepting submissions for the following:
Features for Winter 2025: "Currents"
For the Winter 2025 issue of Oregon Humanities, we’re looking for stories about waterways in and around Oregon and the ways they affect and are affected by the people and communities that live, work, travel, and play on, in, and along them. From time immemorial to the present and beyond, we want to explore how rivers, creeks, canals, reservoirs, aquifers, lakes, bays, estuaries, and the ocean show up in the cultural, economic, and political life of our region.
We are also interested in stories about other kinds of flow, such as migration of humans and other animals; transmission of trends, gossip, and ideologies; and circulation of commodities and language.
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:
- “My Heart Belongs Where the Trees Are”, a story about Black communities in Eastern Oregon
- “Long Live the Kings,” a story about drag king culture in Portland and Seattle
- “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
- “In These Uncertain Times,” a photo essay drawn from submissions by people across Oregon
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 14,000 readers. Work from Oregon Humanities has been reprinted in textbooks, the Pushcart Prize anthology, Utne Reader, High Country News, Yes!, 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 5 to editors@oregonhumanities.org.
Upcoming Themes
- Winter 2025: Currents (December 2024, submissions due August 2024)
- Spring 2025: Bloom (April 2025, submissions due December 2024)
- Summer 2025: Real (August 2025, submissions due April 2025)
- Winter 2026: Consume (December 2025, submissions due August 2025)
- Spring 2026: Labor (April 2026, submissions due December 2025)