N – THIS Magazine Seeking Submissions for the Culture Issue. Theme: The Arts Industry in Canada

Culture Issue

We’re now accepting pitches for our annual Culture Issue! This year’s theme is the arts industry in Canada. We’d like to cover what’s going well, what’s not going so well, and how we’re funding our endeavours in these tough times. While we’re not looking for many profiles of artists themselves, we are interested in highlighting work artists are engaging in to keep their fields alive and promote innovation right now. We’re really interested in telling stories that are happening across Canada, from the east to the west to the North. Keeping the arts healthy in small towns is as important, and sometimes more so, as what happens in big city scenes. Please pitch us about whatever you’ve noticed that’s weird and wonderful in your local arts scenes, updates on your long-favourite festivals and bands, supports you’d like to see for artists — we’re into it all.

We’re seeking news, arts and ideas stories, and features. This includes our back page open letter and memoir and opinion columns. We publish Canadian residents only and accept queries (not completed manuscripts). We suggest familiarizing yourself with the magazine and previously published stories before pitching. For more details on the kinds of pieces we run, see below.

We like stories that aren’t likely to be found anywhere else, ideally with a social justice tie-in. In your pitch, it’s always great to say why you want to tell this story now, why you’re the one to tell it, sources you plan to consult, and any takeaways your piece will include for the reader. In other words, what might people learn, or start to learn, from reading your story?

Pitches are due Thursday, July 4, 2024 and can be sent to Sarah Ratchford, editor@thismagazine.ca.

Thank you for pitching This Magazine! We can’t wait to read your ideas.

Writers’ Guidelines

This Magazine welcomes queries only, not already written pieces. A good This Magazine article offers background and context to ongoing national issues, a challenge to the mainstream media perspective, or an important story that hasn’t been told elsewhere. Subject matter includes politics, culture, the arts, social issues, labour, feminism, mental health, race/racism, Indigenous issues, and sexuality, with a focus on quality writing and in-depth reportage. Please note: This Magazine publishes Canadian residents only

Before you submit anything to the magazine, be sure you are familiar with its approach. Pay particular attention to writing style and content. Articles for This Magazine should have a journalistic approach, and be written in language simple enough to be comprehensible to a high school student, with enough research and insight to be interesting to a PhD. Assume that you’re talking to knowledgeable readers (because you are). We encourage writers to grapple with big ideas, but they must be conveyed with wit and style, avoiding artistic, journalistic, legal, or academic jargon.