N – Patina Magazine Seeking Submissions for Volume One on the Theme of: The Things We Carry

Submissions are open for Patina’s inaugural volume, themed ‘The Things We Carry”.

Something is only lost if it falls out of our collective memory.

This theme explores the tangible and intangible elements of culture that persist in our daily lives—from inherited objects and practices to knowledge systems and shared spaces.

There are stories in the spaces between memory and change. Stories of kitchens where ancestral recipes meet new ingredients. Of ancient crafts finding fresh hands. Of rituals reimagined, but not forgotten. These stories exist in translation between what was and what becomes.

We invite narratives that illuminate what we choose (or are forced to) to carry forward, from the weight of inherited kitchen tools to the muscle memory of craft, from arrangements of space to patterns of gathering. We’re interested in stories that reveal how these carried things remain vital through our lives.

The things we carry are often simultaneously personal and collective, and so we invite coverage of topics like:

• Kitchen tools that have lived multiple lives
• Agricultural knowledge that guides present practice
• The revival of historical third places and community gatherings
• The materiality of what we take with us when we move: homes, cities, countries
• How we take food through the seasons, through preservation and transformation
• Traditional textiles making their mark on contemporary wardrobes
• How objects of ritual and worship have changed (or remained the same)

This list of topics is just a starter; we are hungry for creative interpretations of this theme. The theme can be used as an entry point or the focus of your essay, as long as all roads lead right back to the things we carry.

This is where we find them. This is where we tell them.

Format and approach

Send your pitches as an email to hello [@] readpatina.com with “PITCH: The Things We Carry” in the subject line. Patina publishes:

• Long-form narrative non-fiction features (2,000–2,500 words)
• Personal essays (1,500–2,000 words)

Your piece should consider the broader context of cultural practices, include rich and careful documentation, and should engage thoughtfully with the community being documented. Please include in your pitch:

• Your elevator pitch that makes clear what you’re writing about, why it matters and how it connects to larger patterns of cultural continuity
• Estimated length
• A brief bio with relevant experience

Please submit your work as a Google Doc using a legible font, size 12 with 1.5 spacing. List the word count and title at the top of the first page. Please provide only one submission per genre.https://readpatina.com/submit/