We publish personal essays, short stories, poems, and black-and-white photography in print and online in our monthly magazine.
We’re looking for narrative writing and evocative photography from all over the world. Send us work that maps the human landscape, where the light catches on the faintest joy, where darkness sometimes threatens to overwhelm, and where ✗ never marks the spot because the truth is never so simple.
First-time authors and award-winners alike find their place in The Sun. We are particularly interested in submissions from marginalized voices.
Our uncommonly supportive community of readers includes 60,000 print subscribers and thousands more website visitors. And The Sun is ad-free, so when we share your work, we don’t crowd it with distracting sales pitches.
Detailed submission guidelines, including our compensation rates, are available on our website.
Essays, Fiction, & Poetry
Writing that can turn heads, open hearts, and change minds.
We publish personal essays, short stories, and poems by established and emerging writers from all over the world. Click here for submission guidelines and payment rates.
Readers Write is a feature in The Sun where readers share their personal writing on a given topic — a unique fixture of the magazine since the section’s inception in 1978. Send us your true story on an upcoming topic, and if we publish it you’ll receive a complimentary one-year subscription.
Not sure what to write? See below for some prompts to spark an idea. Writing style isn’t as important as thoughtfulness and sincerity, and topics are intentionally broad to give room for expression and interpretation.
You can read a sample Readers Write section here.
Upcoming Topics
Celebrating
Due June 1
A birthday cake, a bottle of champagne, a party with ninety-two of your closest friends. What are the milestones and holidays you’ll always remember commemorating? Your team winning the big game. A whole year sober. Landing the promotion. Getting out of jail. A baby born. The first day of decent weather after a long, brutal winter. Send us your true stories on “Celebrating” by June 1.
Nicknames
Due July 1
Honest Abe. Queen Bey. The Dude. Even if you don’t have a famous one, a nickname can make you feel cool—or it can drive you crazy. Tell us about the dig your siblings used to torment you or the moniker you earned after an epic night out. Did you rebrand yourself by changing a childhood “Missy” to an adult “Melissa”? Are you the person who comes up with the perfect handles for your friends? Have you always wanted a nickname but never had one? Send us your true story (no fabrications except the nicknames, please!) by July 1.
Stirring the Pot
Due August 1
Do you work in the culinary arts? Spend hours on the weekend perfecting your grandmother’s marinara? Look forward to making a nice dinner, or dread the grind of cooking every night? Maybe you’re a different kind of pot-stirrer: a political debater; a devil’s advocate; the person who brings up family secrets at the Thanksgiving dinner table. There’s more than one way to stir the pot. Send us your interpretation (true stories only, please) by August 1.
We’re interested in black-and-white photographs. We’re not looking for photojournalism, just unique perspectives on the world around us — especially human interactions.
Please review our full submission guidelines and sample photographs before sending us your work.