Upcoming Readers Write Deadlines

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.

Walking Out: Entries due July 1, 2024
Have you ever needed to leave a marriage, a friendship, or a community? Maybe it was the right decision, or maybe you’ve always regretted it. Have you cut ties with a religious group you’ve lost faith in? Ever walked out on the job to join a picket line? Don’t leave us hanging—send us your true stories by July 1.

Tents: Entries due August 1, 2024
The musty waxed-canvas ones at summer camp. The lightweight tech-y sort you pack in when you’re mountaineering. The big white ones you string with café lights and flowers for a wedding reception. Leaky ones, the ones with a circus inside, the kind with a raccoon sniffing around outside the door, the kind where you can take the rain fly off and see a giant sky hung with stars. Pitch us your true stories about tents by August 1.

Chores: Entries due September 1, 2024
Did you—or your kids—grow up helping out around the house, the farm, or a family business? Do you dread cleaning day, or is it your form of meditation? Do you secretly love to file your taxes? Maybe the real chore for you isn’t vacuuming or laundry, but social obligations or keeping up with the news. Dust off your true stories about chores and send them to us by September 1.