Getting Dressed, Graffiti, and Wild Animals

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.

Getting Dressed: Entries due March 1
A wedding dress. A prom tux. A sari. A yarmulke. The first time you wore a bra. The last time your kid let you pick their clothes for them. The suit you donned like armor for the big job interview. The outfit you helped an elderly parent put on. The clothes you wear to make a first impression, to reflect your culture, to express your gender identity, to look good on a date. Dress up your true story however you like and send it to us by March 1.

Graffiti: Entries due April 1
Roughly fifty thousand years ago, in a cave on Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, prehistoric humans sketched outlines of their hands. About four minutes ago, in just about any middle-school bathroom, an adolescent used a marker to crudely draw something unmentionable on a stall door. In the middle were vulgar phrases etched into Roman walls, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and many, many cans of spray paint. Maybe for you they're an eyesore on your way to work. Maybe you and your friends used to head to the railway yard to check out the latest tags and add some of your own. Shake things up and send us your true stories about "Graffiti" by April 1.

Wild Animals: Entries due May 1
Maybe bears or coyotes roam your backyard, or maybe the closest you get to wildlife is city pigeons and squirrels. Tell us about an encounter with an animal that filled you with awe—or one that was too close for comfort. Do you work with wild animals? Long to connect with them? Have an irrational (or totally justified) fear of them? Take a walk on the wild side and send us your true stories by May 1.