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RITES OF PASSAGE
How to Submit a ‘Rites of Passage’ Essay
We want to read your stories.
By The Styles Desk
Hello, we have an update!
Rites of Passage is currently on hiatus. If you think your essay is a fit for Modern Love or our Opinion pages, information on how to submit to each is below. Thanks for your continued interest in The Times.
Submit to Modern Love
Submit an Op-Ed Essay
The editors of Rites of Passage , a column that appears regularly in Styles, want to hear your stories.
A “Rite of Passage” can be something big or small, humorous or serious, but the best stories tend to be about a specific experience that had some lasting impact on your life. They are narrative in scope, which means you are telling us a (true) story.
While traditional rites (graduation, first child, marriage) can be illuminating, it’s the unconventional or surprising rites we are particularly interested in: Turning 40 as a childless and unmarried woman ; the decision to stop plucking one’s eyebrows ; a marination on what awkward talks with his dad — while trapped in the family station wagon — taught a young man about sex .
These essays should be written as personal narratives, so please make sure to tell us how the event unfolded and what it meant to you.
How do I submit?
Please put the subject of your essay in the email subject line.
Please summarize the subject of your essay in a few sentences at the top of your email and tell us who you are.
Send a completed essay of 1,200-1,500 words to [email protected] , including a one sentence bio of yourself at the end.
Attach your essay as a Microsoft Word-compatible document AND paste the text into the body of the email. These elements must be sent as ONE email.
Some housekeeping:
We do not allow pseudonyms (including the author), composite characters or invented situations.
Essays must be previously unpublished.
Writers will be compensated for work that is published.
We look forward to reading your stories.
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