“Clerestory Magazine publishes
stories, articles, and interviews
on subjects at the intersection
of action and contemplation.
We believe storytelling makes
our world more humane.”

Clerestory Magazine contributors evoke the most essential parts of the human experience, while engaging larger questions on social healing, human flourishing, and justice. Our writers, in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, “face sacred moments,” or in the words of Mary Oliver, pay attention, are astonished, and tell about it. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals are highly encouraged to submit. As of May 2021, each contributor is paid $50 per accepted submission. 

Clerestory is currently accepting submissions and pitches for our summer issue on “Therapy.” As space on our editorial calendar is limited, please send your pitch no later than May 15, 2021. While there is no formal word count, most accepted pieces fall between 1,000 and 3,000 words. Relevant themes include: 

• Finding joy
• Experiences with therapy 
• Identity
• Grief
• Family healing
• Social healing 
• Personal transformation
• Voice and voicelessness 
• Healing artforms 
• Sexual violence 
• Loneliness
• Retreat 
• Embodiment – body dysmorphia, body love, the difficulty of being embodied, making peace with the body 
• Narratives with contemplative, spiritual, faith-based themes 
• Wholeness 
• Vulnerability and courage 
• Narratives focused on a particular emotion: anger, rage, sadness, etc. 
• Catharsis 
• Mental illness, or mental wellness 
• Mindfulness 
• Bibliotherapy 

This is not an exhaustive list, but will, hopefully, help spark inspiration. We look forward to hearing from you. Due to a high volume of submissions, we cannot respond to every query. If your pitch or submission is a good fit for the magazine, we will be in touch.