Submission Guidelines

A pile of books open on a table

The Walrus magazine publishes original reporting, essays, fiction, poetry, and visual essays in the fields of politics, the arts, science and the environment, health, business, sports, technology, and international affairs. We publish eight print issues a year and daily at thewalrus.ca. Sign up for The Walrus Weekly newsletter here.

Our stories and art have won hundreds of National Magazine Awards, Digital Publishing Awards, and other awards since the magazine’s founding in 2003. For more information, see our Awards page.

How To Pitch

A successful pitch will provide a description of your story; evidence of original research; intended approach, format, and length; and why you are the best person to write the article. Please include samples of previous work as attachments or as links.

Online essays and features published at thewalrus.ca are differentiated from those published in print by their timeliness. They maintain the same quality of originality, reporting, and language. Every commission published by The Walrus is fact checked.

Pitches for fiction, poetry, and art should be included as attachments. We also only consider completed drafts for memoir, fiction, and poetry.

Before sending a pitch, make sure your story idea hasn’t already been covered by The Walrus already or recently.

Please note in your pitch if the story is being submitted to other publications simultaneously.

Rates and Rights

We publish articles of varying length, depth of reporting, and writing style and compensate writers accordingly. For example, short essays of around 1,000 words start at $500; long-form reported features pay up to $1/word.

Writers retain derivative rights to their stories. We have published articles that have become books and been optioned for documentaries.

What to Pitch:

Features

We publish reported features (from 1,200 words to around 2,000 words) and long-form journalism (2,500 to 5,000 words). A good feature pitch will demonstrate preliminary research, access to sources (when relevant), compelling characters, and the ability to tell engaging stories through narrative. Above all, we look for stories, not just subjects.

Examples:

Essays

We publish timely essays (from 1,000 to 4,000 words) on a specific topic or issue. They demand a focused argument, and the author should have something original and significant to say. Our essays differ from newspaper op-eds in their breadth and depth of research.

Examples:

Arts & Culture

Examples:

The arts and culture section of The Walrus covers architecture, art, dance, fashion, film, media, food, music, poetry, television, and theatre, with a special focus on books and literature. These pieces can be thematic reviews exploring new works, timely profiles, or narrative essays on new trends.

Fiction

The Walrus publishes 8-10 original short stories by new or established Canadian writers every year. Short stories range from 2,000 to 5,000 words. We welcome stories on any subject. Please note that due to the large volume of submissions we receive, the fiction inbox will no longer remain open all through the year. Instead, we will have two submission seasons. The inbox will be open from January 1 through February 28 and June 1 through July 31. We will not consider submissions received outside of these periods.

Examples:

Poetry

The Walrus publishes work by new and established Canadian poets. Poems should fit in a single half-page column. The Walrus does not consider work that has already appeared elsewhere, including on personal blogs. Please do not submit more than six poems every three months.

Examples:

Visual Features

Photographers who have produced a range of images on a particular theme are invited to submit their work for inclusion in The Walrus as a photo essay.

Examples:

How to Submit