Pitches wanted (death penalty, abolitionism) | $800 to $1,000 per article

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: SCALAWAG

Deadline: 1 August 2023

Da'Shaun Harrison, Editor at Scalawag, is looking for pitches:

For Scalawag, I am looking for essays, poetry, art, songs, photography, etc. about personal experiences on Death Row and abolitionist analyses on capital punishment. Pay is $800-$1000. Pitches due by August 1. See below for more details.

At Scalawag, we know that crime is contrived; largely defined by poverty, a society structured by deprivation, and antiblack coercive violence. We want to hear from folks facing the death penalty (and folks who work closely with them) on this reality. Because it matters.

PITCH US — WEEK OF WRITING: CONDEMNED

Our next initiative, led by our Politics & the People Editor-at-Large, is titled "Week of Writing: Condemned." For this project, we will publish writings exclusively from people on Death Row.

We want to see essays, poetry, art, songs, photography, etc. about personal experiences on Death Row and abolitionist analyses on capital punishment.

If you, or someone you know, are on Death Row, we want to hear from you. Incarcerated writers and/or their third-party representatives may submit pitches either by using the form below, via email to dashaun@scalawagmagazine.org, or sent through snail mail to:

Scalawag
P.O. Box 129
Durham, North Carolina
27702

At Scalawag, we value the abolitionist narrativizing, storytelling, and reporting of people in the South directly impacted by carcerality and punitive responses to "crime." We know that crime is contrived; largely defined by poverty, a society structured by deprivation, and antiblack coercive violence.

CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

• Questions/submissions: dashaun@scalawagmagazine.org
• Website: https://scalawagmagazine.org

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Scalawag aims to spark critical conversations about the many Souths where we live, love, and struggle. It amplifies voices of activists, artists, and writers to reckon with Southern realities as they are, rather than as they seem to be. More information here.
• Read through a selection of recent Abolition Week articles/stories on its website.
• Review the submission guidelines here. Note that these are the publication's general guidelines to help you refine your pitch. You must still follow the editor's specific instructions above.
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook Database and at SuccessfulPitches.com.
• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a few lines highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.

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