The Globe & Mail, Personal Essays

Every Monday through Friday, the Globe and Mail publishes a personal essay on its Facts & Arguments page.  This is a great place to get your first writing credit from a big city newspaper.  Here's what the editors say they want:

The Essay on the Facts & Arguments page gives Globe readers such as yourself a chance to let other Globe readers know what's on your mind, just as though you were catching up over coffee, at a virtual water-cooler or chatting over the back fence.

Facts & Arguments essays should be personal and not political. Before submitting an essay, it's a good idea to read the page for a while, just to see the kind of essays that are being published. Often a good essay isn't accepted because there has recently been one on that same topic.

Please send submissions by e-mail, both as an attachment and as part of the message (in case we can't open the attachment). Send submissions to facts@globeandmail.com
Write: "Facts & Arguments essay submission" in the subject line.

We prefer to consider one essay at a time from any given writer: Rather than send a number of essays and asking us to choose, it's best if you choose your favourite essay to submit. Any one writer can appear a maximum of four times a year on the Facts & Arguments page.

There is no payment if your essay is accepted for publication. The Globe assumes first-print rights and electronic rights for unsolicited submissions; writers retain copyright.

Essays should be about 900 words.

If your essay is selected for publication, you should hear from The Globe within one month. You will not be contacted if it has not been chosen for publication.

Seasonal essays should be submitted at least three to four weeks before the event, so the submission can be considered and, if accepted, an illustration can be commissioned: It's not the best idea to send an essay with a Christmas theme on Dec. 24.

An essay goes beyond a rant or an anecdote. A good essay often involves an observation about a person, a situation or yourself, an analysis of that observation that might lead to a change of mind or a different perspective, and an extrapolation to a larger truth or a bigger question. And remember: Essays are non-fiction and they're true. 

Complete guidelines here.  

Note: For information about all of Brian's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.