Writing letters to the world
By Hannah Laker
Edited by Lizzie Alblas
Picture this. A flat in Tokyo, situated ten minutes from the city centre, inhabited by a teacher or a marketing executive. Now imagine them sitting in an open window reading your letter, the one you once posted to us. Or what about someone reading it from an office in Germany, or onboard a train in London. The Letters Page is read by people all over the world, a community brought together by the love of a good story, and a passion for letters, of course. Writing for us opens you up to a diverse readership, from every corner of the globe.
With that said, submissions for Volume 6 of The Letters Page are currently open, with the collection to be published in 2022. We take all types of writing; we just ask that submissions be in the form of a handwritten letter. While there’s no word count, please keep in mind we do have short attention spans!
As a writer, there’s something refreshing and exciting about crafting your story into a letter in these digital times — even if letter writing itself is an age-old tradition. For me, putting pen to paper in letter form allows me to open up a little more, I really get the sense that I’m communicating this story with someone — even if that someone starts as a name on a submissions page. And while you might be used to the techniques of traditional short story or poetry, crafting these pieces into a new form might take you out of your comfort zone a little, opening you up to different ways of thinking, experimenting and writing. Not many journals ask for submissions by way of letter, perhaps this is a chance to experience something new.
So, if you have a story to tell, whether it be fiction, memoir, essay or more, then get in touch. Our submissions page can be found here and includes details on exactly where to post your letter to. We can’t wait to read them!
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The Letters Page team are back in the office, and ready to read your real letters again. We publish stories, essays, poems, memoir, reportage, criticism, recipes, travelogue, and any hybrid forms, so long as they come to us in the form of a letter. We are looking for writers of all nationalities and ages, both established and emerging.
Your letter must be sent in the post, to :
The Letters Page, School of English, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
See our submissions page for more information.
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