Pitches Wanted

Catapult is a daily digital magazine that features original essays, fiction, poetry, comics and art from global contributors. In 2020, we won a National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary and, in 2022, we won a National Magazine Award for Best Illustrated Story. Essays and stories published in the magazine have also been awarded the Pushcart Prize, shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing, nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award, and featured in The Best American Essays and other Best American anthologies. I am looking for first-person narrative essays that use their personal story as a portal to bigger issues and ideas. There are a number of ways one might do so: research, pop-culture criticism (current or nostalgic), discourses on digital culture, literary criticism, news hooks, science, observing and describing a cultural trend or theme, or something else entirely—these are just prompts. I am especially interested in literary criticism with a personal slant, housing and real estate, pop-culture nostalgia, and climate stories. Ultimately, I’m looking for writing that blends personal stories with cultural analysis to tell us something about who we are and how we live. Even if the piece is “about you,” it should still feel like (and be able to prove how) it is engaged with the world. Please send pitches to tajja.isen@catapult.co