SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN UNTIl DECEMBER 31, 2024

THEME: “IN THE PARK”

In 1878, Frederick Law Olmsted first drew up the plans for the Emerald Necklace, 7 miles of stitched-together green space through the heart of Boston. It was an oasis amidst the onslaught of urban noise and heat and rushing traffic. Feeling sappy, he wrote that  "a park is a place where the human spirit can soar." You did not -- and still do not -- have to earn your way into a park. A park does not care about looming  work deadlines or social pressures or credit card debt. A park is purely there for recreation, to come as you are. So what happens in the park?

We want your weirdest and wackiest tales, images, and insights: turkey gangs and pudding-stones and revolutionary war reenactors; Ramblin' Dan The One Man Band posted up in Boston Common; ex-alcoholic cold-plungers diving into 10,000 year-old kettle ponds; mushroom foragers dressed up as the fungus they seek; how to make walnut ink, when to go looking for spotted salamanders, and where to find buried treasure. Bring us the hyper-local, the odd and wonderful, the deeply beautiful. The Charles River Basin is home to thousands of acres of parks. What does it mean to live here? What inspires you to get outside?

Eligible Regions

All submissions must be based on a specific place within the Charles River Basin, Greater Boston, MA.

Arlington — Ashland — Bellingham — Belmont — Boston — Brookline — Cambridge — Dedham — Dover — Foxborough — Franklin — Holliston — Hopedale — Hopkinton — Lexington — Lincoln — Medfield — Medway — Mendon — Milford — Millis — Natick — Needham — Newton — Norfolk — Sherborn — Somerville — Walpole — Waltham — Watertown — Wayland — Wellesley — Weston — Westwood — Wrentham

FORMATS

We accept a very wide range of formats, including personal essays, reporting, poetry, paintings, drawings, multimedia, maps, field guides, recipes, instructions.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Applicants will be notified of their submission status within 90 days. Those chosen for publication will receive a free copy of the issue via snail mail.