Friends Journal welcomes articles, poetry, art, photographs, and letters from our readers. We are also helped by your comments and questions. We are an independent magazine serving the entire Religious Society of Friends. Our mission is “to communicate Quaker experience in order to connect and deepen spiritual lives,” which allows for a variety of viewpoints and subject matter. We welcome submissions from Friends and non-Friends alike.
Read our full editorial guidelines and learn about the different types of articles we publish on our Submissions Page.
Upcoming General Submissions Deadlines:
- 2025: Jan. 20, May 19, July 21.
Many issues of Friends Journal are set aside for specific themes. Every 18 months or so we poll readers and dream up ideas for future issues (you can see the current list on our submissions page).
We also keep four issues a year open: no theme and no expectations. Most of our unsolicited articles go into a “General Submissions” list that we hold for these issues. Sometimes a choice is easy: we’ll get a blockbuster article that we know we just have to print. But just as often we’ll run some quiet piece of Quaker life that is offered to us without regard to our schedules.
The first bit of advice is to give our editorial submission guidelines a good once-over. The introduction to what we’re looking for is instructive.
We prefer articles written in a fresh, non‐academic style. Friends value an experiential approach to life and religious thought. Our readers particularly value articles on: exploring Friends’ testimonies and beliefs; integrating faith, work, and home lives; historical and contemporary Friends; social concerns and actions; and the variety of beliefs across the branches of Friends.
You should also study our tips for writing for Friends Journal. This is our list of the most-common pitfalls for incoming submissions—problems like length, structure, and tone.
The next thing to ask when writing or pitching an article to us is “why Friends Journal?” There are very few places where someone can write on the Quaker experience and see their work published. This scarcity weighs on us as we select an open issue’s mix. Authors don’t need to be Quaker, but the piece should have a strong Quaker hook. We’re not above doing a control-F on a submission to see how many times “Quaker” or “Friends” is mentioned. If it’s just a tacked-on reference because you’re shopping a piece written for another publication, it probably won’t work for us.
When you’re ready to send us something, please use the Submittable service so that we will have all of your information on file. “General Submissions” is the category for material that we consider for non-themed issues.
Link to share: Writing for General Submissions
Please note: All poetry should be submitted separately here.
Fast Facts
- Features run 1200-2500 words.
- Submissions extended to December 23
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.
Our March 2025 issue will look at Neurodiversity. We know this is a very broad topic. Wikipedia defines it as recognizing “the diversity within sensory processing, motor abilities, social comfort, cognition, and focus as neurobiological differences.” Neurodiversity is typically likened to a spectrum and for good reason, as everyone’s experience is unique.
First and foremost, we want to hear from neurodiverse Friends. If you’re new to Quakers, what has drawn you in? Is there something about Quaker worship that works especially well for you? What has been your experience of Quaker process and business meeting and culture? We also want to know what doesn’t work. We realize that experiences can be very different person-to-person and meeting-to-meeting, but are there specific adaptations that meetings could consider to better accommodate the needs of neurodiverse visitors?
We’re also curious about what Friends meetings and churches have already done to make themselves more accessible. This could be anything from setting clear expectations in worship to adapting First-day school programs to allow for more movement and fidgeting. What do families with neurodiverse members need from their Quaker meeting?
Friends schools are another interesting case. There are a handful of Friends schools whose missions are to support learning differences (others have cited religious exemptions to refuse accommodations, alas). For those who do serve neurodiverse students, we’d like to hear how Quaker educational techniques have been adapted for that work.
There is an acute house shortage throughout much of the U.S. and wider world, creating ever-rising living costs. It is affecting us in myriad ways. One, many Friends have less time or resources to devote to their Quaker life because they work extra jobs to make the rent or mortgage every month. The rising prices are also increasing the number of unhoused neighbors, a tragedy for them and a strain on our wider community.
How is the housing crisis impacting our meeting community, our families, and our neighbors?
Fast Facts
- Features run 1200-2500 words.
- Submissions close February 17, 2025.
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.
Revival is a funny concept if you think about it too hard. It can mean many things: a quickening of spiritual fervor, an increase in numbers, a return to some earlier golden age. Quakerism began as a revival of sorts—a brash new religious outlook that didn't have much regard for other denominations—and we have had many revivals in the 350 years since. The nineteenth-century Midwest was awash in revivals whose effects reshaped Quaker worship through much of the world. The new consensus of early twentieth century Friends created modern Liberal Quakerism that drew many people, as did the political activism of the 1960s and 1970s.
What's the state of Quaker revivals today? Are there places where we're in danger of catching fire?
Fast Facts
- Features run 1200-2500 words.
- Submissions close March 17, 2025.
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.
How are Friends organizing today? We've noticed that many people get a sense of belonging from affinity groups they belong to, whether based on identity (race, gender, or sexual orientation) or politics or spirituality. Our biannual Quaker Works section is full of Quaker groups outside of the traditional monthly/quarterly/yearly meeting structures that bring people together for a single purpose. How do these groups speak to us as individuals? Do they strengthen our participating in our local Friends meetings or compete with it? Does it even matter if they fit with traditional structures?
Fast Facts
- Features run 1200-2500 words.
- Submissions close June 16, 2025.
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.
In November 2025 we will publish our fifth annual issue of Quaker Fiction (you can read through our first and second issues here). It’s open to all genres—crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction and horror, young adult, and more. Surprise us with your work! For this special issue, we’re seeking short stories from 500-2000 words, and flash fiction of less than 500 words. We’re seeking stories of Quakers and their experiences outside of what is true of the world we inhabit today. We welcome submissions from Friends and non-Friends alike. While we’re casting a wide net, we’re not the right market for erotica or extreme horror. We are also not a market for fan fiction or other works that use other folks’ intellectual property. We are a queer-affirming publication and will not be accepting any work based in homophobia, transphobia, or general racism, sexism, bigotry, or fascism. Fast Facts
- Submission length: 500-2000 words
- Submissions close August 18, 2025.
- For our fiction issues we use a slightly modified version of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Model Magazine Contract, Version 3.1.
- Pay: $0.12/word
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.
Quakers began with a critique of creeds—succinct, easily memorizable statements of faith that make most church's doctrine clear and tidy. What we believe has always been a slippery question, made more so by divisions and conflict within our religious society. Are there things that unite us in belief? Or is a search for this kind of unity impossible or even ill-advised in the twenty-first century? How do articulate and advance our beliefs even when they conflict with the beliefs of fellow Friends? How do we understand Friends whose beliefs differ?
Fast Facts
- Features run 1200-2500 words.
- Submissions close September 22, 2025.
- Questions? Email editors@friendsjournal.org
Learn more general information at Friendsjournal.org/submissions.