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Next Avenue Online Journal

Next Avenue is a nonprofit journalism website.

Next Avenue is extending an invitation to share your story (for those over the age of 50).

We are seeking original essays with an insightful perspective on aging.

Every day on Next Avenue, we tell the stories of what makes us different and where we share commonalities. It is our hope that readers will glimpse themselves in someone else’s story; find a nugget of information they need; or discover a fresh perspective on an issue relative to aging.

We’re looking for insightful essays that illuminate a truth or teach us something new.

As the pandemic persists, and life continues to swirl around all of us in unexpected ways, perspective has taken center stage. You may have discovered there has been more space for quiet, like the calm in the center of the storm. Perhaps the quiet is not always welcome, but it is there. In the quiet, opportunities for reflection, for finding perspective, can emerge.

Stories are waiting to be told.

From July 24 through August 31, 2020, readers age 50+ may submit a 500-word original essay focused on a topic or experience of your choosing. 

Beginning on July 24, you may submit your work here. One submission per person, please.

We’re looking for insightful essays that illuminate a truth or teach us something new.

Share a personal perspective with fellow readers about what it means to “act your age.” Tell us how you have found resilience in difficult times. How has growing older surprised you?

What is the story you want to tell?

The Next Avenue editorial team will select 12 essays, representing a diverse collective of voices, for publication on the site this fall.

The 500-word format should be strictly followed; longer essays will not be considered.

Be sure to check spelling, grammar and punctuation before submitting your essay.

Please give your piece a title.

We are looking for engaging and well-crafted personal narratives.

Next Avenue Editor’s note: The Joy of Writing by Elizabeth Berg, a New York Times bestselling author, is the first in a series of essays in conjunction with Next Avenue’s Telling Our Stories initiative, inviting readers to submit their own personal essays.

Elizabeth wrote on Facebook:

“Okay, all you would-be writers! This is your chance! Take a look at this invitation to submit essays. I would like to point out that this is exactly how I got my start as a published writer, by entering an essay contest. Good luck to all of you!”

Note from Marlene: You can’t win if you don’t enter.

Berg’s essay begins with:

“There I was, a nine-year-old girl with a bad pixie cut, sitting at my card table desk, drinking pickle juice and writing a poem meant to inspire rapture and envy in every reader’s heart. It wasn’t much of a poem, though I thought it was terrific. I mailed it to American Girl magazine and waited for my acceptance check (of about a million dollars, I figured) to arrive. Then I was going to buy my father a Cadillac.

The poem was swiftly (and rightly) rejected, and so wounded was I that it took another 25 years before I submitted anything. By then, I was a registered nurse wanting to find a job that would let me stay home with my daughters. So I entered an essay contest in Parents magazine, won it and went on to write essays for many magazines. I moved on to short stories, then books. I’ve now published over thirty books, I’m long past the usual retirement age, and still I keep on. Why?”  continue reading.

Note from Marlene: Even if you don’t submit your writing, there are a lot of ideas for writing prompts at Next Avenue.

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