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Writers’ Guidelines

In Print

Departments

  • UpFront, our front-of-the-book. Currently all UpFront departments are written by staff.
  • Pursuits, a 750-word profile with relating sidebar of a Middlebury alumnus/a who is pursuing a career or interest that is “off-the-beaten” path
  • In the Queue, reviews of creative works (books, film, television programs music) created by Middlebury alumni.

Features

Ranging in length from 1,500 to 4,000 words (or longer), our feature stories address a variety of issues that impact and/or appeal to readers with an interest in Middlebury and/or higher education. Feature stories may be profiles of alumni, faculty, or students—of the undergraduate College or any of our graduate programs; they may be issue pieces that address hot topics in higher education; they may be in-depth examinations of Middlebury initiatives and programs that are having an impact on the on the world at large; they may be essays that illustrate Middlebury’s unique setting; they may be first-person essays or stories that shed light on the life of a student or alumnus/a.

Back Page Essay

The 600-word concluding essay, titled Road Taken, is a forum for personal thought and experience. Subjects may be serious or light; topical or esoteric.

Please Note: Publication of the print edition of Middlebury Magazine is currently paused due to COVID-19 budget pressures; we expect to return to print later in 2021. We are maintaining a robust publishing schedule for our digital presence, which you probably already know since you are reading this right now. Read on for guidelines on pitching the digital mag.

Nuts and Bolts

When pitching feature or department stories, we prefer that you submit a detailed query letter along with published clips. For the back page essay, it’s appropriate to submit a completed manuscript.

Before submitting anything, please become familiar with the Magazine‘s voice and tone. You may request a copy by e-mailing us at middmag@middlebury.edu.

Please keep in mind the difference between a story and a topic. We like stories that have central characters and that tell us something we don’t know. Substance is good; so are stories that make us care about the subject matter. Controversy and humor have their place in this magazine, as well.

We buy first serial and electronic rights. Payment is made upon acceptance.

Submissions and queries may be e-mailed to middmag@middlebury.edu in Word or RTF format. The magazine’s postal address is Middlebury Magazine, 152 College Street, Middlebury, VT  05753

In Pixels

Same guidelines as above for pitching Features or Pursuits pieces. If you have a Road Taken essay in mind, a draft manuscript would be preferred.

Our weekly digest, Dispatches, is written by staff. However, we will accept pitches for our Reviews blog. Please follow the same guidelines as for the print magazine.

Our How Did You Get Here series is produced by the Middlebury Fellows in Narrative Journalism. If you are an undergradate student and are interested in applying for the year-long fellowship, please contact middmag@middlebury.edu.

If you are a video or podcast producer and have an idea for a podcast, video series, or video feature, please pitch your ideas to us at middmag@middlebury.edu.

Recent Stories

Features

A Dog’s Life

A filmmaker takes us into the minds of the animals who are part of our families.

By Sara Thurber Marshall
Photographs by Randal Ford and Steve James
April 4, 2025

On Parenting

Caitlin McCormick Murray ’05 has some thoughts on what it means to be a good mom.

By Frederick Reimers ’93
Photograph by Justin Patterson
March 15, 2025

Object Lessons

Curator Rebekah Irwin sees Middlebury's Special Collections as a laboratory, where antiquities meet utility.

By Caroline Crawford
Photograph by Adam Detour
August 23, 2024

Seeing the Forest for the Trees

How one alumna is embracing a distinctive reforesting technique that promotes accelerated ecological benefits.

By Elena Valeriote, MA Italian '19 in conversation with Hannah Lewis '97
Illustrations by Karlotta Freier
August 16, 2024

Dispatches

Thanks for the Memories

A student-curated exhibit explores the Middlebury experience through more than a century of undergrad scrapbooks.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photographs by Todd Balfour
May 5, 2025

Fear Factor

A scientific model—and work of art—warns of the next pandemic.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photograph by Jonathan Blake
April 4, 2025

From NESCAC to NFL?

Thomas Perry '25 has a shot at playing football on Sundays.

By Matt Jennings
Photograph by Rodney Wooters
March 11, 2025

Words in Space

A NASA interpreter bridges the language gap, one mission at a time.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Illustrations by Davide Bonazzi
February 15, 2025

Keeping Her Stick on the Ice

An alumna’s passion for ice hockey puts her in the record books.

By Sara Thurber Marshall
Illustration by Connie Noble
January 26, 2025

Watch Party

Henry Flores ’01 builds a community of collectors.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photograph by Hubert Kolka
January 15, 2025

A Man of Letters

The art of letter writing may be in decline, but one alumnus has kept it alive in a unique way.

By Sara Thurber Marshall
Photograph used with the permission of Melvin B. Yoken
October 9, 2024

If the Sneaker Fits

Adam King ’05 brings an Asian aesthetic—and celebrates Asian American culture—with his startup, 1587 Sneakers.

By Jessie Raymond ’90
Photograph by Sasha Greenhalgh
August 22, 2024

Jacob Shammash and the Gift of the Torah

A story of two journeys.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photographs by Paul Dahm
April 21, 2024
View All

Essays

Shear Madness

A yarn shop owner with no livestock experience takes an unlikely detour.

By Lindsey Spoor, MA French ’08
Illustration by Ben Kirchner
April 4, 2025

Q&A

37 Minutes with Lorraine Besser

The professor and philosopher talks about the three elements of the “good life”—especially the one happiness culture overlooks.

By Jessie Raymond '90
Photograph by Oliver Parini
April 4, 2025

Quotation

A summer immersed in a language can do wonders, as veterans of Middlebury College’s famous language-learning program can attest. The lockdown is clearly going to amount to the equivalent of about two summers, and there are mini-Middleburys happening in millions of houses worldwide.”

—John McWhorter, writing “The Coronavirus Generation Will Use Language Differently” in the Atlantic.

Podcasts

The Exit Interview with Middlebury President Laurie L. Patton

With her presidency at Middlebury coming to an end, the host of this podcast becomes its final guest.

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
December 18, 2024

The Monterey Trialogue: A Distinct Take on Superpower Diplomacy featuring Anna Vassilieva and Peter Slezkine

Our guests for episode six of season three are Anna Vassilieva and Peter Slezkine, the folks behind the Monterey Trialogue—which brings together leading experts from the United States, China, and Russia for in-depth discussions of their countries' interests and concerns in the vital regions of the world.

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
July 19, 2024

Education as the Great Equalizer, featuring Annie Weinberg ’10

Our guest for episode five of season three is Annie Weinberg '10, the founder and executive director of Alexander Twilight Academy, an educational catalyst program in Boston, Massachusetts, that supports students from under-resourced backgrounds.

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
March 14, 2024

Review

Editors’ Picks for March and April

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
April 10, 2025

Editors’ Picks for January and February

By Middlebury Magazine Staff
February 14, 2025

Long Live Brazenhead

Out of a secret bookstore comes a unique literary review.

By Sara Thurber Marshall
Photograph by Todd Balfour
January 13, 2025

Videos

Creating Community Through Hip Hop

For three days in March, the sounds, styles, and fashions of global hip hop converged on Middlebury for an electric symposium.

By Jordan Saint-Louis '24
April 17, 2023

Pomp and Unusual Circumstances

As viewed from above.

By Chris Spencer
June 1, 2021

Davis the Owl Returns Home

Having recovered from life-threatening injuries, a beautiful winged creature is released to its natural habitat.

By Andrew Cassell
April 22, 2021
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