Hello! Thank you for being interested in writing for The Strand! We are taking pitches for our December issue centred on Home. Feel free to review the pitches from each of our sections, and claim any you’re interested in by emailing the attached section editor. Our pitch list is meant to be guiding and generative, not prohibitive, if you have an idea not listed, feel free to reach out to the section editor, or email [email protected] with any questions.
Pitches are open to any and all students, of any level of experience, confidence, and access (or lack thereof). The Masthead and Section Editors will readily and enthusiastically help contributors in reaching out for interviews, guiding their article structure, finding resources, and solving any other relevant issue!
When emailing a section editor to claim a pitch make sure to include:
- HED (the main title)
- DEK (the subtitle)
- Description (let them know what you want to write / the angle you will take with the article)
- Visual Request (what photo or illustration you would like attached to the article)
- Word Count (how many words you plan to write)
Pitches are accepted on a rolling basis, with articles due on Sunday, November 24th!
News
- Updates on Vic’s divestment from fossil fuels
- Victoria University’s new federation agreement
Claim a pitch or send your own to Karim at [email protected]
Opinions
- The Politics of Belonging:
Examine how marginalized groups struggle to find a sense of home and safety, whether in college, cities, or society at large. - Found Homes vs. Born Homes:
Weigh the value of the families we are born into versus the chosen communities we build and consider which feel more like “home.” - The Borderless Home: Redefining Belonging as Immigrants:
Explore the idea that home for immigrants is rarely a singular place—it becomes a blend of cultures, memories, and identities. Reflect on how immigrants often live in the liminal space between where they come from and where they are, constantly negotiating belonging. - The Privilege of Feeling at Home:
Discuss how the feeling of “home” is a privilege many take for granted, particularly for immigrants, refugees, and displaced individuals.
Claim a pitch or send your own to Romina at [email protected]
Science
- What does home mean?
The word home means a lot of different things to different people. Your article can dive into the psychology behind feeling home, how it differs between people, etc. - Where science finds its home
Science has historically been thought to manifest in places of academia (universities, colleges, private research foundations). However, science takes its form in a variety of other places, whether this be your actual home or elsewhere. This article can explore what home means in science and how historical and current prejudices have determined where science takes place. - H5N1 – combatting misinformation
H5N1, or bird flu, is currently flooding the news cycle. Unfortunately, this also means rampant misinformation being spread. This article can focus on this current issue, what it means for poultry/cattle farms, and how you can protect yourself from home. - The influence of home
It is well-known that the environment has an impact on humans, just as much as our genes. This article can examine this idea of gene x environment interaction and how this can affect our lives.
Claim a pitch or send your own to Silas at [email protected]
Poetry
Sigurd Burckhardt said something: “drive a wedge between words and their meanings, lessen as much as possible their designatory force and thereby inhibit our all too ready flight from them to the things they point to.” That means, take twenty minutes to write a paragraph that you can live inside. Write specifically from the flow of the metropolis. James Joyce and Ian Sinclair are good examples. Our cities are so many superimpositions. Our bodies produce so much space. I’d recommend strolling and writing. Write about the atmosphere with normal eyes and common and accidental beauty. It’s about distance, different skeletons reassembling themselves differently in different places: buildings, fungal growths, economies, hydrogen bonds, nervous systems. It’s about surfaces and structures.
Claim a pitch or send your own to Patrick at [email protected]
Stranded (Humour)
- Toronto Real Estate
Finding a place in Toronto can make you desperate… but exactly how desperate? Write a series of increasingly concerning apartment listings. Is there a picture of a “beautifully textured” wall that the landlord claims is a contemporary art piece but looks suspiciously like an army of miscellaneous bugs with a couple of layers of paint on top? Does the spacious and affordable apartment just come with one teeny-tiny catch (it’s haunted by an angry and vengeful spirit)? - UofT Residence Horror Stories
For those of us living in residence, I think we can all agree that the dorm bathrooms are a warzone. What was the incident in your dorm building? Feel free to include pictures of any dining hall horrors (they’re worth a thousand words, after all!) - Dear Stranded: AITA for trying to kick out my (21M) roommate (3007M) because we have different lifestyles?
My new roommate always comes back to the apartment in the middle of the night. He’s not quiet at all and he’s always waking me up! I get it if it’s the weekend, but going out every single night on a weekday is just a lot. Whenever I come back from work, he has all of the blinds closed and loudly shrieks when I try to open them (dramatic much)? He’s always slurping this red health drink and it’s taking up a whole shelf in our fridge (I confronted him about it and he said it was a cultural thing and I wouldn’t get it). Am I the asshole? - That one UofT Reddit post where someone claimed they lived in Robarts Commons
LIVING IN ROBARTS COMMONS FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK?!?! (I GOT CAUGHT…) (NOT CLICKBAIT!!!)
Claim a pitch or send your own to Audrey at [email protected]