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The Skinny is an independent, creative company that seeks to connect curious readers with interesting artists and events. We aim to offer freedom within your role to work towards our company goals and business vision.

gnaw magazine: Call for pitches
Emerging Writers Open Call with Edinburgh Art Festival
Contributors

gnaw magazine: Call for pitches

gnaw is a new food magazine from the team at The Skinny – we want to take a new look at Scottish food, and we want your pitches…

The theme for Issue 1 is roots: where our food comes from, the stories behind our favourite places, and our own histories with food and drink. What is the origin story behind your favourites, and what makes them important to you? We want to explore ideas that push the edges at this idea of ‘roots’ in food in fun, exciting and/ or unexpected ways. We especially want to hear from new and underheard perspectives on food.

We’re also very open to pitches directly about potatoes, carrots, or any other tubers or root veg.

Send your pitches (up to 100w, along with a published or unpublished writing sample) to food@theskinny.co.uk by 29 Feb. This is a paid writing opportunity – fees will be c.10p/word, so £80 for a 800-word piece, £100 for 1000 words, and so on. Exact fees and word counts will be agreed with commissioned authors at the point of commissioning.

The Skinny x Edinburgh Art Festival: Emerging Writers Programme

We are once again teaming up with Edinburgh Art Festival to commission four emerging writers and critics based in Scotland to write about the EAF 2024 programme. Each writer will be paid £150 to write about two projects from the 2024 edition of the festival. These will be published, in print and online at theskinny.co.uk, and be supported by a group session/or crit with independent writer and The Skinny’s art editor, Harvey Dimond, and EAF team members.

Each candidate must:

– Send a pitch about EAF24 that you would be interested in writing about: we have no fixed ideas about what these writings should look like, just that they engage with works presented as part of the festival – be it responsive, reflective, critical or poetic!
– Demonstrate a commitment to writing about the visual arts in Scotland.
– Send 2 writing samples

The Award is for Scottish-based writers who identify as being from a background currently underrepresented in Scottish cultural journalism. We consider these backgrounds to be:
– Disabled, d/Deaf, and neurodiverse writers
– Writers of marginalised genders and/or LGBTQ+
– Working class or socio-economically marginalised backgrounds
– Black, Asian and Global Majority writers
– Writers from rural areas.
Please contact eleanor@edinburghartfestival.com if you would like to discuss this criteria further.

For more details and to apply, visit the Edinburgh Art Festival website. Applications close at midday on Fri 15 Mar.

CONTRIBUTORS (Writers, Illustrators, Photographers)

The Skinny is your magazine: a collaborative effort, it’s put together by people who love their region and its culture, for people who love their region and its culture – and our contributors are known for having something new to say as well as a passion for their areas of expertise.

We are looking for writers, illustrators and photographers on an ongoing basis to help make The Skinny an informed, inspiring, witty and opinionated collection of the voices and talents that makes Scotland such an exciting place to be.

With 35,000+ copies distributed to more than 650 venues, The Skinny gives writers a platform to get their voice heard, and illustrators and photographers an opportunity to showcase their work and build their portfolio.

Pitching to The Skinny: Before you pitch your article ideas, we first recommend reading this pitching guide, which gives clear advice on writing a successful, eye-catching pitch to The Skinny and answers many questions you might have about the process.

If you’re a writer: Please introduce yourself to the relevant section editor – see contact details here – and send them two or three samples of your work.

If you’re an illustrator or photographer: Please email jobs@theskinny.co.uk with the subject line 'Contributor: illustrator' or 'Contributor: photographer' and let us know your area of expertise/interest (e.g. perhaps you’re a fashion photographer, or would like to try more live music photography) – and please link us to your portfolio where possible rather than attaching large files.