Submit Your Work
Western Friend magazine is dedicated to bringing Friends in the West news and stories by and about people they know. That’s a big mission! With Friends in Pacific, North Pacific and Intermountain Yearly Meetings scattered from Bellingham to San Diego and Kauai to Colorado Springs, we rely on Friends everywhere to contribute their story leads, art and writing talents to the magazine.
Please visit our Submission Guidelines page for more information on what we seek and how to submit articles.
About our Regular Columns
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Regular Columns
Let It Shine!
This column appears in every issue of Western Friend, and shares bright ideas from monthly, quarterly, or yearly meetings in the West. Recent articles have highlighted Sacramento Friends Meeting’s leading to create a scholarship fund for local undocumented college students, North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s service to geographically isolated Friends through the Outreach & Visitation Committee, and the activities and offerings of Pacific Yearly Meeting’s vibrant Children’s Religious Education Committee.
Do you have an idea for a Let It Shine! column? We’d love to hear it!
Friends in 350 Words
This column will appear on an as-available basis. Thirty or so years ago, when Shirley Ruth was editor of the publication then known as Friends Bulletin, she regularly ran a column titled Friends in 300 Words, which gave many different Friends a small but sturdy soapbox for sharing their personal experiences with the Spirit, be they leadings, ideas about the nature of the Divine, inspired ministry in written form, or reflections on life as a Friend. Since then, Howard Brinton’s classic history of the Religious Society of Friends, Friends for 300 Years, has been revised and re-released as Friends for 350 Years. Thanks to that, writers today receive an extra fifty words.
Help us make this column spring to life once again, and send us your 350 words of wisdom!
Book Reviews
One of the ways Western Friend nurtures the spiritual life of Friends is by sharing news and reviews of books that would be of interest to other Friends. We especially love to run reviews of books written by Friends in the West, particularly on topics of interest to Friends. Reviews of books of note by Quakers or other authors, regardless of their origins, are also very welcome. Reviews are succinct- no more than 300 words. If you would like to be contacted when review books are available, or if you’ve read a book you really think Friends ought to know about, please contact us!
Memorial Minutes
Western Friend shares the remarkable lives of Friends who have passed in the Memorial Minutes section. If your meeting has a Memorial Minute to share, please email it to editor at westernfriend dot com.
Annual Themed Issues
September/October:
The Annual Sessions Issue
This issue is devoted to coverage of the Annual Sessions of Intermountain, North Pacific, and Pacific Yearly Meetings. Color photos, keynote speeches, minutes of concern, and more.
December:
The Arts Issue
While every issue of Western Friend is open to the arts, the December issue in particular lifts up the creative talents of Friends in the West. Poetry, artwork, photography, and articles about the intersections between creative expression and life in the Light.