Your Summer Dispatches Start Here
Creative prompts for long days, open roads, and possibility
Summertime! Finally!
For most of us, there’s a shift in the schedule as timelines become more fluid. It’s that time when we face that delightful decision: whether we savor or squander the abundance of daylight. We know you’ve got stories to tell about long summer days (near or far), or expectations dashed by unforeseen circumstances.
We’re thinking about travelogues, getting outside, looking outward (and forward) to different landscapes, encounters with new places, epic journeys, and place-based transformations.
At its core, Fieldfare is about a strong sense of place. We want you to immerse us in your corner of the world—give us main character energy, not just a backdrop setting. Think about how a place affects your understanding, shifts your assumptions, stirs a deeper awareness, or satisfies your curiosity. We love unexpected angles, writers who notice what others miss, seeing familiar places in new ways, and locations not often written about.
And now, the prompts—we hope you find something below to get you started.
The Outsider Connection: Have you ever felt instantly at home somewhere unfamiliar?
Write about a location where you felt a surprising sense of belonging, despite having no history there. What created that connection?
A Map in Footsteps: A day shaped by movement, detail, and place.
Trace your movements across a landscape—through streets, trails, or pathways—and let the route, and what you notice along the way, tell the story.
A Place That Changed Everything: A journey that left you seeing the world, and yourself, differently.
Tell us about a place that made an indelible mark, where travel became personal transformation.
Summer on Repeat: A place you return to, again and again.
We’re looking for essays grounded in the rituals of return—where memory, tradition, and setting are deeply intertwined.
Under the Surface: Hidden histories that inform the present.
Dig into the past lives of a location—whether through folklore, ancestry, ruins, or traditions that continue to echo in the present.
Epic Days: When did everything go wonderfully right—or terribly wrong?
Share an account of a single, unforgettable day. Whether joyful, chaotic, or a combination of misadventure, let the experience bring the place to life.
Where the Light Falls: A visual portrait of place.
We’re seeking photo-led essays that capture the atmosphere through texture, tone, and movement. Let the visual experience take the lead.
Field Notes from the Fringe: Encounters at the edge of the map.
Write about a place that feels remote, liminal, or overlooked—a border town, a secluded island, a windswept desert—and what it reveals from the margins.
Expectations, Interrupted: Where did the reality of a place surprise you—for better or worse?
Explore a moment when your assumptions were upended. Tell us how the unexpected reveals something new about the place—and your own approach to travel.
Submissions are open through August 15, 2025.
This is the final set of prompts for pieces to be considered for inclusion in the next print edition of Fieldfare, currently scheduled for publication in October 2025. Keep in mind that we’ll be featuring guest contributions on our Substack regularly, so don’t wait too long!
You’ll find more details, including formatting guidelines, on our submissions page.
We look forward to reading your work!
Mendy & Skye
A reminder that there’s only one more week to submit your travel photos for our new Reader Photo Galleries. Check out our subscriber chat for all the info!
Loving these prompts ❤️