Welcome to the Kitchen - Submission Guidelines
What I'm cooking and the groceries you can help out with~
Okay, I will now stop with the terrible food analogies.
tl;dr - SUBMIT YOUR FOOD WRITING. What kind of food writing? Read on. Or if you’re like me, skim.
My name is Padya Paramita. I’m a 28 year old writer and foodie, born and raised in Bangladesh, based in New Haven, CT. I love eating biryani, watching food videos, and making pesto.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved food. I made up soda commercials in my head and read every cookbook in my house from cover to cover. I made the microwave have a mini-explosion (no one was hurt) trying to bake a lemon cake at 10 years old. I believe that made me stop trying to cook for several years but I continued to watch endless cooking shows. Point is, I’m never not thinking about food.
Upon finishing my MFA and looking for new ways to occupy my time and new ways to connect with the world of writing, I find myself wanting to turn to food writing. But with a world of day jobs and meaningless internet scrolls, I can’t always pour out the contents of my brain onto paper easily. So, this I want this site to feature more than my own food writing.
Plus, food is meant to be shared. (Sorry I lied about no more food analogies).
Introducing We Have Food At Home. This is a blog / online literary journal / experiment of my heart and stomach / anything I/you/we want. And I really do want to hear from you.
WHFAH accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry featuring personal stories about food from anyone anywhere in the world at any age.
It doesn’t have to be about food made or cooked at home—as long as you find home in the food!
The plan is to roll out one piece a week, but might increase if it turns out I’m somehow overflowing in submissions. I hope to pay each contributor—a small amount for now, but hopefully I can expand the budget. And I am happy to accommodate any needs for anonymity.
Examples of content I’m looking for:
Personal essay about your favorite restaurant
A short story involving a dish that means a lot to you
A poem that is in recipe or menu form
… anything as long as there is a touch of food and you (be creative, push borders!)
Examples of content I’m not looking for:
Just a recipe. A recipe can be included in the piece—perhaps how you came up with your favorite recipe, even—but it shouldn’t be solely a recipe.
Restaurant reviews - same as others.
Right now, there is no word limit. There are very few limitations. I just want to hear about what you love about food. The work should be previously unpublished. If previously published, it should have some difference from the original published piece + permission from the original publication.
You can submit using this Google Form. I look forward to hearing from you!
Finally, some ways you can support this project:
Subscribe! All blog contents will be free.
Become a paid subscriber — this helps me pay contributors. Paid subscribers will also receive a weekly post of what I have been cooking and eating each week, plus food media recommendations!
Submit!!!! I really want your work. When you submit, there is an option to donate any amount you wish.
Spread the word - to friends, fellow writers, neighbors, partners, students, anyone you know who loves food and wants to write about it!
That is it for now. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey. Not sure where it will go, but I hope we make yummy food along the way!
Are you still accepting submissions?
I just stumbled across this publication from another newsletter I subscribe to and this feels so yummy! I look forward to feasting and contributing to an array of prose picnic platters!