Official information
Overview
- Publication
- The Walrus
- Eligibility
- The official page does not restrict essays and features by nationality. Fiction and poetry guidelines separately say Canadian writers/poets. Do not collapse those rules.
- Writing
- Essay or reported feature
- Payment
- From $500 (short essays); features up to $1/word
- Currency
- CAD
- Payment conditions
- Official examples: short essays of around 1,000 words start at $500; long-form reported features pay up to $1/word. Currency is not labelled USD or CAD on that sentence; The Walrus is a Canadian magazine. Every commission is fact-checked.
- When paid
- Not publicly stated on the submissions page
- Word count
- Essays 1,000–4,000; reported features ~1,200–2,000; long-form 2,500–5,000
- Response time
- Not publicly stated
- Status
- Open
- Deadline
- Not publicly stated
- How to submit
- Email pitch (completed draft required for memoir)
- AI policy
- Not publicly stated
What they want
- A pitch with the story, original research, approach, format, length, and why you. Samples as links or attachments.
- Essays: focused argument, original and significant, deeper than a newspaper op-ed.
- Features: stories not subjects — characters, access, narrative.
- Memoir: completed draft only.
- Note if it is a simultaneous submission.
What they don't want
- A story The Walrus already covered.
- Fiction or poetry in this inbox. Fiction is Canadian writers, windows 1 Jan–28 Feb and 1 Jun–31 Jul only — closed on 19 August 2026.
Requirements
- Email pitch@thewalrus.ca
- Description, research, length, clips
Rights
Writers retain derivative rights. The page does not spell out first serial rights in more detail.
How to submit
- Read https://thewalrus.ca/about/submissions/.
- Email pitch@thewalrus.ca for essays and features.
- Fiction: fiction@thewalrus.ca only in the stated windows. Poetry: poetry@thewalrus.ca.
Official source
The Walrus — Submission Guidelines (official)
Last verified 2026-08-19. Always re-read the official page before you send work.
Information can change. Payment rates, submission requirements, eligibility, deadlines and response times are subject to change. Always check the publication's official guidelines before submitting. BRYME verifies listings as carefully as possible but does not guarantee acceptance or payment.