Essays on creative work, attention and the everyday objects around us.
Before the first sentence
A blank page is not always the beginning. This morning the first useful line arrived halfway to the corner shop, when I had stopped trying to write it. I put the bread down and made a note on the back of the receipt.
Learning to leave a little space
I used to fill every margin. Then I found an old notebook with half a page left empty after a difficult question. The space felt less like unfinished work than an invitation to return with something I could not yet know.
The things we keep repairing
The chair has a loose leg again. I turn it over, find the old repair and recognise my own impatient knot of string. Keeping a familiar thing asks us to look at it twice: once for what has failed, and again for what is still worth keeping.
An independent point of view.
The Independent publishes considered essays with room for uncertainty, observation and a different angle on familiar things. Each edition is deliberately small enough to read slowly.
Between the lines
A visual study of reading, paper and the space around an idea.
A note for contributors
Start with the idea before sending a finished piece.
The subject
A clear observation or question suited to the publication.
The approach
Why the story matters and how you intend to explore it.
The conversation
Commission terms, rights and timing are agreed before work is accepted.
Reader perspectives
Feedback from readers and publishing partners.
What stood out: a focused selection of essays about making and everyday life.
Illustrative feedback exampleSample wording to demonstrate this component, not a customer review.Your new space starts without testimonials. Add genuine feedback with permission.
A thought worth following?
Editorial and contribution enquiries.
Pitch an essay
Send a short outline, your proposed approach and a brief introduction.
Example enquiry form. Enable your Contact inbox to receive private messages on your own space.
