READERS’ VOICES:

At the Providence Eye, we value feedback and contributions from our readers. If you would like to respond to something you’ve read in the Eye, please consider submitting a Letter to the Editor to voices@pvdeye.org.

Or, if you have an essay or op-ed idea of your own about life in the city, we would love to review it for publication at voices@pvdeye.org.

Before submitting a Letter or First Person essay, please read the following guidelines.

FOR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

-Include your full name and neighborhood with your letter. (If you live outside of Providence, please mention the city or town where you live.) The Eye does not publish anonymous letters.

-Cite the title, author, and date of the article you are responding to in your letter. Please be as specific as possible in your response.

-Letters should be no longer than 500 words. If you have more to say, consider submitting a First Person  essay.

-Letters are subject to editing for clarity, brevity, and accuracy by the Eye’s editorial team.

-Submission of a letter does not guarantee publication, though we strive to include the voices of as many readers, and reflect as many opinions, as possible.

FOR FIRST PERSON ESSAYS:

The Eye is dedicated to reflecting Providence in all of its diversity. To that end, we welcome first-person essays about Providence life. We seek a variety of styles and formats: an argument about a policy issue affecting the city, a personal story about life in the city, a message to share with your fellow Providence residents, an essay about some aspect of the city’s past. The possibilities are wide open. We envision this – much like a daily newspaper’s Opinion page – as a place for the city’s residents to speak to each other, share ideas, and describe their unique experience of life in this city.

We accept both fully written essays or ideas for essays you would like to discuss with an editor before writing.

GUIDELINES:

-Essays should aim to be between 700 and 800 words, and no longer than 1,200 words.

-Essays should describe, or relate directly to, life in Providence. Essays about state, regional, or national issues are acceptable if they primarily discuss those issues through a Providence lens.

-Essays can be personal, persuasive, informative, or otherwise. We simply want to hear your perspective on life in Providence, in as clear, succinct, specific, and well-organized form as possible.

-The Eye does not publish self-promotion or essays that are simply advertisements for a business or service.

-Please refrain from ad hominem attacks, that is, attacks on whoever delivers an argument, not the argument itself.

-Essays must adhere to journalistic standards of truth and accuracy.

-Essays may require some editing from an Eye editor before publication. This may be an interactive process, involving more than one draft.

-We are especially looking for ideas, stories, and arguments that aren’t being heard elsewhere in the city’s media.

-If you have an idea for an essay, but would like help turning it into a finished piece, feel free to contact us at voices@pvdeye.org.