Call for Content Issue 56: PLEASURE
Contributions are sought for short articles (1,000 words or less) with strong visual content, as well as photo and image essays, for the Modernist Society's magazine, the modernist.
Each year we adopt a letter of the alphabet and for the 2026 series we are embracing the letter ‘P’.
For our Winter 2026 issue of the magazine, our aim is to lift everyone out of the winter doldrums by focusing on PLEASURE—places and things that make us feel good. This might take the form of cultural pursuits and spaces: theatres, concert venues, galleries, pavilions, cinemas.
Maybe sport is more your bag? Think modernist leisure centres, swimming baths, stadia, lidos. Or, if you’re fascinated by pleasure beaches, theme parks, arcades or funfairs, get in touch. Not forgetting those twentieth century favourites: ice cream parlours, milk bars, cafés or kiosks!
How about playful things? We love games and toys. Have fun! Maybe you’re itching to write a piece on an exquisite coffee machine, piece of furniture, or another object that brings PLEASURE to the everyday?
We are open to suggestions, so if you’ve got an idea for an article that relates to PLEASURE, we’d love to hear from you—so long as it is firmly focused on twentieth-century architecture and/or design.
Please send proposals directly to editor@modernist-society.org by Thursday 25th September 2025 (5PM GMT). We kindly ask that you refrain from sending full articles at this stage: a brief paragraph and/or a few images outlining your idea is all we need.
We aim to contact all those who submit proposals by Thursday 2nd October 2025 (5PM GMT). If your proposal is accepted final articles and accompanying images will be required by Thursday 30th October 2025 (5PM). The issue is due for publication in February 2026. See https://the-modernist.org/collections/the-modernist-magazine for previous issues of the modernist magazine.
Please note, the modernist magazine is a not for profit social enterprise run on a shoestring, and relies on the generosity of like minded people and fellow travellers to share their ideas, words and pictures with us and our readers. There is unfortunately no budget available to pay fees for contributions as articles and photographs are requested in a spirit of commumity and friendly collaboration.
CONTRIBUTOR TERMS AND CONDITIONS
It is the responsibility of the contributor to ensure that any content submitted to the modernist does not infringe legal rights. This includes submitting work that; could be libellous or maliciously false; be obscene or indecent; infringe copyright, moral rights, database rights, trade mark rights, design rights, rights in passing off, or other intellectual property rights; infringe rights of confidence, rights of privacy, or rights under data protection legislation; constitute negligent advice; constitute an incitement to commit a crime; be in contempt of court, or in breach of a court order; be in breach of racial or religious hatred or discrimination legislation; be blasphemous; or be in breach of official secrets legislation. All contributors must obtain permission to reproduce images and any other non-original content prior to submission.
Image credits
Sydney Opera House, Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Sydney (AU), Opera House -- 2019 -- 3054” / CC BY-SA 4.0
Saltdean Lido by Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sands Hotel and Casino c. 1967 Desert Supply/Curt Teich, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Arcade, Stephen Marland
Kosmos-Bar, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L0721-0337 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons
