The April edition of Discourse is here to celebrate the complicated relationships we have with our families. We want to hear stories about family secrets, moments of realizing where you come from, tales of trying to become something new. In short, please submit your best stories, poems, and essays about what family means to you.

We are who we are because of our family. Quite literally, they are in our blood. For better or worse they are a part of us. Our childhood memories come from our family. They are the nucleus from which we grow. That doesn’t mean, all the stories we have are pleasant. Our families have the uncanny ability to both get under our skin and let us know we are not alone.

Discourse started in July, 2023 as part of a 10-year dream of its founder and editor-in-chief, Chase Cartwright. The name comes from the idea of spreading information. It all starts with a discourse between a performer and an audience. The performer creates and the audience interprets and somewhere in between purpose is formed. All lessons, all morals, all knowledge comes from this discourse. At the same time, sometimes this message falls off a predictable track. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, sometimes it even makes more meaningful.

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.

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