July 9 will mark the 25th anniversary of the release of Forrest Gump. For better or worse, the movie is where a lot of us learned what we didn’t get to in history class: desegregation, 1960s counterculture, the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the AIDS epidemic.
During the first week of July, we will host a roundtable of sorts on the meaning and influence of Forrest Gump. We are soliciting 250–300 word mini-essays, preferably focusing on a single theme, scene, character, or aspect of the film. Feel free to bring in your own personal history, and don’t worry if you’re not an expert on, say, the 1960s or the Vietnam War.
Limit your pitch to ONE SENTENCE (not including a short note on who you are, what your background is, and links to previous writing).
We will pay $60 for each essay.
Email your pitch to pitches@contingentmag.org by June 15. Please include GUMP in the subject line.