Final day for North State Voices applicants

The Enterprise-Record is accepting applications for our next round of “North State Voices” columnists.

Your deadline to enter is today — Friday, Dec. 3.

This weekly feature has been a popular part of our Opinion page for nearly 20 years, and with 2021 coming to an end, we’re looking ahead to who is going to be a part of the page in 2022.

North State Voices runs on our Opinion page every Thursday, with columnists taking turns. So, each columnist ends up writing 13 columns in one calendar year.

We want your words on things that impact your life on a day-to-day (or, even year-to-year) basis. We really don’t need more viewpoints on Washington or Joe Biden or national politics — we have plenty of those elsewhere on our Opinion pages, from a variety of sources. (That’s not to say we wouldn’t listen if you have a particularly powerful personal story about how something on that level has impacted your life, but, generally speaking, we’re more interested in real-life, first-person stories.)

The application process is quite simple. First, put together a cover letter, telling us a little about yourself and why you’re interested in becoming a North State Voices columnist. We’ll also need two sample columns — approximately 600 words apiece — as well as at least three other column topics you’d like to tackle during the year.

That’s it. You can email your submission to voices@ chicoer.com. Just write “North State Voices” in the subject line. Please send the entry as straight text in your email; no attachments.

You can also mail your application packet to: North State Voices, Enterprise-Record/Mercury-Register, P.O. Box 9, Chico, CA, 95927.

Again, the deadline is this Friday.