Calling All English Majors
& All Lovers of Language and Literature
The English Major is a twice-monthly literary magazine podcast produced and hosted by Richard O Jones B.A., the narrator and executive producer of the True Crime Historian podcast.
The English Major is a celebration of language, literature, and all things liberal arts. We are looking for like-minded contributors who are interested in sharing their love of the language by reading their favorite poems, stories, and essays or their own compositions. Essays about word origins or historical linguistics are most welcome.
Two ways to contribute
A reading of one of your favorite classic poems or excerpt from a classic novel, short story, or essay; preferably but not necessarily related to an upcoming themed episode*.
A reading of your own composition.
Three Steps to contribute
The easiest way is to record yourself on your smartphone. If you have more sophisticated means you’ll know what they are, so by all means go for a good production.
But if you have a smartphone or a pad, it probably has a voice recording app on it, or if not, you can download one from Apple or Google Play. I use Easy Voice Recorder.
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Find a quiet spot. Inside your car is good if you’re on a quiet street or in a park and don't run a fan or the engine.
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Hit "RECORD" (the red button), say your name and the title of the work you are going to read. Then read it. Don’t put your mouth too close to the device's microphone and don’t yell at it. Just hold it a foot from your face and read in your best reading voice.
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When you are done recording, use the app’s “Share” feature to email the file to theenglishmajor@gmail.com.
That’s all there is to it!
Please limit your recording to 10 minutes. I may occasionally use longer high-quality recordings, but query first with a proposal and a sample.
The work must have been published before 1924 unless you have written permission from the copyright holder or it is an original composition.
Recordings used in the podcast will pay $10.
Recordings not used in the podcast may be published on The English Major Patreon page as free bonus content.
Episode Themes
1 Fourteen Sonnets
Deadline August 19, 2020
Premieres September 2, 2020
2 Everything Alice
Deadline September 2
Premieres September 16
3 Edgar Allan Poe
Deadline September 30
Premieres October 7
4 The World's a Stage
Deadline October 7
Premieres October 21
5 Early Americana
Deadline October 21
Premieres November 4
6 Journeys
Deadline November 4
Premieres November 18
7 American Originals:
Walt Whitman & Emily Dickinson
Deadline November 18
Premieres December 2
8 Hitting the Funny Bone
Deadline December 2
Premieres December 16
9 On the High Seas:
Sailing, Whaling, and Pirates
Deadline December 23
Premieres January 6, 2021
10 Love!
Deadline January 6
Premieres January 20