Common Questions
A few things readers and contributors ask before sharing a folly confession or citing one of our essays in their own work.
We look for stories with a clear arc: a decision made in good faith, a misstep with real consequences, and a lesson that reaches beyond the original context. A blunder that only embarrassed one person rarely makes the cut. We want failures that changed how a field thinks, or that reveal something uncomfortable about how we all work.
Yes. We publish reader-submitted confessions in our monthly salon and occasionally feature longer versions as standalone essays. Submissions should be honest, specific, and focused on what the experience taught you. We edit for clarity but never flatten the voice of the person who lived through the mistake.
Each long-form essay is built from primary sources where they exist—engineering reports, court records, contemporary newspaper accounts, and letters. We cite these in the text and flag any point where historians disagree. When a detail is disputed, we say so rather than smoothing it into a cleaner narrative.
Educators and facilitators are welcome to print and share individual essays for group discussion, provided the source is credited and the material is not resold. For course packs or institutional use, reach out and we will work out terms that respect the writers' labour.
A small group meets online to dissect one member's recent misstep in a structured, supportive conversation. We spend the first half understanding what happened and the second half drawing out what it suggests about the person's working habits. Attendance is capped so everyone gets time to speak. No one leaves feeling smaller than when they arrived.
Always. If you spot an error in an essay, or you have a primary document that adds context to a story we have covered, send it our way. We issue corrections prominently and update the online text with a note explaining the change. A publication about failure should be willing to admit its own.
References & Voices
Our essays on creative failure have found a home with designers, engineers, writers, and bakers who believe a well-told blunder is worth more than a flawless portfolio. Here is what a few of them have shared.
"The piece on the Pisa tower reframed how I talk to my architecture students about foundations. They stopped seeing the tilt as a failure and started asking what a building can teach us when it refuses to stand straight."
Marta Ellison
Professor of Architecture, Cape Town
"I sent the molasses flood essay to my entire project team before a big launch. It is the best argument I have found for slowing down and testing assumptions, wrapped in a story nobody can forget."
Daniel Okafor
Engineering Lead, Johannesburg
"The spaghetti tree hoax essay made me rethink how I teach media literacy. My students were genuinely surprised by how easily the public was fooled in 1957—and how little has changed since."
Priya Naidoo
High School History Teacher, Durban
"Ned's Folly gave me permission to admit that my best project started as a complete disaster. The essays read like letters from people who have been there—because they have."