Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and gigs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • First up: Washington City Paper is planning a fiction issue and is “looking for previously unpublished stories that are in some way of and about the District.” Contributors will be paid. Deadline: November 1, 2012.
  • Next: “Harper Voyager, HarperCollins’ science fiction and fantasy imprint, will accept complete and unagented manuscripts for two weeks. rom October 1 until October 14, authors from around the world can send their manuscripts….” Find out more at GalleyCat.
  • New contest! The Financial Times/Bodley Head Essay Prize is “aimed at attracting future talent in long-form essay writing from around the world. Open to writers [over 18 and] up to the age of 35, the competition offers a £1,000 prize for the winning entry as well as an e-publication with the Bodley Head and a mentoring session with an FT or Bodley Head writer….Judges will consider dynamic, authoritative and lively essays of no more than 3,500 words. In keeping with the ethos of both sponsors essays can address any topic – from finance to history, current affairs or scientific discovery – the key component being quality writing.” Deadline is November 18, 2012. No entry fee.
  • Two new calls from Descant magazine (Canada). One is for an issue that will feature “graphic literature” (“cartooning”), with a deadline of June 7, 2013. The other is for an issue themed “Berlin,” with a deadline of August 16, 2013. “If accepted, it may take Descant up to 12 months to publish accepted works (occasionally longer, often shorter). Descant pays a $100 honourarium upon publication.”
  • Emory University Creative Writing Fellowship (Atlanta): “Two-year fellowship in poetry in lively undergraduate English/Creative Writing Program, beginning fall 2013. Load 2-1, all workshops; $30,000 salary, and health benefits. Required: MFA or Ph.D in last five years, with Creative Writing teaching experience. Desirable: record of publication, and secondary interests, such as creative nonfiction and working in archives. Fellows will give a public reading and have access to the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, a 75,000-volume rare and modern poetry library housed at Emory.” Deadline: November 16, 2012.
  • Northern Michigan University is advertising for an Assistant Professor, tenure-track position in creative writing: fiction “The ideal candidate will have a strong secondary emphasis in screenwriting and/or playwriting.”
  • “The Department of English at Coastal Carolina University invites applications for a tenure-track position in fiction at the Assistant Professor level. Our growing department seeks an experienced instructor with a fiction writing background to teach graduate-level classes in the M.A. in Writing program, undergraduate fiction workshops, introductory creative writing, and first-year composition. The new hire will also have the opportunity to work on Waccamaw, the department’s award-winning literary journal.”
  • Georgia College & State University is looking for an Assistant Professor of English (Creative Writing). “We seek a writer who has published at least one book of literary fiction and has additional publications in at least one other genre.”
  • Wright State University (Ohio) is advertising for a tenure-track assistant professor in Creative Writing (Poetry). “Preferred: secondary teaching interest and publication in creative non-fiction. Candidates with substantial graduate-level work in Disability Studies, Gender Studies, Postcolonial literature, or African-American literature are encouraged to apply.”
  • The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, a not-for-profit statewide educational granting agency, is seeking an associate editor for both Louisiana Cultural Vistas, the Endowment’s quarterly arts and culture print magazine, and KnowLA, the Digital Encyclopedia of Louisiana (www.knowla.org).
  • Friday Finds for Writers

    The weekly collection of writing-related reflections, news, and resources to read over the weekend.

  • Let’s begin with something that’s been making the e-rounds: Philip Roth sets the record straight on the inspiration behind the protagonist in The Human Stain. (You thought the character was based on Anatole Broyard? Think again.)
  • Next up: This interview with Sarah Davies includes some important questions every writer should ask before signing with an agent. (via @occasionallyzen)
  • Ever find yourself facing Twitter-related dilemmas? Thankfully, Nina Badzin will be writing a Writer Unboxed column to help guide and advise you.
  • I don’t know about you, but I’m always fascinated to learn why editors choose a particular piece. In this post, The Kenyon Review‘s David Lynn explains why KR chose Segun Alfolabi’s story “Ezekiel,” which appears in the fall 2012 issue.
  • It’s mid-month, which means it’s time for another installment of the Fiction Writers Review “First Looks” column, where I present intriguing about-to-be published works of fiction.
  • Have a great weekend, all. I’ll be busy celebrating Rosh Hashanah on Monday, but I’ll make sure there’s a post up for you nonetheless.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish literary news from around the Web.

  • First up: You still have a few days to enter a giveaway and (maybe) win a copy of Yuvi Zalkow’s A Brilliant Novel in the Works.
  • Next: This week saw the publication of Shani Boianjiu’s The People of Forever Are Not Afraid. Check out the thoughtful review up on the Jewish Book Council website. (And if you’re wondering why Boianjiu, an Israeli, wrote her debut book in English, here’s your answer.)
  • This week also brought us “Return to Fulda,” a beautiful essay by Kenneth R. Weinstein.
  • Exciting news about a new international Jewish artist retreat. And on a related note: Mazel Tov to the new LABA Artist Fellows.
  • In case you missed it: On my other blog, there’s an announcement about my first book review for the Jewish Review of Books.
  • New Yorkers: Mark your calendars for December 6, when the CUNY Graduate Center will host “Contemporary Jewish-American Writing: What Has Changed?” – an event featuring Edith Pearlman, Mikhal Dekel, Nancy K. Miller, and Judith Shulevitz
  • Shabbat shalom (and l’shanah tovah).

    Advice for Jewish Writers

    I receive a lot of email. Increasingly, many of these incoming messages are from writers whose work – fiction, poetry, or nonfiction – features Jewish themes or subjects. Frequently, these writers are asking varieties of the same question: Who will publish my work?

    Unfortunately, I’m not currently offering coaching or consulting services (if and when that situation changes, I’ll be sure to let you all know!), and I simply do not have the time to provide each correspondent with individualized advice. My hope is that this website – offering generalized resources for writers, information curated specifically for those of us who write on Jewish subjects, archived author interviews  (including a number of self-identified “Jewish writers”), frequent blog posts, and The Practicing Writer newsletter – can assist a large readership-that-writes.

    But some questions are coming up so often that I’m inspired to offer some more targeted advice, publicly. (more…)