Erika Dreifus

Each week in this space, Practicing Writing shares no-fee, paying markets for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction: competitions, contests, and calls for submissions. These weekly posts complement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province. (But this blog does share those more localized opportunities, including jobs.)

As always, if you’d like to share a specific opportunity listed here, please credit the blog for the find. Thanks for respecting the time and effort that I put into researching, curating, and posting this information! I do notice, and I appreciate the courtesy.

• “At carte blanche we believe there is more than one way to tell a story. Our mandate is to provide a venue for narrative of all forms from fiction and nonfiction, to poetry and photo essays.” Currently: “For the Issue 37 – Fall we are looking for work that considers BORDERS. Submissions in all genres will be open from August 9th – 30th.” NB: “Priority will be given to Quebec-based artists for this particular issue, but all are welcome to submit.” Pays: “carte blanche pays a modest honorarium per submission. We hope to increase the amount in the future.”
• The Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize confers $2,000 for the “best poetry collection published by an Upstate [New York] author.” More about eligibility: “Submitted work must be a book of poems in English, at least 48 pages long, published between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 by a resident of Upstate New York. Collections by more than one author, ‘collected’ or ‘selected’ volumes, collections of translations, self-published works, and vanity press publications are not eligible.” Deadline: August 31. 
• “Established in 2001, The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award is a $10,000 prize awarded each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories. Each year, five young fiction writers are selected as finalists by a reading committee of Young Lions members, writers, editors, and librarians. A panel of judges selects the winner.” NB: “The publisher must submit all books. Authors may not submit their work on their own.”
• “Calling all gifted fiction writers! Lilith Magazine—Independent, Jewish & frankly feminist—seeks quality short fiction, 3000 words or under, for our Annual Fiction Contest. First prize $250 + publication. We like work with both feminist and Jewish content. Please send submissions to: info@Lilith.org, with Fiction Contest Submission and your name in the subject line. Be sure to include full contact info on the ms. and indicate where you saw an announcement about the contest. Deadline: 12/31/19.”
• Reminder that we’re just past the mid-month mark, so you can still find many more listings of fee-free, paying opportunities that remain open for submissions/applications in the August newsletter.
• “Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs is a new agent at the Deborah Harris Agency in Jerusalem. She is now seeking submissions of literary fiction and serious non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, science, history, and personal narratives. All submissions should include a query letter with a brief synopsis of the book, a short biographical note, the first two chapters of the book, or an equivalent of up to fifty pages attached as a Word document, as well as the author’s contact information. Email: jessica@thedeborahharrisagency.com.”
• At The New York Times, “the Books desk is hiring a reporter to cover publishing, a beat we see as encompassing news about the industry; analysis of how books, publishers and readers are changing; profiles of editors, agents and authors; and trends in book retailing, ecommerce and intellectual life.” (HT @MEOJobs)
• In Minneapolis, The Loft Literary Center is looking for a part-time Marketing and Communications Assistant.” Compensation: “$15.50/hour plus a pro-rated benefits package, including generous paid time off.”
• “Syracuse University, Department of English, invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor in Creative Writing (Fiction). This is a tenure track position that will start in the Fall of 2020, with at 2:2 teaching load.”
• “The Department of English at the University of Miami seeks applications for a tenure-track assistant or associate professor in creative writing (fiction) with teaching responsibilities in both MFA and undergraduate creative writing programs. The Creative Writing Program is particularly interested in fiction writers who bring multilingual, international, or cross-cultural perspectives to their work.”

Reminder: Birthright, my first book of poetry, will be published on November 5. If you’d like to cover it with a review or other feature, please drop me a line to request an electronic advance review copy. Many thanks.