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.

• The Fiddlehead has reopened for submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Pays: “$60 CAD per published page, plus two complimentary copies of the issue with your work. Contributors may purchase additional copies of an issue at a discount.”
• “Do you have a story that goes behind the scenes of a great piece of nonfiction? Or do you have insights on storytelling from your career?” Nieman Storyboard invites you to pitch. Pays: “Our rates range from $150 to $400, depending on the nature of the piece.” (HT Opportunities for Writers)
• For the GrubStreet Writing Contest (Writing Black Joy: True Stories from Real People), “we want to read true stories about joy – specifically Black joy: moments, scenes, memories, that celebrate Black families, relationships, culture, and history. We are looking for a vivid story that is transporting and meaningful – maybe funny, maybe poignant, but always with joy at its center. The winner receives $1,000, 2nd Place $750, 3rd Place $500. Submissions must be true stories that are between 500 and 1,000 words. Your work can be in any genre: prose, poetry, or cross-genre. This contest is open to any resident of New England (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine) and New York state.” Deadline: October 12.
• “CantoMundo seeks a Program Director effective immediately. The chosen candidate would be engaged as an independent contractor based at the University of Arizona Poetry Center in Tucson….The person hired need not be physically based in Tucson and can work remotely, but proximity to Tucson would be viewed favorably among otherwise equally qualified candidates. This is a 9-month month position, envisaged as four-days a week, lasting at least through the June 2021 CantoMundo retreat. After that time, and depending on budget and needs, the chosen candidate may be contracted for a second year or may be invited to apply for a director position at a higher salary and with the expectation of renewal. Founded in 2009, CantoMundo is a poetry organization that cultivates Latinx poets and poetry through workshops, symposia, and public readings, in partnership with the University of Arizona Poetry Center.”
• Regis University is advertising for an Assistant Professor, Creative Writing/Literature.
• The University of Chicago seeks a Writing and Research Advisor, Creative Writing. “Guiding Creative Writing majors in the research and writing of their BA thesis projects represents 70% of the work performed.”
• At Princeton University, “the Program in Journalism and the Humanities Council welcome proposals from journalists who wish to teach seminars in journalism as visiting Ferris Professors of Journalism, or seminars in other kinds of non-fiction related to journalism as visiting McGraw Professors of Writing.”