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.

• UK-based Sick “is now accepting pitches and submissions from chronically ill and disabled people for issue 3.” Deadline: April 23. Pay rates: 11 pence per word and £45 for visual art and poetry. “Please note that you do not have to be based in the UK to submit, but all contributors will be paid in GBP and via PayPal if outside of the UK. All contributors will receive payment upon completion of work.” (via @Duotrope)
• Call for poetry submissions: “April is National Poetry Month and the Swanton [Vermont] Public Library is putting together a community-generated Poetry Compilation. All are encouraged to use the theme of ‘kindness’ for inspiration in your original poem of 1500 words or less. A panel of local judges will award cash prizes ($100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place, $25 for 3rd place.) Everyone who enters will receive a hard copy of the poetry compilation in addition to having their work shared virtually. Deadline to enter is April 28th.”
• Nat. Brut is an online journal of art and literature “dedicated to advancing inclusivity in all creative fields.” Beyond general submissions of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, they’re open for work for a folio on “Split Tongues”: “Here, we invite writers to be unfiltered in their bilingual and multilingual experiences. We invite writers to share the joys, the challenges, the resistance, the anger, and the humanness of being in between languages in this country, because our voices are America.” Current deadline is April 30. The journal currently pays $30. (via Cathy’s Comps and Calls) 
• West Virginia residents (including students attending school in West Virginia): You’ve still got time to enter the West Virginia Fiction Competition. Cash prizes and (possible) publication. Deadline: May 1.
• The CookOut, “a literary magazine published out of Write About Now Poetry that encompasses the warmth and hospitality of the South, the fast-paced, forward-thinking nature of the city, and the openness and innovation fostered within a community from all over the world,” is offering a $1,000 grand prize for a poem. Submissions, which must come from writers who “identify as Black,” may include, “but are not restricted to topics around Blackness.” Deadline: May 2.
• We’re now more than halfway through the month, but plenty of the listings in the April edition of The Practicing Writer 2.0 remain open for submissions/entries.
• The Paris Review is advertising for two positions: Online Editor and Managing Editor. In both cases, “the ability to be in New York City by the summer of 2021 is expected.”
• “We are expanding out team! Kepler’s Literary Foundation is the leading Literary Arts organization in Silicon Valley. As the 501(c)(3) nonprofit partner to iconic Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, the Foundation produces programs featuring some of the top writers and thinkers in the country. We have two part-time positions open: Marketing Lead and Manager of Educational Programs.”
• In Kentucky, the Department of English and Philosophy at Murray State “invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, fiction concentration.”
• At Coppin State University in Maryland, the Department of Humanities “seeks an assistant professor in English with specialization in writing studies, new media studies, and creative nonfiction. This position will help to build the department’s offerings in media studies and multimedia writing studies as we seek to update the English major and minor programs.”
• “The Departments of English and Gender Studies at Queen’s University [Canada] invite applications for a Tenure-track or tenured position at an open rank (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor) with specialization in Black Creative Writing and Cultural Production. The successful applicant will be a Black creative artist with a strong publishing record, evidence of commitment to teaching excellence, and demonstrated critical expertise in Black Studies. The preferred starting date is July 1, 2021. This position is one of seven positions created in support of the interdisciplinary field of Black Studies at Queen’s and the planned BA Minor/General in Black Studies.”
• In New York, “the English Department at Binghamton University invites applications for a Lecturer of Creative Writing (three-year renewable contract) who will serve as Associate Director of the Creative Writing program. This position will involve a 2-1 teaching load as well as administrative duties. Management and coordination of Binghamton University Center for Writer’s vibrant Creative Writing program includes event planning and overseeing public readings and events, internal and external prize coordination, monitoring public relations, and managing the day-to-day activities of an active writing program. We seek a creative writer in any genre.  An MFA or PhD is strongly preferred, but not required. In addition to a strong publication record and an ability to teach Binghamton University creative writing courses, the candidate should have extensive administrative experience.”
• In North Carolina, “the creative writing department of Warren Wilson College seeks a one-year visiting faculty member in creative nonfiction, with a start date of August 2021. The ideal candidate will have a second specialization in poetry, as well as experience with literary magazines. This is a full-time, ten month visiting position from August 2021 through May 2022 with a 3-3 load. Faculty in this position will teach introductory and advanced courses in creative nonfiction (and possibly poetry) that seek to expose students to the breadth of the genre, to a diverse group of writers and styles of texts, and to key issues and critiques in the field.”