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.

• From Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal: “We pay & are looking for essays on poetry/poetics, close-readings, translations, reviews, or any fresh ideas you have for features.” (If you read the full thread, you’ll note a mention of pay rates: a “minimum” of “£50/1,000w for this—hopefully, more as we get further funding!”)
• “Brink has two reading periods: February 1 – April 30 and July 1 – September 30. Through Submittable, we accept a variety of creative work from Nonfiction to Fiction, from Poetry to Translation, as well as hybrid work that falls into the cross-genre category of Evocations. We are looking for contributions that engage both the particular theme of each issue as well as the idea of being on the brink.” Pays: $25-$100, as detailed in the guidelines. (Found this one via @Duotrope.)
• Witness, which is currently reading for its Fall/Winter online issue, remains open for free nonfiction and poetry submissions from Black writers until May 1. (The situation for fiction submissions from Black writers isn’t entirely clear to me from the Submittable page—deadline may be later, but I’d advise aiming for May 1 here as well, just in case.) As noted on their website, Witness pays contributors “$50 per published piece, whether in the print or online issue.”
• The Barbara and Carl Zydney Grant for Artists with Disabilities “will distribute unrestricted cash grants of $1,000 to artists with a disability who have experienced financial hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. The program is open to visual, media, music, performing, and literary artists who live in New York City (five boroughs).” Applications “will open on Tuesday, May 4 at 10:00 AM EDT and close on Tuesday, June 15 at 5:00 PM EDT.”
• “Montpelier Arts Center is seeking original and unpublished submissions for All Our Various Voices, an anthology celebrating the rich diversity of personal or family stories of immigration from writers who are 18 years of age and older and reside in Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia.” Submissions are welcome in poetry or prose. Note: “The juror [Dr. Karen Arnold], will award prizes that will be announced at the public reading in October 2021. Awards will be given for First Place ($200), Second Place ($150), Third Place ($100) and two Honorable Mentions ($50 each).” Deadline: May 7.
• The May issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0 will be out at week’s end, but plenty of the listings in the April edition remain open for submissions/entries.
• The Mountain School of Milton Academy is advertising for a Writer-in-Residence for the 2021-22 school year. “Salary range is based on experience, starting at $43,000. Housing in a one-bedroom apartment and three farm-fresh meals a day included while the semesters are in session. Full time positions include medical benefits. This position is intended as a one-year placement, with the possibility to extend for additional years.” Apply by April 30 (h/t @MakennaGoodman1).
• The Department of English and Comparative Literature at Hobart and William Smith Colleges “invites applications from early-career creative writers for the Trias Postgraduate Teaching Fellowship. The appointment begins July 1, 2021 with classes beginning at the end of August. The position is open to writers of any genre who have completed an MFA or a PhD with creative dissertation in the last three years. The Trias Postgraduate Teaching Fellow will teach a 2-2 load consisting of three introductory creative writing courses and one more flexible course of their own design (in consultation with the department chair) in either creative writing or literature. The appointment is renewable up to three years contingent on successful annual review. The Fellow will give a reading as part of the Trias Reading Series during the first year at HWS and will be expected to attend readings and participate in our thriving creative writing community. The fellowship includes salary and benefits and formalized mentoring from a tenured creative writing faculty member.” NB: “Because this position is geared toward emerging writers, candidates with more than one book publication will not be considered; candidates should, however, have a record of publication in literary journals and/or have published a debut book-length work.”
• “The Creative & Professional Writing Program at The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg is seeking a full-time Visiting Teaching Writer-in-Residence to begin in the fall term 2021. The ideal candidate will have published 1-2 books of fiction with a national press; have significant, cross-genre national publications or awards; and must hold a MFA degree or terminal degree in the field. Expertise and publications in multiple genres, especially poetry, would be ideal, as would the ability and expertise to contribute to a developing Writing and Healing Arts course sequence.”
• “The Department of English at the University of North Texas, a Minority and Hispanic Serving Institution, invites applications for a Visiting Assistant Professor in Literary Nonfiction to join a thriving creative writing Ph.D./M.A. program with a strong scholarly emphasis. The appointment begins August 2021.”
• In Indiana, the Earlham College Department of English and the Program in African and African American Studies “invites applications for a Visiting Assistant Professor position with a focus in African American Literature and additional expertise in Creative Writing. The position may be renewable for up to three years.”
• In New York, “The Criterion Collection is looking to hire a full-time Editorial Manager to manage the day-to-day operations of a four-person team responsible for developing all text related to Criterion Collection home video editions and Janus Films theatrical releases, including essays, archival reprints, packaging and interface documents, sales materials, press releases, and newsletter communications.”