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.

• Buffalo Books, “a non-profit literary press affiliated with the Kansas State University English Department and the University Press of Kansas,” is currently (but very temporarily!) open for submissions for the Buffalo Books Fiction Prize. “We are open only to novels — from 40,000 to 80,000 words — that are set in or explore the Midwest, the Great Plains, and/or the alleged flyover portions of the West. Please do not submit work that does not fit this criteria.” They opened on March 8 “for 30 days or 150 submissions.” Thirty days = April 7. “One book will be selected for publication. The winning writer will receive an honorarium of $500 and a standard royalty contract. Former and current students at Kansas State University are not eligible for the Buffalo Books Fiction Prize.”
• “Brooklyn Poets is offering fellowships covering the full cost of registration for our virtual summer 2021 retreat, as well as partial fellowship awards to finalists. To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate clear financial need. Additionally, applicants must not hold a graduate degree in creative writing (MA/MFA/PhD) or be enrolled in a degree program with access to creative writing instruction, and must not have previously published (or had accepted for publication) a book of poems. Applicants are limited to one retreat fellowship lifetime. Previous winners of Brooklyn Poets workshop or consultation fellowships are eligible to apply, but applicants are eligible for only one fellowship per year (i.e. winners of a workshop/consultation fellowship since June 2020 are ineligible).” Apply by April 11, 11:59 p.m. EDT.
• “Olit is indie and polished. Literary with grunge roots. Our goal is to give underrepresented writers the floor, the mic, and the space they deserve.” Note: “While we prefer writers with a connection to Orlando or the greater Central Florida area, Olit will accept quality writing meeting our aesthetic and criteria from writers anywhere around the world.” Pays: $10. Deadline: April 15.
• The HerStories Project, “a writing and publishing community for Gen-X women at midlife,” has extended the deadline (to April 15) for essay submissions for an anthology that will address the question, “What has the pandemic been like for you?”. Pays: $50.
• For an anthology titled The Book of Bad Betties, poems are sought “that pay tribute to the women who’ve changed our lives—whether yours personally, or the wider world’s. From your mum to Marsha P Johnson, Enheduanna to Joan of Arc, Maya Angelou to Marlene Dietrich. We want to hear about the baddasses, the queens, the upstarts, the legends, the bosses, the matriarchs, the hellraisers, the darlings, the dames.” Deadline: April 30. Pays: £50.
• Autostraddle has posted a call for submissions of “short stories by trans people,” which will be curated by A.E. Osworth. Deadline: April 30. Pays: $150.
• ICYMI: The April issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0 went out to subscribers last week. It features another 36 fee-free, paying opportunities that you’ll want to check out.
• Boston-based Poetry in America is advertising for an Educational Programs Associate, a one-year part-time position with possibility for renewal.  The Program Associate will work 15 hours per week to start; the number of hours per week will be revisited a few months into the term.  Note: “Work may be performed anywhere in United States.”
• In New York, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) “seeks a Programs Coordinator – a critical member of the Programs team who will provide administrative support for the Workshop’s public programs, fellowships, and community workshops.” 
• In Denver, Lighthouse Writers Workshop is hiring an Administrative Associate. “This position pays $18.00 per hour to start. This position is full time, 40 hours per week.” Apply by April 12.
• Canadian literary journal Room is advertising for a Managing Editor. “This is a permanent, full-time, work-from-home position that commences June 1st, 2021. The Managing Editor may reside anywhere in the Greater Vancouver area. This is a work-from-home position. The Managing Editor must attend all meetings, which are held online. The pay rate is $20/hour for 38 hours per week, with benefits after 3 months. Payment is made bi-monthly by direct deposit.” Apply by April 14.
• At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, they’re advertising for a part-time, .75FTE “Assistant Editor of American Life in Poetry, working with Prof. Kwame Dawes in producing a weekly national poetry column. The column is featured in approximately 200 newspapers across the United States with a readership of 4.6 million. Schedule publication of the columns; secure permissions; proofread copy and assist in finalizing copy. Maintain files and copies of poems and handle correspondence with Poetry Foundation.” Pays: “$17.948/hr. minimum.” Apply by April 14.
• In Pennsylvania,  Washington and Jefferson College is advertising for a “Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (open genre), nonrenewable, beginning August 2021. Teaching load: 3/3, including a mix of multi-genre creative writing (fiction/poetry), literature, and first-year writing courses (capped at 15-16 students for writing courses and workshops, and 20 students for literature courses).”
• “The Mile-High MFA in Creative Writing Low-Residency Program at Regis University seeks qualified candidates for an Affiliate Faculty position to teach Fantasy Fiction and/or Creative Nonfiction in our low-residency program.”
• “The Program in Creative Writing at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University is seeking distinguished writers for a potential part-time opening teaching undergraduate workshops. This position is a one- or two-semester appointment, with the possibility of reappointment based on course enrollments and the needs of the program. The position begins September 2021 and/or January 2022.”