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.

• Reminder! We’re just reaching June’s midpoint. PLENTY of the opportunities listed in the June issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0 remain open for submissions and entries. Be sure that you’ve checked them out.
• From @BCWriters: “Calling BC & Yukon writers! WordWorks is accepting pitches for our next volume, Words Will Carry Us, a themed issue around mental health and wellness for writers. The deadline is June 21st! Full info here: https://bcwriters.ca/submit.” Pays: “WordWorks pays $0.25 per word for original articles, paid upon publication. These rates are subject to change in future issues. Have you previously written an article or blog post that fits our theme? We pay $50.00 for selected reprints.” (H/T Opportunities of the Week.)
• The Kingdoms in the Wild Annual Poetry Prize confers “$250 & Publication of winning chapbook by Kingdoms in the Wild & 5 complimentary physical copies mailed to the author as well as the option to choose a single complimentary title from our existing catalog. Kingdoms in the Wild will also promote the winning chapbook to all our readers across our various platforms and will work to provide copies to reviewers and poet enthusiasts.” NB: “We are looking for emerging writers who have yet to publish a collection of poetry (not including self-published chapbooks).” Also: “A majority of the poems should be unpublished, but individual poems can be previously published (if applicable: tell us where and when the poem was published).” Deadline: June 30 (h/t FundsForWriters.com).
• Also with a June 30 deadline: “Since 1958, the annual Utah Original Writing Competition has celebrated Utah’s dynamic and varied voices and aided Utah writers on their path to publication and broader recognition. Numerous awardees selected by our nationally recognized judges have gone on to significant statewide and national acclaim. Please read through the entire guidelines before submitting.” Cash prizes awarded as detailed in the guidelines (h/t WinningWriters.com).
• Open for submissions: Blair’s Lee Smith Novel Prize. “Submissions should be full-length, literary fiction novel manuscripts of at least 25,000 words.” Prize: $1,000 and publication. Deadline: September 1. Final judge: Deesha Philyaw. (About Blair: “Blair is a nonprofit press combining the lists of Carolina Wren Press and John F. Blair, Publisher. We strive to publish quality writing, focusing on authors and subjects historically neglected by mainstream publishers, including women, people of color, authors with disabilities, and LGBT authors. True to our roots in North Carolina, we look to the many voices of the South—and beyond—as sources of work and inspiration.”) (H/T Entropy’s Where to Submit list.)
• Poetry London is hiring an Assistant Editor who “will support the Poetry Editor in bringing each issue of the magazine to publication. In addition to editorial tasks, the Assistant Editor will take the lead on a number of administrative duties, and will contribute to the magazine’s social media output alongside the Digital Editor. The Assistant Editor will be line-managed by the Poetry Editor. The role is offered on a freelance basis, initially for 1 year fixed-term with the possibility of extending subject to funding.” Note: “Candidates would ideally be based in London, but especially owing to present circumstance remote working will be acceptable.” Pays: “The fee is £1,500 per issue of the magazine (3 issues per year).” (Landed on this one via Freelance Writing Jobs.)
• From the PEN/Faulkner Foundation: “We’re hiring four writers to teach in DC schools for the next school year. Apply to be our inaugural Lisa Page Writing Workshop Fellow or one of three Writers in Residence! The Lisa Page Writing Workshop Fellowship is a 9-month contract opportunity to teach hands-on writing workshops to 3rd-12th graders in DC public schools. The Fellow is compensated at a flat rate of $8,000. Our three Writers in Residence serve as writing workshop teaching artists for a single classroom in grades 3-12. This is a seasonal contractor position, and writers are compensated at a flat rate between $1,100-$1,400.” Apply by June 30.
• In northern Kentucky, “the Department of English at Thomas More University is seeking applicants for a term-renewable position Instructor in English with expertise in creative writing instruction (i.e. poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction/writing for new media)….An MFA in Creative Writing or a Ph.D. in English or Creative Writing is required. Candidates should submit a cover letter, a current curriculum vita (which should include at least three professional references), and a brief statement of teaching interest. Application review will begin on June 25th and continue until an appointment is made.”