Markets and Jobs for Writers

Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

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.

  • Aniko Magazine, which “publishes poetry, flash fiction, short stories and creative nonfiction by writers from Australia and around the world,” is accepting submissions for its third issue, themed “Fantasize,” until the end of the month. Pays: $125.00 (AUD). (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
  • Also for the remainder of September, Hub City Press is open for “unagented query submissions for novels” (“nonfiction queries open in October”). This press is focused “on finding and spotlighting extraordinary new and unsung writers from the American South.”
  • From Canada-based PRISM international: “Black and Indigenous writers are no longer being asked to self-identify to gain free entry to our contests. We have cut this middle step and posted the form for free entry for Black and Indigenous writers along with the paid entry forms.” Entries for the Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize (which awards a $1,500 grand prize, $600 for a runner-up, and $400 for a 2nd runner-up, all presumably in Canadian dollars), close on October 1. (Note, too: “We also have a limited number of free entries to offer to low-income writers, and we encourage writers for whom the contest entry fee is prohibitive to contact us.”)
  • From The Roanoke Rambler: “Are you a talented short story writer or poet? We accept and publish a broad range of original fiction and poetry, with a preference for works written by those who live in the Roanoke area or broader region, to include Virginia, Appalachia and the American South. Writers are encouraged to submit examples of short stories that have not been published elsewhere; poets are encouraged to submit at least four poems that have not previously been published. We pay no less than $25 per poem and $100 per short story.” (Another hat tip goes here to @Duotrope.)
  • We’ve now passed the midway point for September, but *plenty* of opportunities listed in this month’s newsletter remain open for entries/submissions.
  • In Oakland, Calif., Chapter 510 (a “youth writing, bookmaking & publishing center”) seeks a part-time Program and Communications Associate. Pays: $25/hr.
  • Washington University in St. Louis is hiring a Communications Coordinator, University Libraries.
  • “The Creative & Professional Writing Program at The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor to begin August 2022. The ideal candidate will have published fiction, poetry, and/or nonfiction with a national press and demonstrate a clear trajectory for sustained publications.”
  • In Ohio, the Department of English at Ashland University “invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of English (with emphasis in American literature, poetry, and creative writing).”
  • “The English Department of the University of Maryland, College Park, invites applications for an associate professor in poetry who will enhance the diversity of its nationally ranked creative writing program, bring program administration experience, and a practice in digital poetics and new media studies.”
  • In Los Angeles, UCLA’s Department of English “invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in creative nonfiction (prose). Areas and genres of interest include (but are not limited to) writing about race; lyric essay; disability writing; literary investigative journalism or reportage; writing about medicine; personal essay; queer and trans writing; science writing; memoir; environmental writing; urban writing; biography.”
  • In Ohio, Denison University “seeks an active creative nonfiction writer and experienced teacher for a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of English. The successful candidate must be able to teach a wide range of forms (e.g., memoir, literary journalism, poetry, fiction, etc.) and to contribute to the English Department’s core creative writing courses, to elective offerings within the English major, and to courses within Denison’s new Journalism major.”
  • In Pennsylvania, the Department of English at Lycoming College “seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Creative Writing: Fiction. While primary expertise must be fiction, candidates should also be qualified to teach creative non-fiction and introductory composition (which comprises one half of the 3-3 load).” 
  • In Tennessee, the Department of English at Belmont University “is seeking applications for a tenure-track track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in English (Creative Writing) beginning August 2022. Job responsibilities include teaching first-year writing, third-year writing, introduction to creative writing, and upper-level courses in creative writing (fiction) in the undergraduate major and in the graduate program.”
  • At the University of South Carolina, the Department of English and the African American Studies Program seek a fiction writer. “This is an open-rank, tenured or tenure-track joint position for a writer with teaching expertise in creative writing and African American literary and/or cultural studies. The successful candidate will contribute meaningfully to our fully funded MFA Program and to our undergraduate degree in African American Studies through courses that build on the hire’s strengths and interests…This is a true open-rank hire, and we encourage writers at any stage of their career to apply.”
  • At the University of Denver, the Department of English and Literary Arts “seeks adjunct faculty to teach a literary studies or creative writing course in the department during the Winter 2022 or Spring 2022 Quarter.”
on a tabletop: a keyboard, a mug of coffee, and a wallet with cash, plus a text label announcing Markets and Jobs for Writers

2 thoughts on “Markets and Jobs for Writers

  1. Dear Erika,

    My poem, Slow Burn, was recently accepted for publication and is currently posted on the Jewish Writing Project (https://jewishwritingproject.wordpress.com). Editorial Director Bruce Black is a find–generous with his time and suggestions. My path to the project was through your My Machberet. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity in sharing your resources!

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      Congratulations, Arlene–and thanks so much for letting me know!

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