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.

• Mud Season Review, which seeks “deeply human work that will teach us something about life, but also about the craft of writing or visual art, and work that is original in its approach and that in some way moves us,” remains open for submissions until December 31. Pays: $50.
• 105 Meadowlark Reader, “a Kansas journal of creative nonfiction,” seeks “true stories about Kansas told in an engaging way,” from writers who are or have been Kansas residents. The current prompt is “Bicycle Stories.” Deadline: December 31. Payment: $10 plus one contributor copy.
• Vermonters: The Vermont Writers’ Prize remains open for entries until January 1. “There will be a winner for prose and a winner for poetry, and each will receive a cash prize of $1,250. The winning pieces will be published in Vermont Magazine.”
• Coming soon: the January 2022 issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0, which will feature 40+ opportunity listings. For now, be sure that you’ve checked out all of the fee-free and paying opportunities (many of them are still open!) include in the December issue.
• “n+1 is seeking a full-time Managing Editor to work in our Brooklyn office starting February 1. Compensation is $56,000 and includes health and dental insurance. Please note that this is not a remote position.”
• The University of Nebraska at Kearney is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Fiction Writing.
• In Missouri, the Department of English at Saint Louis University, “a Catholic, Jesuit university, invites applications for a tenure-track position at the assistant professor rank in creative writing (fiction), to begin in August 2022.”
• “The School of Writing, Literature, and Film at Oregon State University invites applications for a full-time, 9-month, tenure-track/tenured faculty position in Creative Writing (Fiction) at any rank. We seek a writer whose professional work engages one or more of the following literatures: Indigenous, African American, Latinx/Chicanx, Asian American, and/or LGBTQ+.”
• “Lakeland University, an independent liberal arts institution located in east central Wisconsin, invites applications from a diverse group of qualified candidates for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor of Writing to begin August 2022. Lakeland seeks a candidate committed to serving a diverse student community. The successful candidate will teach courses in creative writing with a focus on poetry, composition, and interdisciplinary studies.”
• The Department of English and the Program in Creative Writing at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) invite outstanding applicants for a one-semester adjunct position in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences starting January 24, 2022. We are seeking candidates who are strongly committed to high-quality teaching and student engagement in a primarily undergraduate, residential, liberal arts-centered institution. The successful candidate should be able to teach Introduction to Creative Writing (both poetry and fiction writing). One to two sections are available. The successful candidate should be an active, publishing writer or poet, have an M.F.A., have demonstrated excellence in teaching, and a strong commitment to the education of undergraduates.”
• In California, “Scripps College, a women’s liberal arts college with a strong interdisciplinary tradition, invites applications for the position of part-time Visiting Lecturer in Writing. The successful candidate will teach one section of Writing 140: Creative Nonfiction during the Spring 2022 semester (mid-January to mid-May). We are looking for candidates with a record of publication in creative nonfiction. MA or MFA preferred; evidence of successful teaching experience required.”