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.

  • Earlier today the November issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0 went out to subscribers. It’s packed with 60+ curated opportunities (competitions and calls for submissions) for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Don’t miss it!
  • “Nominations for the 2023-25 Washington State Poet Laureate are now open. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged.” The term typically lasts two years. Eligibility requirements include the following: “Be a current Washington State resident and reside primarily in Washington State.” Compensation: “Once appointed, ArtsWA and Humanities Washington provide funding for the honorarium ($40,000 annually), travel and project expenses, and administrative support for the Laureate.” Deadline: December 2.
  • In Connecticut, “the Shapiro Center for Writing at Wesleyan University seeks to award fellowships to two outstanding writers—scholars, critics, journalists, novelists, poets, playwrights, or translators working in any language and on any subjects. International applicants are welcome. The aim of the fellowship is to support the highest quality writing while growing the Center as an important and diverse site for contemporary literature and criticism. We welcome applications that demonstrate a track record of creative ambition, teaching excellence, public engagement, and collegiality. Fellows are expected to teach two classes and participate in the Center’s extracurricular programming, which they will help to shape during the 2023-24 academic year. Fellows should reside no more than twenty-five miles away from Middletown during the fellowship. They will be given an office and are expected to make the Center their primary place of work. Fellows will receive a salary of $150,000, a housing stipend of $30,000, research funds, and full access to Wesleyan facilities. The fellowship will run from September 2023 to May 2024.” Apply by December 15.
  • From the Hurston/Wright Foundation for Black Writers: “The Writing Programs Fellow is a part-time fellowship opportunity for a college/university student who is majoring in English/Literary Arts, Education, Nonprofit Administration or something relevant. The fellowship period is from November 2022 to May 2023. We are seeking an enthusiastic individual who loves the Black literary arts community, is engaging, creative, hard-working and a team player. The candidate must be based in the Washington DC area. Candidate must be a strong verbal communicator and writer who is reliable, self-motivated, resourceful, detail-oriented, and personable with the ability to stay on task during remote work. This fellowship is largely remote with one day a week travel to the home office space in Washington DC to retrieve mail or assist with specific duties as assigned. The fellow will largely be tasked with administrative duties and helping the organization develop a literary program for high school students.” Note that applicants must be “at least a 3rd-year undergraduate student at a four-year college or university.” Note also: “Pay Range: $15-$20/hr. This position requires 10 hours a week. The schedule can be determined in a way that is compatible with the fellow’s studies.” No deadline indicated.
  • The Hurston/Wright foundation is also advertising for a full-time Writing Programs Manager. “This position is generally a remote position, but the candidate must be based in the Washington DC area to handle in-person events as they occur. Weekly travel to the home office space in Washington DC to retrieve mail or assist with specific duties there will be assigned. The Writing Programs Manager is required to lead coordinate or co-facilitate coordination of all in-person events. The ability to work in public in-person spaces when assigned is required.” Compensation: “Salary Range: 55k-71k/annually. Those hired will be hired starting at the low to midpoint of the range with consideration to increase within first nine months or earlier. Employees receive employer-subsidized health care options, all federal holidays off, sick leave and accrued paid vacation leave.”
  • Publishers Weekly, “is seeking a Nonfiction Reviews Editor with impeccable editing and writing skills. Under the direction of the Executive Editor, this individual will primarily be responsible for assigning and editing pre-publication reviews of nonfiction books, assigning and editing author interviews, and contributing to our twice-yearly announcements issues, and other features, as needed. The Nonfiction Reviews Editor will be required to work in PW’s New York City office a minimum of one day per week and can work remotely the rest of the time.” Salary: “$50,000.00 – $55,000.00.”
  • “The Department of English at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga invites applications for the position of tenure-track assistant professor of English, beginning August 2023, with primary specialization in poetry. The successful candidate will be available to teach poetry at the undergraduate level as well as additional courses on style, editing, readings in poetry, and writing for publication.”
  • In Virginia, “Radford University invites applications for a tenure track Assistant Professor of Creative Writing position, specializing in poetry.”
  • Also in Virginia, “the Department of English at Old Dominion University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Creative Writing (poetry/nonfiction) with an expected start date of July 25, 2023. The position is open to a writer whose primary interest is poetry but who also publishes nonfiction.” The same institution is also advertising for a “tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professor in Creative Writing, with appointment to begin in July 2023,” with a specialty in fiction.
  • “The Department of English at the University of North Dakota invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in creative non-fiction writing with additional responsibility teaching courses in our writing, editing, and publishing program.The position will also require teaching in an additional creative genre: poetry, fiction, genre fiction, digital creative fiction, or screenwriting. The position is contingent upon the availability of funding.”
  • The University of Virginia’s Department of English/Program in Creative Writing – one of the nation’s highest-ranked programs – invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Fiction, expected to begin Fall 2023. We are looking for candidates who can teach undergraduate and graduate workshops and seminars in fiction, as well as in a secondary or subgenre such as creative nonfiction, literary translation, graphic narrative, writing for performance, etc.”
  • In Ohio, the School of Arts & Humanities and Department of Liberal Arts at Mount St. Joseph University “invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of English. The position will begin in August of 2023….This position is designed for a fiction writer.” 
on a tabletop: a keyboard, a mug of coffee, and a wallet with cash, plus a text label announcing Markets and Jobs for Writers