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.

• ICYMI: The August issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0 went out to subscribers one week ago. Featured within: subscriber success stories, dozens of current calls and competitions that are (or will soon be) open for submissions (and that are both fee-free and paying), plus a link to our updated list of places that publish flash nonfiction (be forewarned that not everything there is fee-free/paying, but I’ve done my best to indicate accordingly).
• From Orca‘s latest newsletter: “The deadline for our next issue is coming up fast [August 15]. But you still have time to submit your short fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. As always, the beginning of the month opens our fee-free submission portals. We have 100 free submissions per month, but they are already filling up, so get your submissions in quickly.” Pays: “$50 for stories 2500 words or longer, $25 for stories under 2500 words and for poetry, plus a one-year pdf subscription.”
• There’s also a August 15 deadline for Centrum Emerging Artist & Writer Residencies, which provide stipends ($1500), multiple resident gatherings, visiting artists & curators, and an open studio/public reading. “This residency is aimed at writers, visual, and interdisciplinary artists in the Pacific Northwest who are towards the beginning of their creative paths and can benefit from the time to focus and receive support from a community of peers and specialists in their fields. This residency is always in October.” (Current applications are intended for October 2024 residencies.)
• According to their Twitter account, Aôthen Magazine will remain open for submissions until August 19. “Please only send pieces related to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome”; submissions may include poetry, essays, short fiction, or other work as detailed in their guidelines. “The magazine is looking for work that approaches classics in a new, fresh manner. We’d love to see more abstract, contemporary, and modern interpretations of classical history and myths.” Pays: “All contributors will receive a 10 USD honorarium (Paypal only), and a high-resolution PDF of the magazine. All work will be published in print and on this website.”
• There’s an August 21 deadline for drafts and proposals for the Winter 2024 issue of Oregon Humanities, the theme of which will be “Green”: “For this issue, we’re looking for features exploring any of the many meanings associated with the color: nature and abundance, of course, but also envy, greed, inexperience, and illness.” They “welcome all forms of nonfiction writing, including essays, journalism, and excerpts from forthcoming or recently published books. Successful submissions will reflect our vision of an Oregon that invites diverse perspectives, invites challenging questions, and strives for just communities. We encourage submissions from writers of all levels of experience.” Note, however, that writers must “reside in Oregon.” Pay rates: “All contributors are paid between $750 and $1,500, depending on the length and complexity of the piece.”
• The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) HBCU Fellowship Program (which was listed in our July newsletter) has extended its application deadline to August 31.
• Now open for submissions: Lolwe, “a Pan-African literary magazine that publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, and literary criticism” that “has a focus on amplifying the work by writers, poets and visual artists from Africa, Caribbean and the Black diaspora.” Payment: “a modest remuneration for work that is accepted for publication.” The deadline is August 31; “due to the volume of submissions we receive, the categories will close once we have reached the submission cap and you will not be able to submit when that happens even if there’s still some time before the deadline. Therefore, we encourage you to submit as early as possible).”
• Also recently re-opened for submissions: Tahoma Literary Review, which offers free submissions “to authors and poets from historically marginalized groups. There’s a limited number of these submissions available each reading period so plan to submit early.” (The deadline for the reading period that has just opened is October 15.) Pays: “$55 for flash prose and short poems; $135 for longer prose and poems. For us ‘flash’ is up to 1500 words, longer prose is 1,500 to 6,000 words. For poetry, ‘long’ is seven manuscript pages or more. We pay on publication.” Note also their “big, big announcement: We are taking our issues virtual. After our summer 2023 issue, TLR will appear online only. Acceptances from this reading period will appear in our first all-online issue, coming out in the spring of 2024.” Pay rates will remain stable. 
• The Association of Writers and Writing Programs is hiring a copy editor. This is “a remote, full-time position, with travel required one week per year for the annual conference” offering a salary of $42,000. No deadline indicated.
• The Feminist Press “is seeking a full-time Editorial Assistant or Assistant Editor who is passionate and knowledgeable about feminist, mission-driven publishing. The Editorial Assistant or Assistant Editor will be responsible for providing administrative and editorial support to the Editorial Director as well as the Executive Director, and will be involved in all stages of the acquisition, editorial, and book-making processes. After gaining familiarity with FP’s editorial approach and list, this role will have the opportunity to acquire and edit one to two titles a year. This hybrid position requires at least one day per week of in-person work at the Feminist Press office at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan.” Salary: $44,000–$49,000. Application deadline: August 14, but applications “will be accepted on a rolling basis until we find the right candidate.”
• “The University of Cincinnati Department of English seeks applications for the position of Assistant or Associate Professor of Poetry, full-time, tenure-track.” Deadline: “Application review begins on September 1, 2023 and continues until the position is filled.”
• In Maine, “the Department of English at Bowdoin College invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor position in creative nonfiction writing to begin July 1, 2024. The subfield is open, with the expectation that the successful candidate will be able to teach creative nonfiction writing courses both within and beyond areas of specialization.” Deadline: “Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2023, and continue until the position is filled.”
• In New Jersey, “the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University invites applications for Assistant Professor of Creative Writing from early career fiction writers, prominent in the field, with a record of national and/or international recognitions.” Deadline: “Applications received by October 1 will be given fullest consideration, though the search will remain open until the position has been filled.”
• In Ohio, “Denison University seeks an active creative nonfiction writer and an engaged and effective teacher for a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of English. The successful candidate must be able to teach across the genres (including creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry) and to contribute to courses in Denison’s English and journalism majors.” Deadline: “Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2023 and applications received by that date will be given full consideration.”