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: By this time next week, the December newsletter will have gone out to subscribers, but plenty of fee-free-and-paying opportunities listed in the November issue remain open for submissions, as do some items shared in recent Markets & Jobs posts.
• The RSL Christopher Bland Prize “is open to full-length works of fiction or non-fiction, published in the current calendar year. Only publishers or agents based in the UK or Republic or Ireland may enter works, which must be by writers who are citizens of the UK or Republic of Ireland and aged 50 or over at the time of publication.” Confers a prize of  £10,000 to the selected debut novelist or non-fiction writer “first published in any form aged 50 or over.” Deadline: December 1.
• From the Dallas Public Library: “Every two years, a local poet is honored with the Poet Laureate title and honorarium to recognize a career in writing exemplary poetry and their role in sharing poetry with the greater community. The poet laureate acts as an ambassador of the literary arts and the City of Dallas by creating and reading poems and presenting their poems at public meetings and events to engage diverse voices, activate the community and broaden perspectives in shaping and furthering the literary arts and culture through creative expression.” NB: “At the end of the term, Deep Vellum will publish a collection of the poet laureate’s works.” Deadline: December 15.
• At Hub City Press, they’ve opened the submissions window for their South Carolina Novel Series, which publishes a novel by a South Carolina writer biennially. “Writers selected for publication in this series are awarded $1,500 and book publication, including marketing and tour support from Hub City Press and the series partners, as well as placement in all South Carolina state libraries and readings/events with presenting sponsors. The series is open to writers of all levels who have lived in South Carolina for at least one year prior to submission of their manuscript. Co-sponsors include the South Carolina Arts Commission, the South Carolina State Library and South Carolina Humanities.” Deadline: February 15.
• Canada-based The Ex-Puritan seeks a publisher. Compensation: “This volunteer position receives a yearly honorarium of $2000 ($500/quarterly issue).” NB: “Preference will be given to those who are Toronto-based.”
• “The Masters Review is hiring guest editors to assist in our prose editorial feedback program! We’re looking for highly qualified writers with experience giving and receiving feedback at the professional level to compose editorial feedback for our submitters. Typically, guest editors have an MFA or PhD in creative writing or are currently enrolled in a graduate program. The hours per month are self-determined, but can range from 10 – 50+ hours. We pay our guest editors $30 per letter completed by the end of each month.”
• “The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has an opening for a Temporary Editor to work full-time (40 hours/week) in the Office of Publications, from approximately November 2023 to April 2024. This position is fully remote, though the Academy’s headquarters are based in Cambridge, MA.” Compensation: “$30-$35/hour.”
• In St. Louis, “James Baldwin Review (JBR) is seeking to hire an editorial assistant. Co-founded by Dwight A. McBride and Justin A. Joyce, JBR is a peer reviewed, Open Access journal that brings together a wide array of peerâreviewed critical and creative non-fiction on the life, writings, and legacy of James Baldwin in an interdisciplinary and international partnership with Manchester University Press.” This appears to be a full-time position with a posted salary range of “$16.70 – $23.89 / Hourly.”
• In South Carolina, the English Department at Clemson University “invites applications for a distinguished Writer-in-Residence position. We seek a nationally recognized creative writer with an exceptional publishing record (e.g., significant journal publications and/or a book published with an established press). The genre is open. The successful appointee will teach one course per semester and contribute to the intellectual life of the department. They will be expected to make regular public presentations (including readings), participate in university events, and invite writers to campus and engage them in conversation. This is a one- to two-year position (subject to review). The salary is negotiable and based on experience and national profile.”
• In New Jersey, “the English and Spanish and Latino Studies departments at Montclair State University seek candidates for a full-time, renewable, visiting assistant professor position in creative writing with a focus on bilingualism (English/Spanish) in terms of both creative work and pedagogy. The new hire will start on January 16, 2024 although there is some flexibility (no later than April 2024). Montclair State University aims to develop an MFA program in creative writing, and the new hire is expected not only to teach graduate and undergraduate courses but also to help direct the new MFA and develop a curriculum with a bilingual emphasis. The position will be a joint hire in the department of English and the department of Spanish and Latino Studies, with the primary assignment in the department of English. The teaching load is 4/4, with release time for administrative work.”