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 December issue of The Practicing Writer 2.0 went out to subscribers last week. As usual, it’s packed with fee-free and paying opportunities, some of which, with an explicitly Jewish focus, I’ve spotlighted on My Machberet.
• There’s still time (but not much!) to enter submissions for the Shaufler Prize in Journalism, which “recognizes the best journalism in the country advancing the understanding of issues related to underserved people in society, such as communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ and those with disabilities.” Confers prizes of $10,000/$3,000/$2,000 ($5,000 for the Student category winner). Deadline: December 6. (Hat tip: Freelance Opportunities.)
• December 11 is the deadline for applications for the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Grants for Creative Individuals, “unrestricted grants of $5,000 to Massachusetts artists, culture bearers, and creative practitioners to equitably advance creative expression throughout our diverse communities.”
• From Bright Wall/Dark Room: “In keeping with our annual tradition, our first issue of 2024 will be entirely focused on the best films and TV of 2023! No fancy prompt this time around—and as long as it was released in 2023, any film or tv show is fair game, even if we’ve previously covered it on the site. We are currently able to pay $100 for accepted essays, upon publication. Please be aware that all acceptances are based on the presumption of the writer’s good-faith engagement with our collaborative editorial process; a refusal to participate in this process may result in rescinded acceptance. In order to be considered for the issue we will need to receive a complete first draft of your essay via Submittable by December 12.” (Hat tip: Write at Home.)
• The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship “is an $8,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Tribal Nations located therein.” This year, categories include fiction and interdisciplinary work. Deadline: December 13.
• Live in the Northern Berkshires? You may want to check out this Capacity-Building Grant program from Assets for Artists/MassMoCA. Deadline: December 15. Confers packages including unrestricted grants of $2,000.
• Cave Canem and EcoTheo Collective “are pleased to announce the 2024 Starshine and Clay Fellowship, an initiative providing financial and development support to emerging Black poets, and fundraising opportunities for Cave Canem. Named in honor of Cave Canem elder Lucille Clifton, the Starshine and Clay Fellowship was developed to speak to the mentorship Clifton offered Cave Canem Fellows during her tenure as Faculty at the Cave Canem Retreat. Two recipients will each receive $500 for a featured reading at the 2024 Wonder Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. Fellowship recipients will also receive a one-on-one consultation with our judge, aracelis girmay. Additionally, the fellows’ work will be published in the summer 2024 issue of EcoTheo Review.
• For the Fall 2024 semester, the Artist-in-Residence Program at SUNY-Oswego “is open to artists in the field of creative writing. Areas of focus may include (but are not limited to) creative nonfiction, fiction, graphic novel/memoir, playwriting, poetry, and/or screenwriting. We particularly welcome creative writers whose work engages with African American and/or Latino/a/e communities, histories, and/or diaspora. Artists who work across multiple genres in the aforementioned categories and who demonstrate the ability to collaborate across disciplinary fields are also encouraged to apply.” Compensation: “The selected Artist-in-Residence will receive use of campus facilities and studios, and honorarium of $14,000 with no housing (pending availability, a paid, on-campus housing option may also become available with an adjusted honorarium of $10,000 rather than $14,000) in addition to adjunct pay per course $4,500. Expenses associated with the workshops and final public reading or performance will also be covered by this program, up to $500.” Deadline: December 22.
• In Seattle, Hugo House is hiring an Education and Community Programs Director. Compensation: “$60,000–$65,000 salary, generous holiday and vacation, plus medical, dental, and vision benefits, 403(b) match, and discounts on Hugo House classes.”
• Poets & Writers is advertising for a Programs and Partnerships Assistant. “This is a full-time, entry level position in our New York City office with opportunity for advancement. We offer a hybrid work environment, with the opportunity to work from home several days per week; must be available to work in the office two days per week and additionally as required, plus occasional evenings and weekends. Reports to the Director of Programs & Partnerships. Annual salary: $40,000, plus benefits including fully paid medical insurance and generous paid time off.”
• “The Department of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Creative Writing-Fiction.”
• “The Department of English at The University of Alabama in Huntsville invites applications for a full-time Lecturer appointment beginning Fall 2024….The successful candidate will teach creative writing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. They will also teach first-year writing classes. Additionally, they may be asked to teach sophomore literature surveys for our Charger Foundations (general education) program….Creative writers working in all genres (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, &/or genre fiction) are welcome to apply.”
• “The Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) applications for two, 9-month, non-tenure-earning instructors or lecturers with the ability to teach workshops and lecture courses in fiction and multi-genre creative writing. These positions will have a 4/4 teaching load with significant online as well as face-to-face teaching and are expected to begin August 2024.”