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.

• Reverent: An Anthology of Divinity welcomes pitches/writing samples through the month of August. (The full timeline is outlined within the guidelines.) Contributor payment will be $50. (Hat tip: Freelance Opportunities.)
• Canada-based Qwerty has extended the deadline for submissions for its upcoming “No” issue through the end of August. “Keep going. You’re almost there. Try harder. These are the words we are told when life gets tough, as if the only way forward is to keep saying yes to the ways life has always been: yes to the grind, yes to burnout, yes to resiliency, yes to being like everyone else, yes to whatever is going on because there seems to be no other choice. But what if we said no? What courage and joy can we find by taking a rest, pressing pause, ignoring fads, boycotting elite brands, joining protests, and the many other ways we can go against the grain? Write about the times you were called stubborn, rebellious, naughty. Write about how going against problematic norms and traditions has empowered you.” Pays: “Contributors whose work is selected for publication are rewarded with a small honorarium (CDN $15) and two complimentary copies of the issue in which their work appears.”
• In geveb, “a journal of Yiddish Studies,” is hiring a Peer Review Associate and a Development and Fundraising Associate (both position descriptions, and compensation information, are provided on this page). Apply by August 15.
• “Do you have experience of contemporary literary journals, have proof-reading, copy-editing and editorial skills and have experience, or an interest, in working with student volunteers? We are looking to appoint a part time Editor to work with the Chief Editor of The Letters Page based in the School of English [at the University of Nottingham] ….You would join us on a fixed-term, part time contract to work 6 hours per week during University teaching weeks only from 23rd September 2024 to 30th June 2025.  This is a fractional contract, which means that you would work for 23 weeks across the academic year and will be paid monthly, to include a pro-rata holiday entitlement.” Salary: “£30,487 to £33,966 per annum pro-rata depending on skills and experience. Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.” Apply by August 15. (Hat tip: Freelance Writing Jobs.)
• From Contingent: “This fall we’ll be publishing a series of ‘Hometown Histories.’ We are accepting pitches for essays that examine the author’s hometown through a historical lens. Maybe you’ve learned something about your hometown that sent you down a research rabbit hole. Maybe you see your hometown differently now that you’re a historian. Something that was once inexplicable makes total sense now, or you’ve had to reckon with something you once took for granted. You may have moved back to your hometown or adopted a new one. You could profile a local historical site or museum, or reveal something that’s been hiding in plain sight. We are interested, of course, in traditional written essays, but we’re also interested in comics, collages, photo essays — any medium, really, so long as it’s rooted in primary and secondary sources. (We like citations!) We’re not scared of autobiography, but don’t feel like it has to be autobiographical either. We pay $150 for shorter pieces (500–800 words) and $300 for longer ones (1000–1500 words). Pitches are due by Friday, August 16….As always, Contingent will prioritize pitches from people who have completed postgraduate work in history (or a history-adjacent field) and are working outside of tenure-track employment.”
• Administered by PEN America and sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, “Poets Across Lines is a cross-regional program presented in Birmingham, Alabama and Tucson, Arizona offering poets in the two regions financial and material support to create original poems around the themes of housing, immigration, and/or LGBTQIA+ experience. The program is committed to providing an opportunity for poets local to each city who don’t have the support and resources of academic spaces and aims to serve poets who identify as Black, Indigenous, persons of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, and poets with disabilities. Two poets each in Birmingham and Tucson will attend 3 mentor-led workshops to draft poems responding to the three themes and participate in 3 virtual discussions with celebrated guest speakers. Poets writing in Spanish can also receive feedback in Tucson. At the end of the program, a virtual event will premiere the poets’ work in dialogue with local social justice organizations, literary citizens, and community leaders. The work will also be published in a free digital zine on PEN America’s website. Four poets will be chosen in 2024. Each will receive an honorarium of $1250 in support of their participation.” Apply by August 23.
• “Introducing the 2024 – 2025 Jennifer Weiner Fellowship, a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to nurturing and empowering woman-identified emerging prose writers in the United States. Established through the generous support of acclaimed author Jennifer Weiner, in partnership with Blue Stoop, this fellowship aims to elevate voices that often go unheard in the literary world.” Fellowship package includes a $5,000 stipend, along with mentorship from Jennifer Weiner and other benefits. Note that applicants must be living in the United States. Apply by August 26.
• Josephine Quarterly “is seeking applicants for a Social Media Intern who can expand the reach and audience of Josephine Quarterly via established social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram. The ideal candidate should be fluent with Twitter and Instagram platforms and possess excellent written communication skills. Because this is a remote position, ideal candidates will need to meet deadlines regularly and maintain a consistent schedule for social media posts; design and publish social media posts to promote issues and highlight published poets and artists in current and past issues; and engage with other literary magazines, publishers, and literary organizations on social media platforms. This 6-month position pays $15/hour with an expected time commitment of 1 hour/week.” No deadline indicated.
• Shelf Awareness is hiring a Sales and Marketing Assistant “to work with our director of business development. This is a great opportunity for a highly motivated, detail-oriented person to join a team passionate about indie bookstores, bookselling and the publishing industry….This is an entry-level full-time position; the starting annual salary is $41,500, not to exceed $50,000; presently, Shelf Awareness offers medical insurance, health savings account and a Vanguard Simple IRA.  Seattle residency is not required.” No deadline indicated.
• Brigham Young University in Utah is advertising a “Creative Writing tenure-track faculty position to start August 1, 2025.” Fiction focus. Closes: September 1.
• “The Department of English at Michigan State University invites applications from writers of any genre (including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and graphic or transmedia narrative) and those who undertake cross-genre and multi-disciplinary literary practices. We are eager to support a writer who, through their literary practice, inventive curation, editing, and/or scholarship, is actively nurturing the political and cultural work that literature can accomplish. We are seeking a writer who is poised to contribute to the transformative potential of literary practice in and for Native and American Indigenous communities and advance important innovations in the field of American Indian and Indigenous Studies. Our future-colleague will join us at either the Assistant or Associate Professor rank, in a position supported by the Audrey and John Leslie Endowment. The endowment advances research and creative production in North American Literary Studies.” Closes: October 6.