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.

• In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, The Maine Review is offering free submissions to all writers in all genres until September 21, “or until we reach our allowed free submission maximum.” Pays: “Fiction and Nonfiction writers receive a $25 honorarium per published flash (1,000 words or fewer) and a $50 honorarium for work 1,001 words or more. Poets receive a $25 honorarium per published poem.”
• Open until September 30: Short Story, Long, which seeks stories “2k-8k words long (with the 3,000-5,500 range being our real sweet spot).” Pays: “Every published story will be paired with original art, and I am paying both writer and artist $100.”
• Open until September 30: “Led by Eastern New Mexico University Creative Writing faculty Dr. Megan Arlett and funded by a generous grant from ENMU, [this] anthology project (tentatively titled Enchant Me) will be a collection of narrative nonfiction written by New Mexico writers reflecting on our relationships with climate and landscape.” Pays: $100.
• Reminder: We’re just past September’s midpoint–a good moment to ensure that you’ve checked out all of the fee-free-and-paying opportunities in the September newsletter and in the latest Markets and Jobs posts here on Practicing Writing.
• The New Yorker is advertising for a part-time Fiction Reader. Compensation: “The expected base salary range for this position is from $25/hr. – $30/hr.”
• In Tennessee, “the Vanderbilt University English Department seeks to hire a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Poetry Writing to begin Fall 2025.” Apply by October 15.
• “The Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Poetry and Poetics.” Application materials should arrive for review by October 16.
• “The Department of English and the Ph. D. Program in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California invite applications for a full-time tenure-track assistant professor in Poetry and Poetics, with an emphasis in Twentieth Century and Contemporary Poetry.” Applications must be received by October 18.
• “New Mexico State University is seeking applicants for a tenure track Assistant Professor in Creative Writing (fiction focus).” Closing date: November 6.
• “The Liberal Arts Department of the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), a national leader in visual arts education, invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in Liberal Arts with a specialty in fiction writing. ” Deadline: November 15.
• At the University of Rhode Island, they’re seeking an Assistant Professor in English and Creative Writing (a “demonstrated specialization in Fiction” is required; with secondary expertise in nonfiction “preferred”). Deadline: “The search will remain open until the position has been filled. First consideration will be given to applications received by November 15, 2024. Applications received after November 15, 2024 may be reviewed depending on search progress and needs but are not guaranteed full consideration.”
• In Ohio, “the Department of Languages and Literatures at Ashland University invites applications for a Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor of English, and Director of the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing. Housed within the College of Arts and Sciences, this position reports directly to the Department Chair. This position is on a 9-month contract with a summer stipend to direct the residency for MFA.” Note: “Preferred emphasis in fiction or creative nonfiction.” Open until filled.