Monday Markets for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write, especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

  • Attention, Canadian poets! “The Arc Poetry Soci­ety is seek­ing pro­pos­als for the pos­i­tion of Poet-in-Residence. The 2013/2014 pro­gram will rep­res­ent Arc’s 4th vir­tual res­id­ency; Tim Bowl­ing is cur­rently filling the pos­i­tion. This is a vir­tual res­id­ency, so the Poet in Res­id­ence will not be required to relocate.” Pays: “The con­tract fee for the poet in res­id­ence will be $9,000 (sub­ject to con­firm­a­tion of fund­ing), which will be paid on a monthly basis. Stand­ard writer’s fee rates will apply for pub­lic­a­tion in Arc.” No application fee. Deadline: February 15, 2013.
  • Speaking of poetry: The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program “is proud to present an online, seven-week poetry writing course this February. The course will include seven live online sessions and will be conducted via virtual classroom software. The course is free of charge and all sessions will be conducted in English.” Participation will be limited to fifteen writers, and international writers “are encouraged to apply.” Deadline: January 28, 2013.
  • Bronx residents: Applications for the BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Awards are now available. These awards “provide direct support to individual Bronx artists who create literary, media, visual, and performing works of art. 25 BRIO grants of $3,000 each are awarded to Bronx artists. BRIO award winners complete a one-time public service activity.” There is no application fee. Deadline is Friday, January 25, 2013.
  • The River Teeth Nonfiction Conference “is offering four scholarships to students currently enrolled in writing programs (graduate or undergraduate). Registration fees will be waived for the recipients of the scholarships. All other expenses (travel, room, board) are the responsibility of the scholarship recipient.” Apply by March 1.
  • From Carol Tice, of the “Make a Living Writing” blog fame: “[M]y guest-post well is nearly dry, so it’s a good time to pitch me ideas. For those who don’t know, I pay $50 a post (and it’s pretty competitive to get an assignment, so bring your best idea we haven’t covered before!) Read my guidelines first, if you want a chance at getting a post approved.” (NB: I’ve had the good fortune to guest-post for Carol, and I recommend the experience highly!)

    • Friday Finds for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    3

    Treasure ChestA collection of writing-related resources, news, and reflections to read over the weekend.

  • “Many first manuscript attempts are not publishable, even after revision, yet they are necessary and vital for a writer’s growth.” That’s my favorite line in Jane Friedman’s “How Long Should You Keep Trying to Get Published?”
  • On The Artist’s Road, Patrick Ross has been sharing lots of “nuggets” from his latest residency in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program.
  • Susan Shapiro explains why, over a long teaching career, she has made “the humiliation essay” her “signature assignment.”
  • Wondering what an Intro to Creative Writing course might be like? Check out the course syllabus for the students lucky enough to study with Salvatore Pane at the University of Indianapolis this spring.
  • Weekend listening: I’m going to conserve some time this weekend to listen to this fiction podcast from The New Yorker: Tony Earley reads William Maxwell’s “Love.” Plus, a conversation between Earley and The New Yorker‘s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman.

    • Happy weekend, all. See you back here on Monday.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: I Did It!

    by Erika Dreifus on
    6

    listIf you’ve already seen the January issue of The Practicing Writer, you know that it features a superb guest article by Lisa Romeo. The article begins:

    It’s time for The I Did It List — my small act of defiance against all the emotionally upsetting lists we humans tend to mentally make as the year draws to a close: the one that ticks off the things we failed to do all year. We didn’t lose weight, clear out the basement, organize the photos, cook better meals, take that trip, call that old friend.

    As writers we do our own version of the miss list — we take ourselves to task about the books or chapters or essays not completed, the conference not attended, the acceptances not received, the work not submitted, the agent not contacted, the class not taken, the revision left undone. We tend to see our writing year as a finite lot of things not yet achieved instead of a valuable step along an infinitely curvy road.

    Give yourself a break. Please.

    Write your own writer’s version of The I Did It List.

    Lisa suggests that we consider all kinds of writerly accomplishments for the year just ended. She notes that this includes helping others with their writing goals. (more…)

    Wednesday’s WIP: Last Article of 2013 Looks Ahead to 2014

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    At this time of year, I’m confronted with the many books published in 2013 that I haven’t yet managed to read. It seems that every day another “best-of” list materializes to remind me of the recurrent truth: There’s just never enough time to get to all of the books that I’d like to read, not even if I limited myself to books of Jewish interest, or to novels and short-story collections. And yet, as we approach the new year, publishers’ 2014 catalogs promise a new array of tempting titles. Here are just five of the notable “Jewish books” that I’m already anticipating.

    Read the rest of my last article to be published in 2013–“5 Jewish Books to Read in 2014”–over on The Forward‘s Arty Semite blog.
    artysemite-header2

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write, especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. (Even during the holidays, when the listings can be a little thin!)

  • The 6th Annual James Nicholson Political Poetry Prize, administered by the Town of Pelham Public Library, is open to residents of Westchester County, N.Y., 18 years of age or older. There will be a $500 prize for the winner. (Make sure that your library account is in good standing, since “awards will not be given to anyone with outstanding fines or fees.”) There are also categories open to middle-school and high-school students. All winners “must be available” for a reading and reception currently scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 2013, and the winning poems will be published in the Pelham Weekly. Deadline: February 18, 2013.
  • The state of Colorado’s Creative Industries Division offers Jumpstart Awards to “provide fresh energy to artists and creative entrepreneurs to help stimulate their creative business or organization, whether nonprofit or commercial. Our goal is to help grantees increase their revenue, gain new audiences, and improve management practices.” You must be a Colorado resident to apply. No fee indicated. “The maximum request is $1,000 and funds are paid on a reimbursement basis upon receipt of final report and expense receipts.” Next deadline is January 15, 2013.
  • “The Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (NOWW) requests proposals for an E-Writer in Residence. The E-Writer in Residence, who may be located anywhere in Canada, will provide manuscript critiques and workshops, delivered primarily by communications technology, to writers located in Northwestern Ontario cities, towns and isolated communities (including First Nations communities). NOWW will give priority to applicants who are poets (defined as having at least one professionally published book of poetry for which the poet has a publishing contract and receives royalties). NOWW welcomes applications from First Nations and Métis writers.” No application fee. Deadline: January 13, 2013.
  • And you’ll find LOTS of no-fee contests and paying calls in the new (January 2013) issue of The Practicing Writer. Consider it my New Year’s present to all of you. Happy New Year!