The Practicing Writer 2.0: December 2021
Discover more from The Practicing Writer 2.0: A Newsletter from Erika Dreifus
The Practicing Writer 2.0: December 2021
Current competitions and calls for submissions. No fees to enter/submit. Payment for winning/published work. Nothing limited to residents of a single city/state/province.
Welcome, new readers, and welcome back to the regulars!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Editor’s Note
Success Stories
Featured Resource
Current Contests, Competitions, and Other Opportunities (NO ENTRY OR APPLICATION FEES; PAYING OPPORTUNITIES ONLY)
Submission Alerts (NO SUBMISSION/READING FEES; PAYING CALLS ONLY)
Blog Notes
Newsletter Matters
1. EDITOR’S NOTE
Greetings, Practicing Writers:
Hanukkah has come early this year (tonight we’ll be kindling the third of eight candles). Which means it’s not too late to treat yourself (or others!) to the gift of some quality reading.
Check out this incredible collage assembled by literary-citizen extraordinaire Julie Zuckerman, who explains: “The books here are written by members of a group of Jewish women writers I'm privileged to be in. Many of them have appeared at Literary Modiin and others are old and new friends.”
Of course, books make great gifts for other holidays/year-long, too! That includes my own Birthright: Poems (can you find it pictured above?) as well as Quiet Americans: Stories.
However you are spending your December, I hope that it brings you (and your writing practice) lots of light and all good things.
Warmly,
ERIKA
2. SUCCESS STORIES
Happy results from listings in this newsletter, or from our blogs or other resources? Please tell me! I love to celebrate such successes in this space!
3. FEATURED RESOURCE
Apologies to those of you who have already caught me mentioning this (more than once!) on Twitter, but I am so enjoying Adam O’Fallon Price’s “William Trevor Reader.” Each installment offers a beautiful example of “reading as a writer.” Follow along as Price reads and writes about all 85 stories in Trevor’s Collected Stories in sequential order. (I’m [re]reading each story each week, too—another pleasure.)
4. CURRENT CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
INVISIBLE CITY NONFICTION FLASH CONTEST
Deadline: December 5. “Contest submissions must be creative nonfiction and 750 words or less.” Awards prizes of $500/$200/$100 and “publication for top five.” (Hat tip for this one goes to @Duotrope.)SWEETTOOTH//HONEY CONTEST
Deadline: December 15. From table//FEAST literary magazine and bee2bee honey. No specific theme/prompt. Writers may submit three micro poems or three pieces of flash fiction. Cash awards ($40 USD) in each category. Organizer will also make a $40 contribution to a nonprofit/charity. (Also found this one via @Duotrope.)“MISS SARAH” FELLOWSHIP FOR BLACK WOMEN WRITERS
Deadline: December 20. “The ‘Miss Sarah’ Fellowship for Black Women Writers aims to provide Black women writers a restful environment conducive to reflection and writing….For 2022 the Fellowship will focus on the genre of poetry. The selected writer will receive a seven-day residency in July 2022 and can choose whether to stay at Trillium Arts’ rural ‘Firefly Creek’ apartment in Mars Hills, NC or at E. Patrick Johnson and Stephen Lewis’s ‘Montford Manor’ residence near downtown Asheville, NC. Participants will receive a $700 stipend and transportation to and from Asheville, NC.” NB: “The preferred dates for a ‘Miss Sarah’ Fellowship in 2022 are July 10-17. However, the panel will consider other dates. Black women poets at any stage of their careers are invited to apply.”ARIEL (AUTHOR IN INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCE IN LORRAINE) RESIDENCY
Deadline: December 30. “For its fourth edition, ARIEL is launching a call for applications from authors publishing in English.” Four-month residency (October 2022-January 2023) based in Nancy, France, includes a monthly stipend of 2000 euros each month and free accommodation in the center of Nancy.VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY (VCU) CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD
Deadline: December 30. Honors “an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year.” An award event is arranged “in which the winning author and two others involved in the writing and publishing worlds, typically the author’s agent and editor, appear at a public reading and Q&A session.… Travel to and lodging in Richmond for the author and the additional speakers are provided, and the author receives a cash prize.”ELIZABETH ALEXANDER CREATIVE WRITING AWARD
Deadline: December 31. Confers “prize of $500 and publication in Meridians Journal: feminism, race, transnationalism.” Open for fiction, poetry, nonfiction.ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARDS
Deadline: December 31. These awards recognize “outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity. Awards are given for fiction, poetry and nonfiction.” Submissions of books published this year are now open. Prize: “Award recipients traditionally receive $10,000 from the Anisfield-Wolf fund.”BLACK CAUCUS OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, INC. (BCALA) LITERARY AWARDS
Deadline: December 31. Confers four prizes of $1,000 each “for adult books written by African American citizen authors: a First Novelist Award, a Fiction Award, a Nonfiction Award, and a Poetry Award.” Books must have 2021 publication dates.BLUE MOUNTAIN ARTS POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. Awards cash prizes: $350/$200/$100. “Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming, although we find that non-rhyming poetry reads better. We suggest that you write about real emotions and feelings and that you have some special person or occasion in mind as you write.”FOUR QUARTETS PRIZE
Deadline: December 31. “For a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book in 2021. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were published in 2021 and that brought together, they form a complete sequence. The Four Quartets Prize is first and foremost a celebration of the multi-part poem.” Award: “Three finalists will receive $1,000 each. The winner will receive an additional $20,000.” Judges: Rae Armantrout, Victoria Chang, Dante Micheaux.THE LYRIC MAGAZINE COLLEGE POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. Open to undergraduates enrolled full time in an American or Canadian college or university. “Poems must be original and unpublished, 39 lines or less, written in English in traditional forms, preferably with regular scansion and rhyme. We welcome up to three poems per student. Winners are announced and published in the Winter issue of The Lyric.” Cash prizes: $500/$150/$100.SHADY GROVE LITERARY QUARTERLY CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. For flash fiction up to 300 words. Awards one $100 prize; two runners-up receive online publication. (Thanks to Pamelyn Casto’s FlashFictionFlash newsletter for this one.)TARTTS FICTION AWARD
Deadline: December 31. For writers who have not published a short fiction collection (American citizens only). “Winning short story collection will be published by Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama, in simultaneous library binding and trade paper editions. Winning entry will receive $1000, plus our standard royalty contract, which includes 60 copies of the book.”STACY DORIS MEMORIAL POETRY AWARD
Deadline: January 1. “Stacy Doris was a poet, translator, and an Associate Professor in San Francisco State University’s Department of Creative Writing….Following upon her spirit of creative invention, engaging wit and ingenious playfulness, discovery in construction, and radical appropriations based on classical forms, pastiche, etc., and love, the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award is given to a poet with a truly inventive spirit.” Prize (for one poem, 3-10 pp.) includes $500 and publication in Fourteen Hills.STEINBECK FELLOWS PROGRAM
Deadline: January 3. “Offers emerging writers of any age and background the opportunity to pursue a significant writing project while in residence at SJSU [San Jose State University].….Fellowships include a stipend of $15,000. Residency in the San Francisco Bay Area is required during the academic year….Currently, SJSU offers one-year fellowships in Steinbeck scholarship and in creative writing, including fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, and biography. Applications in poetry will not be accepted.” NB: “The creative writing fellowship does not require that there be any direct connection between your work and Steinbeck’s.”MASS MoCA FELLOWSHIPS FOR BLACK OR INDIGENOUS ARTISTS AND WRITERS
Deadline: January 8. “These fellowships fund all residency fees for up to four weeks in residence. To apply, simply select the appropriate box on the fellowships question of the Summer/Fall 2022 residency application.”PRISM PRIZE FOR CLIMATE LITERATURE
Deadline: January 8. Aims “to promote and support fiction, poetry, and literary non-fiction writing in the emerging genre of climate literature.” Confers an award of $1,000 and publication with Homebound Publications. Open to U.S. and U.K. authors.ANISFIELD-WOLF FELLOWSHIP IN WRITING & PUBLISHING
Deadline: January 14. “The Cleveland State University Poetry Center is accepting applications for the Anisfield-Wolf Fellowship in Writing & Publishing, a two-year postgraduate fellowship that offers an emerging writer time to work toward a first or second book and professional experience teaching creative writing and engaging in community-oriented literary work in collaboration with the CSU Poetry Center….The salary is $42,000 per year with health insurance and benefits.”
REMINDER: Multiple opportunities that were listed in last month’s newsletter remain open at this time. ALSO: my list of post-MFA fellowships, though not limited to fee-free opportunities, has been recently updated!
5. SUBMISSION ALERTS
At THE CINCINNATI REVIEW, print-magazine submissions will reopen December 1st and will most likely close again soon thereafter; act quickly if you’re interested. Pays: “$25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry in the print journal.”
Also opening December 1 (and closing December 23): the fee-free submissions period at HIPPOCAMPUS magazine, which seeks personal essays, memoir excerpts, and flash creative nonfiction. Pays: $40, via Paypal.
“In December only, NEWFOUND accepts unsolicited chapbook-length manuscripts from writers who have not yet published a full-length book.” Selected poet receives 25 contributor copies and a royalties contract (25% print/50% digital).
THE KENYON REVIEW “will accept submissions for a guest-edited issue of work in translation during the month of December.” Guest editors include Jennifer Croft, Jeremy Tiang, and Anton Hur. “Payment for the translator will be $120 per poem or $300 for a work of prose, with a $75 honorarium paid to the author of the original work.”
Reminder that online submissions of fiction, poetry, and essays for the print edition of NINTH LETTER are free during December. Pays: $25/printed page, up to $150, plus two copies.”
Ireland-based SOUTHWORD opens for poetry submissions on December 1. Pays: €40/poem. “Payments to contributors outside Ireland can only be made through Paypal.”
Also opening December 1: STONECROP REVIEW, “a journal of urban nature writing, art & photography.” They’ll be seeking submissions for an upcoming issue on the theme of “Flora.” Pays: $20.
ADDA, “the online literary magazine of the Commonwealth Foundation,” is calling for submissions for “an edition that engages with the Commonwealth Charter on Freedom of Expression….Writers from Commonwealth countries are invited to submit poetry (up to 2 poems, 5 pages maximum), literary non-fiction (2000-5000 words), short fiction (2000-5000 words) and graphic fiction (finished panels or samples of illustrations, 15 pages max) that are in conversation with the Commonwealth’s commitment to freedom of expression.” Deadline: December 5. “Writers will be paid a standard adda fee if their work is accepted for publication.”
Canada-based AUGUR MAGAZINE plans an issue on “Joyful Imaginations.” Until December 5, they’re taking submissions from “BIPOC, trans, and/or disabled creators from or living in Canada”; from December 6-19, they’ll be open to work from “everyone everywhere.” Pay rates are detailed here.
Australian literary magazine ISLAND is open for fiction and nonfiction submissions until December 8. They welcome work from “Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Australians living abroad.” Pays: “Contributor fees for print submissions are between 10 and 20 cents per word for fiction and nonfiction, and $125 per poem. Fees are less the cost of a 4-issue subscription if you are not a current subscriber.”
EXPOSITION REVIEW will offer fee-free submissions on two days in December: “December 10 (Human Rights Day), and December 16 (Expo’s Birthday!).” Considering “work in all forms: fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts for stage & screen, film, experimental narratives, visual art, and comics” for an upcoming issue on the theme of “Flux.” Pays: $35 USD.
From SHORT FICTION: “We publish one story per month as our Featured piece. We will also periodically seek to publish one story in a new section - ‘Introducing’ - which will be a showcase for excellent new writers; that is, writers for whom this is their first published piece.” Their current submissions window closes December 12. NB: “We accept submissions from the UK, Europe, the Commonwealth and every other country except for the USA.” Payment: “2p (£0.02) per word, to the nearest 100 words, with a minimum of £30 and maximum £100, paid via PayPal. (For those without a PayPal account, we can work out an alternative method of payment.)”
BRINK, which accepts “a variety of creative work from Nonfiction to Fiction, from Poetry to Translation, as well as hybrid work that falls into the cross-genre category of Evocations,” is open for submissions until December 15. “We are looking for contributions that engage both the particular theme of each issue [currently: “Certainty”] as well as the idea of being on the brink.” Pay rates range from $25-$100, as detailed on the site.
Also until December 15: THE JOURNAL OF COMPRESSED CREATIVE ARTS is receiving submissions of “compressed poetry, compressed prose fiction (including prose poetry), and compressed creative nonfiction.” Pays: $50.
POETRY has issued a call for “Exophony” submissions: “English-language poetry isn’t exclusively the expression of ‘native speakers’ who were born into the language that you’re reading now—an unsung commonwealth of writers whose first languages may have been Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Gujarati, or any number of other tongues are also writing the story of Anglophone poetry today. In this special issue of Poetry, we’ll celebrate the diversity of ‘exophonic’ poets—(i.e. poets whose first language is not English)—who’ve helped to shape contemporary English-language poetry around the world.” Closing date: December 16. For Poetry’s pay rates, check here.
From Joanne Raymond: “I am seeking writers for an experimental anthology titled ‘LETTERS I’LL NEVER SEND’. This anthology will be a compilation of first-person accounts including letters, prosaic poems, diary entries, postcard letters, very short personal essays, and other genre-bending experimental pieces.” Deadline: December 21. Pays: $50 on acceptance, plus one copy of the published book.
Submissions for CHANNEL’s sixth issue are open until December 31. “We publish new, previously unpublished work that engages with the natural world. We have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. Each issue includes a mix of poetry and fiction, alongside a selection of essays which may include creative non-fiction, criticism, and the occasional review of new creative work or of community-based environmental projects. Although based in Ireland, Channel welcomes international submissions. We also welcome submissions in translation.” Pays: “€50 per poem and €50 per page of prose up to a total maximum fee of €150. Contributors will also receive a copy of whichever issue their work appears within.”
December 31 is also the closing date at FREEZE FRAME FICTION, which pays $10 for flash fiction.
You also have until December 31 to send queries/proposals for book-length nonfiction works (memoirs, essay collections, and craft books/nonfiction for young readers) to BOOKS BY HIPPOCAMPUS. Pays: royalties.
For an upcoming volume in an ongoing series, MITZI SZERETO seeks “true crime accounts of the ‘famous and infamous.’ Criminal subjects can be from the performing and literary arts (including actors, musicians and composers, radio and TV personalities, authors, journalists, artists, etc.), politicians, sports figures, members of royalty, business entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and so forth. Criminal subjects must already be in the public eye when committing their crimes, not made famous after the fact. Stories can take place anywhere in the world and can cover a wide range of criminal activity/historical time frames. First-person accounts are especially welcome from writers with a connection to their cases.” Pitch first. Current deadline is January 1; payment is “USD $130, and 2 print copies of the book.”
SNARL seeks “submissions of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, and other work from creators of marginalized identities.” Pay rates range from $15-$75. (Discovered via @Duotrope.)
Reminder: Make it a habit to check the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL website, where titles in development are posted. “If this is your first time, please visit our Story Guidelines page.” Pays: $200 plus 10 free copies.
REMEMBER: Some venues listed in last month’s newsletter remain open for submissions.
6. BLOG NOTES
The newsletter is published just once each month, but there’s always something new on the Practicing Writing blog:
(Monday) Markets and Jobs for Writers (including opportunities that don’t make it into the monthly newsletter)
Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer
(Friday) Finds for Writers
Sunday Sentence
Please visit, and comment!
Interested in matters of specifically Jewish literary and cultural interest? Please also visit the My Machberet blog (“machberet” is the Hebrew word for “notebook”).
7. NEWSLETTER MATTERS
Information contained in The Practicing Writer is collected from many sources, with the purpose of providing general references. It is researched carefully but readers should always verify information. The Practicing Writer and its editor disclaim any liability for the use of information contained within. Thank you for following/reading.
We value our subscribers, and we protect their privacy. We keep our subscriber list confidential.
About the editor: Erika Dreifus is a writer, teacher, and literary consultant whose books include Birthright: Poems and Quiet Americans: Stories. A Fellow in the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Institute and an adjunct associate professor at Baruch College/CUNY, she lives in New York. Please visit ErikaDreifus.com to learn more about her work and follow her on Facebook and/or Twitter, where she tweets “on matters bookish and/or Jewish.”