The Practicing Writer 2.0: February 2023
Entering our TWENTIETH YEAR of service to writers and literary communities.
Welcome, new readers, and welcome back to the regulars!
For updates and additional opportunities between newsletters, please check the “Practicing Writing” blog and follow Erika Dreifus on Twitter (@ErikaDreifus) and/or Facebook.
If you are accessing this newsletter via email, you may find a “Message Clipped” notice as you continue reading. That’s due to the length of this info-packed missive. Please be sure to click as appropriate to access the full text.
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Thanks for respecting your editor’s volunteer efforts.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Editor’s Note
Success Story
Featured Resource
Contests, Competitions, and Other Opportunities (NO FEES TO ENTER/APPLY; PAYING OPPORTUNITIES ONLY; NOTHING THAT’S LIMITED TO WRITERS IN A SINGLE CITY/STATE/PROVINCE)
Submission Alerts (NO SUBMISSION/READING FEES; PAYING CALLS ONLY; NOTHING THAT’S LIMITED TO WRITERS IN A SINGLE CITY/STATE/PROVINCE)
Blog Notes
Newsletter Matters
1. EDITOR’S NOTE
Greetings, everyone:
Once upon a time—at the end of January 2004, to be precise—the very first issue of The Practicing Writer went out to a handful of subscribers. It was a plain-text newsletter hosted on the YahooGroups platform.
Content-wise, the newsletter evolved over time to its current focus on exclusively fee-free opportunities that also pay writers for their winning/published work. While maintaining a consistent focus on fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, the newsletter has also lately begun to share items relating to children’s literature, mirroring developments in my own writing practice. And platform-wise, we weathered a not-so-easy transition to Substack (not Substack’s fault!) a couple of years back. (Special thanks to all of you who re-subscribed.)
And here we are.
Let’s celebrate, shall we?
I’m still thinking up potential celebratory offerings (giveaways, for instance) as we make our way through this anniversary year and approach the big 2-0. For now, I’ll turn to you to help get the festivities started.
If you’ve ever greeted the arrival of this newsletter in your inbox with eager anticipation; if you’ve appreciated its carefully curated focus on fee-free opportunities that pay writers for their work and are not limited to writers based in a single city/county/state/province; if you’ve entered a competition or sent in your work to a journal or anthology or press after finding a listing in this newsletter; if you’ve discovered and enjoyed the work of another writer through one of our “success stories” or vintage author interviews (or, perhaps, you’ve been one of those spotlighted individuals yourself); if you’ve ever found inspiration and/or assistance from one of our “featured resources”—please consider commemorating this 19th birthday and the start of our 20th year.
Some possibilities:
1. TELL YOUR FRIENDS (AND COLLEAGUES/STUDENTS/TEACHERS)
Share the informational wealth with your networks—and recommend that others subscribe, too.
2. TELL ME
Email your thoughts on what the newsletter has meant to your writing practice over these 19 years. Or tell me on Twitter or Facebook.
3. SUPPORT YOUR EDITOR’S OWN WRITING PRACTICE (OPTION A)
Please consider buying Birthright: Poems and/or Quiet Americans: Stories. Remember that new purchases help me support worthy causes. (I don’t receive any profits when you purchase used copies.)
4. SUPPORT YOUR EDITOR’S OWN WRITING PRACTICE (OPTION B)
Check with your library. If they don’t already possess the aforementioned books, please recommend purchase(s).
5. SUPPORT YOUR EDITOR’S OWN WRITING PRACTICE (OPTION C)
If you’ve enjoyed reading the books, please consider posting on Goodreads and/or Amazon to encourage others to do the same. (Quiet Americans, in particular, is edging ever-closer to that all-important 50-review marker on Amazon.) Reviews can be brief—even just a few words!
6. REMEMBER YOUR EDITOR FOR YOUR OWN PROJECTS
In your own roles as writers/editors/teachers/reviewers/podcasters, please remember me/my work for reading series. For book clubs. For conferences and festivals. For course readings. For interviews (you can even ask me about this newsletter—as Melissa Hart did for a wonderful article in The Writer magazine last year).
Thank you all so much—for everything.
With all best wishes for your writing practices,
ERIKA
2. SUCCESS STORIES
From Crystal Rowe:
I just wanted to thank you for including Farmer-Ish in your list of opportunities a couple of months ago. I submitted a short essay and recipe for their Winter edition and it was just published! It’s a beautiful publication and I'm so grateful to have discovered it!
From Carol Coven Grannick:
Thank you, Erika, for posting the submission call for POETRY NI+ for their Holocaust Memorial Day issue. My poem “Klezmer” appears there, and it’s a lovely online “pamphlet” of poems. Thank you for the constant research you do that I’ve come to depend on!
Please share news from your writing practice that may be connected with this newsletter or our other resources.
3. FEATURED RESOURCE
You know what? I’m not going to suggest a featured resource this anniversary month. Instead, I’ll remind you that you can find plenty of featured resources archived in past issues. Which I suppose makes the archive, itself, a featured resource!
4. CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
VINCENT ANIOKE’S GRANTS TO SUPPORT BLACK WRITERS
(Re)opens for requests: February 1. “Throughout 2023, I am happy to commit ~300 USD per month in grants to support Black Writers seeking specific literary opportunities gated by payment fees.” Sample opportunities include journal submissions, contest submissions, grant/fellowship applications, and MFA applications. “In the event that there are more requests than funds available, I will prioritize fulfilling all requests received up until that point, and mark the form as closed until the subsequent month.” (Thanks to Tommy Dean for bringing this opportunity to my attention.)BUFFALO BOOKS FICTION PRIZE
Submissions: February 1-28 (or until they receive 100 submissions). This “non-profit literary press affiliated with the Kansas State University English Department” is “open only to novels — from 40,000 to 80,000 words — that are set in or explore the Midwest, the Great Plains, and/or the alleged flyover portions of the West.” Prize: “One book will be selected for publication. The winning writer will receive an honorarium of $500 and publication under a standard royalty contract.”GRAYWOLF PRESS AFRICAN FICTION PRIZE
Submissions: February 1-28. “The prize will be awarded for a first novel by an African author primarily residing in Africa and will be judged by Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of the Booker Prize short-listed This Mournable Body and the forthcoming Black and Female, in conjunction with the Graywolf editors …. Submissions must be full-length, previously unpublished first novels, or first novels published in Africa that have not been distributed or available for sale outside of the continent of Africa. The winning manuscript will receive a $12,000 advance and publication by Graywolf Press.”DIANA WOODS MEMORIAL AWARD IN CREATIVE NONFICTION
Submissions: February 1-28. From Lunch Ticket. “Twice each year an author of a work of creative nonfiction will be selected for the Diana Woods Memorial Award award by a special guest judge. One author will be chosen for the Summer/Fall issue of Lunch Ticket and one in the Winter/Spring issue. The winning submissions will be published in Lunch Ticket and the recipient will receive $250.”2023 STARSHINE AND CLAY FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: February 2. From Cave Canem and EcoTheo Collective. “Developed in 2020, this initiative provides financial and developmental support to emerging Black poets. 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 2023 Wonder Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. Fellowship recipients will also receive a one-on-one consultation with [judge] Roger Reeves. Additionally, the fellows’ work will be published in the summer 2023 issue of EcoTheo Review.” Open to “all adult Black writers who have not had a full-length book published by or currently under contract with a professional press. Authors of chapbooks and self-published books with a maximum print run of 500 may apply.”HIGHLIGHTS FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
Deadline: February 10. The Pennsylvania-based Highlights Foundation, which aims to amplify “the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves,” offers scholarships on a yearly basis. “In addition to General Scholarships, there are a number of Special Scholarships in support of specific recipients or workshops, and Named Funds honoring those who have had a significant impact on children’s literature.…Recipients use their scholarship toward a Highlights Foundation workshop or personal retreat, depending on their award.” Note: “Travel is not typically included as part of scholarships, though we have restricted funds available to offer on a limited basis during the application window. Ten travel stipends of $500 each will be awarded during this scholarship period, and there is a place on the application to let us know if a travel stipend is helpful.”CAAPP BOOK PRIZE
Deadline: February 15. This prize, a “publishing partnership between the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and Autumn House Press,” is awarded annually “to a first or second book by a writer of African descent and is open to the full range of writers embodying African American, African and African diasporic experiences. The book can be of any genre that is, or intersects with, poetry, including poetry, hybrid work, speculative prose, and/or translation. The winning manuscript will be published by Autumn House Press and its author will be awarded $3,000.” Final judge: Nicole Sealey.VETERANS WRITING AWARD
Deadline: February 15. From Syracuse University Press, in cooperation with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), this biennial award aims “to recognize the contributions of veterans to the literary arts, shine a light on the multivalent veteran experience, and provide a platform for unrecognized military writers.” Seeks full-length manuscripts and alternates between fiction and nonfiction; currently open for “full-length memoir, collection of nonfiction essays, or creative nonfiction.” Eligibility: “The award is open to U.S. veterans and active duty personnel in any branch of the U.S. military and their immediate family members. This includes spouses, domestic partners, siblings, parents, and children.” Also: “Entrants must not have published a full-length manuscript or collection of stories previously.” Note: “Although work submitted for the contest need not be about direct military experience, we seek original voices and fresh perspectives that will expand and challenge readers’ understanding of the lives of veterans and their families. Posthumous submissions are eligible.” Prize confers “$1,000 cash prize and a publication contract with Syracuse University Press.” Final judge: Anuradha Bhagwati.HADASSAH-BRANDEIS INSTITUTE SCHOLARS-IN-RESIDENCE
Deadline: February 17. This program offers “outstanding scholars, writers and artists the opportunity to be in residence at HBI at different points during the year” and “is open to scholars working on any aspect of Jewish women’s and gender studies in order to devote time to their research. These residencies take place during the academic year (August 24, 2023 - May 2, 2024) and generally range from two months to a full semester. Applications for a full academic year will be considered.” NB: “While we continue to adapt to the exigencies of Covid 19, HBI welcomes applications for in-person, virtual and hybrid residencies. Applicants living outside the U.S. and those whose work has an international dimension are especially encouraged to apply.” Residencies confer a stipend of $5,000/month. “In addition, participants will receive (shared) office space at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and access to all available Brandeis University resources as state and university health policies permit.” Additionally, “the HBI offers a dedicated residency devoted to research and creations that use the Jewish Feminism Collections in Brandeis University’s Archives and Special Collections.”LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDS
Deadline: February 17. Cash prizes for each of the following awards, all of which are detailed at the link above: the Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction; the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction; the Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging LGBTQ Writers; the Jim Duggins PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists’ Prize (for “LGBTQ-identified authors who have published multiple novels, built a strong reputation and following, and show promise to continue publishing high quality work for years to come”); and the J. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50 (for “an unpublished LGBTQ writer over 50 working in any genre”).WILBUR SMITH BEST PUBLISHED NOVEL (IN ADVENTURE WRITING) AWARD
Deadline: February 17. Awards £10,000. “We invite novels to be submitted by publishers and literary agents. The award accepts entries by writers of any nationality, writing in English.” Check guidelines for additional eligibility and other information.THE REPORTING AWARD
Deadline: February 21. Provides “up to $12,500 for a significant work of journalism, in any medium, on an under-reported subject in the public interest. In establishing the award, the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute’s faculty cited the need for encouraging enterprising journalism during a time of extensive layoffs and budget cuts throughout the journalism industry.” There are no citizenship requirements. Note that if you apply for this award, you cannot apply for the Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award that is mentioned below, since “you may only apply to one of the Institute’s awards per year.” Note also: “The Reporting Award in recent years has had two or three winners who have each received between $6,000 and $10,000.”LEX ALLEN LITERARY FESTIVAL PRIZES
Deadline: February 24. Undergraduate college students may submit “up to three poems and/or up to two short stories.” $100 prizes will be awarded in each category.BCALA E-BOOK LITERARY AWARD
Deadline: February 28. Each year, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) “honors the best self-published eBooks by an African-American author in the United States in the genres of Fiction and Poetry. These awards acknowledge outstanding achievement in the presentation of the cultural, historical, and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora.” Confers $2,500 cash awards and other recognition.HEMINGWAY-PFEIFFER MUSEUM WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
Deadline: February 28. “The residency will be for June 1-30, 2023, and includes lodging at a beautiful loft apartment on the downtown square in Piggott [Arkansas] over the City Market coffee shop. The writer-in-residence will also have the opportunity to work in the studio where Ernest Hemingway worked on A Farewell to Arms during an extended stay with his wife’s family in 1928. The residency includes a $1000 stipend to help cover food and transportation. The writer-in-residence will be expected to serve as mentor for a week-long retreat for writers at the educational center. This retreat will be open to 8-10 writers from the region. The recipient may be asked to hold one or two readings of his/her own work in the region. The remainder of the month will be free to the writer-in-residence to work on his/her own work.”VICTOR HOWES PRIZE IN POETRY
Deadline: February 28. Victor Howes “was a beloved teacher and advocate of poets and poetry. This prize, funded with a generous donation from his estate, honors and builds on his legacy.” Open to undergraduate English majors currently enrolled at 2- and 4-year colleges in New England (“if the college does not offer an English major, we accept submissions from humanities or liberal arts majors”), the prize confers “$1000 and an invitation to read at the Student Awards Reading at the Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site.” NB: “We prefer submissions via U.S. mail; however, electronic submissions will be accepted.”PLAYA FLAMINGO WRITING RESIDENCY IN COSTA RICA
Deadline: February 28. From Atmosphere Press. Award includes a five-day residency between May and August. “There are no fees, but you are responsible for travel expenses. We’ll cover your lodging at this lovely place for up to five nights, but you have to get there and take care of yourself while in-country.”“POEMS OF KINDNESS” POSTCARD COMPETITION
Deadline: February 28. From Candlestick Press: “We’re delighted to be joining forces with Fair Saturday Scotland to launch this new competition which is open to entrants across the globe. Fair Saturday is an international movement that seeks to create a positive social impact by mobilising artists and cultural organisations across Scotland and around the world.” Prize: “The winner will have their poem published as an A6 postcard which will be included in the Ten Poems of Kindness pamphlet pack when it’s reprinted in 2023. The winner will receive £75 plus 20 copies of the new pamphlet pack containing the postcard. The winner retains all rights to their poem.” No simultaneous submissions. (Thanks to The Writer’s Job Newsletter for leading me to this one.)PRISM PRIZE FOR CLIMATE LITERATURE
Deadline: February 28. From Homebound Publications. For manuscripts of “fiction, poetry, and literary non-fiction writing in the emerging genre of climate literature.” Prize: $1000 “and publication with a standard royalty contract.” Open to writers “residing in the United States or the United Kingdom.”WELKIN WRITING PRIZE
Deadline: February 28. From Matt Kendrick: “I’m running this competition as a thank you to the writing community which has done so much to support both my writing and my freelance work over the past few years….The competition is open to all forms of narrative prose, be that flash fiction, short-short, vignette, haibun, hermit crab, prose poem or work that sits outside such labels. There is a whole universe (or welkin) of possibilities.” Open to international submissions. Prize packages include cash awards for the top three entries (£250/£120/£60). “There are additional prizes of £25 for the best non-placed” entries in a variety of demographic and genre categories.ALPINE FELLOWSHIP POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: March 1. “Awarded for the best poetry on the theme of the Alpine Fellowship 2023 - Flourishing. The winner of the Poetry Prize will receive a cash prize, and the runners up will receive travel expense support that must be used to attend our 2023 symposium which will be held from 10th-13th August 2023 in Fjällnäs, Sweden.”ALPINE FELLOWSHIP WRITING PRIZE
Deadline: March 1. “Awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of the Alpine Fellowship 2023 - Flourishing. The winner of the Writing Prize will receive a cash prize, and the runners up will receive travel expense support that must be used to attend our 2023 symposium which will be held from 10th-13th August 2023 in Fjällnäs, Sweden. Note: “all genres permitted.”THE CURAE PRIZE
Deadline: March 1. A new prize “for writers who are also carers.” Welcomes submissions from UK/RoI residents (check the website for more details on eligibility). Prize packages include many components, among them “a bursary of £500 for the winner of each category (short story and non-fiction/creative non-fiction).” (Discovered this one via Sian Meades-Williams.)IRON HORSE LITERARY REVIEW CHAPBOOK COMPETITION
Free submissions day: March 1. “Each year, Iron Horse publishes one issue as a chapbook. This year, we’re accepting collections of prose, 40-56 pages.” Prize: “$1,000 and 15 copies.”MATTHEW POWER LITERARY REPORTING AWARD
Deadline: March 2. This $12,500 grant supports “the work of a promising early-career nonfiction writer on a story that uncovers truths about the human condition.” Memorializes Matthew Power, “a wide-roving and award-winning journalist who sought to live and share the experience of the individuals and places on which he was reporting. Power, a longtime friend of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, died in March 2014, while on assignment in Uganda. The award proceeds from the recognition that many important stories need to be reported from afar, and that publications do not always have the resources to send a writer where the story is.” Note: “The award will not fund proposals to report on armed conflicts where journalists are already imperiled, nor projects that are mainly investigatory. The winner will normally receive visiting scholar privileges at NYU, including library access.” (Note: As referenced above, “you may only apply to one of the [Arthur L. Carter Journalism] Institute’s awards per year.)ON THE PREMISES SHORT STORY CONTEST
Deadline: March 3. “For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which one or more characters have a problem because something (someone?) important is missing. Whether whatever is missing is ever found is up to you. Choose the answer that makes the story work better.” Winners receive cash prizes and publication as delineated on the site’s homepage.NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: March 8. For Fiscal Year 2024, which is covered by current guidelines, fellowships in prose ($25,000 grants) are available.SOARING GARDENS ARTIST RETREATS
Deadline: March 10. “Actively working visual artists, writers, instrumentalists, and composers with at least two years experience since graduation may apply. Residencies are for three weeks. (If scheduling permits, two- week residencies will be considered.) There is no application fee and no fee to attend. We encourage group applications (a combination of artistic disciplines is fine), although each application is reviewed separately, and the judges reserve the right to select or reject individual members of a group. When you apply as part of a group, you may pursue individual projects, collaborative projects, and/or both….A limited number of $500 need-based grants are available.”FITZCARRALDO EDITIONS/MAHLER & LEWITT STUDIOS ESSAY PRIZE
Deadline: March 13. Awards £3,000 “to the best proposal for a book-length essay (minimum 25,000 words) by a writer resident in the UK & Ireland who has yet to secure a publishing deal….In addition to the £3,000 prize the winner has the opportunity to spend up to three months in residency at the Mahler & LeWitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy, to work on their book. The book will then be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.” As always, be sure to check detailed terms/guidelines.WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY POETRY CENTER POETRY AWARDS (FOR UNDERGRADUATE POETS)
Deadline: March 15. Opportunities for “undergraduate poets enrolled in a United States college or university” include the Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award (for “unpublished, original poems composed in the traditional modes of meter, rhyme and received forms”); the Sonnet Award; the Villanelle Award; the Myong Cha Son Haiku Award; and the Rhina P. Espaillat Award (for “original poems written in Spanish and translations of English poems to Spanish”). Cash prizes as detailed on the site for each award.
REMINDER: Multiple opportunities listed in last month’s newsletter remain open into January.
5. SUBMISSION ALERTS
Re-opened in January, for submissions of poetry from Canadians only: THE FIDDLEHEAD. Payment: $60 CAD/published page, plus two copies.
ELECTRIC LITERATURE has announced that its “Recommended Reading” feature will be open for submissions between February 1 and February 12. “We want to see your best short stories between 2,000 and 10,000 words!” Payment: $300. (And scroll down for a second opportunity from Electric Literature in February.)
Also opening February 1 (and remaining open for the rest of the month): BATH MAGG, “a magazine of new poetry,” which pays “£20 per contribution.” No simultaneous submissions.
Re-opening for free submissions of poetry and fiction February 1 (and remaining so for the month, until/unless caps are reached): CAROUSEL, a “hybrid literary/arts magazine representing new & established artists, with a focus on positioning Canadian talent within an international context.” Pays: $25/poem and $40-$80/story, “paid in CDN currency, via Paypal or eTransfer.” (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
Another one opening February 1, for fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction: LONGLEAF REVIEW, which has announced that “thanks to a very generous donor, we’re…excited to offer a $20 honorarium to each published writer this year (or until funds run out).” (Hat tip: Leslie Pietrzyk.)
Another one that will open on February 1 (and remain open until April 1): GORDON SQUARE REVIEW, “for general submissions [poetry, fiction, nonfiction] from writers of all geographic locations.” Pays: “$25 per accepted prose piece and $10 per accepted poem).”
HARBOR REVIEW, “an online space for poetry and art,” is similarly slated to open for submissions on February 1 (remaining open until April 30). Pays: $10/published poem or piece of art.
Also scheduled to be open for the month of February: poetry submissions at VARIANT LIT. Pays: “$10 per accepted piece.”
Also scheduled to open February 1 (with a window closing September 30): the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)’s THE WRITER’S CHRONICLE, “a forum for the best writing on the craft and art of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.” Pays: “$18 per 100 words for accepted manuscripts.”
At last check, the website for GUTTER, “a magazine of new Scottish and international writing,” indicated that submissions “will reopen in February 2023” (no specific date listed). They publish poetry and prose. “Successful contributors will be paid a flat fee of £25 for work published in the mag, regardless of length or style. This will be paid by cheque made out to the author name, please specify if you wish to be paid under a different name. Published authors will also receive a complimentary copy of the issue.”
BARRELHOUSE is looking for its next nonfiction book, with submissions open until
February 5DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 19. “We’re interested in full-length memoirs and essay collections that combine personal narrative with... something else. That could be reportage, criticism, history, etc. We’re especially interested in projects where the external element has something to do with pop culture, and projects that do something unexpected and original with form and structure. A straightforward narrative memoir, no matter how engaging, is not going to be a fit for us. Send us your hybrid project that you worry might be too weird to publish, the project you thought was going to be a memoir but ended up as some new part-memoir form that you’re not quite sure how to label. The project that was driven by your genuine obsession and fascination with a niche topic so close to your heart that you couldn’t write about it without also including personal narrative. We want the exciting in-between stuff that pushes the boundaries of what makes a ‘memoir’ or an ‘essay collection.’”General submissions (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) are welcome at THE SPECTACLE until February 5. Pays: $50.
Between February 5 and February 11, THE FABULIST will welcome short fantastical fiction, including but not limited to work addressing a special thematic interest in “cross-genre romance.” Per their guidelines, they pay a $25 honorarium.
SHENANDOAH has announced (via Twitter) that they’ll open for fiction submissions February 6. They’ll cap at 800 submissions. Pays: “$100 per 1k words.” (Hat tip: Leslie Pietrzyk.)
February 8 (11:59 p.m. [AEDT]) is the submissions deadline for the Australia-based THE SUBURBAN REVIEW. They’re currently seeking work on the theme of “Itch”: “Sure, our bodies itch—but so can the fabric of a genre, the scenes and strictures of our social lives, and conversations which dry and flake. Send us fiction that pierces the world’s surface, and poetry that spreads across the dermis of the page. Send us literary essays on the matters that keep you up at night…and visual art and comics which tingle, tickle, or prick at our perception.” Pay rates are detailed on the website.
FOREST AVENUE PRESS is open for novel submissions from U.S.-based authors until February 10. “We prioritize historically marginalized voices, including BIPOC, queer, neurodivergent, and/or disabled authors….Forest Avenue publishes literary fiction on a joyride! We are open to contemporary fiction, genre-blending tales, historical fiction, and fantasy projects that are language-driven. Generally, we’re not the right place for novels that include depictions of violence and sexual assault. Our readers are especially interested in seeing work driven by hope, not despair, especially in these pandemic times.”
Also open until February 10: Australia-based SWIM MEET LIT MAG, which is planning an issue on the theme “Flip”: “We aren’t strict about themes, but our editor is particularly interested in submissions from swimmers (current or former), or about swimming – whatever that means to you. If your work has nothing to do with swimming, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see it! Mainly, send us something you’d be proud to see published.” Note that they currently pay Australian contributors only: “$30 for poems, flash prose, and visual art. $50 for longer prose, cover art, or suites of poetry and visual work.” (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
Canada-based QWERTY has posted a February 11 deadline for “writers aspiring and practiced to submit their writing for our next special issue, ‘Home/Town.’ Many years ago, Northrop Frye mused on the question ‘Where is here?’ And so we are interested in your answers. We want your stories of place and space, your poems shaped by positions, and your art resisting and defining geography. Write about your home. Write about your town. Write about how one is not the other. Then send it to us. We invite street artists and urban photographers especially to submit, as well as the recently displaced such as refugees and immigrants.” Pays: “Contributors whose work is selected for publication are rewarded with a small honorarium (CDN $15) and one complimentary copy of the issue in which their work appears.”
ELECTRIC LITERATURE’s “The Commuter” feature will be open for submissions of “poetry, flash, graphic, and experimental narratives” between February 13 and February 19. Pays: $100.
For an issue themed “The (In)Evitable Ending”APPLAUSE, which “publishespoetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, and photography that exhibits practiced craft and polished style,” remains open for submissions until February 14. Pays: “$25 per contributor.”CHARGES FEEInspired by the Aurora Borealis, THE AURORA JOURNAL seeks writing “that is surreal, ethereal, and dreamy, and explores the dangerous limits of surrealism.” They’re open until February 20 and pay $12 per piece.
Room to Read has posted a call for manuscripts for its first YOUTH IN CARE CHILDREN’S BOOK COLLECTION. “When Room to Read completed a book publishing landscape analysis in the United States, we discovered a lack of children’s books that feature youth in care as protagonists. Across the U.S. there are few to no books that are written for and about children in the foster care system. We’re here to change this with your support.” According to the detailed call, “each book will be published in English, with possibly also a bilingual edition in English/Spanish. Selected authors will be compensated in the amount of $4,000 USD for their completed manuscripts. As part of the Global collection, authors will be offered a work-for-hire contract for the project.” Deadline: February 21.
SOUTHWORD’s deadline for poetry submissions is February 28. Pays: €40/poem. “If the writer lives outside of Ireland, they will be paid by PayPal. If the writer lives in Ireland they will be paid by bank transfer.”
March 1 is the deadline to respond to a call for columnists from HERIZONS, “Canada’s foremost feminist magazine since 1992.” From the call: “Do you have experience writing opinion pieces? Do you have a distinct viewpoint and knowledge of contemporary feminist issues and events? Herizons is now accepting applications for one-year columnist positions. Four columns (summer, fall, winter, spring) of 650 words each are required. Payment is $250/issue.” Note that on the same guidelines page, you’ll also find information for ongoing pitches and their “book reviewer bank.” (Thanks to the WOW! [Women on Writing] Markets Newsletter for leading me to this one.)
March 1 is a fee-free submissions day for “poems, stories, essays on any topic” at IRON HORSE LITERARY REVIEW. Payment: “Upon publication, we provide an honorarium of $50 per poem or flash piece and $100 per story or essay.”
Until March 1, THE POLYGLOT seeks “your multilingual art! Send us your poems, essays, stories, artworks, and translations on any theme for our 11th issue, to be published in spring 2023.” Pays: “All contributors will receive $100 CAD upon publication.” (Hat tip: @TaraSkurtu.)
March 1 is the deadline at TEACH. WRITE. (“a writing teachers’ literary journal”). The work submitted need not be about teaching/learning. Submissions are open to all, although “writing that is either written by composition teachers and writing students OR about teaching and learning” is preferred. Payment: “$15 for short stories, creative non-fiction, and essays; $10 for all other categories, upon or soon following, publication, payable via PayPal.”
Closing March 4 (or once they’ve received 25 submissions): MIDDLE WEST PRESS, which currently seeks “poetry manuscripts by a single author, comprising 50 to 100 poems each, for potential publication in 2023-2024. We are particularly seeking manuscripts that intersect in some way with military experience or service, especially those stemming from the lived experiences of women veterans, poets of color, poets who identify as LGBTQ, and other marginalized voices. Past and present military service members, family members, and others are invited to submit work.” Note that the press “is a Johnston, Iowa-based editor and publisher of non-fiction, journalism, and poetry. Our projects are often inspired by the people, places, and history of the American Midwest.” Compensation: “If accepted for publication, after a written and signed contract is place, Middle West Press LLC pays poets a $100 advance, on print and e-book royalties….Royalties are generally 10 percent or greater of retail ‘cover’ price.”
Now open for submissions (from U.S. writers): “LONG HAULER PUBLISHING is pleased to announce an open call for short stories, commentary, letters, essays or poetry addressing the lived experience of COVID long-haulers. The goal of the Long COVID anthology is to harness support for American COVID long-haulers while furthering a wider understanding of Long COVID’s ongoing effects. This opportunity is NOT restricted to professional or published writers! The anthology is by and for long-haulers and serves as a historical document. We are a small press that welcomes marginalized and underrepresented voices.” Deadline: March 31. Payment: $50 (confirmed via email).
Also now open: THE SPRAWL MAG, which “accepts submissions of speculative poetry, short fiction, and visual art. Whether it is utopic, dystopic, magical, or sci-fi, we look forward to seeing your work. We pay contributors $20 CAD per published piece.”
THE ARTISANAL WRITER “is an online magazine that explores the craft and practice of writing. Starting January, ’23 we are accepting original, previously unpublished, Literary Essays and Book Reviews (recently published poetry, fiction and/or creative-non-fiction) year-round from Canadian, American and international writers writing in English.” Payment: “We are committed to paying our contributors for all accepted work. Contributors will receive $20 per accepted Essay and $10 per accepted Book Review. We do not provide any other form of payment. We encourage writers in a position to waive the honorarium to kindly consider donating it back to AW to help us sustain and build the institution.” (Discovered this one via @Duotrope.)
Reminder that Roxane Gay’s newsletter THE AUDACITY “features an emerging writer twice a month. I define emerging writer as someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts. Please submit your best nonfiction and nonfiction only. I am interested in literary essays and memoir. Please submit only one essay at a time. Essays should be between 1500 and 3000 words. We may take up to eight weeks to respond but we will respond to all submissions. All essays are paid a flat fee of $2,000.”
Posted recently on Twitter by BORDERLORE Managing Editor Kimi Eisele: “Got a favorite object? A traditional artifact? A complex thing? Seeking pitches for short personal/reported essays BorderLore’s ARTIFACT section. What connects you (or doesn’t!) to culture, tradition, heritage in the SW or US-Mex border region?” Pays: $300.
THE EX-PURITAN is the current incarnation of what was The Puritan. (You’ll find the history outlined here; hat tip goes to @Duotrope.)
GOATSHED PRESS "is taking submissions for its next volume: “We are looking for short stories, flash fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. We pay £60 for stories and essays (over 1000 words) and £25 for poems and flash fiction.” (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
THE GOOD LIFE REVIEW, “a quarterly online literary journal committed to exploring the overlooked” that is based in Omaha, Nebraska, is open for micro prose and short poems for its online “Micro Monday” segment. “We currently pay $25 per piece for work published in this segment.”
Over on Twitter, LITERARY HUB Special Project Editor Eliza Smith has posted a call for pitches for “literary film and TV pieces.” Thread includes pay rates (“typically $100-250”), link to samples, and contact info. (Hat tip: The Writer’s Job Newsletter.)
TAB: THE JOURNAL OF POETRY AND POETICS “welcomes submissions of poems and other writing about or related to poetry. Send us your original poems in English, English translations of poems in other languages, scholarly or creative essays about poetry, interviews, visual poems, art-poetry hybrids. We’re open to possibilities, as long as it has to do with poetry or poetics.” Payment: “We expect to pay $75 to each poem contributor for as long as the budget allows.”
THIRD STATE BOOKS “is the first publishing house focused solely on bringing Asian American voices, stories, and issues to audiences who cherish them…. Through fiction and nonfiction, for adults and children, Third State Books will publish stories that fully represent the Asian American experience.” They are open to agented and un-agented submissions. (I discovered Third State Books through this article by Ed Nawotka in Publishers Weekly, where you can learn more about them.)
- , “a little Substack for big fiction,” welcomes “short fiction about anything bigger than yourself: stories about astronauts, ICU nurses, politics, protests, alternate histories, weird celebrities, big-world calamities, juicy personal dramas and the people who experience them. Fiction with dynamic characters who do interesting things. We don’t think stories should be slogs. We do not publish quiet stories about divorce.” The intro post indicates that this is a paying venue; when I inquired further via email, I was told that they pay $100 per story and hope to pay more down the road. (Thanks to Jeanne Lyet Gassman for leading me to this one.)
There’s a rolling deadline (the 25th of each month) for OFF TOPIC PUBLISHING’s Poetry Box, which supplies subscribers with a poem “printed postcard-style” along with tea and chocolate. Poems should be no longer than 15 lines (“including blank lines”). Payment: $40 CAD. Note: “Only selected poets will be contacted. If you haven’t heard from us by the 5th of the month following your submission, your poem was not selected.”
Reminder:
, which aims to “revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful,” selects one story for publication each month and considers reprints. Pays: “base pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check.”And another reminder: Make it a habit to check the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL website, where titles in development are posted. At last check, February deadlines were listed for a volumes on “angels,” “miracles,” and “the power of positive thinking.” Note: “If this is your first time, please visit our Story Guidelines page.” Pays: $250 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)
(Friday) Finds for Writers
#SundaySentence
Occasional Notes from a Practicing Writer
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Interested in matters of specifically Jewish literary and cultural interest? Please also visit the My Machberet blog (“machberet” is the Hebrew word for “notebook”). And be sure to consult our collection of Jewish Writing Resources.
7. NEWSLETTER MATTERS
Information contained in The Practicing Writer is researched carefully but readers should always verify information. Necessary corrections, when discovered, are posted within each archived issue. The Practicing Writer and its editor disclaim any liability for the use of information contained within. Thank you for following/reading.
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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 (mostly) “on matters bookish and/or Jewish.”