The Practicing Writer 2.0: January 2023
Featuring 80+ curated calls & competitions. No fees to submit/apply. Paying opportunities only. Nothing that's limited to residents of a single city/state/province.
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.
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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:
Here we are again, on the cusp of a brand-new year. As much as I appreciate other writers’ year-end recaps of their professional work, I haven’t yet managed to sift through my own record for the past 12 months. (I’m happy enough that, as of two days ago, I’ve met all of my external and self-imposed deadlines for 2022.) Thus, you won’t find my personal year-in-review in this space.
But you will find the usual issue staples here, including a record-setting 80+ opportunity listings. (Sometimes, I do astound myself. But I also feel compelled to issue a cautionary note: I can’t promise to find quite so many listings every month from this point on!)
And, of course, you have all of my very best wishes that as you (and your writing practices) move into 2023.
Warmly,
Erika
2. SUCCESS STORY
From Diane Gottlieb:
Thank you, Erika, for introducing me to the Jewish Literary Journal, which published my essay “Tombstones and Trees” this morning (December 1)!
Thank you for bringing all these wonderful submission opportunities together in one place….I greatly appreciate it!
Please share news from your writing practice that may be connected with this newsletter or our other resources (I’m thinking that Diane may have found the Jewish Literary Journal via this list on my website). I love to note those successes in this space!
3. FEATURED RESOURCE
is the creation of Emily Stoddard. As its title suggests, it features opportunities and resources in poetry. You will find a lot of generous research and great ideas in this Substack publication. Here’s one example, in a hint of what’s coming: “In 2023, I’m going to try and make a list of poetry book publishers that offer submission fee waivers.” 4. CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
DISQUIET LUSO-AMERICAN FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: January 9. “A collaboration between Dzanc Books and the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) has made possible four full fellowships for writers of Luso descent from North America to attend the DISQUIET ILP’s Writing the Luso Experience workshop in Lisbon in 2023. To be eligible for the fellowship, entrants must be residents of the United States or Canada who have a genealogical link to a Lusophone country. The four winners will receive accommodations, a travel stipend, and full tuition to the 2023 ILP in Lisbon to attend the multi-genre workshop ‘Writing the Luso Experience’ (June 25-July 7) with other writers from Portugal and North America. Runners-up will be offered partial tuition discounts.”GOLDEN HAIKU POETRY CONTEST
Opens: January 9 (with a deadline of February 5). “Since 2014, the Golden Triangle BID has hosted the Golden Haiku poetry contest to bring pops of warmth, color, and inspiration to the streets of downtown DC during the late winter months. We invited the public to write and submit original, contemporary haiku for this temporary community art project. In 2021, we introduced a youth category, inviting students to explore haiku and perhaps become published poets. The contest is open to all ages, worldwide. Submissions are reviewed by an expert panel of judges; winning poets receive prizes, and winning haiku are displayed on colorful street signs in the tree boxes lining the streets of the Golden Triangle neighborhood.” The 2023 contest theme is “Notes to Nature.” Important: “Golden Haiku follows the Haiku Society of America’s guidelines for modern haiku, which does not require the traditional 5-7-5 structure. Removing the strict structural requirements for syllables frees the author to use evocative language to capture a moment or expression of beauty in a short, descriptive verse.” Cash prizes range from $75 for the elementary/middle school winner to $500 for first place. Judges: Abigail Friedman, Lenard Moore, Kit Pancoast Nagamura, and John Stevenson. (Hat tip: International Writing Program.)JERICHO PRIZE
Deadline: January 9. Open to “all unpublished and self-published Black-British children’s writers.” For picture-book manuscripts (700-word maximum) that “feature at least one Black or mixed-Black main character.” Additional criteria apply. Extensive prize package includes a publishing contract with Scholastic UK and a £1500 advance.CALGARY DISTINGUISHED WRITERS PROGRAM CANADIAN WRITER-IN- RESIDENCE
Deadline: January 11. The current application period is for the 2024–25 residency, which begins on September 1, 2024 and ends on June 30, 2025. Open to “Canadian writers of all genres who have one to four published and/or professionally performed works to their credit.” Note: “The Canadian Writer-in-Residence is expected to spend 50% of their time working on their own writing, and 50% of their time on community outreach, including one-on-one consultations with the public and public lectures or readings.” Compensation: “Over the past few years, the salary of the Canadian Writer-in-Residence has been in the range of $54,000–$56,000 over ten months. This figure is subject to budgetary revision.” The selected writer must arrange their own accommodation, but “a two-week off-campus writer's retreat in beautiful Western Canada” is part of the award.BALLARD SPAHR PRIZE FOR POETRY
Deadline: January 15. “Expanding on the Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry, which was established in 2011, this prize awards $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions to a poet residing in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or Michigan. Selected from a small number of finalists by an independent judge, the prizewinning poet will also receive a standard royalty contract, national distribution, and a comprehensive marketing and publicity campaign.” Judge: Maggie Smith.STACY DORIS MEMORIAL POETRY AWARD
Deadline: January 15: “Stacy Doris was a poet, translator, and an Associate Professor in San Francisco State University’s Department of Creative Writing, where she taught for ten years….Doris created new worlds with her unexpected poetics. 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.” Work entered must be a poem, “minimum of 3 pages; maximum 10 pages.” Prize: “The winning poet will receive $500 and publication in the Spring 2023 issue of Fourteen Hills.”JANET HEIDINGER KAFKA PRIZE
Deadline: January 15. Prize honors Janet Heidinger Kafka, “a young editor who was killed in a car accident just as her career was beginning….Each year a substantial cash prize is awarded to a woman who is a US citizen, and who has written the best book-length work of prose fiction, whether novel, short stories, or experimental writing. We are interested in calling attention to the work of a promising but less established writer.” Entries, published in 2022, must be submitted by publishers; cash prize is $15,000.LEVIS READING PRIZE
Deadline: January 15 (received). “Presented by the M.F.A. in Creative Writing Program in the VCU Department of English and VCU Libraries with additional support from Barnes & Noble @ VCU, the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, and the family of Larry Levis,” this prize “honors the memory of poet Larry Levis who served on the creative writing faculty at VCU at the time of his death in 1996.” Books, which must be submitted by publishers, must have been published in 2022. “Traditionally, the winner receives an honorarium and [is] invited, expenses paid, to Richmond to present a public reading in the following fall.”OROBORO PENROSE PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN POETRY BY LGBTQIA+ WRITERS
Deadline: January 15. “$200, $100, and $50 cash awards to three winners with works to be published in a special Penrose volume of Oroboro, with a special note on the first place work from our 2022 guest judge. A long list, short list, and honorable mentions to be announced at date of publication.”RBC BRONWEN WALLACE AWARDS FOR EMERGING WRITERS
Deadline: January 16. “Established in memory of writer Bronwen Wallace, this award has a proven track record of helping talented developing authors get their first book deal.” Open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents who have been published in a literary magazine or anthology but are unpublished in book form. Two $10,000 prizes will be given for outstanding works of unpublished poetry and short fiction. Finalists receive $2,500.EAVAN BOLAND EMERGING POET AWARD
Deadline: January 17 (“12.00 noon (IST) and 4.00am (ETD)”). Open to “emerging poets in Ireland and the U.S. who have not yet published a first full collection but are working towards that or similar. Two poets will be chosen for a residency to the value of €3000 at Trinity College Dublin and Stanford University in California, as well as a bursary of €2000 each to support their work over the course of the year. Three mentoring sessions from leading poets are offered over the course of four months. The Award will then culminate in a transatlantic event in late 2023 with awardees, mentors and guests.” Judges: Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Diane Seuss.THE NINE DOTS PRIZE
Deadline: January 23 (11.59am GMT [midday]). “A prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary societal issues. Entrants are asked to respond to a question in 3,000 words, with the winner receiving US$100,000 to write a short book expanding on their ideas.” Current question: “Why has the rule of law become so fragile?”JESSIE KESSON FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: January 23 (5pm, presumably Scotland time). From Moniack Mhor and for UK writers only. “The Jessie Kesson Fellow receives time and space to develop their work, as well as opportunities to expand their practice. This includes delivering creative writing workshops based on or inspired by Jessie Kesson’s life and work, with young writers, local youth groups, libraries, or community centre.” The 2023 fellow will reside at Moniack Mhor during the time specified and will receive a £350 stipend. Travel costs within the UK will also be covered. “The fellowship is open to established writers working in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, song-writing, or playwriting. To be eligible for the fellowship, applicants must have had at least one major piece of work published by a UK publishing house (for example, one novel, one short-story collection, one poetry pamphlet, one album, or had one professional production of their work staged). It is also desirable that applicants have experience of delivering workshops, or working with children and young people and/or community groups.”ZÓCALO POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: January 23. This prize recognizes “the U.S. writer of a poem that best evokes a connection to place.” Prize includes $1,000; the winner “will have the opportunity to deliver their poem at the Zócalo Book Prize event in the spring. Zócalo will also publish the poem on our site alongside an interview with the poet. In addition, we plan to recognize our honorable mention submissions.”BOOKER PRIZE 2023
Deadline: January 30 (for books published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023). Awarded annually “to the author of the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible work of long-form fiction….Each shortlisted author receives £2,500 and a designer bound copy of their book. The winning author receives a further £50,000.” NB: There is an extremely detailed list of criteria and guidelines, and submissions must be made by publishers.AKO CAINE PRIZE FOR AFRICAN WRITING
Deadline: January 31. Awarded for a published short story by “someone who is a national of an African country, or who has a parent who is African by birth or nationality.” The winner will be awarded a cash prize of £10,000, and four shortlisted writers will receive £500 each. Publishers must submit entries, which “must have been published in the five years preceding the submissions deadline. For 2023 eligibility, the judges will only consider work published between 1st February 2018 and 25th January 2023.”DOLORS ALBEROLA POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: January 31. From Editorial Dalya. For a “full-length manuscript or collection of poems” that “can be written in any official language of the world.” Winner receives translation to another European language; publication of the collection (bilingual edition); 50 copies; and royalties. Finalists receive publication of the collection (Spanish edition), 10 copies of the book, and royalties on Publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights.DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE RESIDENCY
Deadline: January 31. “National Centre for Writing is offering three fully funded writing residencies for debut novelists at the Dragon Hall Cottage, National Centre for Writing, Norwich UNESCO City of Literature in August 2023. This exciting opportunity is part of Season of Debuts, a programme which champions the work of first-time novelists from the UK. It is a legacy of the Desmond Elliott Prize, which has taken a hiatus to fundraise and develop its offer. The residencies are open to fiction writers based in the UK or Ireland who published their first novel between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023. Three successful applicants will be offered between five- and seven-days residency at the Dragon Hall Cottage, Norwich. There will be no charge for the cottage or facilities during your stay, you will be given a stipend to cover costs.”HARBOR REVIEW EDITORS’ PRIZE
Deadline: January 31. (Important note: This prize from feminist press Small Harbor Publishing offers fee-free submissions for BIPOC writers and previous finalists only.) Prize recognizes a micro-chapbook, “exactly 10 poems long,” and confers $200 and online publication.JERRY JAZZ MUSICIAN SHORT FICTION CONTEST
Deadline: January 31. “Three times a year, Jerry Jazz Musician awards a writer who submits, in our opinion, the best original, previously unpublished work of short fiction.” Prize includes $150 and publication. “The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Our newsletter subscribers include publishers, artists, musicians, and fellow writers. While your writing should appeal to a reader with these interests and in these creative professions, all story themes are considered.” Open to writers worldwide.IMAGINE LITTLE TOKYO SHORT STORY CONTEST
Deadline: January 31. From Los Angeles-based Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS). “Celebrate and participate in the 10th Anniversary of LTHS’ popular program with your fictional story about Little Tokyo. Winners of Adult, Youth (18 and under) and Japanese language categories will receive a special prize of $1,000.”PATTIS FAMILY FOUNDATION CHICAGO BOOK AWARD
Deadline: January 31. “The Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award at the Newberry Library is presented annually to a book that transforms public understanding of Chicago, its history, or its people.” Eligible criteria include: “Any book, whether fiction or nonfiction, that promotes public understanding of Chicago; titles must be available for purchase by the general public in either hardcover or bound paperback form.” Note that “books must bear a copyright of 2021 or 2022 to be eligible for the 2023 prize.” Prize includes a $25,000 award.DEEP WILD GRADUATE STUDENT POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: February 1. For students currently enrolled in graduate studies. Seeks work “that conjures the experiences, observations, and insights of backcountry journeys. By ‘backcountry,’ we mean away from roads, on journeys undertaken by foot, skis, snowshoes, kayak, canoe, horse, or any other non-motorized means of conveyance. We are open to a wide range of carefully crafted work, both personal and political. By ‘personal,’ we mean work that not only relates the experience of backcountry journeys, but also in some way reflects upon the journeys. By ‘political,’ we mean work that, while maintaining a backcountry perspective, addresses and confronts social, economic, environmental, or political issues. Send us up to three poems that are backcountry infused and inspired, and that together add up to no more than 100 lines. Judges will select three poems or groups of poems for publication in the June 2023 print edition of Deep Wild Journal, and the authors will receive cash awards and five copies of the journal. The 1st Place prize is $300, 2nd Place $200, and 3rd Place $100. Judges will also select a number of other poems for Honorable Mention, and the poets will receive a copy of the journal and possible publication online or in the journal.” Judges: Becca Lawton and Margaret Pettis.PATERSON POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: February 1. Sponsored by The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College, this is a $2,000 award for a book of poems, 48 pages or more in length, judged as “the strongest collection of poems” published in 2022. Note: “The winning poet will be eligible for the monetary prize only if he/she/they participates in a reading at the Poetry Center in Paterson, NJ or virtually.”PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Deadline: February 1. Offers a $1,000 prize for books published in 2022 in “each category: Pre-K - Grade 3; Grades 4 - 6; Grades 7 - 12.”FRANCES “FRANK” ROLLIN FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: February 1. From Biographers International Organization. Awards two awards ($5,000 each) “to two authors working on a biographical work about an African American figure or figures whose story provides a significant contribution to our understanding of the Black experience. This fellowship also provides the recipients with a year’s membership in BIO, registration to the annual BIO Conference, and publicity through BIO’s marketing channels. The Rollin Fellowship aims to remediate the disproportionate scarcity and even suppression of Black lives and voices in the broad catalog of published biography. This fellowship reflects not only BIO’s commitment to supporting working biographers but to encouraging diversity in the field.”PHILIP ROTH RESIDENCE IN CREATIVE WRITING
Deadline: February 1. “Named for Bucknell’s renowned literary alumnus (‘54) and initiated in fall 1993, the Philip Roth Residence in Creative Writing offers up to four months of unfettered writing time for a writer working on a first or second book. In the current application season, The Roth Residence is open to writers in any creative genre in the literary arts, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, graphic novel, etc. The residency provides an apartment in Bucknell’s Writers’ Cottage and a stipend of $5,000.” NB: “An applicant must be at least 21 years of age, reside in the United States, and not be enrolled as a student in an academic program or hold competing professional, academic, or fellowship obligations during the period of the residency. Some record of publication is desirable. Publication (or acceptance for publication) of a second book is disqualifying.”WOODBERRY POETRY ROOM CREATIVE FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: February 1. This fellowship at Harvard University “invites poets, writers, translators, visual artists, composers, and scholars to propose creative projects that would benefit from an immersive encounter with the Woodberry Poetry Room and its collections. The fellowship includes: a stipend of $5,000, access to the Woodberry Poetry Room (and several other Harvard special collections), and research support from the Poetry Room curatorial staff. Thanks to the generosity of the T. S. Eliot Foundation, the fellowship recipient will also receive a one-week residency to work on their project at the T.S. Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Eliot House residency may be scheduled between May-October of the fellowship year, but does not have to coincide with the fellow's research visit to Harvard. The fellowship recipient will receive a Harvard Library special access card that is active for one year, allowing for a great deal of flexibility in terms of scheduling. It is hoped that the $5,000 stipend (which is the comprehensive honorarium for individual and collaborative recipients) will help to offset travel and lodging costs.”BECHTEL PRIZE FOR INNOVATION IN CREATIVE WRITING INSTRUCTION
Deadline: February 10. From Teachers & Writers. For essays “describing a creative writing teaching experience, project, or activity that demonstrates innovation in creative writing instruction. We are looking for essays that describe a project or activity that got students excited about writing and fostered a vibrant and dynamic culture of literacy in the classroom. We welcome essays about projects that carved a space for students to reflect on the events of the past year (eg. public health, remote learning, social justice, etc.).” Prize: “The essay selected to receive the Bechtel Prize will be published in Teachers & Writers Magazine, and the author will receive a $1,000 award.GRUBSTREET’S BOSTON WRITERS OF COLOR LITERARY SUPPORT PROGRAM
Deadline: Rolling. This program offers “a limited number of $125 and $250 stipends for BIPOC writers. The funds are to be used for submissions, contests, fellowships, retreats, expenses for writing needs, and any other literary opportunities.” Funding will be issued as an e-gift card. Note: Boston reference notwithstanding, “applicants must be in the US.”AUTHOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FUND
Deadline: “Open throughout the year,” but “applicants seeking support should submit their application at least five weeks before their proposed date of travel.” From Scottish Books International. “Available to Scottish writers who have been invited overseas to promote their work. Applicants can apply for a maximum of £1000 to support travel costs towards their trip.” Note: “A Scottish writer is defined as a writer living and working in Scotland, or a writer from Scotland but based elsewhere. Applications are welcome from the writer themselves, or from the organisation who have invited the writer. The fund cannot support Scottish writers based elsewhere seeking to return to Scotland or the UK for an event. It also cannot support a trip or event that has already taken place.”
REMINDER: Multiple opportunities listed in last month’s newsletter remain open into January.
5. SUBMISSION ALERTS
From January 1-31, BRINK will be open for submissions on the theme of “Gravity.” They welcome “a variety of creative work from Nonfiction to Fiction, from Poetry to Translation. But our hearts beat strongest for hybrid work that falls into the cross-genre category we call Evocations. We are interested in work that presses boundaries, uses more than one medium to tell a story, and both looks and feels different on the page. Additionally, we look for submissions that engage the theme of each issue as well as the idea of being on the brink.” Payment: $25-$100 as detailed within the guidelines.
Open (for new fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and translation) throughout January: NASHVILLE REVIEW. Pays: $25 per poem and $100 for prose and art. NB: “We cap the number of submissions to be considered at 750 per section to ensure a reasonable response time. If we reach our submission cap before the end of the month-long reading period, submissions will close early.”
Re-opening for fiction submissions on January 1: Ireland-based SOUTHWORD. Pays: €250.
January is a fee-free submissions month for SPLIT LIP, “a literary journal that’s totally bonkers-in-love with voice-driven writing, pop culture, and the kind of honesty that gets you right in the kidneys.” NB: “Sometimes we have to shut free subs early due to a really-rad-but-also-overwhelming response.” Black writers may submit fee-free year-round. Pays: “(via PayPal) $75 per author for poems, memoirs, flash, fiction, and art, and $50 for interviews/reviews for our web issues. Payment for print is $5 per page, minimum of $20, plus 2 contributor copies.”
Scheduled to re-open in January: THE THREEPENNY REVIEW. Pays: “$400 per story or article, $200 per poem or Table Talk piece.” No simultaneous submissions.
Between January 1 and January 7, THE FABULIST will welcome short fantastical fiction, including but not limited to work addressing a special thematic interest in “sociopolitical alternatives & hopepunk.” Per their guidelines, they pay a $25 honorarium.
STONE’S THROW, “the monthly companion to Rock and a Hard Place Magazine,” is now “open for submissions the first week of every month, from 12AM on the first through 11:59PM on the seventh. We’re looking for all the same dark fiction, crime and noir as our usual submissions, but with a target length between 1,000 and 2,000 words. We’ll read through the best and choose the one story that shines brightest and publish it online the following month.” For the window between January 1-7, 2023, when they’ll be considering work for February, they’re offering a prompt: “Ah, February means love is in the air! The birds are singing, green is coming back to the plants, and we’ve let love into our fragile, beating hearts. Now all we can do is hope…hope that it stays very, very still and resists tearing free of our chests and casting our love to the still-frozen earth….” Pays: $25/story.
34 ORCHARD will be open for submissions January 1-15. “We like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad….We are an international journal and welcome submissions from everyone, all over the world.” Payment: $50. “You will need to have a PayPal address to receive payment; we don’t use any other form of internet cash transfer service. If this doesn’t work for you, we’re happy to send you a paper check. If you are overseas, please ensure you have a PayPal account.”
Scheduled to re-open January 1 (and remaining open until April 1): THE WOODWARD REVIEW. They welcome “poetry, prose, hybrid and digital media” and pay $50.
ROOM, “Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal,” will close its submissions window on January 5 for its upcoming “Ghosts” issue: “Come haunt us. Room seeks writers of marginalized genders for poems full of folklore, creative nonfiction on rattling encounters, transient fiction, and other such spirited words. Send us writing and visual art that is acutely aware of the apparitions around us. Show us the spectres, the relationships with revenants, the ancestries of time and place, the imprints, and the echoes. We want your best work in any genre, work that breaks with traditional form.” Payment: “All contributors will be paid upon publication: "$50 CAD per page (up to a maximum of $200).”
Until January 7, Canada-based AUGUR is open for submissions “from everyone everywhere”; then, between January 8 and 15, they will be “only accepting submissions from creators who are Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Disabled, and/or Trans, who are also Canadian citizens/permanent residents and/or who are living within the settler-defined borders of the land colonially known as Canada. We are tracking Canada-related information for granting purposes, and we are opening to submissions for these particular voices because we would like to consider more pieces by authors at these intersections for our upcoming issues.” They are keen on “pieces that could be ‘too speculative’ for CanLit or literary magazines or ‘not speculative enough’ for speculative magazines. However, we also love a good genre romp, and will publish across many genres.” Pays: “$0.11 cents (CAD) per word for short fiction (1000+ words), and a flat fee of $110.00 per flash fiction piece (1000 words and under)” and “$60.00 CAD per poem.” (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
“Three times per year, TIN HOUSE offers a two-day submission period for writers to submit their work. Eligible writers must not currently have an agent, and must not have previously published a book (chapbooks okay).” From January 7th (12:01 a.m. PT) to January 8th (11:59 p.m. PT) they’ll be open for submissions from debut novelists (including graphic novels).
January 8 is the deadline for submissions for DIET MILK, “a biannual literary magazine devoted to Gothic prose, poetry, and art. Neatly genred or genre-bending, classically styled or modern, we want your prettiest, most pungent dread.” Payment: “$15 per poem, $0.01 per word ($40 minimum) for short stories, and $50 per art piece via PayPal. Payment thresholds will grow as we do. We look forward to the day we can offer pro rates.”
January 9 is the deadline for submissions for BENNINGTON REVIEW. “We aim to stake out a distinctive space for innovative, intelligent, and moving fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, film writing, and cross-genre work. In the spirit of poet Dean Young’s dictum that poets should be ‘making birds, not birdcages,’ we are particularly taken with writing that is simultaneously graceful and reckless.” Payment: “$120 for prose of six typeset pages and under, $250 for prose of over six typeset pages, and $25 per poem, in addition to two copies of the issue in which the piece is published and a copy of the subsequent issue.”
January 10 is the deadline for fiction and poetry submissions at ALIEN, “a publication with the goal of creating an archive of work, as well as an innovative and supportive literary community, for outsiders”; they’re open for nonfiction and visual art year-round. Pays: “We pay a $20 honorarium for each written piece and art collection we publish.” Payment can be made “via Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal.” (NB: I’ve seen conflicting deadline dates posted: January 10 is the date confirmed when I reached out to the publication via email. I have no additional information.)
The FEMINIST PRESS is open for manuscript proposals until January 15. “Our mission as a small, independent nonprofit publisher is to publish insurgent and marginalized voices from around the world, with a focus on contemporary and cutting-edge subjects. We champion intersectional and nuanced works that spark much-needed dialogue, dive deep into lived experience, and move the feminist conversation forward. We’re passionate about international literature, hybrid memoirs, and intersectional activist nonfiction, either single author or anthology. Our fiction projects range from hilarious to heartbreaking, from literary to playful, and are always compelling, voice-driven works that speak to our present moment and beyond. We also enjoy books that play with form and language in political ways. We especially encourage Black and Indigenous writers and other writers of color, queer and trans writers, and disabled and neuroatypical writers to submit.”
Closing January 15: GREAT WEATHER FOR MEDIA, which seeks poetry and prose for its annual print anthology. “We welcome work from writers worldwide. Our focus is on the innovative and unexpected.” Pays (USA-based writers): “one contributor copy, plus $10.” International writers receive one copy.
Also closing January 15: the submissions window for work on the theme “Machines” at UK-based NEON, “a magazine of slipstream fiction, poetry, and artwork” that publishes “creative work that is fantastic or surreal, and which crosses the boundaries between science-fiction, horror and literary fiction.” Pays: 2p/word for prose and 20p/line for poetry, via Paypal.
January 15 is the deadline for queries for the Look2 Essay series at PLOUGHSHARES, which “seeks to publish essays about underappreciated or overlooked writers. The Look2 essay should take stock of a writer’s entire oeuvre with the goal of bringing critical attention to the neglected writer and his or her relevance to a contemporary audience….The writer can be living or dead and from anywhere in the world (if there are good English translations available). Essays should make note of biographical details that are pertinent to the writer’s work.” Payment: “$45/printed page, $90 minimum per title, $450 maximum per author,” plus copies and a subscription.
Until January 15, Canada-based PRISM INTERNATIONAL invites submissions for “its first-ever entirely IBPOC issue. We welcome submissions from writers who are indigenous, black, and people of colour. Send us poems, stories, nonfiction, and comics—there’s no specific theme, but if you’re stuck, we love work that is rooted in place, poems that experiment with form, and stories that are honest, speculative, and dreamy.” Payment: “We pay $40 per printed page of prose and $45 per printed page of poetry.”
SAMJOKO MAGAZINE, “devoted to publishing exemplary work from content creators around the world,” is open for submissions until January 15. “We are non-genre specific. Please read the previous issues to get an idea of what we publish.” Pays: “We pay up to 6 months after publication through PayPal only. Payment projected to happen sooner. Current payment is $20 per accepted submission, though we hope to increase this with greater support from readers.”
Also closing January 15: A VELVET GIANT, “a genreless literary journal” that welcomes “ambiguity: flash pieces, found pieces, cross-genre experiments, the ‘poem’ that thinks it might be a story, the ‘story’ that thinks it might be a poem. Retellings and reimaginings. Work that chips away at institutional structures. Work that breaks everything down so that it can build.” Pays: $20. (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
ONE STORY will re-open for submissions on January 15 “and close when we reach our submissions cap.” They seek literary fiction, “stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.” Payment: $500 and 25 contributor copies.
INVISIBLE CITY is open for nonfiction submissions until January 16. This online publication of the MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco welcomes work “that encourages us to see the world from new perspectives and different angles, ones that we may not have previously considered or imagined.” Pays: “$20 honorarium per accepted work.”
Beginning January 16, and continuing to January 25, ECOTONE will be open for print and electronic submissions from BIPOC writers only. They will be considering work for upcoming unthemed issues and for the fall 2023 “Labor” issue. Pays: honorarium (of undisclosed amount) upon publication, plus two copies of the issue in which the writer’s work appears, and a one-year subscription beginning with the subsequent issue.
FULCRUM PUBLISHING is publishing an essay anthology “on women’s reproductive health writing as part of its series of books on women’s health and related issues,” for which submissions are welcome until January 20. The anthology will be edited by Stephanie Vessely. “Our wish list: Creative nonfiction personal essays on abortion, contraception, menstruation, infertility, miscarriage, IVF, perimenopause/menopause, pregnancy, fibroids, PCOS, endometriosis, and any other topic we may have missed. We are open to broad interpretations. The most important thing is that your essay be well-written. While this is a predominantly woman-centered collection, men, we know, are affected by women’s health issues too. We are open to their submissions as well.” Reprints welcome. Payment: “Contributors will receive $150.00.”
This January 20 deadline isn’t exactly for a call for submissions, but it’s definitely poetry-focused: The POETRY MAGAZINE PODCAST is taking applications for a new host. “The podcast host will collaborate with the podcast producer to create, host, and record 2 episodes of the Poetry Magazine Podcast per month. This work will include discussing potential guests for podcast episodes; preparing questions and scripts in advance; and researching guests, their work, related topics, and potential archival audio that may be included in episodes.” Compensation: “Flat-rate pay at $1,000 per episode ($2,000 per month).” NB: “Contract Start Date: March 2023. Contract will be for nine months, with possible extensions.”
Also until January 20: THE SALTBUSH REVIEW seeks “submissions of short fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction (including personal essays and life writing) of up to 3,000 words on the theme of ‘Intersections.’ Shorter works such as flash fiction are also welcome, as are works that challenge genre boundaries.” This Australia-based journal considers submissions from all, “but we particularly welcome work from South Australian and regional writers, emerging writers, First Nations and POC writers, the LGBTQI+ community, and writers with a disability.” Payment: “We pay AUD$150 per piece of fiction and non-fiction and AUD$100 per poem or piece of flash fiction. We look forward to reading your writing!”
Submissions for MUDROOM’s winter issue are open until January 25. Pays: $15, via Paypal. (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
Canada-based BOOK*HUG PRESS plans an anthology to be titled Back Where I Came From, for which submissions (from Canadian and American writers, per confirmation on Twitter) are welcome until January 30. The book will be composed of “twenty essays by diasporic writers about travelling to their motherlands, ie: their families’ places of origin or their own, in cases of early childhood immigration. These travelogue essays will highlight personal insights about belonging and identity from their journeys. The collection is an invitation to readers to explore not only different points on our globe, but also the writers’ identities, the cultures surrounding and within them, and their ideas of home. Back Where I Came From will be co-edited by Taslim Jaffer and Omar Mouallem.” Payment: “If your essay is accepted for publication, you will receive a $200 honorarium and two copies of the finished anthology.”
January 31 is the deadline for submissions for an Improbable Press anthology to be titled ANNA KARENINA ISN’T DEAD: THE REWRITTEN LIVES OF LITERARY LEGENDS. “You suffer. You die. You exist so the hero can have his journey. Who are you? You're a woman in classic literature. Of course this isn't the destiny of every woman, but from Anna Karenina to Jocasta to Cio-Cio-San, from Esmeralda to Aida to Mrs Rochester, death, madness, or suffering is the fate of far too many women in classic stories. Anna Karenina Isn't Dead undoes that. In this anthology of literary women, these women live. Do they have a happily ever after? Maybe. Do they have a happy-right-now? Oh yes. Feel free to bring your woman to the present, future, to anywhere or anywhen. How your classic heroine finds her peace is up to you. Tell us a reimagined tale of the famous, the infamous, the barely mentioned woman in an old story, poem, or legend. Give her a better journey than the one she got. This call is open to writers of any gender and in any location; we accept simultaneous and multiple submissions (up to 3 stories per writer); payment is five cents American per word (four cents for reprints) up to 5,000 words – your story can be longer, but payment stops at 5K words.” NB: “No characters still under copyright please.”
January 31 is also the deadline to send work to BETHLEHEM WRITERS ROUNDTABLE for Summer 2023 issue consideration. “The theme is: Jack of All Trades: Everyman’s Tales.” This Pennsylvania-based journal welcomes work “in most genres of fiction, as well as memoir and poetry.” Pays: “$50 for published featured-author stories; $20 for stories published on our &More page; $10 for poems we publish.” (Thanks to Jeanne Lyet Gassman for the heads-up on this one.)
January 31 is the deadline, too, at THE BUREAU DISPATCH, which publishes fiction and creative nonfiction up to 1,000 words. For Volume 5, they’re “open to all kinds of narratives but are particularly interested in ones about WAYFINDING: stories that explore our relationships with physical (and metaphorical) spaces and places, how we orient ourselves within or among them, and how we navigate and find our way.”
January 31 is also the deadline at THE GOOD LIFE REVIEW, where fee-free submissions are welcome in micro-prose and short poetry (for a “Monday Micro” feature) and in book reviews. Pays: $25.
NONBINARY REVIEW is also open until January 31, for poetry, prose, and visual-art submissions for an issue with the theme of “Food”; note that there’s a submission cap for each issue, so they may close early. Payment: $.01/word for prose; $10 flat for poetry; $25 flat free for art (cover art: $50). Note also that Zoetic Press, which publishes Nonbinary Review, welcomes submissions year-round for RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (scroll down the page), a new(ish) feature “showcasing non-linear literature” for which they pay “pay 1¢ per word plus $1 per node.”
January 31 is also the proposal deadline for PEREGRINE POCKETBOOKS, “a series of books that take a closer look at some of our favorite films, books, games, and TV shows. With this series, we aim to take the insight and passion from Filmmakers Without Cameras and use it to produce quality, insightful publications from a variety of writers. As per the name, our ‘pocketbooks’ are meant to be on the shorter side, so this is not the place to whip out your 100,000 word masterpiece! Coming in at around 20,000 words (50 pages), these nonfiction books will make an impact with brevity. Peregrine Coast Press will publish a limited run of the books (75-100 copies), with the option to increase copies if needed. Also — we’re a real publisher! Books will have an ISBN.” Compensation: £150 advance and 50/50 split on royalties. NB: Per Twitter confirmation, they’re open to writers globally. (Hat tip: Mslexia.)
And until January 31, SISTORIES LITMAG “invites submissions of poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and photography from Southern Black women, nonbinary femmes, and gender-expansive folks for Issue III of our interactive print and digital publication: The Hereafter. Drawing on themes from the worlds conjured by Octavia E. Butler, this issue seeks to explore what lies within the hereafter—chaos or calm? Something in between? Further, who or what defines our hereafter? Works inspired by Octavia Butler and her writings are welcome to be submitted for consideration.” Payment: “All contributors will be paid for accepted submissions,” but amounts are not specified.
Until February 1, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY “invites readers to submit first-person narratives (under 1,000 words)” on the subject of “Wind.” Pays: “$100 and a free one-year subscription to the magazine.”
February 1 is also the deadline, for general fiction submissions, at Canada-based EVENT. Payment: “We pay $40/page for poetry and $35/page for prose, up to a maximum of $500. All contributors receive 2 copies of the issue in which their work appears. Payment is issued upon publication.”
Also until February 1, PAPER BRIGADE, the annual print literary journal of Jewish Book Council, is open for fee-free submissions of nonfiction and translations. Check the detailed description of what they’re seeking in nonfiction and note that for translations, they seek poetry and fiction. Payment: “All authors will be paid for published work,” but amounts are not specified. (Original fiction and poetry submissions are also welcome until February 1, but submission fees apply in those cases.)
THE FIRST LINE, which publishes issues that contain “short stories that stem from a common first line” and “provides a forum for discussing favorite first lines in literature,” has published its first lines for 2023; the next deadline, February 1, will be for stories that begin with the line, “I am the second Mrs. Roberts.” Pays: “We pay on publication: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $10.00 for poetry, and $25.00 for nonfiction (all U.S. dollars). We also send you a copy of the issue in which your piece appears.”
A heads-up (on Twitter) from BARRELHOUSE: “Nonfiction writers, take note: we will be posting an open call for NF book manuscripts in January, looking for hybrid memoir and essay collections with some kind of pop culture element. Stay tuned for the full announcement and use this time to polish up yr work.” Additional info in the thread.
The EVERY ANIMAL PROJECT is “currently accepting submissions around the theme of courageous animals for our first anthology, debuting in 2023, The Dog Who Wooed at the World. Stories should explain how an animal’s bravery inspired and moved you.” Note: “Stories must be true (non-fiction). They must relate to non-human animals (of any species) and can be about your personal experiences/growth because of an animal, an issue threatening animals today, or other aspects of the human/non-human animal relationship. For the upcoming anthology, please weave the theme of courage/bravery into your story. We are particularly interested in spotlighting species less familiar to people, like insects, marine animals, and reptiles.” Compensation: “One winning author will receive a $300 prize, and the second place author will receive $200. All other authors with stories chosen for the book will receive a $50 award, along with a free copy of the book upon its publication in 2023 a week before its release to the general public. Stories not chosen for the book will have the opportunity to be featured online on the blog, with a $20 award.”
RATTLE is now open for book reviews: “There are too few venues these days for serious, high quality, critically minded reviews of poetry books. Poetry matters, and we want to do as much as we can to treat it that way. We’re looking for insightful and entertaining reviews of contemporary poetry books that serve as more than advertisements—we want to publish reviews that expand our understanding of literature. Reviews must be at least 1,000 words (no upper limit) and include actual analysis of the text. Do not submit reviews if the author is a close friend, colleague, or former student. We hope to publish one review each month, and will pay $200 for every accepted review.”
POETRY LONDON “is a leading international magazine, where new names share pages with acclaimed contemporary poets. We also publish a wide range of poetry in translation.” Pays: “We pay poets £30 per poem, though appropriate adjustments may be made for very long poems. Review and interview fees are agreed in advance with the Reviews Editor and benchmarked at £50 per 1,000 words.” (Hat tip: AuthorsPublish.com.)
TEACHERS & WRITERS MAGAZINE “is published by Teachers & Writers Collaborative to provide lesson plans, interviews, and personal essays to support teaching creative writing.” Pays: “Our compensation for articles ranges from $50 - $350, payable upon publication. All submissions are on spec, and there is no kill fee.”
THE AMP “is an online magazine from the Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) that celebrates the vibrant, multifaceted, and rich AAPI cultural community in NYC and beyond. Through critical essays and reviews, thoughtful profiles, and insightful interviews, we aim to serve as an authoritative record of and voice for AAPI art and artists.” Pays: “The Amp offers flat fees at a rate of $.40 per word, rounded down to the nearest hundred words.”
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: SHORT STORY, 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, a January deadline was listed for a volumes on “how stepping outside my comfort zone changed me” and multiple projects had February deadlines listed, too. 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
Sunday Sentence
Occasional Notes from a Practicing Writer
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7. NEWSLETTER MATTERS
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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.”