The Practicing Writer 2.0: July 2022
55+ carefully curated calls & competitions for poets, fictionists, & cnf writers. No fees to submit/apply. Paying opps only. Nothing that's limited to residents of a single city/state/province.
Welcome, new readers, and welcome back to the regulars!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Editor’s Note
Success Stories
Featured Resource
Current Contests, Competitions, and Other Opportunities (NO ENTRY OR APPLICATION FEES; PAYING OPPORTUNITIES ONLY; 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
Welcome back, practicing writers—and I extend a special welcome to all who have joined us since last month’s issue went out.
As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been a lot less active online than usual this past week or so. I’ve been busy (with good and happy and interesting things that have taken me away from my desk in New York City for a bit).
My activities have also kept me from immersing myself in local, national, and international news the way I usually do. But I’m informed enough to know that, once again, many among us have been struggling. As always, I hope that this newsletter will offer everyone both refreshment and inspiration.
Here’s wishing all of us, and our writing practices, a good month ahead,
ERIKA
2. SUCCESS STORIES
Please share news from your writing practice that may be connected with this newsletter or our other resources. I love to celebrate such successes in this space!
And check out past subscriber notes archived on my website.
3. FEATURED RESOURCE
Check out these “Best Writing Websites for Writers” for 2022, “the top writing advice websites as identified in the 24th Annual 101 Best Websites from the May/June 2022 issue of Writer's Digest.” I’m delighted to see our very own Practicing Writing blog listed within—thank you to whoever may have sent in a nomination and to Writer’s Digest for the inclusion!
4. CURRENT CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
BOOKS LIKE US FIRST NOVEL CONTEST
Submissions: “A two-week entry period will begin on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.” Simon & Schuster’s adult trade imprint “is pleased to announce the second annual BOOKS LIKE US First Novel Contest to facilitate accessibility to underrepresented writers and celebrate the diversity of readers across the United States. As the nation continues to strive for progress, Simon & Schuster aims to help catalyze that change by amplifying voices that represent us, by publishing books like us.” Prize: “The winner will be awarded the opportunity to enter into a $50,000 book deal with Simon & Schuster.” Open to “residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.”STONY BROOK SHORT FICTION PRIZE
Deadline: July 14. Confers $1,000 and a scholarship to the 2023 Southampton Writers Conference, plus possible publication in The Southampton Review. “Only undergraduates enrolled full time in United States and Canadian universities and colleges for the academic year 2021-2022 are eligible. This Prize has traditionally encouraged submissions from students with an Asian background, but we urge all students to enter.”1729 BOOK PRIZE IN PROSE
Deadline: July 15. This is “a new award offered by Mason Jar Press with support from The Ivy Bookshop” for book-length works. “We’re open to most prose genres, though we tend to lean toward semi-experimental works with a strong literary bent. Hybrid works are welcome.” Awards $1,000 and contributor copies of the published book, and quarterly profit-sharing. “The contract will stipulate all further details.” Judge: Diane Zinna.BURLINGTON CONTEMPORARY ART WRITING PRIZE
Deadline: July 15. Prize “seeks to discover talented writers on contemporary art. The winner of the Prize receives £1,000, their review is published on Burlington Contemporary and they have the opportunity to publish a review of a future contemporary art exhibition in The Burlington Magazine.” NB: “Entrants must have published no more than six pieces of writing in print or online prior to their submission. This does not include personal blogs and websites.” Judges: Griselda Pollock and Legacy Russell.HARPERS FERRY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
Deadline: July 15. For the 2022 Fall Residency (October/November), applications are welcome from artists (including writers). “There are a variety of fully furnished apartments within the park that may be provided, depending on the Artist in Residence’s needs and time of residence.” Note the current residency theme: “Harpers Ferry Imagined as a Site of Conscience.”IRON HORSE PRIZE
Fee-free submissions for one day only: July 15 (see note below). “Texas Tech University Press and Iron Horse Literary Review are pleased to announce the Iron Horse Prize, awarded annually to a first book of collected prose. The author of the winning entry will receive $1000, and their collection will be published in the summer of 2023 by Texas Tech University Press. We are looking for emerging writers who have yet to publish collections of their own prose, either short fiction or nonfiction.” Judge: Katie Cortese. NB: On July 15, they will “accept a limited number of submissions free of charge to ensure the inclusion of as many authors as possible. If you can afford to pay the fee, we ask that you reserve the free slots for others who may not be able to submit otherwise.”LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY ALEXANDRIA (LSUA) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND HUMANITIES FLASH FICTION CONTEST
Deadline: July 15. “All creative writers are cordially invited to write a piece of Flash Fiction. Tell a short-story with a title. In a minimum of 6 words and a maximum of 1,500 words, tell a story about what happened, who it happened to, and why.” Prizes: “First, second, and third place finishers will be awarded $250, $150, and $100 respectively, and the stories will be published on the LSUA website. (Hat tip: Karen Riley Simmons.)HELEN SCHAIBLE INTERNATIONAL SONNET CONTEST
Deadline: July 15. “Categories: #1 Traditional Sonnet – Shakespearean or Petrarchan #2 Modern Sonnet.” See website for definitions/guidelines. “Enter only one poem in either Category #1 or #2, or one poem in each. The entries must be original and unpublished. Poets can only win or be noted in one category.” Prizes for both categories: “First Prize: $50. Second Prize: $30. Third Prize: $15. Three Honorable Mentions and three Special Merits per category, ranked. First, Second, and Third-Place sonnets in each category will be published (with poets’ permission) in the Spring, 2023 edition of THINK: A Journal of Poetry, Fiction, and Essays….All winners will be invited to participate in an online reading in October.”DONN GOODWIN PRIZE
Deadline: July 17. “The Milwaukee Irish Fest poetry award for the Donn Goodwin Prize will be given to the entry that best reflects Irish or Irish-American poetry traditions. Although the poems do not necessarily need to have direct Irish or Irish-American themes, the winning entry should have a cultural or literary relation to either Ireland, Irish-America, or to Irish poetry. The person with the winning submission as determined by our panel of adjudicators will receive a $100 honorarium and will be invited to read their poem at Milwaukee Irish Fest (if available).”WOMEN POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: July 18 (5pm BST). For critical writing on women’s poetry. “The winning essay will be published in Women: a cultural review. The winner will also be awarded a sum of £500. The inaugural 2022 prize will be awarded to a critical essay engaging with the poetry of women of colour. The prize will be judged, in association with the Ledbury Critics, by Professor Sandeep Parmar (University of Liverpool) and the Women editorial team, with Dr Mary Jean Chan (Oxford Brookes University) having the final say. Other shortlisted essays may be published in the journal as part of a special feature on women’s poetry.”WRITERS & ARTISTS (W&A) WORKING-CLASS WRITERS’ PRIZE
Deadline: July 18. Open to un-agented/un-contracted writers 18 years or older, living in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland, who consider themselves to be “from a working class background.” Prize includes £200, a mentoring session with judge Jessica Andrews, “access to a number of W&A writing and publishing events,” a year’s membership in The Society of Authors, and more.GREEN STORIES SHORT STORY COMPETITION
Deadline: July 21. Focusing on the theme “clean vs. green,” this is “a targeted competition aimed at using an engaging fictional story to help readers understand how over-cleaning and misinformation about bacteria can mean that we can end up killing our bodies ‘good’ bacteria through over-use of harsh cleaning products. Your challenge is to write a short story (between 1000 and 3000 words) that helps to raise awareness and shift attitudes, especially for those people who assume that the more detergent the better.” Awards “£500 prize (or local currency equivalent).”CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION
Deadline: July 22 (received, for books published between May 1, 2022, and August 31, 2022). “The first women’s literary award…designed to acknowledge, celebrate, and promote the best works of fiction written by women annually in Canada and the United States.” Awards $150,000 Canadian dollars to the winner and $12,500 Canadian dollars to each of four finalists. Open to “novels, short story collections and graphic novels written by women and non-binary writers for an adult audience,” published by American or Canadian companies. “Books that have been translated from another language are eligible and will be considered in the year that the English translation is published. The book in translation must be authored by an American or Canadian citizen or permanent resident who has resided in either country for the past five years. In the event that a translation wins the prize, the prize winnings will be split with the translator in the following way: $100,000 to the writer; $50,000 to the translator.” Submissions must be made by publishers, who must agree to “contribute $2,000 to the prize for the advertising and marketing of the shortlist.”BLACK VOICES IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE WRITING CONTEST
Deadline: July 24. From Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing: “Now in its fourth year, the Black Voices in Children’s Literature Writing Contest is going national! The contest is now open to Black authors who at the time of entry are at least 18 years of age and residing anywhere in the United States. As always, the contest’s mission is to elevate authentic, culturally relevant children’s stories written by and about Black people. Every entry is considered for publication and three cash prizes will be awarded.” (Hat tip: The Writer.)GASHER PRIZE FIRST-BOOK SCHOLARSHIP
Deadline: July 29. “In an effort to support equality and accessibility within literary publishing, Gasher Press is pleased to offer a $250 scholarship to an emerging poet currently submitting their first-book manuscript to help cover the submission costs for contests and open reading periods.” Applicants must reside in the United States.BRIEFLY WRITE POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: July 31 (19:00 BST). “Celebrates and rewards bold, succinct writing. We want well-crafted poems up to 10 lines.” Prize: £30 for winner; £15 for second place; three third-place prizes of £5 each. “Prize and commended poems will be published online.”DOGFISH HEAD POETRY PRIZE
Deadline: July 31. “The twentieth annual (and final) Dogfish Head Poetry Prize for the winning book-length manuscript by a poet residing in the following states: DE, MD, ME, NC, NJ, NY, PA, VA, WVA, and District of Columbia, will consist of $500, two cases of Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Beer, manuscript publication by Broadkill River Press, and 10 copies of the book (in lieu of royalties).” NB: “The award will be presented to the winner on Saturday December 10, 2022, at the Dogfish Head brewery in Milton, DE. The winner must agree to attend this event and to read from their winning book at a reception honoring them….The winner agrees to travel to Delaware at the winner’s expense for awarding of the prize. Dogfish Head will provide the winner two nights lodging at the Dogfish Inn in the beach resort town of Lewes, Delaware.”ANN PETRY AWARD
Deadline: July 31. “Founded in 2020 in partnership with Red Hen Press and the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance, the Ann Petry Award seeks to publish prose literature by Black authors. The Ann Petry Award is for a work of previously unpublished prose, either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a minimum of 150 pages, by a Black writer. The awarded manuscript is selected through an annual submission process, with primary review by the Peauxdunque Writers Alliance, who will winnow the submissions to a list of finalists for the final judge.” This cycle’s final judge is Deesha Philyaw. The Ann Petry Award confers $3000, publication by Red Hen Press, four-week residency at The Community Library’s Ernest and Mary Hemingway House in Ketchum, Idaho, and publishing of the opening chapter/story of the winning manuscript in the Peauxdunque Review.”SINGAPORE UNBOUND AWARDS FOR BEST UNDERGRADUATE CRITICAL ESSAYS ON SINGAPORE AND OTHER LITERATURES
Deadline: July 31. Open to college undergraduates worldwide. There will be “three awards of USD250.00 each” for the best critical essays on topics in Singapore literature. “The purpose of these awards is to encourage the teaching and study of Singapore literature at college level and the cultivation of general appreciation for the character and achievements of Singapore literature….The award-winning essays will be published on Singapore Unbound’s journal SUSPECT and, possibly, in a professional journal. For the purpose of these awards, Singapore literature is defined as literature written in English from 1965 onwards by a Singaporean citizen, permanent resident, or anyone with a strong personal and literary association with Singapore. The author does not have to be residing in Singapore nor to have maintained their citizenship. The work(s) discussed may be in any of the literary genres, including but not limited to poetry, fiction, literary non-fiction, drama, and graphic novels. In future iterations of the awards, we hope to include Singapore literature written in other languages besides English.” Judge: Professor Weihsin Gui.SISTERS IN CRIME PRIDE AWARD FOR EMERGING LGBTQIA+ CRIME WRITERS
Deadline: July 31. A legacy project of past SinC president Sherry Harris, this award confers $2,000 for an emerging writer in the LGBTQIA+ community. According to Harris, “Each past president is required to do a legacy project, something that they feel passionate about. When thinking about what I wanted to do, I kept two things in mind. First, why SinC was formed — to equal the disparity in how female crime fiction writers and male crime fiction writers were reviewed and won awards. Second, I love our Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for emerging crime writers of color. With those two thoughts in mind, I realized I wanted to start a similar award for the LGBTQIA+ community.” Note: “An unpublished writer is preferred, however publication of not more than ten pieces of short fiction and/or up to two self-published or traditionally published books will not disqualify an applicant. While no prior writing or publishing experience is required, the applicant should include any relevant studies or experience in their materials.” (Thanks to WinningWriters.com for the reminder about this one.)SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION DIVERSE WRITERS AND DIVERSE WORLDS GRANTS
Applications: July 1-31. “Since 2014, the SLF has offered two diversity-centered grants intended to foster the creation of speculative fiction work rich in diversity. Writers may apply for either or both grants.” Each grant confers $500. “Open to all levels of publishing experience, worldwide.” (Thanks, again, to WinningWriters.com for the reminder about these grants.)TILTED HOUSE 1BR/3BATH INAUGURAL CHAPBOOK PRIZE
Deadline: July 31. Seeks “16-35 pages of something fresh—experimental, puckish, political, funny, playful, polemical, and/or uncomfortable. In a word: anti-poetry. While there is no theme, per se, we are hungry for work that twists the arm of poetry’s status quo. We like meta poetics, satire, work that is aware of itself and what’s in the air. Maybe you ‘don’t know what you’re doing’ or feel like your work is ‘unpublishable.’ Send it to us! Give us your freaky. Give us your fun.” Note that they welcome work “from everyone living within the United States and encourage poets from the regional south, specifically Louisiana, to submit.” The winning manuscript will receive $200 and 15 author copies (the chapbook will be published in a handbound edition of 200 with letterpress-printed covers). Note also that they encourage submissions “sooner than later”; and there is a reading fee of $0-$20, sliding scale. “Though it isn’t mandatory, it is encouraged.”WASHBURN CHAPBOOK PRIZE
Deadline: July 31 (fee-free entries for BIPOC-identifying writers only). Named for poet and professor Laura Lee Washburn (who serves as final judge), this prize “is awarded once a year to a woman or non-binary writer for a micro chapbook, which Harbor Review will publish digitally on our website. Our definition of woman includes all women, including transgender and all female-identifying individuals. Women of color and queer women are encouraged to apply.” Note: “Micro chapbooks should be exactly 10 poems long.” Prize also confers a $200 cash award.RACHEL WETZSTEON CHAPBOOK PRIZE
Deadline: July 31 (for fee-free entries; with a fee, entries are accepted until September 30). “Map Literary is pleased to announce that the 2022 Rachel Wetzsteon Chapbook Award is now open for submissions. Named after our late colleague, this award honors beautiful, original writing through publication as a high-quality chapbook. This year the award will focus on POETRY. Using our Submittable portal, submit a manuscript of around 30 pages. We seek new, original work, though individual pieces that have been previously published elsewhere may be included.” Prize confers $1010.10 honorarium and 25 copies of the winning chapbook. Judge: Dennis Hinrichsen (with Map Literary editors).SOURCE WRITING PRIZE
Deadline: August 1, “5.30pm (GMT).” Subtitled “Thinking Through Photography,” Source invites new writers (who have not written for them before) to submit an article. “The winning entry will receive £500 / 570 Euro and we will either publish it or commission you to write an article for us in the future. All short listed entries will also be considered for [paid] publication or for future commissions.”BERTON HOUSE WRITERS’ RESIDENCY
Deadline: August 2. From Writers’ Trust of Canada: “To honour our commitment to the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, on whose land Berton House Writers’ Residency is situated, Writers’ Trust will bring an Indigenous author to their community during their traditional time for storytelling in the fall of 2022. An Indigenous author will be selected to live and work for two months in the childhood home of noted Canadian author Pierre Berton, which has operated as a writers’ residency since 1996 in Dawson City, Yukon. The resident will receive a $4,000 stipend and travel costs will be covered by Writers’ Trust. Residents are required to perform two public readings: one at the Whitehorse Public Library and one at the Dawson City Community Library. As well, they are encouraged to engage further with the local community by holding writing workshops in the community, interacting with the public and local literary communities, participating in local events, and availing themselves and their work to local and national media.” Applicants must be First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit, (and declare the Indigenous community or communities with which they are affiliated) and Canadian citizens or permanent residents with a minimum of one published (or contracted) book with a professional press.Deadline: August 2: The Granum Foundation Prize will be awarded annually to help U.S.-based writers complete substantive literary works—such as poetry books, essay or short story collections, novels, and memoirs—or to help launch these works. Additionally, a Granum Foundation Translation Prize will be awarded to support the completion of a work translated by a U.S.-based writer. Funding can be used to provide a writer with the tools, time, and freedom to help ensure their success. For example, resources may be used to cover fees for a writing residency, mentorship, or editing services. They also may be used for necessities such as rent or writing equipment. Competitive applicants will be able to present a compelling project with a reasonable timeline for completion. They also should be able to demonstrate a record of commitment to the literary arts.” One winner will receive $5,000; up to three finalists will be awarded “$500 or more”; “$500 or more will be awarded to one writer working in translation.”
REMINDER: Some opportunities listed in last month’s newsletter remain open.
5. SUBMISSION ALERTS
ROXANE GAY BOOKS re-opened for unagented submissions on June 15. Be sure to check the full guidelines before you submit, and note the following: “This imprint publishes three (3) books a year, so when submissions are closed to unagented writers, it is because my slate is currently full.”
BRINK will be open during the month of July “for submissions engaging in the theme of Reverence. Through Submittable, we accept 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.” Pays $25/poem, $50 or $100 for other written work (depending on length) and art (depending on how many images).
The next submissions window at 34 ORCHARD will run from July 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.” Pays: “$50 on signing of the contract. 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.”
VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEWreceives “unsolicited fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions July 1-31 through our Submittable portal.” Pay rates are detailed in the guidelines.UPDATE, JULY 1: VQR APPEARS TO HAVE INSTITUTED A FEE FOR SUBMISSIONS.Starting July 1 (and continuing until August 31), TYPEHOUSE will be open for fee-free submissions from all contributors. Payment: “We are slowly working our way up to paying professional rates, with payment currently at $25 per contributor.” They consider prose, poetry, and visual art.
Australia-based podcast PILLOW TALKING “is always looking for first person, narrative/creative nonfiction stories of real-life bedroom conversations. In fact, this podcast wouldn’t exist without people choosing to share their intimate conversations. Whether they are thought-provoking, funny, heart-breaking or silly this takes trust, vulnerability and some guts, and I consider receiving each story a huge privilege and responsibility. You can submit from wherever in the world you happen to be.” Upcoming themes include “Sanctuary” (with a July 2 deadline); “Who do you think you are?” (July 16 deadline); and “I remember…” (July 30). Payment: “$25AUD, paid via PayPal or Stripe, within 1 week of the episode going to air.”
Until July 5, ALIEN is receiving submissions in fiction and poetry (they’re open for nonfiction year-round). Note: “We are not a science fiction magazine, though we are open to SF work. By ‘Alien’ we mean ‘outsider’ or anything that exists outside the societal norm.” Pays: $20/piece. “Payments can be done via Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal.”
July 8 is the deadline for submissions for the August issue of BRIGHT WALL/DARK ROOM: “The theme of our August issue will be 1987, and we’re looking for thoughtful essays on the best film and TV of 35 years ago.” Pays: “$50 per essay upon publication.”
Also with a July 8 deadline: Ireland-based TOLKA is open for submissions of “all forms of non-fiction: personal essay, memoir, reportage, travel writing, auto-fiction, and the writing that falls in between.” Publishes work “by Irish and international writers.” Pays: “a flat fee of €300, which we pay prior to publication; contributors also receive a copy of the issue in which their work is featured.”
Also until July 8, as noted in this thread by Claire Wade on Twitter: Submissions are open for the 2nd Disability Issue of @thebookseller. The theme is increasing accessibility & inclusivity of disabled people within the publishing industry. I’m looking for article pitches by disabled authors, agents, editors, publishing employees & booksellers.” Pays: £120/500 words. Be sure to read the whole thread—note, for instance: “The Bookseller is a trade magazine for the UK publishing industry. Last year I had over a hundred pitches and the successful ones were aimed at those working in the industry.”
Australia-based SWIM MEET LIT MAG is open for submissions until July 10. “We don’t have a strict theme, but our editor is particularly interested in submissions from swimmers (current or former), or about swimming – whatever that means to you. Swim meets bring many people together, and we hope to offer an accessible place for a diverse range of creators to share their work on swim meet lit mag. If your work has nothing to do with swimming, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see it! Above all, we want quality, even if it doesn’t respond to our themes. As a publication based in Meanjin (Brisbane, Australia), we’d like to offer a space for local creatives, emerging and established, to share their work and build a community. However, we are happy to receive submissions from anywhere in the world.” Payment (for Australian contributors only): “Payment is $30 per poem and visual art piece, $50 for prose and cover art,” via Paypal “where possible.” (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
EASTOVER PRESS “will open to full-length poetry manuscripts between 45 and 65 pages for one day on July 12, 2022, from 12AM to 11:59PM, via Submittable. Publication from EastOver Press includes a standard publishing contract and an honorarium of $2,000….Our reading period is open to all writers, and EastOver Press is especially interested in amplifying the voices of BIPOC writers.”
Re-opening July 15: CONSEQUENCE FORUM, for submissions to be considered “for either our print publication (Consequence journal) or our website (Consequence online). All submissions need to address in some manner the human consequences and realities of war or geopolitical violence.” Pays: $40-$80 as detailed on the website.
SAMJOKO, which notes that it has “no specific aesthetic,” remains open for submissions until July 15. Pays: “$20 USD if accepted, paid through Paypal only.” Consider fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays and plays. (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
GORDON SQUARE REVIEW “will reopen for general submissions from writers of all geographic locations on July 15, 2022 and will remain open through October 1, 2022. Writers accepted for publication receive $25 per prose piece and $10 per poem.”
Closing July 17 for submissions for its October 2022 issue: JAGGERY, “a DesiLit arts and literature journal,” which “connects South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers; we also welcome non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation. (By South Asia we mean Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.) Our hope with Jaggery is to create a journal that offers the best writing by and about South Asians and their diaspora. Dark, complex, intense — and totally delicious.” Pays: “$100 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction/poetry/art/reviews.”
July 20 is the next deadline at DISMANTLE, which is “especially interested in personal essays that explore larger cultural issues related to fashion, pop culture and social change….Whatever it is, it should tell a story that matters right now and have clear, compelling stakes. It should speak to our mission of dismantling oppression, cultivating community, and reflecting on the ways fashion and pop culture connect us to larger communities and power structures.” They also “always want fun explainers of trends and forgotten bits of fashion history.” Pays: “$75.00 per article over ~1000 words.”
Submissions for MUDROOM’s summer issue are open until July 25. They publish poetry, fiction, essays, and essays in translation, and pay $15 (via Paypal).
Also open until July 25 for its summer volume: THE AURORA JOURNAL, which publishes “surrealistic poetry and prose.” Pays: “$12 for each accepted piece” (via Venmo or Paypal).
Until July 27, WTAW PRESS, which publishes “full-length books of prose (novels, memoirs, creative nonfiction, collections of stories and essays, hybrids etc.),” is open for fee-free submissions from BIPOC authors.
At MIDNIGHT & INDIGO, “celebrating Black female writers,” the next deadline is July 30, for short stories (pays: $150 for print publication), narrative and personal essays (pays: $75 for online publication) and speculative fiction/horror (pays: $200 for print and/or audiobook publication and $100 for online publication).
Submissions received by July 31 at Canada-based ARC POETRY MAGAZINE will be considered for the Winter issue. Payment: “ARC pays for poetry at the rate of $50 per page,” on publication, with one copy. Additional information regarding prose features is available on the website.
JELLYFISH REVIEW has issued a “Little Sayings” Call for Submissions, which closes July 31. “There’s a lovely book called Family Lexicon, by Natalia Ginzburg, which tells the story of her large Italian family with all its routines, its rituals, and its pet phrases. The characters and the story come to life through the little sayings the family have invented and shared with each other. The Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra does something similar in many of his short stories. So too, I think, do writers like Amy Hempel and Lydia Davis and Lorrie Moore. More sometimes than the plot or the characters, these moments of sparkling dialogue can be the moments we fall in love with as readers. So, up until July 31st, we want work that contains at least one wonderful line of dialogue.” They’re looking for prose under 1000 words. Pays: $25.
Until July 31, RICOCHET EDITIONS invites fee-free manuscript submissions (from “self-identifying POC and Indigenous writers and writers facing financial hardship”) that “are unpredictable. We are looking for purposeful experimentation with language and form that challenges or plays with convention—whether textual or visual, contemporary or historical, personal or cultural. Send us your texts that merge genres and languages, that draw on found forms, that are collaboratively or collectively authored, that collage, fragment, and blend mediums to expand the limits of the book form.” Payment: “$250 and 50 copies of the perfect-bound book with ISBN. The staff will also send out copies to venues for review and (if applicable) awards.”
August 1 is the deadline for the submissions for the SIMS LIBRARY OF POETRY’s 1619 Speaks Anthology. They’re seeking poetry, prose, and visual art submissions that are “an homage to an African-American poet of the past.” Note that “you must identify as African-American” to submit work. Pays: $50.
Submissions for Issue 8 of WIZARDS IN SPACE are open until August 1. Check their detailed explanation as to what they’re seeking (and how it’s different from what was published in Issues 6 and 7). Payment: $40 per original poem or per page of original art; $20 per reprinted poem or per page of reprinted art; $0.04 per word for original prose, based on final published word count; $0.02 per word for reprinted prose, based on final published word count. (Discovered this one via @Duotrope.)
MANGOPRISM, “an online publication for emerging writers and veterans who want to try something new,” publishes “cultural criticism, personal essays, interviews and reportage.” Pays: “at least 10 cents per word—a baseline that we intend to increase as more monthly supporters sign on.” (Hat tip: AuthorsPublish.)
News from TAB: THE JOURNAL OF POETRY & POETICS: “For poetry accepted in 2022 for the July, September, and November issues, we expect to pay a $50 honorarium to poem contributors.” They are open for submissions year-round.
NIGHT COFFEE “is looking for your poetry, art, and ephemera to publish in our magazine.” They appear to consider rolling submissions. Payment: “$50 USD per contributor. (PayPal or Venmo.)”
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. “If this is your first time, please visit our Story Guidelines page.” Pays: $200 plus 10 free copies.
REMEMBER: Some venues listed in last month’s newsletter remain open for submissions.
6. BLOG NOTES
The newsletter is published just once each month, but there’s always something new on the Practicing Writing blog:
(Monday) Markets and Jobs for Writers (including opportunities that don’t make it into the monthly newsletter)
Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer
(Friday) Finds for Writers
Sunday Sentence
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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 “on matters bookish and/or Jewish.”