OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: WOC ANTHOLOGY “Boundaries & Borders”
The Women of Color Writers
DEADLINE: October 3, 2021
READING FEE: $10
INFO: The Women of Color Writers’ Community invites WOC Writers to submit their writing for possible inclusion in Boundaries & Borders, a Theme-Based Anthology that broadly interprets experiences of living within or overcoming the confines of Covid-19 and Police Brutality - written as you choose to write.
We are seeking a Diversity of Voices that Discuss this Emerging Aspect of the Anthology’s Theme
Life within the physical and symbolic confines of the Covid-19 pandemic
The ongoing global crisis of police brutality as a physical and imagined boundary
Our Goal - to Present, Underrepresented Womens' Literary Works to the World
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
✴ Poetry - 1 poems – Maximum Length: 2 pages
✴ Fiction or Nonfiction, Essays – Maximum count 1,500 words (no exceptions)
✴ Original freestanding artwork (unpublished artwork must be your own - No Fee required)
✴ INTERNATIONAL Submissions - NO FEE REQUIRED (All other guidelines apply)
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THE JULIAN BOND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Facing South
DEADLINE: Extended to October 6, 2021 at 5pm ET
INFO: The Julian Bond Fellowship program aims to promote emerging voices in Southern media and support early-career journalists and researchers seeking innovative approaches to promoting justice and democracy in the South.
The Julian Bond Fellowship is a nine-month, full-time position for public interest journalists or researchers. Fellows will be provided a $5,000 monthly stipend, and additional resources for office, training, conferences and research expenses. Given the coronavirus epidemic, the Institute will entertain applications from prospective fellows who seek to conduct their fellowship remotely or while based at the Institute's offices in Durham, North Carolina.
During their time at the Institute, fellows will write regularly for the Institute's online magazine, Facing South. Fellows will also have the opportunity to conduct and publish in-depth writing and research projects, such as investigative stories or policy reports, in areas of mutual interest to the Fellow and the Institute. Fellows will join the Institute's dynamic, multiracial team of journalists, researchers, and nonprofit leaders, and have the opportunity to engage with the Institute's network of change-makers across the South and country.
The Fellowship is aimed at early-career journalists and researchers interested in helping to change the public debate about issues of equity and democracy in the South. Journalists and researchers of color are strongly encouraged to apply, as are others who believe their presence would contribute substantially to diversifying the media and public scholar landscape in the South. Candidates must have at least two to three years of experience writing and/or producing research reports for a public audience, and a demonstrated commitment to promoting justice, equality, and democracy.
The fellowship is named in honor of Julian Bond, a civil rights veteran and co-founder of the Institute for Southern Studies. Bond served as media director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the early 1960s, and later as a member of the Georgia General Assembly, national chairman of the NAACP, and history professor at the University of Virginia. Bond had a special interest in the power of public interest media and innovative policy thinking in advancing social, racial and economic justice. He was a regular commentator for ABC's "The Today Show," and from 1980 to 1997 hosted "America's Black Forum," then the oldest Black-owned syndicated TV program.
The Institute for Southern Studies is a nonprofit media, research, and education center and publisher of the online magazine Facing South. Founded in 1970 by civil rights veterans, the Institute has earned a national reputation for its award-winning investigative journalism and innovative research on policy issues and Southern trends.
The 2022 fellowship will start Jan. 3, 2022, and end Sept. 30, 2022.
https://www.facingsouth.org/julianbondfellowship2021
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ARTHUR FLOWERS FLASH FICTION PRIZE
Salt Hill Journal
DEADLINE: October 10, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: We are thrilled to announce the first annual Arthur Flowers Flash Fiction Prize for emerging writers of color. Established in 2021 by Si Yon Kim and Erica Frederick, women of color editors of Salt Hill, the contest is named after Arthur Flowers, a beloved teacher and mentor in the Syracuse University Creative Writing MFA community, to honor his legacy as a steadfast champion of Black students and other students of color in the program. While we want our entrants to feel empowered to submit absolutely anything, we are especially excited for stories that break the canon and queer and color the ways that we’ve been taught to consider language, time, setting, and plot. We are also pleased to share that Flowers will serve as the contest’s inaugural judge.
AWARD: The winner will receive a cash prize of $500 and publication in Salt Hill Issue 48. Two runners-up will each receive a cash prize of $50 and publication in Salt Hill Issue 48.
2021 JUDGE: Arthur Flowers, native of Memphis, author of novels, creative nonfiction, and graphic works, is a bluesbased performance artist / delta griot. His latest work is The Hoodoo Book of Flowers. He has been Exec. Dir. of The Harlem Writers Guild and various nonprofits. He is webmaster of Rootsblog, Professor Emeritus, Syracuse University, and a practitioner of literary hoodoo.
ELIGIBILITY:
In order to be eligible, you must
Identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or a Person of Color.
Not have published or been contracted to write a full-length book at the time of submission. Writers with chapbooks are eligible.
International writers working in English are encouraged to submit.
Family, colleagues, intimate friends, and current or former students of the judge are ineligible, as are graduates of, and those affiliated with, the Syracuse University Creative Writing Program.
GGUIDELINES:
Please submit one unpublished story of no more than 1,000 words.
Entries will be read blind. Please remove your name and any other identifying information from your manuscript.
Simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you notify us immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere.
All stories will be considered for general publication unless the entrant requests otherwise.
https://salthilljournal.net/arthur-flowers-ff-prize
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Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship
One Story
DEADLINE: October 11, 2021 at 11:59pm ET
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: Together with the Talve-Goodman Family, One Story is happy to open submissions for the 2022 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship. This educational fellowship offers a year-long mentorship on the craft of fiction writing with One Story magazine. Our hope is to give a writer outside of the fold a significant boost in their career.
Previous winners of the Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship include Nay Saysourinho (2019), Arvin Ramgoolam (2020), and Diana Veiga (2021).
The fellow will receive:
Free tuition for all One Story online classes offered in 2022.
Stipend ($2,000) and tuition to attend One Story’s July 2022 week-long online summer writers’ conference, which includes craft lectures, an intensive fiction workshop, and panels with literary agents and publishers.
A full manuscript review and consultation with One Story Executive Editor Hannah Tinti (story collection or novel in progress up to 150 pages/35,000 words).
Requirements: This fellowship calls for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an advanced degree program (such as an MA or MFA) in Creative Writing, English, or Literature, and has no plans to attend one in the 2022 calendar year. We are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that explores being in a body marked by difference, oppression, violence, or exclusion; often through categories of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment. All applicants must be at least 21 years of age as of January 1st, 2022. For complete eligibility details, please visit our FAQ.
Checklist: To apply to this fellowship you will need:
A fiction writing sample (3,000 - 5,000 words)
A personal statement (600 - 1,100 words)
Two professional references (no recommendation letters but please provide: name, email, phone)
A current resume detailing any work or educational experience. Please also list any writing classes you have taken, along with writing-related awards, fellowships, publications, and residencies (if any).
All applications will be received via Submittable.
The winner of the 2022 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship will be publicly announced in January 2022.
https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=fellowship
Digging Press Chapbook Award
Digging Press
DEADLINE: October 15, 2021
SUBMISSION FEE: $12
INFO: The Digging Press Chapbook Award is open for submissions once (or twice) a year for fiction, poetry, or hybrid (multi-genre) manuscripts. We seek innovative manuscripts that are inventively personal and richly imagined.
We are passionate about presenting a unique book design and offering editorial support. We aim to produce beautiful and artistic books. Selected manuscripts have a small print-run (100 copies), and authors receive 20 copies plus a $250 payment. Authors retain all rights to their material within the author’s chapbook.
CHAPBOOK FORMAT: Our chapbooks are printed softcover books with a trim size of 4.25″ wide x 6.75″ high. Each book pagefits approximately 225-230 words; each line fits approximately 45-48 characters across, including spaces, with 26-28 lines to a page. This format is non-negotiable.
GUIDELINES:
We only accept manuscripts between 24 and 40 pages via Submittable. Please read the following carefully:
Respect our blind submission policy. The manuscript must be free of any identity-revealing information, including in the name of your file or in the “title” field in Submittable. Submissions that do not respect this policy will be automatically declined.
Page limit: 24 to 40 pages. Please use a readable font in 12-point. Times New Roman or its equivalent is recommended. Manuscripts should be paginated (and double-spaced for fiction), not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.).
You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note on Submittable, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.
Include the following in your upload document: a description or synopsis of your work, title page, table of contents, if appropriate, an acknowledgments page. (If the manuscript contains individual stories or poems that have been previously published online or in print, note previously published work on the acknowledgments page with the publication credits.)
The manuscript must be previously unpublished as a collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run).
Simultaneous submissions are permissible, but entrants are asked to notify Digging Press by withdrawing your manuscript in Submittable immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere. Do not email us a withdrawal.–
Entries must be accompanied by a $12.00 entry fee. Entrants may submit multiple manuscripts, but must pay a $12.00 entry fee for each manuscript submitted.
Collaborative collections are welcome.
We cannot accept translations.
US-based submitters have the option to purchase past chapbooks from Submittable with free shipping. Visit our online shop here for items not available on Submittable.
While authors from around the globe may submit to the Digging Press Chapbook Competition, international submitters who wish to make an additional purchase must do so via our online shop and pay additional shipping charges. Visit our online shop here.
https://diggingpress.com/chapbook-series
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FALL 2021 GENERAL SUBMISSIONS: FICTION
Gasher Press
DEADLINE: October 17, 2021
INFO: Founded in 2018 by poet, Whitney Kerutis, Gasher Press is a literary small press and journal publication committed to serving the literary community by the means of providing opportunities in publishing, editing, and scholarship.
Please review the submission guidelines before submitting:
We accept simultaneous submissions. Please, let us know if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
Work must be unpublished.
Please submit your work as a single document in either .docx or .doc.
Please include a brief bio with your submission.
Please submit 500-3,000 words of fiction.
We encourage Content Warnings for graphic depictions and/or themes of violence for our reading staff's well-being.
https://gasherjournal.submittable.com/submit
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FALL 2021 GENERAL SUBMISSIONS: CREATIVE NONFICTION
Gasher Press
DEADLINE: October 17, 2021
INFO: Founded in 2018 by poet, Whitney Kerutis, Gasher Press is a literary small press and journal publication committed to serving the literary community by the means of providing opportunities in publishing, editing, and scholarship.
Please review the submission guidelines before submitting:
We accept simultaneous submissions. Please, let us know if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
Work must be unpublished.
Please submit your work as a single document in either .docx or .doc.
Please include a brief bio with your submission.
Please submit CNF no more than 4 stories totaling 3,000 words. Each piece must have a minimum of 500 words.
We encourage Content Warnings for graphic depictions and/or themes of violence for our reading staff's well-being.
https://gasherjournal.submittable.com/submit
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SCHOLARSHIPS FOR BIPOC AUTHORS
The Unicorn Authors Club
DEADLINE: October 17, 2021
INFO: Lots of people dream of writing a book. Lots of people even start the process. Very few finish writing their books.
It takes persistence, time, skills—and support. The Unicorn Authors Club is an online membership community with all the tools and the holistic support you need to finish your book in a year.
Of course there are challenges, so the Club is flexible according to your needs; join for less time or stay as long as you like. Along the way, you’ll build your confidence as a writer. You’ll develop habits and skills that will serve you throughout your writing life. And you’ll join a dream community of other committed authors focused on the same goal: reaching the finish line.
Are you a BIPOC author who’s ready to get your book done? Need financial assistance? Apply for a full or partial scholarship to join the Unicorn Authors Club! Scholarships are open to all genres and genders.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
The Women Uninterrupted Scholarship - Full tuition (a $3100 value)!
The Karen Wendy Scholarship - Full tuition (a $3100 value)!
The Manuscript Revision Scholarship - Half tuition (a $1550 value; the recipient is responsible for 50%).
For an author with a full rough draft of a book who is ready to spend four months revising and completing it.
SCHOLARSHIP TERM: November 1, 2021—February 28, 2022
https://www.unicornauthors.club/scholarship
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2022 KWELI JOURNAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Kweli Journal
DEADLINE: October 18, 2021
INFO: Building on Kweli's successful history of mentoring emerging authors since 2009, we will provide three or more early-stage writers with 11-month writing fellowships.
Eligible candidates are early career vocational writers living in New York City, who are not enrolled in degree-granting programs and self-identify as Black, Indigenous/Native, POC, and/or Arab American.
Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply.
Three fellowships will be awarded, which will include:
ten months of editorial support from Kweli Journal editors to prepare a piece for publication in the magazine;
a $1,000 stipend;
admission-free enrollment in four professionally led writing workshops on the short story, poetry, literary nonfiction, and young adult/children's literature
participation in four public readings by workshop participants
admission-free participation in our International Literature Festival, inclusive of pitch sessions with literary agents and editors
optionally, admission-free participation in our Color of Children Literature Conference
publication in Kweli Journal.
Eligibility: Only writers who have not yet published or been contracted to write a book-length work are eligible. Only one submission per person is allowed. Please do not submit a piece you have previously submitted to Kweli Journal, either through the Fellowship category or the General Submissions category. Kweli Journal reserves the right to invite submissions.
Timeline: Submittable will be open for Fellowship submissions from Monday, September 20 – Monday, October 18 only. Submissions for the Fellowships close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on October 18, 2021. Successful applicants will be informed no later than December 15, 2021. The fellowship period will be January 2, 2022 – December 2, 2022.
Procedure: Applications must be submitted through the Fellowship category in Submittable. There is no application fee. Please submit the following:
A cover letter containing a one-paragraph biographical statement; one paragraph that is a favorite of yours from a book you've read recently; and a brief statement telling us why this particular passage is meaningful to you. Please also note in your cover letter if you are a resident of one of New York City's five boroughs.
A CV or résumé
a letter of recommendation
a brief statement of your career goals and what you expect to accomplish as a Kweli Fellow.
A 10 page writing sample. There is no word-count requirement. Eligible genres are fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and cross-genre writing, whether written for adults, young adults, or children.
Selection will be based on (i) quality, promise, and subject matter of the writing sample; (ii) educational or experiential preparation; and (iii) seriousness of purpose and willingness to push beyond one's comfort zone.
Note that we only accept PDF or Word files (.doc and .docx). The cover letter and manuscript should be submitted as separate files. Incomplete applications will not be considered and will be returned unread.
https://kwelijournal.submittable.com/submit
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The Margins Fellowship 2022
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
DEADLINE: October 18, 2021
INFO: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is now accepting applications for the 2022 Margins Fellowship. Four emerging Asian American, Muslim, and Arab writers of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction based in New York City will receive $5,000, residency time at Millay Arts, mentorship, access to the AAWW writing space, and publication opportunities in our online magazine, The Margins. We see this as a chance to support Asian diasporic writers, including South and Southeast Asian diasporic writers, Arab and West Asian writers, and Muslim writers of color more broadly. If you are a writer of color who identifies with these communities, please discuss this in your application.
HOW TO APPLY:
1. READ OUR FAQ.
2. Get to know our magazine.
3. Fill out the application form below by 11:59 PM ET on October 18, 2021. Please note all applicants must attach a statement of purpose, a CV/resumé, and a writing sample. There is no application fee. We do not accept handwritten documents, letters of recommendation, or support materials.
https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/204484/apply-the-margins-fellowship-2022
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Call for Pitches: The Personal Journeys Issue
YES! Magazine
DEADLINE: October 22, 2021
INFO: As a leading publisher of solutions journalism for more than 25 years, YES! has reported on communities—including those historically excluded—organizing to solve the problems created by extractive and exploitive systems. We have told stories of the social justice movements propelling the nation forward. Even as we have inspired countless readers to take action in their own communities, so many more have questions: But how? What can I do about that? How do I do that?
Those questions can sometimes lead to feeling overwhelmed. Even those “doing the work” are burning out.There is so much work to be done in creating a better world—a just world, an equitable, compassionate,and sustainable world. Where do I start? How do I start?
And how do I keep going?
The spring 2022 issue of YES! Magazine will be an introspective, personal exploration of “being the change you want to see in the world.” It will allow readers to stop, be still, breathe, reflect, and behold. To take account of their own personal agency through the stories of others as a part of building a better world for all.
We’re looking for pitches and leads for reported stories, essays, and analyses that will explore personal approaches to activism, and simply, ways of being engaged in what is going on in our communities. These stories should reveal how personal change is connected to the greater change we all want to see, how transforming the ways in which individuals see each other can transform the policies that govern us and the stewardship we provide for the land—and the planet.
Send us your leads and pitches on the people, initiatives, or groups that help us connect to the ways in which we take responsibility for our role in creating a better world.
All of the stories we seek will be examples of excellent journalism and storytelling: stories with compelling characters that are well-researched and demonstrate struggle and resolution. Hurry and send your pitches to spring2022@yesmagazine.org by Oct. 22 to be considered for the spring issue. (All other pitches can be sent to submissions@yesmagazine.org.)
https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2021/10/01/call-for-submissions-the-personal-journeys-issue?fbclid=IwAR0oBM_uGh_aP6EuyQ6-GmBajD-DoZzo3_qHCbKxsifqd_CflR0SA0dC_1M
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Call For Literary Art
Black Femme Collective
DEADLINE: October 24, 2021 at 11:59pm PT
INFO: Black Femme Collective calls for creative nonfiction submissions from Black Queer Femme Storytellers engaging in the theme REST.
REST—
noun
the refreshing quiet or repose of sleep.
refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labor.
verb
to refresh oneself, as by sleeping, lying down, or relaxing.
to relieve weariness by cessation of exertion or labor.
We want your meditations on how capitalism has caused personal unrest. Send us your daydreams that do away with demands to produce every second of every day. Submit your personal stories that center rest as the most holy form of resistance.
Black Femme Collective solely publishes creative nonfiction (personal essays, cultural criticism, interviews, and articles). We also publish literary hybrid work with complex components in cross-genre nature that reflects Black Femme Queerness.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Submitted works must be no more than 3,500 words
Send your submissions to hello@blackfemme.co
All submissions are due no later than 11:59 pm PT on October 24, 2021
PAYMENT:
Contributors receive between $150-$300 for their creative nonfiction
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE FIVE/CUSP PRIZE
Stellium Lit
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021
INFO: Stellium is a literary magazine centering Black queer and trans prose writers. We still accept work from other Black and QTPOC writers. Do not submit if you're not from those communities; your submission will not be considered.
We are currently curating pieces for our fifth issue. The submission window runs from August 15th through the end of October 2021 for our final issue of the year as well as the host of our first annual Cusp Prize, one awarded to the best work in each genre (prose poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art) with an award of $200 and publication. Runner-ups will receive $30 each if they choose to publish in the issue. The theme is open.
GUIDELINES:
Fiction - We welcome long- or short-form fiction. If you submit flash fiction (up to 2k words), you can submit up to three pieces of similar length. The sweet spot is around 2k to 5k words but we'll consider all lengths.
Nonfiction - We're seeking creative nonfiction submissions. Please note this description before submitting. We welcome memoir, social commentary, and new-journalism pieces among other works. Not academic papers. The sweet spot is around 1k to 4k words but we're not opposed to longer works.
Prose poetry - We do not accept traditional poetry. Please note this description before submitting. Prose poetry is "not broken into verse lines, [but] demonstrates other traits such as symbols, metaphors, and other figures of speech common to poetry." Write in paragraphs and with a poetic flow, and we'll want to see it. Please submit a maximum of five poems.
https://stelliumlit.submittable.com/submit
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Fiction, life writing, & poetry
Wasafiri
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021 at 5pm GMT
INFO: For over 35 years, Wasafiri has published the very best works of and on international contemporary writing and culture, placing critics alongside leading novelists, poets, and playwrights, to generate exciting cross-genre and inter-regional conversations. We welcome innovative creative and critical writing that, in form, focus, or theme, seeks to expand the boundaries of global literary culture.
All submissions to the magazine must be submitted via our online submissions portal, except for reviews which should be sent directly to the reviews editor. Please refer to our style guide in formatting your submission.
We are highly selective in what we publish, accepting less than 5% of creative work submitted in our most recent submissions window. Make sure your manuscript is thematically, structurally, conceptually, and grammatically polished before submission. Above all we look for submissions that are thoughtful and nuanced, formally outstanding, and profoundly absorbing. You can browse the fiction and poetry published on our website for examples of the quality of work that we publish.
We are a small, part-time team, and everything we publish is additionally assessed by external readers. For these reasons, we expect to issue decisions on work submitted this autumn in February-March 2022. Thank you for your patience while we work as quickly as we can, while taking the time to give your work the attention it deserves. Work selected for publication from this submissions window will appear in Wasafiri from 2023.
CRITICAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS:
We invite submissions of critical articles and essays, reviews, and interviews year-round.
Wasafiri is a peer–reviewed journal and listed in the Clarivate Analytics’ Arts & Humanities Citation Index. We are seeking conceptually rigorous, substantially researched, accessibly presented articles and essays engaged with any genre of contemporary literature, from writers across disciplines. The magazine particularly welcomes articles that position new critical perspectives within one or more broader contexts.
We aim to make an initial decision on a manuscript within three months of submission, and a final decision within six months, allowing time for mutually-anonymous double peer review.
Read some examples of some of our favourite recent essays and articles here:
‘Whitely’: Race and Lyric Subjectivity in Clare Pollard’s Poetry by Kayo Chingonyi
Nunca Invisibles: Insurgent Memory and Self-representation by Female Ex-combatants in Colombia by Cherilyn Elston
Out of the George Padmore Institute Archive: Venetta Ross, John La Rose and the Creation of New Roots in the West Indies by Alexa Hazel
‘Room’ by Claire Hynes
An Island of Whiteness: Rereading Penelope Lively’s Oleander, Jacaranda by Emma Parker
REVIEWS
If you are interested in reviewing for Wasafiri, please contact the Reviews Editor and include a recent sample of your writing (preferably a book review), as well as a short CV, and contact details. There will always be a list of titles we are keen to review, though we welcome suggestions of other titles.
If you are a publisher, please post review copies to the address below, or email details to wasafiri.reviews@qmul.ac.uk. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that we will be able to review every title we receive.
Please post review copies to: Reviews Editor, Wasafiri c/o School of English and Drama, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
WORD LENGTH:
Critical articles and essays 5000 – 8000 words
Fiction, life writing, and interviews 4000 – 6000 words
Book reviews of one title 800 – 1000 words
Book reviews of two titles 1000 – 1200 words
Review Essays 2500-3000 words
Poems Maximum of 3 totaling up to 6 pages
PAYMENT:
Wasafiri pays for all creative submissions and reviews. The below fees are an indication only of a typical fee offered for publication in the magazine.
Fiction and life writing - £150
Interviews (transcribed and edited) - £200
Poems - £40
Book reviews - £50
Review Essays - £120
INCLUSIVITY:
Wasafiri is committed to publishing work that represents the world and creating an inclusive global community of writers and readers. Central to this is our unwavering commitment to equality and advocacy for underrepresented and marginalised voices. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, gender, nationality, race, or sexuality. While we welcome a diversity of opinions and topics in our pages, the validity of the identities of our writing and reading community is not up for debate. In particular, we affirm and support the rights and dignity of transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse people the world over. We seek to publish writers with compatible core values.
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Samuel R. Delany Fellowship
CatStone Books
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021
INFO: CatStone Books is proud to present the annual Samuel R. Delany Fellowship to one author from a community that has traditionally been marginalized in speculative fiction. This can include authors of color, LGBT+ authors, female authors, authors with disabilities, and authors living an immigrant experience.
If you are an author from a traditionally marginalized community currently working on a book-length work of speculative fiction or poetry, we'd love to see your application.
REQUIREMENTS:
Cover Letter. Tell us a little bit about you. We'd like to see a holistic picture of who you are as a person and a writer, and why this Fellowship would help you. Please include your social media handles as well.
Statement of Purpose. This is where you tell us what you plan on doing during the Fellowship. In up to 1,500 words, tell us about your fiction or poetry project, your timeline for completion, etc. Please also include any additional needs we may be able to fill, such as reliable access to the internet, a Braille keyboard, etc.
Application. The application is a two-page fillable PDF that includes basic contact and demographic information, as well as information for your references.
Letter(s) of Reference. Please include at least one letter of reference.
The fellowship will award the selected author with:
a $10,000 stipend
mentorship from a member of the Advisory Board
additional resources as requested in order to help the recipient set aside time to work on and complete a speculative fiction project.
The recipient of the fellowship will be announced on December 15.
If, for any reason, you are unable to complete any portion of this application, please include your reason in the cover letter and we will work with you.
For the computer-literate amongst you, please grab all of these documents and put them into a single pdf. You can use a multitude of software or platforms for this, including potentially Combine PDF – Online PDF Combiner. If this is beyond your computer skill level, no worries! You can print your application forms and mail them to:
CatStone Books
C/O Delany Fellowship
PO Box 1537
Dawsonville, GA 30534
If you need help with this, or any other step in the process, please email josh@catstonebooks.com.
https://catstonebooks.moksha.io/publication/fellowship/guidelines
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The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
PEN / Faulkner
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021
INFO: The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction honors the best published works of fiction by American permanent residents in a calendar year. Three writers are chosen annually by the Board of Directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to serve as judges, ensuring that our awards selection process is free of commercial influence. These judges select an initial longlist of ten books, followed by five finalists, and finally one winner as the “first among equals.” The author of the winning book receives a $15,000 prize. The authors of each of the other finalists receive $5,000. The Award is presented at an annual celebration of the year’s distinguished books and authors. This exquisite literary evening features introductions by the PEN/Faulkner Award judges, original presentations by the year’s PEN/Faulkner Award winner and four finalists, and a star-studded list of notable guests, including our PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion.
ELIGIBILITY:
Books must be published in 2021.
Authors must be living American permanent residents.Books must be published by a juried commercial, academic, or small press.
No self-published books are accepted.
There are no submission fees or application forms.
Advanced reading copies or proofs are eligible for submission for books that will be published in November or December of 2021.
Translation: a translation from another language into English by the author is eligible; a translation by someone other than the author is not.
SUBMISSION PROCESS:
Please send an easy-to-read PDF of each book to awards@penfaulkner.org for forwarding to the judges. You will receive an email confirmation from our team.
You are invited to send as many books as you like, and you are encouraged to send available books as soon as possible. Submissions may be made by publishers, authors, and literary agents.
If you have any questions regarding the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, please send them to shahenda@penfaulkner.org. Please do not send submissions to this email.
www.penfaulkner.org/our-awards/pen-faulkner-award/#
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2021 Flash Fiction Contest
CRAFT
DEADLINE: October 31, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $20
INFO: Welcome back to our annual flash fiction contest for unpublished stories up to 1,000 words!
Guest judge Robert Lopez will select three winning stories.
AWARD:
Three winners will each be awarded:
$1,000 and a bundle of the Rose Metal Press Field Guides
Publication in CRAFT, with an introduction by Robert Lopez, and an author’s note (craft essay) to accompany the story
A micro-interview with our flash fiction section editor, Kristin Tenor
We will have editors’ choice selections too
www.craftliterary.com/craft-flash-fiction-contest/
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Start A Riot! Chapbook Prize
FogLifter
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021
INFO: In response to rapid gentrification and displacement of QTBIPOC+ literary artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in celebration of these communities’ revolutionary history, Foglifter Press, RADAR Productions, and Still Here San Francisco joined forces to create a chapbook prize for local emerging queer and trans black writers, indigenous writers, and writers of color. Each year, one chapbook author is awarded publication, a $1,000 prize, and promotion, as well as a spot on RADAR’s Sister Spit tour.
Eligibility:
Submitter is a QTBIPOC+ literary artist
AND is a current resident of the larger San Francisco Bay Area
AND does not have a previous full-length publication in their submission genre
Manuscript Details:
prose (fiction, nonfiction, graphic novel, hybrid, cross-genre)
25 pages (maximum)
Important Dates:
Submissions Close: November 1, 2021
Results Announced: Spring 2022
Chapbook Release: Fall 2022
https://foglifterjournal.com/start-a-riot/
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Long Form Mentorship - NAtional
Diaspora Dialogues
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021 at 11:59pm
INFO: Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions from emerging writers who currently have a full or near-full draft of a manuscript. We accept novels, short story collections, creative non-fiction/memoir, works intended for young adults and poetry. Complete or near complete means that the writer has up to 85,000 words or 300 double-spaced pages of prose; or up to 25 poems (50 pages maximum). Submissions will consist only of excerpts from these works (see guidelines below).
Diaspora Dialogues is committed to supporting a literature that is as diverse as Canada itself. Writers are encouraged to keep this mandate in mind, but addressing this theme directly is not essential in the submission.
Notifications will be made at the end of December. The mentorships will begin in January 2022 and run for six months. Assigned mentors are at the discretion of Diaspora Dialogues. If you have questions, email: zalika@diasporadialogues.com
https://diasporadialogues.com/mentorship/
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2021 breakout! prize
Epiphany
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $10 (includes complimentary 1-year digital subscription to Epiphany)
INFO: Epiphany announces the 4th Annual Breakout! Writers Prize for undergraduate and graduate students in conjunction with The Authors Guild. Winners receive a $1000 cash prize, publication, and a year-long writing mentorship.
The Fourth Annual Breakout! Writers Prize brings visibility to the creators of our future by honoring and supporting outstanding college and graduate student writers. Winners have gone on to get agents, publish books, and discover new careers in publishing. Submissions close on November 1st. All applicants will receive a complimentary digital subscription to Epiphany.
Four writers, two in prose and two in poetry, will receive:
Publication in the Fall/Winter 2021 Breakout Issue of Epiphany
A $1000 cash prize each
A year-long mentorship, including an additional short manuscript review, with Epiphany's editor-in-chief Rachel Lyon
A one-year membership with The Authors Guild
A one-year subscription to Epiphany
Eligibility: Candidates must have been enrolled in an accredited university, at least part-time, for the academic years 2020 or 2021. The prize is open to both graduate and undergraduate students. Students need not be enrolled in MFA programs or creative writing programs.
Submission: Applications will be submitted by individual writers. Interested applicants must submit a creative manuscript and a “Statement of Interest,” which includes the creative manuscript title, author’s enrollment status and the name of college or university attended, and an email address and telephone number for the department head of the student’s program of study or academic advisor (if applicable). Prose manuscripts may consist of one short story, a novel excerpt, or a work of creative nonfiction not to exceed 5000 words. Poetry manuscripts may include up to five poems, formatted in accordance with standard poetry conventions using a 12-point font. The author’s name should not appear on the creative manuscript. Please number all pages of the manuscript and include the manuscript title.
Judging: Honorees will be selected blind on the basis of the work’s creative merit by a judging panel comprised of Rachel Lyon, Nadia Owusu, and Shane McCrae.
Rachel Lyon is the author of Self-Portrait with Boy (Scribner 2018), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and which is currently in feature film development at Topic Studios. Rachel's shorter work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in One Story, Longreads, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, and other publications. A cofounder of the reading series Ditmas Lit, she has taught for Catapult, Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Slice Literary, and elsewhere. Subscribe to Rachel's Writing/Thinking Prompts newsletter at tinyletter.com/rachellyon, and visit her at www.rachellyon.work.
Nadia Owusu is a Ghanaian and Armenian-American writer and urbanist. Her first book, Aftershocks, topped many most-anticipated and best book of the year lists, including The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, TIME, Vulture, and the BBC. It was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. Nadia is the recipient of a 2019 Whiting Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times, Orion, Epiphany, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others. By day, Nadia is Director of Storytelling at Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned consulting firm working for justice and liberation in partnership with philanthropic and nonprofit organizations. She teaches creative writing at the Mountainview MFA program and lives in Brooklyn.
Shane McCrae's most recent books are Sometimes I Never Suffered, shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Rilke Prize, and The Gilded Auction Block, both published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He has received a Lannan Literary Award, a Whiting Writer’s Award, an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.
Epiphany is a semiannual literary journal and independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) that supports practicing writers at every stage of their careers. During our open reading periods we consider every submission seriously. We also publish online essays, fiction, and poetry on a rolling basis. For 18+ years we have published work that transcends convention and demonstrates literary mastery. Our name derives from the Joycean idea that an epiphany is the moment when “the soul of the commonest object… seems to us radiant.” Like the semicolon in our logo, an epiphany is a pause in time followed by a shift in thinking.
The Authors Guild Foundation is the charitable and educational arm of the Authors Guild. It educates, supports, and protects American writers to ensure that a rich, diverse body of literature can flourish. It does this by advocating for authors’ rights, educating authors across the country in the business of writing, and promoting an understanding of the value of writers.
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2022-2023 Black Mountain Institute Residential Fellowship
Black Mountain Institute
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021
INFO: The Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI), home to The Believer, is an international literary center dedicated to bringing writers and the literary imagination into the heart of public life. BMI is a unit within the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The Believer is a literature, arts, and culture magazine and National Magazine Award finalist. In each issue, readers will find journalism, essays, intimate interviews, an expansive comics section, poetry, and on occasion, delightful and unexpected bonus items.
The Shearing Fellowship is for emerging and distinguished writers who have published at least one book with a trade or literary press, it includes:
a stipend of $20,000 paid over a four-month period;
a semester-long letter of appointment;
eligibility for optional health coverage;
office space in the BMI offices on the campus of UNLV;
free housing (fellows cover some utilities) in a unique and vibrant arts complex in the bustling district of downtown Las Vegas—home to The Writer’s Block, our city’s beloved independent bookstore; and
recognition in BMI’s literature, and on The Believer’s masthead, as a “Shearing Fellow.”
While there are no formal teaching requirements, this is a “working fellowship” located in Las Vegas. BMI’s visiting fellows will maintain an in-office presence around 10 hours a week, along with 10 hours of service to the community. In addition to the primary goal of furthering one’s own writing during their term in Las Vegas, visiting fellows are expected to engage in a substantial way with BMI’s community, in a way custom-scoped based on their skills and personal interest. Upon acceptance into the program, each fellow will craft a work plan in partnership with BMIthat is meaningful to all involved parties. Here are some examples of activities a visiting fellow could pursue:
Offer readings, craft talks, and other public presentations to the readers and writers of UNLV and Southern Nevada.
Curate an event or program, leveraging the fellows’ professional and creative networks.
Contribute original work to The Believer (i.e., a column or feature essay, or occasional work such as lists).
Provide editorial support to The Believer (edit essays, conduct an interview, consult on editorial conversations).
Occasionally assist with institute and magazine’s social media promotion and campaigns.
https://blackmountaininstitute.submittable.com/submit/811710a3-9542-4e02-bf06-f470d26a8dcb/2022-2023-black-mountain-institute-residential-fellowship-application
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2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Commonwealth Writers
DEADLINE: November 1, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words). Regional winners each receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000.
As well as English, stories are accepted in the Bengali, Chinese, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil and Turkish languages. Translated entries from any language into English are also eligible.
The competition is free to enter and open to any citizen of a Commonwealth country who is aged 18 and over.
The 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize will open for online submissions on 1 September 2021. Submissions should be made via the online entry form which will be available on the website between 1 September 2021 and 1 November 2021. The eligibility and entry guidelines can be found here.
http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/our-projects/the-short-story/
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CALL FOR SUBMISSION: ‘ODYSSEY’ ISSUE
Lucky Jefferson
DEADLINE: November 7, 2021
INFO: Lucky Jefferson's digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black writers in American society.
The fourth issue of Awake is titled Odyssey:
Despite being the first Black captain of your crew, you’ve been overlooked for promotions your entire career in the Space Force. One day, you finally receive your chance at your own expedition to the Outer Ring. After launch, your ship experiences technical difficulties and you find yourself plummeting four thousand kilometers off course.
After awakening, you realize it’s been a few days since you lost connection with Mission Control. You stumble through iridescent foliage to discover a bustling city ahead of your own time. You are soon discovered and greeted by the inhabitants of this world—inhabitants that reflect your culture.
Now you have two options: figure out a way to return home or explore this planet and begin a new life. What are you going to do?
Poems, essays, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and art should illustrate your decision.
Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.
Accepted authors will receive $15 for each accepted work.
*Writers looking to be published in upcoming print issues should plan to submit their work to the appropriate form during open calls.*
When submitting:
- Send no more than three poems in a submission. Separate poems by titles or page breaks.
- Essays should be no more than 1500 words.
- Flash Fiction should be no more than 1000 words.
- Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the lack of diversity in Science Fiction is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).
- In the cover letter box include: your name, email address, current address, and bio (third-person, 50 words max).
We do not accept translations or work that has been previously published in print or online.
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CALL FOR MENTORS
Latinx in Publishing
DEADLINE: Rolling
INFO: The Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Program is a volunteer-based initiative that offers the opportunity for unpublished and/or unagented writers who identify as Latinx (mentees) to strengthen their craft, gain first-hand industry knowledge, and expand their professional connections through work with experienced published authors (mentors).
QUALIFICATIONS TO BE A MENTOR
Must identify as Latinx (does not include individuals of Spanish origin)
Must have published at least one book prior to February 2020
Must be located in the U.S. during the course of the program
Must be available to dedicate at least one hour per month for a minimum of ten months
ABOUT THE WRITING MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
The next cycle of the program runs from February 2022 through October 2022.
Applications for 2022 mentees will open in September, 2021. Applications for mentors are open on a rolling basis.
Mentees must complete a sign-up survey and submit 5-10 pages of sample writing.
Mentors must complete a sign-up survey and review mentor guidelines.
We match individuals based on category and time- commitment preferences. The sign-up survey will help us make the best matches between mentor and mentee.
Please be aware that not everyone who applies will be matched.
Participants will be notified of their mentor-mentee match and provided with contact information by January 2022.
Mentors and mentees will connect for one hour per month over a minimum of ten months.
The program will close in October 2022, but if the mentor and mentee would like to continue their mentor relationship, it is entirely at their discretion.
Please be aware that the Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Program is a volunteer-based initiative. Latinx in Publishing will not be held responsible for mediating any relations between mentors and mentees once the program ends.
https://latinxinpublishing.com/mentorship
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Unmute Magazine
DEADLINE: Rolling
INFO: Unmute Magazine, is a digital mag that aims to lift the voices of BIPOC creatives who’ve been historically marginalized.
They are accepting the following submissions (must be arts-related):
Album/EP or concert review (600-800 words).
A review of your own music or art including a discussion of the inspiration behind it (600-800 words).
Art-related how-to article (600-800 words).
Interviews (an introductory paragraph and five written questions).
Reflections / Essays (up to 1,500 words).
Song or poem including a discussion of the inspiration behind it (may submit up to four for review).
Photograph(s), illustrations, art (JPEG or PNG format).
Have your own idea? Please pitch it to us!
Please submit the following with your piece:
A third-person bio of up to 100 words.
(Optional) Photo as JPEG or PNG format for your bio.
(Optional) Up to 3 links to social media (i.e. Spotify, Soundcloud, website, Instagram, etc).
Submission Rules:
Written works and bio must be submitted in Word or Pages format
By submitting you agree to be considered for publication in Unmute Magazine.
Work must be original.
Unmute Magazine retains standard first publication rights for submissions. All rights immediately revert to the creator upon publication.
It may take several weeks for a response, but your submission will be read. If accepted, you will be notified.
By submitting to Unmute Magazine, you agree to be added to our mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Please email your submission to Submissions (at) unmutemagazine (dot) com