Ploughshares
INFO: The Emerging Writer's Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book.
AWARD: The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2016 contest will be published in the Winter 2016-17 issue of Ploughshares. Each writer will also receive $1,000.
SUBMISSION FEE: $24, free for current subscribers.
DEADLINE: March 1, 2016, at noon EST.
pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest/guidelines
INFO: Founded by Sandra Cisneros in 1995, the Macondo Writers’ Workshop focuses on bringing together a community of poets, novelists, journalists, performance artists, and creative writers of all genres whose work is socially engaged,
The Workshop will take place from July 13-17, 2016 at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, TX. They are seeking generous and compassionate professional writers who view their work and talents as part of a larger task of community-building and non-violent social change. This year, they will hold four workshops led by Allison Hedge Coke (poetry), Alex Espinoza (fiction), Gregg Barrios (playwriting), and Joe Jimenez (multi-genre young writers’ workshop).
To be eligible, applicants must have a strong record of publications (books, chapbooks, major literary magazines) and/or public readings/performances of original work, and a history of community involvement, consciousness raising via literary work and/or activism/outreach.
DEADLINE: March 1, 2016, at midnight
guadalupeculturalarts.org/macondo-workshop/
INFO: The Tulsa Artist Fellowship, which seeks talented and diverse voices to support Tulsa’s expanding arts scene, has expanded its program this year to include writing (creative nonfiction, fiction, graphic novel, young-adult fiction, poetry, and play/screenwriting). Fellowships are merit-based, not project grants, and include a two-year term for writers. The program will begin on January 9, 2017.
AWARD: $20,000 stipend, and in most cases, free housing and studio work space.
DEADLINE: March 4, 2016
tulsaartistfellowship.org/index.html
CHAMPION OF CHANGE FOR AAPI ARTS & STORYTELLING
White House Initiative on AAPIs
INFO: As a part of AAPI Heritage Month (May 2016), the White House Initiative on AAPIs is seeking nominations for Champions of Change for AAPI art and storytelling – individuals who have raised the visibility of diverse AAPI experiences and created dialogue around issues the community faces. The Champions of Change program honors individuals doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities
Nominees may include:
- Storytellers who have included and continue to include AAPI characters in their films, television shows, and literature to address pressing issues, including immigration, civil rights, economic opportunity, health, diversity and inclusion, and more.
- Poets and spoken word artists who highlight AAPI experiences in their work in order to advance pressing issues, including immigration, civil rights, economic opportunity, health, diversity and inclusion, and more;
DEADLINE: March 9, 2016
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE 07
Apogee Journal
INFO: Apogee Journal is currently accepting fiction and creative nonfiction submissions for Issue 07. The goal of the publication is to publish exciting work that interrogates the status quo, providing a platform for unheard voices, including emerging writers of color. All work must be previously unpublished.
DEADLINE: March 15, 2016
apogeejournal.submittable.com/submit
INFO: Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA), which develops emerging writers of color through programs and workshops taught by established writers, is offering two one-week sessions (June 19-25 and June 26-July 2) at the University of Miami. In all workshops, writers exchange their works, share strategies and have discussions vital to their craft, practices and lives as writers of color. In the residencies, writers work one-on-one with a master faculty member and meet with the residency group.
FEES:
- Regular - Weeklong workshop: $800
- Residency: $800
- Room and Board: $650 (includes meal card)
VONA offers financial aid in the form of tuition grants. A letter-of-need is required to be eligible.
DEADLINES:
- March 15, 2016 – for application
- April 22, 2016 – to confirm acceptance and pay non-refundable deposit of $100
- May 23, 2016 – to upload manuscripts for the workshops
- June 1, 2016 – all fees are due
SAIF GHOBASH BANIPAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC LITERARY TRANSLATION
Banipal Trust for Arab Literature
INFO: The Banipal Prize is given to the translator(s) of a published translation in English of a full-length imaginative and creative Arabic work of literary merit published after, or during, the year 1967 and first published in English translation in the year prior to the award.
PRIZE: Award of £3,000
DEADLINE: March 31, 2016
Narrative
INFO: Narrative’s Winter Contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. They accept flash fiction, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.
AWARDS: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.
SUBMISSION FEE: $24 (includes three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage).
DEADLINE: March 31, 2016, at midnight PST.
narrativemagazine.com/winter-2016-story-contest
Center for Community Change Action
INFO: The Center for Community Change Action seeks an Immigration Writing Fellow for their Latino and immigrant voter program. The ideal candidate is a first-time voter who has been personally affected by the country’s immigration policies (with either parents, siblings or other close relatives who are undocumented immigrants). Special consideration will be given to candidates based in Florida, Colorado or Nevada.
The writing fellow would be responsible for identifying potential stories and storytellers within the nation’s vast immigrant community and will conduct interviews and write first-person essays and opinion pieces or third-person reported narratives. The Fellow will also be trained as a spokesperson for the organization and is expected to appear in front of the media or before a public audience and speak about their personal experiences related to immigration.
DEADLINE: April 1, 2016
cccaction.org/immigration-writing-fellow/
LUCIEN STRYK ASIAN TRANSLATION PRIZE
The American Literary Translators Association
INFO: The prize recognizes the importance of Asian translation for international literature and promotes the translation of Asian works into English. Submission will be judged on the literary significance of the translation in recreating the literary artistry of the original.
To be eligible, works must be:
- Book-length translations into English of Asian poetry or source texts from Zen Buddhism
- Book-length translations from Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean into English
- Published in the previous year (though re-translations or first-time translations of important older works will also be considered)
DEADLINE: April 8, 2016
literarytranslators.org/awards/lucien-stryk-prize
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: IMMIGRANT WRITERS
Ninth Letter
INFO: Ninth Letter is accepting submissions of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry from immigrant writers (those who consider themselves to be 1st, 1.5, or 2nd generation immigrants in their current country of residence) for a special online edition to be published at ninthletter.com in Summer 2016. Submissions are not required to focus on the "immigrant experience" and can be on any and all topics.
DEADLINE: April 15, 2016
ninthletteronline.submittable.com/submit
2016 KIMBILIO [FICTION] SUMMER RETREAT
INFO: Kimbilio [Fiction], a community of writers and scholars committed to developing, empowering and sustaining fiction writers from the African diaspora, is currently accepting applications for their summer retreat, which will be held at SMU Campus in Taos, New Mexico from July 17-23, 2016.
FEES: Tuition is covered by Kimbilio [Fiction] and there is no application fee, however, participants are responsible for their own transportation to/from the retreat as well as a fee that partially covers the costs for room and board with the amount varying by size of the chosen accommodation. Should one get accepted, a $200 deposit is due by May 15 to secure a spot at the summer retreat.
DEADLINE: April 15, 2016 (for applications)
kimbiliosubmissions.submittable.com/submit
PEN PARENTIS WRITING FELLOWSHIP FOR NEW PARENTS
INFO: Pen Parentis, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to authors who are also parents, is accepting applications for its Fellowship, which will promote the creation of new work by writers with at least one child under the age of 10. All genres and styles of fiction are welcome and novel excerpts are acceptable if they can stand alone as a story.
PRIZE: $1000, presented at the Pen Parentis Literary Salon on September 13th, 2016, in conjunction with the reading of the winning work. In addition, the Fellow will be showcased for one year on their website as the “Pen Parentis Writing Fellow” and paired with an established author.
SUBMISSION FEE: $20 (and an extra $5 fee if submitted online)
DEADLINE: April 18, 2016
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
BGD Press
INFO: BGD Press is looking for manuscripts by queer and/or trans writers of color that center QTPoC characters. Only polished manuscripts in the following areas will be considered:
- YA Fiction (especially, but not limited to, YA Fantasy)
- Speculative Fiction
- Literary Fiction
GUIDELINES: Send a query letter along with the FIRST PAGE of your manuscript only to submissions.bgd@gmail.com
blackgirldangerous.org/submissions/#manuscripts
THE MARGINS
Asian American Writers Workshop
INFO: The Margins, which publishes works of short fiction by emerging and established Asian American writers, is accepting submissions for its biweekly Fiction Friday feature. Expect at least five weeks for a response.
aaww.submittable.com/submit/44798