FICTION / NONFICTION -- AUGUST 2021

COSTA SHORT STORY AWARD

Costa Coffee

DEADLINE: August 2, 2021

INFO: The Award is for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words written in English. 

The competition is open to any writer, published or unpublished, aged 18 years or over and resident in the UK or Ireland who submit their stories anonymously via this website.

It's up to the public to read the top three stories shortlisted by the judges and vote for their favourite, with the winner and two runners-up being announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in January.

Key dates for the 2021 awards:

  • Entry opens: 1st July 2021

  • Download and vote: Early December 2021

  • Shortlisted writers revealed: Mid January 2022

  • Winner announced: Tuesday 1st February 2022

https://www.costa.co.uk/behind-the-beans/costa-book-awards/short-story-award

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GRANUM FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP PRIZE

Granum Foundation

DEADLINE: August 3, 2021 at 11:59 pm PT

INFO: The Granum Foundation Fellowship 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, memoirs, and translations—or to help launch these works.

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, editing services, or a book tour. 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.

The Granum Foundation is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

  • Prize: $5,000 awarded annually.

  • Up to three finalists may be awarded $500.

A winner and finalists will be announced on November 9, 2021.

At this time, only U.S. residents 18+ are eligible for funding.

https://www.granumfoundation.org/granum-fellows

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Books Editor

Words Without Borders

DEADLINE: August 6, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET

INFO: Words Without Borders seeks a Books Editor for its digital magazine of international literature. This remote, part-time freelance position pays $400/month and works closely with the magazine’s editors to commission and edit monthly reviews of new literature in translation, plus one additional long-form essay on a quarterly basis. This is a remote position requiring approximately 20 hours/month.

The Book Review Editor’s primary duties include:

  • Commission and edit two 750–1,000-word book reviews per month and a quarterly long-form essay that brings a work of translation into the broader cultural conversation

  • Manage a publication schedule of upcoming reviews

  • Maintain and develop contacts with publishers to receive catalogs and special notice of forthcoming titles in translation

  • Cultivate relationships with past WWB reviewers and keep them abreast of books that are available for review

  • Recruit new reviewers 

  • Field and evaluate pitches from new and current reviewers

  • Meet bi-monthly with the editorial team to assess reviews coverage and discuss new opportunities

  • Upload reviews to WWB’s content management system

  • Opportunity to contribute an occasional piece

Ideal candidates will meet the following requirements:

  • Two to three years of line-editing experience

  • At least two years' experience commissioning and editing work for a literary or journalistic publication

  • Demonstrated success in managing an editorial calendar and/or project management experience

  • A knowledge of and passion for international literature

  • Prior experience using content management systems preferred

To apply, send a cover letter and résumé, plus a pitch with proposed review of two upcoming books in translation, including proposed reviewers, and one pitch for a long-form essay that, while engaging with either a new or classic work in translation, taps into the zeitgeist and provides perspectives not just on literature but on culture (broadly defined) at large to jobs@wordswithoutborders.org with the subject line "Books Editor." 

Words Without Borders does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, marital status, parental status, military service, or disability. We are committed to pursuing equity and inclusion in our organization and seek candidates who bring diverse backgrounds and new perspectives to our work. Individuals from groups who have been historically underrepresented in the field of publishing are especially encouraged to apply. 

https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/book-review-editor?src=twitter

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ARTHROPOD ANTHOLOGY: FICTION

Perennial Press

DEADLINE: August 7, 2021

INFO: Do you have a story or poem featuring insects, crustaceans, arachnids, or myriapods? We want to publish it!

We are looking for short fiction with monstrous, mythical, or mechanical arthropods for our upcoming Arthropoda anthology!

The call is open to original fiction and reprints, poetry and short fiction up to 45 lines and 7,500 words respectively.

Please submit no more than two short stories. Shunn manuscript format, simultaneous submissions permitted.

Arthropoda will be edited by JW Stebner (of Hexagon Magazine) and published by Perennial Press in mid-to-late 2022!

PAYMENT: All selected poets will be paid a $20 flat rate, and given either a print or PDF contributor copy.

We will not accept submissions that contain any excessive profanity or explicit content. We will not tolerate submissions that support or suggest any form of racism, sexism, or any other kind of discrimination.

About Perennial: Perennial Press archives truths through fiction and poetry. We are committed to highlighting and uplifting voices & perspectives that have traditionally been underrepresented in literature.

About Hexagon: Hexagon is an online magazine created to take our readers to fantastic worlds and to meet incredible characters. We specialize in the weird, the wondrous, and the whimsical!

https://perennialpress.submittable.com/submit

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EMPLOYMENT OPPRTUNITY: One Story Apprenticeship

One Story

DEADLINE: Extended to August 8, 2021 at 11:59pm ET

INFO: One Story is seeking a paid apprentice to join our team from September 2021 - May 2022. The apprentice will have a chance to learn about all aspects of a literary organization, including the editorial process, grant writing, and online educational programming.

This is an entry-level position for those looking for a career in publishing with a focus not just on editorial work, but also on future leadership roles in nonprofit management and online education. We are specifically seeking applicants from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the publishing industry who are recent college graduates or in their final year of college (class of 2020, 2021, or 2022) and not enrolled in a graduate program. Candidates should be creative, eager to work with a small, dedicated team, and have a demonstrated interest in the literary community and publishing world.

We will provide an opportunity to gain valuable skills and forge connections with peers and potential employers in the industry. In addition to experience gained from day-to-day tasks, the apprentice will receive specialized training in marketable skill sets such as design and production, project management, social media and marketing, proofreading and copyediting, online pedagogy best practices, and others. The goal is for them to leave their time at One Story with industry connections and a diverse and varied set of skills that will make their resumes stand out to future employers.

The apprentice will spend three months working alongside a core member of One Story’s staff before rotating to the next. This way, they will have an opportunity to gain insight into how each facet of our organization operates. The apprentice will also be responsible for independent projects, such as organizing readings and events.

Responsibilities include:

  • Reading and evaluating submissions

  • Assisting the editorial department with copyediting and proofreading

  • Attending weekly meetings with Editor-in-Chief & Editorial Assistant

  • Attending bi-monthly readers’ meetings

  • Assisting the Executive Director with grant writing

  • Email and social media marketing

  • Assisting with development and technical support of online education courses

  • Lending support at our annual Literary Debutante Ball

  • Performing general administrative tasks

  • Organizing readings & events

Prerequisites:

  • Demonstrated interest and involvement in the literary community

  • Some familiarity with One Story’s mission and publication history

  • Excellent writing skills

  • A love of reading

  • A desire to learn about and pursue a career in publishing or literary non-profit sector

  • Strong communication skills

  • Strong organizational skills and sense of punctuality

  • The ability to work closely in a shared office space

The time commitment for this position is 15 hours a week. An exact schedule will be determined upon hiring, but they should expect to spend at least one full day a week in the office, with the rest of the work done remotely. They will receive regular performance reviews to help ensure that they are getting the most out of the experience. They should reside within commuting distance of our office in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

COMPENSATION: A stipend totaling $10,000 for the 9 month period, which will be paid on a biweekly basis for the duration of the apprenticeship.

One Story Inc. is committed to inclusivity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, parental status, military service, or disability. People of color, disabled people, veterans, and LGBTQIA people are strongly encouraged to apply.

https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=jobs

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CURATORIAL AND ART WRITING FELLOWSHIP

NLS Kingston

DEADLINE: August 10, 2021

INFO: The Curatorial and Art Writing Fellowship is a 5-month long mentorship program geared towards addressing the dearth of archival scholarship on the work of artists in Jamaica and the Caribbean by empowering young writers and curators with the tools to write these histories.

This program aims to develop diverse curatorial practices with a strong research and writing foundation equipping young curators to work on future projects at larger institutions and in their own intitiatives, thereby generating an archive on specific concerns and artists of focus.

For the program one young mentee will be selected per year to work with a professional curatorial mentor in the development of the mentee’s project addressing one or more of the following themes:

  • Gender: Ecology/Environment

  • Gender: Economy

  • Gender: Politics/Space

The program provides for mentees:

  • A work stipend of JMD $300,000

  • A separate publication and exhibition budget

  • Professional development from an experienced mentor

  • Access to Creative Sounds audio recording studio for podcast recording - Project space for the final project execution

  • Space for panel discussion

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

  • A curatorial or research statement of 700 - 1000 words. This should include ongoing research interests, planned areas of focus, as well as critical questions being investigated through the research.

  • An executive summary of 75 - 100 words.

  • A timeline for the project period. The timeline should detail checkpoints such as period of research, technical execution of outcomes such as publications (both podcast and written), panel discussions and curatorial interventions (exhibition or otherwise).

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV).

  • Work sample. Must include PDFs of 3 of your most recent writing samples,
    especially as related to area of research and/or 10 JPEG images (1200 pixels wide) with accompanying text (PDF format) of exhibitions applicant has worked on in the last 5 years.

  • Recommendations. Applicant must submit 2 signed letters of recommendation from someone who has worked with the applicant in their career, either in exhibitions, school and/or residencies.

  • Completed application form.

  • Copy of valid government-issued identification.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

  • Clarity. Clarity of the ideas and critical questions expressed in the resarch statement

  • Relevance. How relevant is the applicant’s project to the outlined themes the program is designed to address.

  • Timeline. Well-estimated timeline with thoughtful attention to time for research and technical execution of outcomes.

  • Previous output of applicant Strength of recommendations

NOTIFICATIONS

  • Receipt. All applicants will be notified that their application has been received within 14 days of receipt.

  • Acceptance. Accepted applicants will be notified 8 weeks from the close of deadline.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROGRAM

Daily Notebook. Mentee is expected to keep a daily notebook that should be logged into each workday. Notebooks will be provided by NLS. Daily entries may include documentation of thought process, process of inquiry, project notes, and concerns.

Meetings. Mentee is required to attend regular scheduled meetings with Mentor and periodical meetings with the NLS administrative staff. Mentee is expected to be punctual for all meetings and respectful of all set timelines.

Podcast Episode. Resident is expected to host one episode of the NLS IN podcast interviewing guest(s) working in their area of research.

Exhibition. The work created in the residency should be available for a month-long curated exhibition at NLS following the residency where applicable.

Art Writing Blog. Monthly contribution to the NLS art writing blog informally documenting developments, challenges and emerging curatorial/research concerns.

Workspace. The program does not provide office space for the duration of the intensive, therefore applicants are required to have access to their own workspace, computer and working WiFi.

Time. Accepted applicants are expected to work independently from March to August, 2019 under the mentorship of a professional curator and writer with a time commitment of at least 15 hours per week.

Curatorial Intervention. Mentee is expected to present a curatorial intervention in the form of an exhibition or other format relevant to the Mentee’s project focus.

Artist Talk. Mentee is required to moderate one artist talk/panel discussion towards the end of the intensive during the time of the curatorial intervention.

Written Publications. Mentee is expected to publish one essay in the form of a catalogue or zine to accompany the curatorial intervention, as well as submit one relevant piece of writing for publishing in a major art publication.

https://mailchi.mp/cbe77156c9ae/announcing-expansionproject-aniafreerseries-twauniisinclair-5274213

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Farewell At the Fingertips”! ISSUE

Sapphic Writers

DEADLINE: August 13, 2021 at 12:00am (wherever you are in the world)

INFO: Sapphic Writers is a small writing organisation that provides avenues of support, connection, and inspiration within the global sapphic writing community by offering workshops, publication and performance opportunities, and news and resources aimed at this underserved community of writers.

In this issue, we want to explore letting go/moving on. Whatever that looks for you, we want to see it. Whether it’s moving on from a relationship or something internally. Have you had habits you need to let go of? Situations to move on from? People you had to let go to move on?

As always, we want your interpretations of the theme, no matter how broad. We look forward to your submissions and the ways in which you’ve had to let go.

This zine will be published on Monday 20th September in digital format in our shop for free download.

We will, as always, be co-hosting a zine launch with the wonderful Glasgow Zine Library on Sunday 26th September at 7pm BST. More info TBC.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • This zine is open to sapphics only: lesbians, bisexual, pansexual and queer women and non binary people who experience attraction towards people with similar identities - this includes asexual people. If this does not apply to you, please do not submit.

  • From writers, we welcome up to three pieces, up to 5 pages long each, in doc or docx format. Please do not submit your piece in PDF or in the body of an email.

  • From visual artists, we welcome up to three pieces in PNG or JPEG format. Please ensure that your pieces have image descriptions - this enables your work to be accessible to people with low vision.

  • Please ensure that your piece has relevant content warnings before the piece - either in the header of the piece, or in the email itself.

  • We do not welcome homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism, classism or any discrimination on our platform. We are a trans-friendly & trans-affirming group. If this does not fit with your values, please do not apply.

  • Please make sure that your bio is written in the third person.

  • If you haven’t submitted to us previously, feel free to look through previous zines to get a feel for our work. All zines are free.

  • If you have any questions, please get in touch at hello@sapphicwriters.org

https://www.sapphicwriters.org/submit

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Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

Baton Rouge Area Foundation

DEADLINE: August 15, 2021

INFO: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence honors Louisiana’s revered storyteller, Ernest J. Gaines, and serves to inspire and recognize rising African-American fiction writers of excellence at a national level. The book award, initiated by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, is now in its 15th year and has become nationally recognized in its role of enhancing visibility of emerging African-American fiction writers while also expanding the audience for this literature. The annual award of a $15,000 cash prize is to support and enable the writer to focus on writing.

The 2021 panel of judges are themselves renowned contributors to the literary world. They are Anthony Grooms, Edward P. Jones, Elizabeth Nunez, Francine Prose and Patricia Towers.

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation sponsors the winner’s travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to receive the prize at a ceremony, where the author reads an excerpt from the selected work of fiction. A reception follows. The evening is free, open to the public and attracts a diverse audience.

The literary award winner also participates in educational activities at selected area schools and after-school programs in keeping with the Gaines Award's interest in emphasizing the role of literature and arts in education. Through small creative writing workshops with the winning author, students are encouraged to pursue reading, delve into their own creativity, and to consider becoming an author.

To enter a published book or galley for review, send the completed REGISTRATION FORM and 8 copies to:

Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence
c/o Baton Rouge Area Foundation
100 North St., Suite 900
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802

Non-winning entries will be donated to an area nonprofit. Ineligible entries will not be returned.

The Literary Award, initiated by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to honor Mr. Gaines, is designed to inspire and recognize rising African-American writers of excellence as they work to achieve the literary heights for which Ernest J. Gaines is known. 

https://ernestjgainesaward.org

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Call for submissions: Award for Social Impact Writing

New York State Writers Institute

DEADLINE: August 15, 2021

INFO: In conjunction with philanthropists Bruce Piasecki and Andrea Masters, and the Yaddo artists' community in Saratoga Springs, NYS Writers are proud to announce a call for submissions for The Bruce Piasecki and Andrea Masters Annual Award on Business and Society Writing, celebrating young writers who aim to ignite positive social change fueled by their writing. The winner will receive a check for $5,000.

The award is financed by the Creative Force Fund started by Bruce Piasecki, founder of the AHC Group Inc., a general management consulting firm specializing in growth, energy, environment, and sustainability. Bruce is also the bestselling author of several books including Doing More with Less, World Inc. and Missing Persons. He was featured in conversation with Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl in April 2020. Watch video.

Bruce has devoted his life to catalyzing change and he hopes to inspire future generations to do the same. With this Award, he and his wife Andrea Masters hope to foster a new generation of writers interested in pursuing this underserved theme.

APPLICATION CRITERIA: Applicants must be between 18 and 35 years old and have at least one work published prior to August 15, 2021. These works may include essays, research papers, books, and articles.

Topics must be thematically consistent with positive social impact and business.

Themes include, but are not limited to, climate change, racial/gender equality, sustainability, and innovation.

HOW TO APPLY: To apply, send your published piece (link or PDF) and include a brief (1-2 page) working plan regarding what you aim to do next in your writing endeavors and future career plans (the next 5-10 years), to bruce@ahcgroup.com and debbi@ahcgroup.com. Please contact the same with any questions that you may have.

The award will be granted in a public ceremony in with the NYS Writers Institute and Yaddo, pictured below.

www.nyswritersinstitute.org/post/call-for-submissions-global-award-on-social-impact-authorship

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2021 Manuscript to Market Scholarship

Gotham Writers

DEADLINE: August 15, 2021

INFO: The Gotham “Manuscript-to-Market” Scholarship is open to people of color who have completed a book manuscript (or nonfiction book proposal) and are ready to go to market with their book. Three scholarships will be offered every year. 

Each scholarship includes: 

Acceptance is open to all people of color and based solely on the merit of your book project. At least one spot will be rewarded to a Black writer. 

Once accepted, Gotham will do a consultation to determine the timing and arrangement of your scholarship. 

This scholarship does not guarantee that winners will get a book published, but it does help them get the best possible shot.

https://v2.writingclasses.com/scholarships/manuscript-to-market

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DIGITAL CHAPBOOK SERIES

Fahmidan Journal

DEADLINE: August 15, 2021

INFO: Fahmidan Journal, an international publication supporting women and BIPOC writers, is seeking poetry and short fiction collections.

GUIDELINES:

  • Please only submit to if you consider yourself to be POC and/or a women.

  • Please submit manuscripts at a maximum of 40 pages. The collection should be single spaced for poetry and at discretion for short fiction. 

  • Please format to Times New Roman 12 and number pages, please format your collection as A5

  • Simultaneous Submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.

Accepted authors will receive a standard & specified contract alongside the following:

  • 40% royalties

  • A Digital Publishing Run of 12 Months

If you have not heard from us on/by September 25th 2021 please send us an email as it is likely your/our correspondence has disappeared into the ether.

Please send us a max 150 word bio including any relevant social media links/publications and anything important to the collection

Collections should be in single line spacing, include a contents page, and acknowledgements page if applicable and 

Short fiction & Poetry collections are welcome!

Submissions should be sent to fahmidanpublishingsubmissions@gmail.com

https://www.fahmidan.net/publishing

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PUBLISHING GRANT

Café Royal Cultural Foundation

DEADLINE: August 16, 2021

INFO: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a publishing grant to authors of fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. 

AMOUNT: Up to $10,000.00  

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Authors in fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. The applicant must be the originator of the written material.

  • Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted.

  • Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying.

  • Please make sure to submit your application with ample time before the start date of your project. 

REVIEW PROCEDURES: Funding decisions will be made by the Café Royal Cultural Foundation Selection and Executive Committees. The following criteria will be applied in evaluating grant proposals:

  • Creativity, originality, ideas and concepts, writing style

  • Importance of the Project/Cultural Relevance

  • Promise of future achievements in writing 

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: 

  • Up to and no more than a 30 page PDF of the work, for the Café Royal Cultural Foundation executive committee to download and read.

  • A letter of intent from the publisher with a date of planned publication, if no publisher is assigned, Café Royal Cultural Foundation may work with writer to help find a publisher.

  • A short description of the project.

  • A short author biography of the person(s) involved.

  • List of costs that the grant money be used for - must not exceed the amount of $10,000.00

https://caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/literature-page?fbclid=IwAR3eJN3NUv-1GpfLcJXLuQNxjzuWYTs6tNOMjhr46lDzFGs7WX-FfY7KlQE

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Call For Literary Art

Black Femme Collective

DEADLINE: August 20, 2021 at 11;59 pm PT

INFO: Black Femme Collective calls for creative nonfiction submissions from Black Queer Femme Storytellers engaging in the theme LIES + MAKE-BELIEVE.

Bring us your deceit and deception, your fairy tales and fabrications, your fantasy and your whimsy — share your journey to manifesting new realities and universes. Or, the times you were driven to evade the truth. What lies have you chosen to believe? Which have you told?

Whether you center the eerie and fantastical to elude capitalism’s weight, or you disrobe from deception to forge your own path to freedom— we want to hear it all.

Let the page speak for itself — the truth (or lie) will be evident.

Black Femme Collective primarily publishes creative nonfiction (personal essays, cultural criticism, book reviews, interviews, and articles). We also publish literary hybrid work with complex components in cross-genre nature that represents Black Femme Queerness.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

PAYMENT: Contributors receive between $150-$300 for their creative nonfiction

https://blackfemme.co/submissions/submission-details/

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2022 Walter Rodney Writing Prize

Pluto Press

DEADLINE: August 23, 2021

INFO: Pluto Press is proud to partner with the Walter Rodney Foundation (WRF) and the Pluto Educational Trust (PET) to launch the annual non-fiction Walter Rodney Writing Prize for women and non-binary first-time authors who have citizenship of an African or Caribbean country.

The prize will celebrate the extraordinary life and work of Guyanese writer and political activist Walter Rodney, while reflecting and advancing the impact of Rodney’s thinking on scholars and organisers.

We’re exited to announce the prize judges: Poet, reggae icon and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson, activist and historian Stella Dadzie and feminist and academic Dzodzi Tsikata.

The winner of the prize will receive a £4,000 writing grant, alongside access to Pluto, PET, and WRF’s combined global network of contacts. Their debut book will be published by Pluto Press.

www.plutobooks.com/walter-rodney-writing-prize/

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The Medium Writers Challenge

Medium

DEADLINE: August 24, 2021

INFO: Calling all storytellers! When was the last time you read a great piece of writing? What quality made you want to share it far and wide? Why did it strike such a powerful chord? If you were asked to replicate that feeling — to craft an essay that leaves readers caught up in the rapture of an unforgettable narrative — could you do it?

We believe you could. You showed us as much in the past: the Pandemic Reflections writing prompt resulted in hundreds of submissions in the first month. Our call for entries to the #StopAsianHate blog resulted in hundreds of perspectives shared in the first week. And now we want to help discover and nurture great writing again, with The Medium Writers Challenge.

The challenge, which will take place over the course of four weeks, is a chance for you to share your best ideas with an esteemed panel of judges and millions of Medium readers — plus, an opportunity to win $50,000.

Here’s how it will work. We’re providing four guiding prompts: Reentry, Death, Work, and Space. Each is accompanied by a descriptive paragraph to help you get your wheels turning — but don’t feel confined. Your experiences or perspectives might take you down other roads that are well within the parameters of the prompt.

GUEST JUDGES: An expert panel of cultural leaders, editors, and writers will join as guest judges to select their favorites. Those judges include Natalie Portman, Roxane Gay, Saeed Jones, Imani Perry, Eve L. Ewing, Susan Orlean, Robert Kolker, kelly corrigan, Dao-Yi Chow, Bonsu Thompson, Julio Vincent Gambuto, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Kurt Andersen, David Dennis, Jr., and others.

AWARD: With the help of the judging panel, Medium will select four finalist winners — one for each prompt — who will each be awarded with $10,000 each. One of the four finalists will be selected for a grand prize of $50,000. Additionally, 100 honorable mention selections will each win $100.

Entering the challenge is easy: Just write to one — or more — of the writing prompts outlined below, and include the associated tag when publishing your story on Medium. (Once you hit “Publish” on your post, you can type it into the “Add a tag…” box.)

  • REENTRY: Tell us about an experience you’ve had coming back to something — or someone — after time away. What changed in your absence? How did youchange? What are the funny moments, faux pas, discomforts, and joys that came with returning to an old situation (or your pre-pandemic life) with new eyes?

TAG: MWC Reentry
JUDGES: Imani Perry, Julio Vincent Gambuto, Saeed Jones, Jude Ellison Doyle

  • DEATH: People die, of course, but so do other things. Ideals. Relationships. Jobs. Life phases. Pieces of who we once were. A death isn’t always inherently sad, either; sometimes, it’s a positive step, freeing us from what was weighing us down or allowing us to move forward. Illusions can die. Grudges. Bad habits. Tell us about a death you’ve experienced, for better or worse, and how you marked the loss — whether it was with mourning or celebration.

TAG: MWC Death
JUDGES: Susan Orlean, Robert Kolker, kelly corrigan, Eve L. Ewing

  • WORK: “Work” is a term that contains multitudes. Maybe your work is a key pillar of your identity. Maybe it’s the thing that allows you to focus on other pursuits. Maybe it fulfills you; maybe it drains you. Maybe the real work in your life isn’t the same as the way you make money. We want to know what “work” means to you — and the factors that have shaped your thinking. What’s the most important work you do, however you define it? What’s the value of work in your life? What’s your dream job? Is there such a thing as a dream job? Is there a moment, a person, a role that’s changed the way you approach your work?

TAG: MWC Work
JUDGES: Roxane Gay, Kurt Andersen, David Dennis, Jr.

  • SPACE: Whether we’re letting our imaginations run wild or focusing on what’s in front of us, our day-to-day lives are defined by space: living space, personal space, outer space. We make space. We claim space. We practice social distancing. We turn spaces into homes, into communities, into refuges, and we forge relationships with others and ourselves within those spaces. We wonder, with varying degrees of skepticism and belief, about the beings that occupy the space beyond our planet. However you define it, tell us a story about a role space has played in your life.

TAG: MWC Space
JUDGES: Natalie Portman, Dao-Yi Chow, Bonsu Thompson

The four finalists will be announced on September 21, 2021 followed by the grand prize recipient announcement on September 23, 2021.

https://blog.medium.com/introducing-the-medium-writers-challenge-f8a95f6d17f

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2021 Real People, Real Struggles, Real Stories: Writing about Mental Illness Fellowship

Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

DEADLINE: August 30, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $35

INFO: The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow is offering a fellowship open to writers working on non-fiction focusing on managing mental illness. This personal story should offer insight, awareness, and hope. Writing can take the form of memoir, personal essay, profile, or biography. The successful application will demonstrate insight, honesty, literary merit, and the likelihood of publication. The fellowship winner receives a two-week residency in a private writing suite. We provide uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner five nights a week served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for other meals.

Fellowship applications must be accompanied by a writing sample and a non-refundable $35 application fee. Deadline is midnight CDT on Monday, August 30, 2021. Residency must be completed by December 31, 2022.

https://www.writerscolony.org/fellowships.

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2021 Barthelme Prize for Short Prose

Gult Coast

DEADLINE: August 31, 2021

ENTRY FEES: $20

INFO: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given annually for a piece of short prose or prose poetry. Two honorable mentions will each receive $250. All entries will be considered for publication. This year's final judge is Molly McCully Brown.

Submit a prose poem, a piece of flash fiction, or a micro-essay of up to 500 words. Each entry can include up to three pieces. The fee for each entry is $20, which includes a yearlong subscription to Gulf Coast.

Only previously unpublished work will be considered. The contest will be judged blindly, so please do not include your cover letter, your name, or any contact information in the uploaded document.

https://gulfcoastajournalofliteratureandfinearts.submittable.com/submit

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Flash Fiction Contest

Singapore Unbound

DEADLINE: August 31, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $0

INFO: “In my time machine, I would leave my room, with its suffocating plaster saints and its ugly pleated curtains that matched the ugly pleated under-skirt of my bed. I would leave my mother and her shouting. I would leave my eternally distant father, a school principal/Mathematics professor and his young secretary, a pale slip of a woman who wore tight clothes and gave me a slice of pan de regla every Thursday morning. I would close my eyes and my time machine would take me to a library at the end of the universe. In that library, there were no people—only books containing every story that had ever been written, every word ever spoken, every secret ever told. My library was my secret, my escape, my soul.”—from The Infinite Library and Other Stories by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

In conjunction with Gaudy Boy’s October 2021 publication of the first North American edition of The Infinite Library and Other Stories by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo, Singapore Unbound’s SP Blog is holding its first annual flash fiction contest with a call for submissions inspired by the title of this mesmerizing story collection. We are looking for flash fiction of 90-100 words about “the infinite library,” interpreted in any imaginative way. What is a library? Must it always be a room filled with books? Can it be a person, an animal, or even a machine? And how is it infinite?

The contest is open to everyone.

PRIZE: Awards of USD $100, $50, and $30 will go to the top three winners. In addition, winners residing in the United States will also be awarded a signed copy of Victor Fernando R. Ocampo’s The Infinite Library and Other Stories. The winning pieces will be published on Singapore Unbound’s SP Blog; non-winning pieces will be considered for publication as well.

The judge for this inaugural contest is the novelist Monique Truong. Born in Saigon, South Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Monique came to the US as a refugee in 1975. She is based now in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of the bestselling novels The Book of Salt (2003), Bitter in the Mouth (2010), and The Sweetest Fruits (Gaudy Boy, 2021). Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, O magazine, Real Simple, Food & Wine, and Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, among others. Truong is also a lyricist and librettist, working in collaboration with composers Joan La Barbara and Shih-Hui Chen.

Friends and family of the judge are allowed to submit entries too. Judging will be based solely on literary merit. We reserve the right not to make any or all awards, should the quality of entries not merit them.

Contest entry is free. Please submit a maximum of three pieces of flash fiction. Make sure that each piece is between 90-100 words. Only unpublished works will be considered. Posting on weblog, Facebook, and other social media does not constitute publication. No simultaneous submissions, please. Please email your submission to Jee at jkoh@singaporeunbound.org. The flash fiction must be pasted into the body of the email, together with a short cover letter giving your name, mailing address, and brief biographical note.

The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2021. Results will be announced in October and the winning pieces published in the run-up to the publication of The Infinite Library and Other Stories. We ask for exclusive first rights only. After publication, all rights return to the author. Winners will also be invited to read their winning entries at the book launch.

https://singaporeunbound.org/opportunities

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FIRST-BOOK SCHOLARSHIP 2021

Gasher Press

DEADLINE: September 1, 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.

Gasher’s First-Book scholarship is to provide financial assistance of $250 to a writer submitting their first book. This year, we are pleased to be able to offer two awards, one for Prose and one for Poetry. Please see the guidelines below before submitting:

  • Please include in the title of the submission the manuscript's title followed by its genre (EX: The Seedling - PROSE)

  • Please submit your first-book manuscript must be at least 48pgs in length with a cover letter and bio.

  • You may only submit one entry per submission period. All other entries will be disqualified regardless of withdrawing previous submissions.

  • Writers must not have published a full-length collection at the time of submission, including self-published books. (chapbooks are okay.)

  • The writer must reside in the United States at the time of submission.

  • This is a blind reading. Please DO NOT include any identifying material on your manuscript, including an acknowledgments page. Those who do not remove this information from their submission will be disqualified.

https://gasherjournal.submittable.com/submit

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RESIDENCY PROGRAM: UCROSS FELLOWSHIPS FOR NATIVE AMERICAN VISUAL ARTISTS AND WRITERS

UCross Foundation

DEADLINE: September 1, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $0

INFO: The Ucross Residency Program is open to visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, interdisciplinary artists, and performance artists, as well as collaborative teams. Applicants must exhibit professional standing in their field; both mature and emerging artists of promise are welcome to apply.

Current work is requested. An applicant's work sample is the most significant feature of his or her application. Unless work is interdisciplinary, i.e. the various genres interconnect, each applicant is encouraged to apply in a primary discipline and submit a work sample and project description that emphasizes this single discipline. Competition for residencies varies seasonally and with the number of applications. While only one Fellowship winner will be selected, all applicants will have the option of being considered for a regular Ucross residency.

ELIGIBILITY: Residencies are open to Native American writers who meet the criteria below. They must:

* Be a practicing contemporary writer who is currently producing works in one or more of the following genres -- FICTION, NONFICTION, POETRY, DRAMA, SCREENWRITING, PLAYWRITING, HYBRID FORMS, and more;

* Be an enrolled member of a state-recognized or federally-recognized Tribe, Pueblo, Nation, Native Community, Political Entity, or Alaskan Native Village.

FICTION WORK SAMPLE: Your writing sample should be representative of the genre in which you plan to work while in residence. Writing samples should be double-spaced and include your full name. 

* Appropriate sample: 20 pages of fiction, which could be a novel excerpt, a story, several stories, or a combination.

NONFICTION WORK SAMPLE: Your sample should be representative of the genre in which you plan to work while in residence. Writing samples should be double-spaced and include your full name. 

* Appropriate sample: 20 pages of nonfiction

POETRY WORK SAMPLE: Your sample should be representative of the genre in which you plan to work while in residence. Writing samples should be double-spaced, but poetry submissions may be single-spaced, and they should include your full name.

* Appropriate samples: 10 pages of poetry.

PLAYWRITING WORK SAMPLE: Your sample should be representative of the genre in which you plan to work while in residence. Writing samples should be double-spaced and include your full name.

* Appropriate samples: One complete play (documentation of production may be included, if relevant).

SCREENWRITING WORK SAMPLE: Your sample should be representative of the genre in which you plan to work while in residence. Writing samples should be double-spaced and include your full name.

* Appropriate samples: One complete screenplay (documentation of production may be included, if relevant).

https://ucrossfoundation.submittable.com/submit

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2021 Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing

Gulf Coast

DEADLINE: September 1, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $0

INFO: Gulf Coast is now accepting entries for the 2021 Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing. The contest awards $3,000 and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner. Two runners up will be awarded $1,000 eachPrize winners will be featured in Gulf Coast's printed journal as well as online. This year's contest will be judged by Jenna Wortham.

GUIDELINES:

  • Submit one piece of critical art writing, of no more than 1,500 words, in a single .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.

  • The contest will be judged blindly, so please do not include your bio, your name, or any contact information in the uploaded document.

  • Previously unpublished work and work that has been published within the last year will be considered.

  • It is the author's responsibility to secure image permissions and, when applicable, reprint permission if the submission has been previously published

  • There is no entry fee

https://gulfcoastajournalofliteratureandfinearts.submittable.com/submit

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2021 Gulf Coast Prize in Translation

Gulf Coast

DEADLINE: September 1, 2021

ENTRY FEES:

  • Full entry fee is $20 and includes a yearlong subscription to Gulf Coast (2 issues).

  • We also offer a half-price entry fee of $10, which includes a half-year subscription to Gulf Coast (1 issue).

INFO: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast will be given annually for a work of translation into English. Two honorable mentions will each receive $250. All entries will be considered for publication in print or online. This year's final judge is Sophie Hughes, translator of Alia Trabucco Zerán and Fernanda Melchor.

Submit up to 20 pages of prose translated into English and a copy of the original text. Excerpts from longer works are welcome. 

As part of your submission, include the text in its original language, provide a brief synopsis (no more than 200 words) of the work and the author you are translating.

Only previously unpublished work will be considered. The contest will be judged blindly so your personal information should not appear in the uploaded document. 

*In your submission, please provide one of the following:

  • A note (from the translator) in the Comments section of our Online Submission Manager stating that permissions are granted.

  • From the copyright holder (in the event the piece makes it to the final judging round): Written permission granting you right to translate the work in your contest submission. Permission should name the work being translated, date consent was given, and identify the copyright holder.

https://gulfcoastajournalofliteratureandfinearts.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DIRT - A Special Issue

Guernica

DEADLINE: September 1, 2021

INFO: Guernica, a magazine of art and politics, is now accepting submissions for DIRT: A Special Issue.

This year was a year spent cleaning—sanitizing surfaces, doing endless dishes, relearning to wash our hands. There was so much extraneous cleaning going on, in fact, that it necessitated a new term: “hygiene theater.” The misdirection of our disinfection points to a larger phenomenon: that for all that is known about pathogens and where they live, we can’t always tell when dirt is danger, when it is superstition, or, even, when it’s good for us.

The anthropologist Mary Douglas, who memorably called dirt “matter out of place,” believed that cleanliness rituals are largely symbolic exercises that reveal a society’s most fundamental organizing principles. “There is no such thing as absolute dirt: it exists in the eye of the beholder,” she wrote. Yet dirt is also a tangible thing, a physical record of life and death on this planet. As adrienne maree brown wrote, “The Earth is layer upon layer of all that has existed, remembered by the dirt.”

In this special issue of Guernica, edited by Michele Moses, we want to examine dirt at the intersection of the societal, the personal, and the ecological—dirt as metaphor and dirt as substance. We are looking for submissions—essays, journalism, poetry, fiction, illustration, and beyond—that explore the emotional, interpersonal, and political meanings that hide inside our ideas about uncleanness and hygiene. Long before this pandemic year, the notion of dirt has been used to signal feelings of fear or disgust for other people: to enshrine class, caste, and colonial systems, to enact racism and misogyny, to express our everyday amorphous discomfort with each other. At the same time, dirt is exalted for its life-sustaining properties, and often sentimentalized. It’s something kids need a chance to play in, it’s something we need contact with to feel “grounded.”

Dirt is also sex, and dirt is gossip. Soil is homeland and a final resting place. Some examples of the kinds of stories we would be interested in: an investigation into how the rhetoric of filth has contributed to the removal of public infrastructure like water fountains or pay phones; a look at religious laws about purity and menstruation; a critical reading of the fantasies put forth in advertisements for soap and other cleaning products.

We are also looking for writing that engages deeply with the materiality of the many natural and unnatural substances that make up the larger category of “dirt”: soil, soot, grime, dust, ash, and beyond. Some ideas that appeal to us are: a chronicle of the fight for regenerative agriculture and the untapped carbon-capture potential of soil; a brief history of the humble mud brick; an exegesis of household dust; an ode to belly-button lint.

PAY: Guernica offers honoraria of $50 for poetry, $100 for original essays, and $150 for original fiction and for reportage.

https://guernicamagazine.submittable.com/submit

FICTION / NONFICTION -- JULY 2021

BCLF ELIZABETH NUNEZ CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN WRITERS' PRIZE

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

DEADLINE: July 9, 2021 at 11:59 pm

INFO: The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean American Writers’ Prize invite submissions that speak to issues of land, justice, ancestral knowledge, belonging, ownership and oral histories; stories of pain, joy, grief, hope, return to memory; stories that critique and challenge the creative imagination to re-envision the world in the diaspora and the Caribbean.

WHO MAY SUBMIT:

  • Writers must be of Caribbean heritage or a Caribbean-descended writer whose work has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more

  • Be a resident of the United States/Canada

  • Be over the age of 18 years

  • Be an unpublished writer in the genre

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

  • Stories must be original fiction.

  • Word count: 2,000 words or less.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Stories must be emailed to contact@bklyncbeanlitfest.com with Subject Line: 2021 BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest - Writer's Last Name, First Name

The deadline for submission of stories is July 9th, 2021 at 11:59 pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/caribbean-american-submission

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BCLF ELIZABETH NUNEZ AWARD FOR WRITERS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

DEADLINE: July 9, 2021 at 11:59 pm

INFO: The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean invite submissions that speak to issues of land, justice, ancestral knowledge, belonging, ownership and oral histories; stories of pain, joy, grief, hope, return to memory; stories that critique and challenge the creative imagination to re-envision the world in the diaspora and the Caribbean.

WHO MAY SUBMIT:

  • Exclusively open to unpublished and published writers who live in the Caribbean regardless of their publishing status

  • Submitted stories must be original works of fiction

  • Eligible writers must be residents of the Caribbean

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

  • Stories must be original, unpublished fiction

  • Word count: 2,000 words or less.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Stories must be emailed to contact@bklyncbeanlitfest.com with Subject Line: 2021 BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest - Writer's Last Name, First Name

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/caribbean-submission

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SPECULATIVE FICTION / HORROR

Midnight and Indigo

DEADLINE: July 11, 2021

INFO: Midnight and Indigo features a diverse array of voices that connect readers to content featuring strong female lead characters or a Black female POV.

We are looking for previously unpublished, character-driven, speculative short stories written by Black women writers for our second annual special issue (October 2021).

Need context? Check out our 1st issue "midnight & indigo: Twenty-two Speculative Stories by Black Women Writers"

Speculative fiction is a broad genre encompassing fiction with certain elements that do not exist in the real world, often in the context of supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative themes. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, fairytale fantasy, and supernatural fiction.

Stories must meet our minimum 1,500 word count requirement.

Submissions should be submitted in proper short story manuscript format with your name, email address, and the story’s total word count on the first page. For our purposes, you do not need to include a mailing address or phone number. Click here for an example of proper short story manuscript format.

All submissions will be considered for publication on a rolling basis on midnightandidigo.com or in our annual Speculative fiction special issue (online and/or print - October 2021).

We offer $150 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our annual Speculative issue (eBook, print, and/or audiobook - October 2021) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on midnightandindigo.com.

We accept only previously unpublished work. Responses will be provided by August 16, 2021.

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit

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2021 BURLINGTON Contemporary Art Writing Prize

The Burlington Magazine 

DEADLINE: July 12, 2021

INFO: The Burlington Contemporary Art Writing Prize seeks to discover talented writers on contemporary art. The winner will receive £1,000, their review will be published on the Burlington Contemporary platform and they will also have the opportunity to publish a review of a future contemporary art exhibition in The Burlington Magazine.

Since its founding in 1903, The Burlington Magazine has always considered the art of the present to be as worthy of study as the art of the past. The Burlington Contemporary Art Writing Prize advances our commitment to the study of contemporary art in the magazine and on Burlington Contemporary. Designed to encourage aspiring writers, the Prize promotes clear, concise and well-structured writing that is able to navigate sophisticated ideas without recourse to over-complex language.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Contenders – who must have published no more than six exhibition reviews in print or online – should submit one unpublished review of a contemporary art exhibition from the last twelve months, no more than 1,000 words in length with up to three low-resolution images. ‘Contemporary’ is defined as art produced since 2000. This year, due to museum and gallery closures caused by the pandemic, we will accept reviews of online exhibitions. There is no age limit for applicants.

The submitted review must be written in English (although the art considered may be international) and emailed as a Word document together with a completed submission form to: editorial@burlington.org.uk.

JUDGES:  

  • Lowery Stokes Sims is a specialist in modern and contemporary art, craft and design and is known for her particular interest in a diverse and inclusive global art world and her support of artists whose identities and work reflect those values. In 2015 Sims retired as Curator Emerita from the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, where she served as the Charles Bronfman International Curator and the William and Mildred Ladson Chief Curator. Sims served on the education and curatorial staff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1972–1999) and as executive director, president and adjunct curator for the permanent collection at The Studio Museum in Harlem (2000–2007).

  • Elizabeth Price is an artist based in London. In 2012, she was awarded the Turner Prize for her video installation THE WOOLWORTHS CHOIR OF 1979. In 2013, she won the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award with the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. She has exhibited in group exhibitions internationally, and has had solo exhibitions at Tate Britain, London; The Art Institute of Chicago; Julia Stoschek Foundation, Düsseldorf; The Baltic, Newcastle upon Tyne; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and The Whitworth, Manchester. 

If you have any enquiries about the Prize, please contact: editorial@burlington.org.uk.

https://www.burlington.org.uk/jobs-noticeboard/contemporary-art-writing-prize

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Critical Writing Fellowship

Eyebeam x Momus 

DEADLINE: July 12, 2021

INFO: Eyebeam and Momus are thrilled to announce a paid Critical Writing Fellowship, 2021-22, that will provide sustained mentorship, editing, art-publishing access, and artist/writer/editor network building to an early-career art writer or critic. Starting in August 2021, the Critical Writing Fellow will participate in the Momus Emerging Critics Residency (August 9-20), followed by an 8-month writing incubation period, in which the Critical Writing Fellow engages with and responds to Eyebeam’s inaugural phase of its new Fractal Fellowship program, from October 2021 – May 2022. The Fractal Fellowship program seeks to upend traditional artist-support models, handing full authority to artists to self-generate new branches of connectivity and creating new forms of equitable support.

Attended by a close and sustained mentorship with writer and critic Nora N. Khan, and overseen by the Momus editorial team, this period of research, dialogue, and drafting will result in the Fellow producing a feature-length text (with support in identifying publishing opportunities, including in Momus). In using Eyebeam’s Fellowship – a de-centered structural approach to artist resource-sharing and coalition-building – as a site of research and engagement, the Critical Writing Fellow will encounter myriad subjects to research and respond to, and develop an important artist and curator network.

Through this bridge-building collaboration, Eyebeam and Momus will be pursuing their shared objectives of extending artistic knowledge, increasing access to art publishing, enabling sustained mentorship, and reading our cultural text more deeply.

More information on the Fractal Fellowship will be announced soon. Please visit this page for more on Eyebeam’s vision.

EQUITY & INCLUSION COMMITMENT

Eyebeam and Momus aim to create a hub for conversation and practice-sharing that is aware and responsive to systemic inequities and invests in the meaningful inclusion of historically-marginalized groups and voices. Both organizations are committed to and value diversity in its programming, as defined by gender, race, ethnicity, disability-status, age, sexual orientation, immigrant status, and socioeconomic status. With a history rooted in innovation and collaboration Eyebeam and Momus’s programs and publishing are grounded in artist-community dialogue and support meaningful access to technology for everyone.

Eyebeam’s Fractal Fellowship program aims to prioritize support for the following communities of artists and inventors by prioritizing their involvement within the first cohort: Black artists, Disabled artists, People of Color, and Indigenous artists. The Critical Writing Fellowship will also prioritize these communities. Please share how your work experience and goals engage one or more of these communities when you apply.

DETAILS & APPLICATION GUIDELINES:

Ideal Candidate: An early-career art writer / critic with some publishing experience, the desire to be edited and evolve, and a clear voice. We will be giving preference to those writing from a de-centered or historically marginalized position.
Honorarium: $4,000 USD for an 8-month fellowship.

Time Commitment: The Fellow is expected to spend a minimum of 5 hours per week on their writing and research, and in communication with their Mentor and the Momus editorial advisors. The Fellow is also expected to attend the Momus Emerging Critics Residency, August 9-20 (three hours a day on Zoom). The Mentorship portion of the Fellowship will begin concurrently with the launch of Eyebeam’s Fellowship program, in October 2021, and conclude in May 2022. The Editorial Fellow’s Mentor will have up to three hours a week available for working with the Fellow, in the form of reading, editing, and communication.

Application period begins June 28. Deadline to apply: July 12
Please send a one-page cover letter, CV, and one published writing sample (with option to include a second unpublished writing sample), directed to Sky Goodden, Publisher and Editor, Momus, Roderick Schrock, Director, Eyebeam. Send as one PDF document to residency@momus.ca, and please include “Momus & Eyebeam Critical Writing Fellow” in the subject line.

ABout Momus 

Momus is an international online art publication and podcast committed to reading our cultural text more deeply, and dedicated to the vital, uphill work of art criticism in a critical time. Momus’s writers respond to a discordant, sped-up moment with slow looking and brave positioning. Momus published a print compendium in 2017, and established Momus: The Podcast, which is co-hosted by Lauren Wetmore and Sky Goodden. Currently in its fourth season, it was named one of the top-ten art podcasts by The New York Times. Starting in 2019, Momus began hosting twice-annual Momus Emerging Critics Residencies in its effort to attend to both the heightened stakes, increasing potential, and renewed challenges for art criticism – and to do so outside of a traditional MFA program. Momus is currently working to establish the MomusInstitute, in association with Concordia University’s Faculty of Fine Arts. The Momus Institute will provide year-round mentorship, professional apprenticeship, and fieldwork opportunities to emerging art writers, editors, audio producers, and publishers. In working to help diversify and amplify the next generation of contributors to our field, Momus is committed to both creating and strengthening the future criterion of art criticism and art writing.

ABout Nora N. Khan

Nora N. Khan is a critic. Her research focuses on experimental art and music practices that make arguments through software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Her two short books are Seeing, Naming, Knowing (The Brooklyn Rail, 2019) and with Steven Warwick, Fear Indexing the X-Files (Primary Information, 2017). Forthcoming this year are The Artificial and the Real (Art Metropole) and AI Art and the Stakes for Art Criticism (Lund Humphries). This year, she is Editor-in-Residence of Topical Cream, focused on mentoring women and gender non-conforming art and technology critics, and Editorial Lead of the HOLO Annual. She edited Forces of Art: Perspectives from a Changing World (Valiz), Casey Reas’ Making Pictures with Generative Adversarial Networks (Anteism Press), and was a long-time editor at Rhizome (2014-2020). From 2018-2021, she was a professor at Rhode Island School of Design in Digital +Media, teaching criticism, writing, critical theory, and artistic research.

Khan’s research, writing, and curatorial practice extends to a large range of artistic collaborations, which include librettos, performances, and exhibition essays, scripts, and a tiny house. In 2020, as The Shed’s first guest curator, she organized the exhibition Manual Override, which saw 30,000 visitors in two months, and was covered in Vogue, 4Columns and the New York Times. Khan publishes in places like Art in America, Artforum, Flash Art, and California Sunday, and has written numerous commissioned essays for exhibitions at Serpentine Galleries, Chisenhale, the Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou, Swiss Institute, and Kunstverein in Hamburg. Her writing has been supported by a La Becque Residency (2021), the Fogo Island Arts Writers Residency, a Critical Writing Grant from the Visual Arts Foundation/Crossed Purposes Foundations (2018), an Eyebeam Research Residency (2017), and a Thoma Foundation 2016 Arts Writing Award in Digital Art. You can read more about her work here.

https://www.eyebeam.org/momus-eyebeam-critical-writing-fellowship/

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2021 Celebrate! Maya Project: A Young Writer's Fellowship on Social Justice

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

DEADLINE: ​Extended to July 12, 2021

INFO: “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.” Maya Angelou

This fellowship invites young writers, ages 18 to 25, to explore social justice issues including racial discrimination, women’s rights, and/or educational disparity. The work may be in any literary genre: fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, or a combination. The successful application will demonstrate insight, honesty, literary merit, and the likelihood of publication. 

Two fellowships will be awarded. One will be unrestricted. The other will be awarded to a young writer from the Arkansas Southern Delta region.  Fellowship winners receive a two-week residency to focus completely on their work.  Writers may stay in the Maya Angelou Suite at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  Each writer’s suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space, and wireless internet. Fellowship recipients are provided with uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner prepared five nights a week and served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for breakfast and lunch. Fellows are given the opportunity to participate in the community outreach of their choice and are provided the chance to be published in eMerge, the online literary magazine of the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow.  

Fellowship applications must be accompanied by a writing sample and a non-refundable $35 application fee. Writers proposing more than one project must submit a separate application and fee for each one. The winner will be announced no later than August 2, 2021. Residency must be completed by December 31, 2022.

https://www.writerscolony.org/fellowships

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MUSLIM STORYTELLERS FELLOWSHIP

Highlights Foundation

DEADLINE: July 15, 2021

INFO: The Highlights Foundation is now accepting applications for a two-year fellowship in children’s literature for Muslim Storytellers.

The fellowship is funded by a grant with the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s (DDFIA) Building Bridges Program. The mission of the Building Bridges Program is to support national efforts, working with U.S. Muslims, to increase mutual understanding and well-being among diverse populations for the benefit of building stronger, inclusive communities. 

The fellowship aims to further that bridge-building mission by creating space for more diverse, authentic Muslim narratives for children and young adults, and by addressing common misperceptions of those narratives in the children’s publishing industry.

FELLOWSHIP OVERVIEW:

The fellowship will support 16 Muslim storytellers over the course of two years through online and in-person workshops, mentorship, and retreats centered on:

  • Craft

  • Community and mental health (including mentorship)

  • The business of publishing

  • Bridge building to develop understanding of Muslim narratives within the children’s publishing industry

The program will also impact the greater children’s book industry through online and in-person events.

WHO CAN APPLY:

Aspiring, debut, and established Muslim authors and illustrators are invited to apply if their work speaks to children and teens. Applicants must be Muslims currently living in the US or Canada and have an interest in writing or illustrating for the US children’s publishing market.

The hope is that everyone sees space for themselves in this program, including Muslim authors and illustrators with one or more published titles, and Muslim creatives considering telling stories for children and teens for the first time. 

Storyteller tracks for authors and illustrators will include:

  • Aspiring (Not yet published)

  • Debut

  • Established

FELLOWSHIP SCHEDULE:

The program will include:

  • 12 online sessions for fellows only

  • Monthly feedback and mentorship sessions

  • Two online courses and one in-person workshop (travel included) with the Highlights Foundation (chosen independently by each fellow)

  • A Muslim Storytellers Symposium at the Highlights Foundation campus (travel included)

  • Two Muslim artist retreat weekends at the Highlights Foundation campus (travel included)

  • Participation in an industry-wide online series meant to build bridges within the children’s publishing industry, plus an industry-wide celebration event.

Schedules will be finalized over the course of the fellowship, but 2021 commitments will include:

June 2021

  • Tuesday, June 29 at 6pm EST: Informational Webinar (Those interested in applying for the fellowship are invited to attend; it will include a discussion between members of the program committee, with an overview of the program and call for applications. Those offering support to the Muslim community can join the session as well; it is open to everyone.) Register here.

  • Applications Open: Apply Here.

July 2021

August 2021

  • Early August: Fellows announced

  • First online session for fellows

  • Fellows may begin selecting Highlights Foundation courses

Fall 2021

  • Monthly feedback/mentorship sessions begin

  • First artist retreat for fellows at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center(Tentatively: Nov 8-11)

  • Second and third online sessions for fellows

By End of 2021

  • Fellows should complete at least one Highlights Foundation course

https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/programs/3003/muslim-storytellers-fellowship/

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THE FRANCINE RINGOLD AWARDS FOR NEW WRITERS

The University of Tulsa

DEADLINE: July 15, 2021

ENTRY FEE : Each entry must be accompanied by a $12 fee, which includes both the reading fee and a copy of the spring issue of Nimrod. Make checks payable to Nimrod. Writers may submit multiple entries, but each entry must include its own $12 fee.

INFO: The Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers honor the work of writers at the beginning of their careers.

PRIZES $500 prizes will be awarded in both the fiction and poetry categories, and the winning manuscripts will appear in the spring issue of Nimrod. Winners will have the chance to work with the Nimrod board of editors to refine and edit their manuscripts before publication.

ELIGIBILITY: Open only to writers whose work has not appeared or is not scheduled to appear in more than 2 publications in the genre in which they are submitting. (Self-published works, works with a distribution of less than 100 copies, and journalistic articles are not considered toward the count of 2 publications.)

GUIDELINES:

  • Poetry: Up to 5 pages of poetry (one long poem or several short poems)

  • Fiction: 5,000 words maximum (one short story or a self-contained excerpt from a novel)

  • All work submitted must be unpublished.

  • Work submitted may be on any theme, any subject.

  • The contest is open internationally.

  • Include a cover sheet containing title(s), author’s name, full address, phone, and email.

  • Omit author’s name on manuscript.

Online Submissions : Work may be submitted online using our online submission manager system:https://nimrodjournal.submittable.com/submit .

Postal Submissions: Clearly indicate “Ringold Contest Entry” on both the outer envelope and the cover sheet. Staple manuscript if possible; if not, please bind with a heavy clip. Include SASE for results only; manuscripts will not be returned. The results will be posted on Nimrod’s website.

Mail to:

Nimrod International Journal
Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers–Fiction or Poetry (indicate the appropriate category)
The University of Tulsa
800 S. Tucker Dr.
Tulsa, OK 74104

https://artsandsciences.utulsa.edu/nimrod/francine-ringold-awards/

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Developmental Editing Fellowship for Emerging Writers

Kenyon Review

DEADLINE: July 15, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $12

INFO: The Kenyon Review Developmental Editing Fellowship for Emerging Writers is designed to nurture and develop new voices in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. It is designed to provide support for emerging writers who demonstrate exceptional talent, promise, and commitment to their chosen craft.

Participation in the program involves one-on-one mentorship by an experienced editor over a period of four months. Writers can expect to have monthly hour-long conversations with an Editor who will provide feedback and suggestions on the draft.

Thanks to those of you who have reached out with questions, we’ve clarified the eligibility criteria below and added some frequently asked questions at the bottom of the page.

ELIGIBILITY:

Emerging writers must:

  • Writers must be 21 years of age or older

  • UPDATE: This fellowship opportunity is open to any writer who is not currently enrolled in a degree-granting creative writing program

  • Writers should not have published a full-length literary book with a major publisher, university press, or other established press, or be under contract for a book. Published work in literary magazines or journals is acceptable

APPLICATION:

  • Submit a narrative of a project in process (500 word maximum). Please note any challenges or particular areas of concern within the work.

  • Submit a poetry or prose writing sample of the project between June 1–July 15, 2021. The writing sample should be 10–15 pages (double spaced for fiction and nonfiction).

  • A recent copy of your CV

  • The application fee is $12, which includes a half-year subscription to the Kenyon Review. If this fee poses a hardship, please contact us at kenyonreview@kenyon.edu and we will work with you.

PROCESS:

Our Developmental Editors will review and select the writers they will work with. They will reach out to the writer and  arrange for an initial conversation by phone or Zoom. Writers and Editors will collaborate on a work plan, establish goals and determine deadlines and a schedule for monthly hour-long conversations. Over the course of four months they will meet by phone or Zoom to discuss the progress of the writing project.

Winners will be announced by September 1st

Writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing industry are especially encouraged to apply.

https://kenyonreview.org/programs/developmental-editing-fellowship/

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Anne LaBastille Memorial Writers Residency

Adirondack Center for Writing

DEADLINE: July 15, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $30

INFO: The Adirondack Center for Writing offers a two-week residency annually in October to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers at a lodge on Twitchell Lake in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. Now is the time to prepare your application!

Six writers are selected to take part in this intimate community of writers, half of the spaces are reserved for regional authors, and the other spaces are open to writers from all over the world. Quality of written submissions is the primary consideration when accepting applications. We’re more interested in your writing than your MFA or publications.

Includes indoor and outdoor writing spaces, family-style meals, and fireside discussions at a lakeside lodge in the Adirondacks.

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Decision announcement: August 23, 2021

  • Residency dates: October 3-Sunday, October 17, 2021

Note: Proof of vaccination is required for selected residents. Selected residents who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons will be required to provide proof of negative test upon arrival to the lodge and will contact ACW to ensure proper protocols are maintained and residents can enjoy the residency safely!

https://adirondackcenterforwriting.submittable.com/submit

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PROSE RESIDENCY

Mineral School

DEADLINE: July 15, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $25

INFO: Mineral School is an artists residency located in a former 1947 elementary school near Mt. Rainier, in Mineral, Washington. During 2021, we're hosting accepted 2020 writing and visual artist residents who could not attend in 2020 due to our closure during the pandemic, as well as up to 8 additional writing residents. We have openings for poetry and prose writers during three two-week residency sessions, providing accepted applicants with space and time to create new work without the interruptions of normal life and with the bonus of healthy meals prepared by culinary volunteers using locally-grown organic produce and eggs where possible. 

Each resident will live in an 800-square foot former classroom that offers peekaboo views of Mineral Lake and Mt. Rainier, and that will double as their writing studio, with desk and chair, lighting, bookcase, and lots of chalkboards. The school building has shared bathrooms with showers. Residents are served all meals daily (plus 24/7 access to a snack fridge and coffee/tea station), and will have the opportunity to share work with the public. Mineral features a fishing lake, boat rentals (or our two free kayaks), some in-town hiking trails, a bar, a B&B, a general store, churches, a post office, and many deer. It's a 25-minute drive to the Ashford/Nisqually entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park.

Visiting authors and artists: During each two-week residency, special guests will visit and present work. Typically, alumni presenters visit and in some cases bring with them a special guest artist they've chosen to introduce to Mineral. Due to continued precautions related to COVID-19. we may host these activities online; this will be decided on a session-by-session basis with residents.

Resident presentations: If they wish, residents can share with one another and the public at each session's "show and tell" held during residency. These presentations are typically held after dinner in our library/multi-purpose room and are casual dessert potlucks. Due to continued precautions related to COVID-19. we may host these activities online; this will be decided on a session-by-session basis with residents.

We are accepting applications from June 1, 2021, through July 15, 2021 (Midnight, PST) for 2021 residencies. Notification will be given at least two months before the residency period for which you've applied. 

2021 RESIDENCY DATES

  • Residency sessions with openings will be held during the following two-week time periods:

  • September 26, 2021 - October 10, 2021

  • October 17, 2021 - October 31, 2021

  • November 7, 2021 - November 21, 2021

PAID RESIDENCY OPTIONS

We're pleased to offer up to eight nominally-priced residencies in 2021.

Two-week residencies for poets and writers cost $425 and include room, board, presentations by guest writer and artists, opportunities for public presentation, and lots of love. Travel is not included; travel from points (bust stations, Amtrak, airports, in-town) between Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA, to Mineral may be arranged for $20-$30/each way. 

GUIDELINES:

Who should apply? If you write prose (fiction, nonfiction, memoir, essay, things that occur in large blocks of text over long series of pages) or any other form of prose, this is where you should apply. Writers at all career stages are encouraged.

Selection: Your work will be evaluated by a panel of prose writers with competence in your genre. Your work is presented anonymously to the readers and they will make choices based on the merit of your artist statement and work sample. Please do NOT include your name on your artist statement or work sample. Your application will be assigned a number once it is completed.

What you will need to prepare before beginning the application process:

Short bio: In one paragraph, how would you describe your education, publication or public readings experience, and any paid or service work that helps further your artistic vision?

Artist Statement: In a one-page (maximum) statement, please discuss how a residency would help you advance your creative work. Also share a short statement about your writing process and/or what life experiences and literary influences have shaped your art and its themes and how you have grown or are growing as a writer. Be yourself. The reviewers want to get a sense of you as an artist and your particular creative process. This will help in making final decisions. For the artist statement you do not include information regarding awards, published work, or identifying or biographical information. This assures that admissions are blind.

Work Sample: Create a work sample of up to 10,000 words (prose) in 12-point font, in a Word Doc, Docx, or PDF format. Work samples can be work-in-progress or already published work -- whatever you feel will make the strongest application. You are welcome to include an introductory note (a paragraph or two) explaining the sample (i.e. -- this is a prologue, this is a memoir excerpt, etc.). Do not include biographical or identifying information in your work sample. Make sure your name is not on any of the work sample pages. Please do not use your name in the title of the file you upload. (If your name is Jane Doe, don't upload janedoe.doc!)

Preferred Residency Dates: Our application lets you choose your preferred residency period. If you can only attend during your preferred residency period, do not designate 2nd or 3rd choice residency periods. If you have a preferred residency period but are willing to attend other sessions in the event your first choice isn't possible, mark 2nd and/or 3rd choices. If all dates are equally fine, tick that box.

https://mineralschool.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Undocumented im/migrant led publishing project

Radical Anthology

DEADLINE: July 16, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

INFO: Too often, narratives around im/migration are told through those who have power.

This multi-media online anthology brings together people pushing against dominant structures, people planting radical ideas, people nurturing resistant communities together in relation, people who eager to critique a country that tells them they don’t belong. Together, we are mapping our intersectional, diasporic stories.

Edited by Keish Kim, angel sutjipto, and Razeen Zaman

ACCEPTING:

  • Creative nonfiction

  • Comics/Illustrations/Memes

  • Digital Collage/Photo-Essays/Photo-journals

  • Fiction (any genre)

  • Manifestos

  • Multimedia work

  • Interview (transcribed) or recorded Oral History (audiofile)

  • Poetry

  • Screen Plays

  • Spoken word poetry (audiofile)

  • Songs (audiofile)

https://www.radicleanthology.com

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FALL 2021 FELLOWSHIP for BIPOC LGBTQ+ writers

The Resort

DEADLINE: July 16, 2021

INFO: The Resort is accepting applications for its Fall 2021 Fellowship for BIPOC LGBTQ+ Writers for the period September 1 - December 31, 2021.

This four month fellowship includes: complimentary membership in our online Cabana Club (featuring online writing sessions, support, and exclusive craft and publishing talks); two in-person gatherings w/guest writers; 1-on-1 phone call with w/Hannah Bae; live publishing q&a and free query letter review by editor Vivian Lee; class scholarships, accountability support, and more.

This fellowship will be awarded to FOUR individual writers who identify as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ and have joined our free online network: community.theresortlic.com

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRdph7MvABuR8GB_Xw2aB-J9YwS4yCh3eImmam4oyN3c29KA/viewform

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2021 Fractured Lit Flash Fiction Prize

Fractured Lit

DEADLINE: July 18, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $20

INFO: Fractured Lit invites writers to submit to the Fractured Lit Flash Fiction Prize. Guest judge K-Ming Chang will choose three winning stories from a shortlist. We're excited to offer the winner of this prize $3000 and publication, while the 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively along with publication.

K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the New York Times Editors’ Choice novel Bestiary (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her short story collection, Gods of Want, is forthcoming from One World in June 2022. More of her work can be found at kmingchang.com.

Fractured Lit is looking for flash fiction that lingers long past the first reading. We're searching for flash that investigates the mysteries of being human, the sorrow, and the joy of connecting to the diverse population around us. We want the stories that explode vertically, the flash that leaves the conventional and the clichéd far behind. Fractured Lit is a flash fiction–centered place for all writers of any background and experience.

GUIDELINES:

  • Your $20 reading fee allows up to two stories of 1,000 words or fewer each per entry—if submitting two stories, please put them both in a SINGLE document

  • We allow multiple submissions—each set of two flash stories should have a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee

  • Flash Fiction only—1,000 word count maximum

  • We only consider unpublished work for contests—we do not review reprints, including self-published work

  • Simultaneous submissions are okay—please notify us and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing

  • All entries will also be considered for publication in Fractured Lit

  • Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable). Please mention any content warnings as necessary to protect our readers!

  • We only read work in English

  • We do not read blind. The judge will read anonymously from the shortlist.

  • We will announce the shortlist within 8-10 weeks of the contest's close. All writers will be notified when results are in.

Some Submittable hot tips: - Please be sure to whitelist/add to contacts so notifications do not get filtered as spam/junk: notifications@email.submittable.com- If you realize you sent the wrong version of your piece: it happens. Please DO NOT withdraw the piece and resubmit. Submittable collects a non-refundable fee each time. Please DO message us from within the submission to request that we open the entry for editing, which will allow you to fix everything from typos in your cover letter to uploading a new draft. The only time we will not allow a change is if the piece is already under review by a reader.

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/194511/2021-fractured-lit-flash-fiction-prize-3000-grand-prize-judged-by-k-ming-chan

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Summer 2021 Voyage First Chapters Contest

Voyage Journal

DEADLINE: July 18, 2021

INFO: Bring on your first chapters! We’re back with another first chapters contest for the summer 2021 season! Voyage wants to see the first chapters of your Young Adult novels! It’s no secret that one of the most difficult challenges in writing a book is getting that first chapter right—and we’re asking you to rise to the occasion. Can you write a first chapter that captivates your audience enough to make them want to keep reading? If the answer is yes, then we want to read your first chapter.

Guest Judge: Sona Charaipotra, Author of Symptoms of a HeartbreakHow Maya Got FierceTiny Pretty Things (now on Netflix!), and the co-founder of Cake Literary

Our guest judge will choose three stories from a shortlist.

  • The 1st Place winner will receive $3,000, publication, and an hour-long consultation with a literary agent.

  • 2nd Place will receive $300 and publication

  • 3rd Place will receive $200 and publication.

  • Finalists will also receive written feedback from a literary agent.

  • Bonus: Every entrant will receive access to a pre-recorded mini workshop.

https://thevoyagejournal.com/submit/

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GIRLS WRITE NOW MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

DEADLINE: July 19, 2021

INFO: Girls Write Now is a dynamic, multi-generational community of writers and leaders. For more than 20 years, our nationally award-winning programs have provided creative, critical and digital writing support, college and career readiness, personalized mentoring, and extensive opportunities for the next generation.

Applications are now open for mentees and mentors.

MENTEES: Girls Write Now mentees are girls or gender expansive individuals in high school, college and beyond. They are native or non-native English speakers with proficient English writing and speaking skills, and passionate about learning and growing as writers, communicators, and professionals. Be a part of our community and work with a dedicated mentor by your side!

  • Writing 360 - You attend a NYC public high school. You’re passionate about learning and growing as a writer. You can to commit to weekly meetings with your mentor and monthly workshops.

  • Writing Works - You are in 11th or 12th grade, college, graduate school, or in between and live in the United States. You want support on your pathway to college & career. You have time to meet monthly with your mentor and attend monthly workshops

MENTORS:

  • Writing 360 - You are at least 23 years of age and able to commute to New York City weekly. You want to support a youth's writing journey You can commit to weekly meetings with your mentee and monthly Saturday Workshops.

  • Writing Works - You are at least 23 years of age and live in the United States. You want to support a young person on their pathway to college & career. You have time to meet monthly with your mentee and attend workshops every other month

https://www.girlswritenow.org/join/enroll/mentee/

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Open Call for Complete Manuscripts

Soft Skull

DEADLINE: July 20, 2021

INFO: Soft Skull Press is accepting unagented submissions of complete manuscripts. We are primarily seeking and strongly encouraging submissions from BIPOC writers and underrepresented voices of any race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class, and physical or mental ability.

Soft Skull Press is a home for projects that dissolve categories and hierarchies, provide an alternative to dominant narratives, and make room for new and unexpected ideas and feelings. We aim to create lasting and transformative relationships with writers, and to continually reimagine how a book can be written, published, and sold. We publish work of adult literary Fiction, Non-fiction, poetry, and hybrid projects.

Submission material will be read and considered by our editorial staff. Soft Skull prioritizes the ethical and respectful care of our writers’ work, as such, authors of accepted submissions retain full copyright license to their work.

To submit, upload your full manuscript and a statement of intent to our Submittable queue. There is no submission fee. In the “cover letter” field, please include:

  • a one-paragraph summary of your project,

  • the total word count,

  • a brief author bio,

  • and your contact information.

GUIDELINES:

  1. Submissions must be full-length, previously unpublished manuscripts; we are not seeking proposals.

  2. Submission material must include a separate-page statement of intent asserting why the author thinks the manuscript is right for Soft Skull's list.

  3. The open submissions period is June 29, 2021 – July 20, 2021.

  4. Please submit only one manuscript.

  5. We are open to simultaneous submissions. However, if your work is accepted elsewhere, we kindly ask that you withdraw your submission.

  6. Due to the volume of submissions we receive during our open periods, we aim to respond within six months of the submission period end date. If you’ve received a confirmation email from Submittable, your work has been received; you may check the submission status at any time by visiting this link [link to user Submittable portal]. Please send your work only if you feel it is ready to be read; we will not be accepting updated versions of the same work once submitted.

https://rb.gy/6lvzeb

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2021 Dancing in the Rain: Fellowship for Children's Literature

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

DEADLINE: July 26, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $35

INFO: ​“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” ~ Vivian Green

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow is offering a fellowship for writers of children’s or young adult (YA) literature. Candidates should be working on a picture book or chapter book that provides inspiration and hope for those struggling with the hardships and challenges that life often metes out.  The successful application will demonstrate insight, honesty, literary merit, and the likelihood of publication. 

The fellowship winner will receive a two-week residency to allow the recipient to focus completely on their work. Each writer’s suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space, and wireless internet. We provide uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner prepared five nights a week and served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for breakfast and lunch. Fellows are given the opportunity to participate in the community outreach of their choice and are provided the chance to be published in eMerge, the online literary magazine of the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow.  

Fellowship applications must be accompanied by a writing sample and a non-refundable $35 application fee. Writers proposing more than one project must submit a separate application and fee for each one. The winner will be announced no later than August 13, 2021. Residency must be completed by December 31, 2022.

https://www.writerscolony.org/fellowships

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Ann Petry Award

Red Hen Press

DEADLINE: July 30, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $0

INFO: 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.

JUDGE: The final judge for 2021 will be Maurice Carlos Ruffin.

PRIZE: The Ann Petry Award will consist of $3000, publication of the awarded manuscript by Red Hen Press, and an opportunity to be in residence for up to four weeks at The Community Library's Ernest and Mary Hemingway House in Ketchum, Idaho. In addition, the opening chapter or story of the awarded manuscript will be published in the Peauxdunque Review.

Please use double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman font. Title only on the cover sheet, with no other identifying information on the manuscript itself. The entry should be a minimum of 150 pages.

https://redhenpress.submittable.com/submit?fun_cid=15820463062973199989

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CALL FOR SUBMISSION: ‘Radical Joy’ COLUMN

Raising Mothers

DEADLINE: July 31, 2021

INFO: Raising Mothers is accepting submissions for our column, Radical Joy. We are not meant to endure motherhood. We are meant to savor it, to enjoy it. We want your essays about experiences and memories that brought laughter and healing. Tell us the moments of radical joy that rock your world and redefine perceptions of parenting and motherhood.

PAYMENT: Honorarium is $10.

https://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/

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OPEN CALL for BIPOC Disabled Creatives for a Digital Zine Anthology

Self_Saboteur

DEADLINE: July 31, 2021

INFO: Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Do you want to discuss topics of race and disability? Then this is the project for you!

Artist and writer @Self_Saboteur is seeking creative submissions from BIPOC folks with disabilities ONLY for a digital zine anthology. Money will be awarded to those selected.

We are accepting visual arts, poems, essays, diary entries, voice recording and music in the following formats:

  • VISUAL ARTS: All images must be jpeg with less then 10 MB

  • WRITTEN WORKS: Must be less than 1000 words, we accept all kinds of works no matter the grammar error. Send in .doc or .docx format

  • VIDEO/AUDIO WORKS: Must be in .mp3/.mp4 format and within 10 mins length.

https://rb.gy/wyt0eh

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Call for Writing on Climate Change

Singapore Unbound

DEADLINE: July 31, 2021

INFO: To draw attention to climate change and its catastrophic consequences, Singapore Unbound's SP Blog is devoting the month of October 2021 to the publication of literary works that speak powerfully to the theme.

We seek poetry, fiction, and essays that imaginatively explore the global crisis in local terms. We are especially interested in less well-known stories located in Asia. In accordance with our mission, we welcome submissions by authors of Asian heritage residing anywhere around the world.

All submissions must abide by a maximum word count of 5000 words. They are to be typed in MSWord and attached in an email to Jee at jkoh@singaporeunbound.org with a short cover letter in the body of the email. The cover letter should include a biographical note of 50-100 words.

We pay USD50 for a short story or essay and USD25 for a poem.

https://singaporeunbound.org/opportunities

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NEW AWARDS FOR BEST UNDERGRADUATE CRITICAL ESSAYS ON SINGAPORE AND OTHER LITERATURE

Singapore Unbound

DEADLINE: Extended to July 31, 2021

INFO: Singapore Unbound, a NYC-based literary non-profit, is pleased to announce three awards of USD250.00 each for the best three undergraduate 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.

Generously funded by Professor Koh Tai Ann (NTU, Singapore), three awards will be given to written works of literary criticism that illuminate their chosen topics for the general reader. The award-winning essays will be published on Singapore Unbound’s SP Blog 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.

Essay topics may include studies of a single author or a single work (for example, a novel, volume of poems, or collection of short stories). In the case of a single work, the essay must go well beyond the ambition of a book review to offer mature reflection within an interesting analytical framework. The topics may also be of a comparative nature, that is, the essays may compare an author/work with another author/work, as long as both works are in English. The second author/work may be non-Singaporean, but at least half of the essay must focus on its Singaporean aspect.

We welcome all critical and theoretical perspectives, but we prefer writing that is graceful, compelling, and accessible.

The awards judge is Professor Koh Tai Ann. Currently Senior Associate at the Centre for Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Professor Koh was formerly Dean, School of Arts, at the National Institute of Education (NIE), an Institute of NTU, among other posts. Before NTU, she taught at the Department of English at the National University of Singapore (NUS), becoming its Deputy Head. At NUS and NTU, she created and taught new courses in Singapore and Southeast Asian writing in English on which she has published extensively. Currently, she spearheads the digital archive Singapore Literature in English: An Annotated Bibliography at https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/singaporeliterature/.

The deadline for submissions is July 12, 2021, and the awards will be announced in September 2021.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION:

  1. The awards are open to all college undergraduates residing anywhere in the world. There is no entry fee.

  2. Your essay must be written in English and be between 6000-8000 words, including bibliography and endnotes. Please provide a 150-200 word abstract at the beginning of the essay. Give your essay a title, number the pages of your manuscript, and provide a word count at the end. Format and citation should follow MLA 8th edition.

  3. Email Jee Leong Koh at jkoh@singaporeunbound.org with a brief cover letter in the body of your email and the essay manuscript attached in MSWord format. The cover letter should include your full name, mailing address, institutional affiliation, and year of graduation. The required information should not appear in your essay manuscript.

  4. Please do not submit your essay manuscript to any other places while it is under consideration with us.

https://singaporeunbound.org/opportunities

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CALL FOR WORK: A Return to Where We Have Never Been Before

Taint Taint Taint Magazine

DEADLINE: July 31, 2021

INFO: Taint Taint Taint is a bi-annual online magazine.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the world in unimaginable ways. While this crisis may be new, our challenges are not. What art, stories, poems, and essays have you created to reflect works of recovery, repair and change? Many people do not want to return to living the same old way. Inequities are rife worldwide. Where are we going as society? Send us your work that reflects this season of change in the world.

GUIDELINES:

  • Fiction, Nonfiction and Essays (5,000 words max.) Poetry, three poems (all within the same document).

  • All work must be in a doc or docx format, Times Roman, 12pt, paginated with author’s full name on every page.

  • Multimedia, art and photography must be done professionally.

COMPENSATION: At the moment, we do not pay contributors. However, we are fundraising to pay contributors in future issues through our non-profit the Chapungu Arts Initiative, send us an email using this link.

https://www.tainttainttaintmagazine.com/submissions-1

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Spring 2021 Story Contest

Narrative Mag

DEADLINE: July 31, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $27 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

INFO: Narrative is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, 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.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

AWARDS:

  • First Prize is $2,500

  • Second Prize is $1,000

  • Third Prize is $500

  • Up to ten finalists will receive $100 each

  • All entries will be considered for publication.

  • All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

JUDGING: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by August 31, 2021. All writers who enter will be notified by email of the judges’ decisions, which will be final. The judges reserve the option to declare ties and to designate and award only as many winners and/or finalists as are appropriate to the quality of contest entries and of work represented in the magazine.

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/spring-2021-story-contest

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FLASH CONTEST

Pigeon Pages

DEADLINE: August 1, 2021

INFO: Pigeon Pages’ Flash Contest will be judged by Dantiel W. Moniz, author of Milk Blood Heat.

PRIZE:

  • The winning author will receive $250 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

  • Honorable mentions will receive $50 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

  • All submissions will be considered for publication.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • We are accepting flash prose submissions via Submittable.

  • Previously unpublished fiction and nonfiction pieces of 850 words or less are eligible for this contest. 

ENTRY FEES:

  • $7 entry fee for one submission of 850 words or less

  • $15 entry fee for up to three submissions of 850 words or less, submitted in one document

Please do not include personal information on your piece, as submissions will be read blind. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know ASAP if the submitted piece is accepted elsewhere. All winners must be over 18 years old and reside in the U.S. in order to claim their cash prize.

https://pigeonpagesnyc.com/flash-contest

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Tusen Takk Artist Residency

Tusen Takk

DEADLINE: August 1, 2021

INFO: The residency period is 3-8 weeks between June 2022 and December 2023

A Residency Includes:

  • An honorarium of $625/week to help cover residency-related costs including travel, shipping, materials, and day-to-day living expenses

  • Housing in the Guesthouse outfitted with two bedrooms, one full bath, two half-baths and a living room/dining room/full kitchen area

  • 24/7 access to the Studios and Foundation Library

  • An opportunity to engage with the community in either a private or public setting

  • Professional documentation of works and process (if desired)

  • Promotion on Tusen Takk’s website and social channels

  • Access to Tusen Takk’s staff

  • An opportunity to engage with Tusen Takk’s staff, network, and be featured on our social channels beyond the residency period

  • The vast majority of the time the artist will be doing their own grocery shopping and cooking their own meals in the Guesthouse’s fully equipped kitchen. Occasional meals will be shared at the Tusen Takk Main House.

  • To enable self-sufficiency, and because Tusen Takk is located outside of public transportation, taxi and delivery service, the artist will have use of a Tusen Takk vehicle during their stay (with a valid driver’s license)

  • Access to the Director Geoffrey’s personal library of over 700 volumes and private collection by appointment

Residency Candidate Qualifications

Tusen Takk welcomes applications from both emerging and established visual artists working in photography, printmaking, sculpture, painting, as well as creative writers and composers who have/are:

  • The ability to produce a consistent body of high-quality work

  • A dedication to their artistic practice with a desire to spend at least 30 hours a week in the studio

  • The self-motivation needed to work alone. Unless the residency is to be a collaboration between two people, the vast majority of the time the resident will be living and working in solitude

  • A willingness to engage audiences

  • An openness to sharing thoughts on their work, their practice, and their processes through Tusen Takk’s online and printed publications

  • Comfortable communicating with Tusen Takk’s English-speaking staff and audiences

  • 21 or older

  • US citizenship or the ability to obtain a US visa (if needed). Most international artists can come on a visitor visa, but certain countries do not participate in the visa waiver program. Since delays can occur, international applicants should be sure to check the visa appointment wait times. Upon offer of a residency, the Tusen Takk Foundation is able to provide letter(s) of invitation.

  • Alumni Tusen Takk artists are welcome to reapply 5 years after their last residency

Please note that we are seeking applications from artists whose practice is based in the disciplines listed above, those best supported by our current facilities. At this time, we are not accepting applications from artists proposing to work primarily in movement, dance, performance, academic research, journalism/critique, or film (editing or production).

Program Requirements

  1. In fulfillment of Tusen Takk’s mission, artists are highly encouraged to engage with the regional arts community when in residence. Since the context and form of this engagement opportunity are very flexible, Tusen Takk welcomes proposals from the artist for programs to be coordinated with staff either before or during the residency period.

  2. Artists should be willing to share their work, processes, and experience with audiences through Tusen Takk’s website, social channels, and printed publications.

  3. In collaboration with the Director, Geoffrey Peckham, artists are asked to donate one work to the Foundation’s collection. This can be worked out in creative ways with writers and music composers. Artists are also encouraged to leave behind a book as a contribution to the Foundation’s library for future residents.

How to Apply

We receive applications via the SlideRoom portal which has detailed application instructions. Applicants will receive a confirmation email once their application has been submitted and received.

Applicants will be asked to provide a(n):

  • Application form (including an artist statement, bio, residency proposal, and the names of 3 references)

  • CV

  • Portfolio of work samples created within the last four years:

    • Maximum 20 images (up to 5MB each) in JPEG format

    • Maximum 3 video submissions (up to 250MB each) or 3 links (YouTube or Vimeo)

    • Maximum 5 audio submissions (up to 30MB each) or 5 links (YouTube, Vimeo, or SoundCloud)

    • Maximum 3 samples of writing in pdf (up to 10 pages each and up to 10MB each)

  • $25 Non-refundable application fee paid through SlideRoom. 100% of this goes towards the cost of administering the open call.

https://www.tusentakk.org/apply

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Costa Short Story Award

Costa Coffee

DEADLINE: August 2, 2021

INFO: The Award is for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words written in English. 

The competition is open to any writer, published or unpublished, aged 18 years or over and resident in the UK or Ireland who submit their stories anonymously via this website.

It's up to the public to read the top three stories shortlisted by the judges and vote for their favourite, with the winner and two runners-up being announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in January.

Key dates for the 2021 awards:

  • Entry opens: 1st July 2021

  • Download and vote: Early December 2021

  • Shortlisted writers revealed: Mid January 2022

  • Winner announced: Tuesday 1st February 2022

https://www.costa.co.uk/behind-the-beans/costa-book-awards/short-story-award

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Granum Foundation Fellowship Prize

Granum Foundation

DEADLINE: August 3, 2021 at 11:59 pm PT

INFO: The Granum Foundation Fellowship 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, memoirs, and translations—or to help launch these works.

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, editing services, or a book tour. 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.

The Granum Foundation is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

  • Prize: $5,000 awarded annually.

  • Up to three finalists may be awarded $500.

A winner and finalists will be announced on November 9, 2021.

At this time, only U.S. residents 18+ are eligible for funding.

https://www.granumfoundation.org/granum-fellows

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Arthropod Anthology: FICTION

Perennial Press

DEADLINE: August 7, 2021

INFO: Do you have a story or poem featuring insects, crustaceans, arachnids, or myriapods? We want to publish it!

We are looking for speculative poetry with monstrous, mythical, or mechanical arthropods for our upcoming Arthropoda anthology!

The call is open to original fiction and reprints, poetry and short fiction up to 45 lines and 7,500 words respectively.

Please submit no more than two short stories. Shunn manuscript format, simultaneous submissions permitted.

Arthropoda will be edited by JW Stebner (of Hexagon Magazine) and published by Perennial Press in mid-to-late 2022!

PAYMENT: All selected poets will be paid a $20 flat rate, and given either a print or PDF contributor copy.

We will not accept submissions that contain any excessive profanity or explicit content. We will not tolerate submissions that support or suggest any form of racism, sexism, or any other kind of discrimination.

About Perennial: Perennial Press archives truths through fiction and poetry. We are committed to highlighting and uplifting voices & perspectives that have traditionally been underrepresented in literature.

About Hexagon: Hexagon is an online magazine created to take our readers to fantastic worlds and to meet incredible characters. We specialize in the weird, the wondrous, and the whimsical!

https://perennialpress.submittable.com/submit


FICTION / NONFICTION -- JUNE 2021

CALL FOR #AWP22 EVENT PROPOSALS

AWP

DEADLINE: June 8, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EST

INFO: In light of the tremendous success of the virtual 2021 AWP Conference & Bookfair, AWP will incorporate a virtual component to #AWP22. In addition to offering our full in-person event schedule in Philadelphia from March 23-26, 2022, we will live-stream several in-person events and offer a selection of prerecorded virtual events. Proposals for both in-person and virtual conference events will be accepted in spring 2021

Event organizers of all #AWP22 events, both in-person and virtual, are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the event proposal guidelines below and the presenter guidelines. If you are planning to propose a virtual event, please also be sure to review the Virtual Conference Eventspage for specific information on how these events will be held.

The AWP conference subcommittee seeks proposals featuring panelists who are diverse in their backgrounds, pursuits, affiliations, and ages. While an institutional affiliation is not required of participants, when appropriate, panels should showcase presenters from a variety of organizations and institutions who are at different stages of their careers. The ideal panel will consist of participants who represent a broad range of perspectives and experiences. The committee also encourages panel participation from graduate and undergraduate students.

All 2022 AWP events must follow the following guidelines:

  • include between two and five participants, including the moderator

  • be seventy-five minutes in length for in-person events or sixty minutes in length for virtual events

  • be correctly categorized

  • include a title, description, and statement of value

AWP membership is not necessary to propose or participate in a conference event.

AWP reserves the right to reject any panel proposal if one or more of its proposed participants fails to meet the guidelines set forth here. 

If your event is accepted, you and your fellow panelists must execute the event as it was described in your proposal. Panelists who fail to execute their accepted panel as it is described in the event proposal submission may forfeit their participation in future conferences.

Consider revising and resending a previously rejected panel. Each year, AWP is unable to accept a number of high-quality panels because of space and resource limitations. Because the composition of the conference subcommittee changes from year to year, we encourage you to resubmit if the panel topic remains relevant.

https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/event_proposals_guidelines

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NONWHITE AND WOMAN: 153 MICRO ESSAYS ON BEING IN THE WORLD

Woodhall Press

DEADLINE: June 10, 2021

INFO: Woodhall Press is seeking well-crafted, true narratives from BIPOC writers who self-identify as women (cis/trans) for their upcoming anthology, Nonwhite and Woman: 153 Micro Essays on Being in the World. Edited by Darien Hsu Gee with Carla Crujido. Publication date: September 2022. Trade print and e-book, bookstore and e-tailer distribution through Independent Publishers Group (IPG).

About the Anthology

Nonwhite and Woman celebrates how women of color live and thrive in the world, and how they make their lives their own. The anthology’s title is from Lucille’s Clifton luminous poem, won’t you celebrate with me, which serves as the anthology’s epigraph. Permission to use the anthology granted by Copper Canyon Press. Read the full poem here. Cover art by Jing Jing Tsong.

What We’re Looking For

How has the color of your skin influenced your life? What did you do to claim yourself and your identity, or how was it challenged? Show us a single moment, a string of vignettes, or literary snapshots of your life. We’re looking for micro essays of 300 words or less; please be sure to title your work. You may submit up to 3 pieces. Previously published work accepted—please indicate when and where the work has appeared and confirm that you hold the rights to reprint the work in our anthology (or arrange for permission from your publisher). Emerging and established authors welcome. 

Examples of micro work can be found here:

Additional Content

The anthology will also include extensive back matter: reading guide, discussion questions, resources.

Current Contributors

Confirmed contributors include Philyaw Deshaw, Kristiana Kahakuawila, Toni Jensen, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, Sadia Hassan, Kimberly Blaeser, Dara Yen Elerath, London Pinkney, Gail Tsukiyama, Anastacia-Renee, Donna Miscolta, Devi Laskar, SJ Sindu, and 100 others.

Author Bio

Your author bio should be 100 words or less and include any previous or planned publications. Feel free to use your personal pronouns and include your ethnic identity/ethnography. You’ll also be invited to share your website and social handles. Please include an author photo along with any photography credit.

Unpublished Submissions

If you learn that your submitted work will be published elsewhere prior to Summer 2022, you can still include it in our anthology provided you notify the journal or magazine where your work will originally appear and retain the rights to reprint the work in our anthology.

Contributor Copies

In lieu of payment, contributors will receive one (1) copy of the book. Contributors outside of the U.S. may have a copy sent to a U.S. address or opt for a digital copy. 

Marketing

We will be marketing the book across multiple channels and invite contributors to be interviewed individually and/or on a panel on the Woodhall Press Publish This! Instagram channel. We issue a press release and submit print and digital galleys to trade newspapers, magazines and websites including Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly.

How to Submit

Please submit your work through our submission portal at https://rb.gy/fohqoy

https://www.woodhallpress.com/nonwhite-and-woman

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Mixed Mag

DEADLINE: June 10, 2021

INFO: Mixed Mag, an online multimedia publication dedicated to promoting creatives of color and celebrating multiethnic/multicultural voices, is accepting articles, think pieces, short stories, reviews and essays between 500-3000 words (sections include ART, FASHION, POLITICS, PROSE, TV/FILM/THEATER, MUSIC, FOOD, HEALTH/SEX/WELLNESS).

Please read specific section requirements below: 

  • POETRY: Submit up to three poems. 

  • PROSE: Submit creative non-fiction, flash fiction or short stories between 500-3000 words.

  • TV, FILM & THEATER: Monologues must be 5 pages max. Plays/screenplays must be between 10-15 page max (this includes plays, films and web series). Short films or web series episodes must be no longer than 15 minutes. 

  • ART: Submit 10 photos/videos max for visual submissions. Please include an artist’s statement.

  • MUSIC: Send us your essays, albums reviews or original music links. Please include links to Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Youtube, etc. as well as a paragraph about your submission. 

  • FOOD: Send us your food stories, recipes, conversations and good eats related to culture or ancestry. Please include photos and if sending a recipe, please include a paragraph explaining what this food means to you and your culture. 

  • FASHION: Submit articles, essays or reviews about clothing, accessories, upcoming designers, sustainable fashion and more. Also submit your own upcoming labels/lines with up to 10 photos/videos max and an artist statement. 

Please send your submissions to submissions@mixedmag.co

https://mixedmag.co/about/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC Queer Femme Writers

Black Femme Collective

DEADLINE: June 13, 2021 at 11:59 pm PT

INFO: Black Femme Collective calls for creative nonfiction submissions for Black Queer Femme Storytellers engaging in the theme WILD.

WILD—adj.

1. (of an animal or plant) living or growing in the natural environment; not domesticated or cultivated.
2. (of a place or region) uninhabited, uncultivated, or inhospitable.
n. a natural state or uncultivated or uninhabited region.
v. to treat (a person or animal) harshly, so that they become untrusting or nervous.

We want your reckless, unapologetic personal stories that focus on the sharp edges of the wild. Be as creative and as lucid with this theme as possible. The stories you are afraid might be too much, too Black, or too queer are the ones we want to read!

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 represents Black Femme Queerness.

GUIDELINES:

PAYMENT: Contributors receive between $150-300 for personal essays

www.BlackFemme.co

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LITUP WRITER’S FELLOWSHIP

Reese's Book Club

DEADLINE: Extended to June 13, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $0

INFO: Powered by The Readership, LitUp will provide five emerging writers with an all-expenses-paid retreat, a three-month mentorship with a published author, and marketing support from Reese’s Book Club. LitUp is a journey and we’re with you every step of the way.

LitUp by Reese’s Book Club is a writers fellowship for unpublished, underrepresented women. We’re set to discover, mentor, and champion first-time authors, so more diverse stories are seen, heard, and read by all.

ELIGIBILITY: Unagented, unpublished women writers who identify as diverse. Full eligibility details can be found here

APPLICATION MATERIALS: One completed fiction manuscript with a woman at the center of its story; a 750-word synopsis of your manuscript, and series of short essays

THE ROADMAP:

  • Hone Your Craft at Our Writer's Retreat: Selected fellows will participate in an all-expenses-paid writer's retreat to develop their manuscript and learn about the business side of publishing.

  • Get Mentored and Build a Support Network: Post retreat, fellows are matched with a published author for a three-month mentorship to get their book ready for market.

  • Join the Reese’s Book Club Family: Through it all, we stand by you every step of the way, including a first-look window with top agents and a book launch marketing commitment from us and our partners.

What do I need to apply? What type of manuscripts are you accepting? Is there an application fee?

Each applicant must submit:

  • An original adult or young adult fiction manuscript featuring a woman at the center of the story that is completed and written in English. We accept genre fiction but are currently not accepting non-fiction, picture books, middle grade, or co-written manuscripts. We will not accept plagiarism or copyright infringement.

    • All manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins. Please number your pages.

    • Your name should not appear anywhere within the manuscript or file name.

  • A brief, 750-words or less synopsis of your work

  • Responses to a series of short essay questions within the application

There is no application fee. We neither require nor accept letters of recommendation.

Candidates may only submit one application and one manuscript. Once submitted, applications cannot be updated. Late applications will not be accepted.

https://reesesbookclub.com/litup

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BIPOC Agent Mentorship Program

Transatlantic Agency

DEADLINE: N/A

INFO: The Transatlantic BIPOC Agent Mentorship Program was initiated by BIPOC agents. The program is run by BIPOC Agents and aims to remove the initial barrier of entry into the job. This program is a bridge to the potential internship program at Transatlantic Agency and aims to offer an alternate route for those keen on becoming a literary agent. This mostly self-paced program will give would-be agents a look into the role while indirectly providing industry/role transparency, resources, and an initial network to build upon. The program will be an opportunity to learn without the pressure to perform.

The program is meant to prioritize tentative agents who have not taken the publishing school route, or do not have the option to do so. This can be used to fast-track this person into a potential internship within Transatlantic should this next step suit both parties, or be a stepping stone in the mentee’s incipient career in publishing.

Is this program for you? You are a BIPOC individual who: 

  • is interested in the world of agenting but not sure what the role entails

  • has some experience in publishing or a similar field and wants to utilize their existing skills if they transfer into agenting, or

  • is looking to make a career change and has been interested in the publishing industry or has been trying to break into the industry

  • has a keen editorial eye

  • is a relationships person

  • is incredibly organized

  • LOVES books

At the end of the mentorship the successful mentee will receive: 

  • A reference letter

  • Job search support

  • Introductions to contacts in publishing

  • Assistance building or restructuring your CV

It is our hope that this program, although intentionally small to start, will grow into something bigger. We believe that discussion and conversation can foster empowering transformations in a way not possible or comparable to traditional education. We also believe that making mistakes is inevitable and that through curated support we can explore solution-based community building in our intimate group. And it is through this program that we hope to not only call in a stellar group of people who may not otherwise find their way to agenting, but that we support them and help to create healthy, sustainable positions for BIPOC folks in publishing for a long time.

The program was initiated by Chelene Knight and Amanda Orozco with the support of the entire Transatlantic team.  We would like to give a special thanks to our committee: Fiona Kenshole, Andrea Cascardi, Carolyn Forde, and Marilyn Biderman.

https://www.transatlanticagency.com/bipoc-mentorship-program/

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Teacher & Librarian Scholarships

Key West Literary Seminar

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: Key West Literary Seminar will award up to twenty full scholarships to teachers and librarians who wish to attend our annual Seminar.

We seek a diverse group of individuals who are making a positive impact upon readers in their communities, and we hope that participation in our literary community will inspire fresh engagement with literature in schools and libraries around the country.

Scholarship recipients will gain exposure to contemporary authors and texts, expand their professional network of teachers, librarians, and writers, and be inspired to bring new ideas to the institutions and communities they serve. Through tours of the Key West Public Library and its archives and visits to historical sites, they will engage with the local resources and history that animate the KWLS mission.

Scholarship packages include a full waiver of the Seminar registration fee of $675 and need-based financial assistance to offset lodging costs. Upon request, we will also provide a letter to your employer encouraging financial support for your travel expenses.

Priority will be given to those who have not previously received KWLS support.

HOW TO APPLY:

Applicants must complete a scholarship application via Submittable. Requirements are listed below:

1. Request Letter:

Please tell us about your work as a teacher or librarian in 750 words or less. A successful request letter will describe your institution, the community it serves, and your role within it; address the theme and/or speakers for the upcoming Seminar; and explain how you hope your attendance at the Seminar will benefit you and your community. Please also tell us something about your financial need, and whether or not you would be able to attend KWLS without our support.

2. Letter of Recommendation:

One letter of recommendation is required. It may be written by a supervisor, former student, patron, or peer. An effective letter will describe your strengths as a teacher or librarian and the impact you have made on others in your community and/or institution.

In the application form, you will be asked to provide an email address for your recommender. Once you submit the application, they will receive an email from Submittable with a link to upload the recommendation letter. We suggest that you contact your recommender before you submit your application and alert them to expect this email.

Applications without a letter of recommendation will not be considered. It is your responsibility to follow up with your recommender to make sure the letter has been sent.

3. References:

Please provide the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of two additional persons who are familiar with you and your work.

http://www.kwls.org/awards/teachers-and-librarians/

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2021 Autumn House Fiction Contest

Autumn House

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: For the 2021 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Deesha Philyaw. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $2,500. 

  • The winner will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book

  • All finalists will be considered for publication

  • Fiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 double-spaced pages (50,000- 75,000 words)

  • The reading fee for the Fiction Contest is $30 (We will waive the submission fee for anyone undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Please reach out, and we’ll step you through the submission process)

  • All fiction sub-genres (short stories, short-shorts, novellas, or novels) or any combination of sub-genres are eligible

  • Submission should be previously unpublished

  • Do not include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript

  • You may include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable

  • Do not include an acknowledgments page in the manuscript

  • Feel free to include a table of contents

  • Simultaneous submissions permitted

  • Friends, family members, and former students of judges or Autumn House editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.

  • Former employees of Autumn House, including interns, may not submit to the contest.

https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/fiction/

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Publishing Fellowship

Grove Atlantic, Inc.

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: Grove Atlantic, Inc. is a medium-sized trade book publisher consisting of four imprints, Grove Press, Atlantic Monthly Press, Black Cat, and Roxane Gay Books. We publish literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and translations.

We are currently seeking an editorial fellow interested in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the inner workings of an independent publishing house and developing a solid foundation for a career in publishing. The fellow’s responsibilities will be split between projects and mentorship in the editorial, marketing, publicity, and rights departments of Grove Atlantic, and directly supporting Roxane Gay Books, a new imprint at Grove Atlantic, in building an exciting list of fiction and nonfiction.

This is a one-year fellowship that will allow the fellow to gain experience in publishing with an emphasis on creating access for candidates from backgrounds underrepresented in publishing.

Duties for the new imprint will include administrative work, reading and evaluating submissions, and maintaining a submission log, author correspondence, and other editorial support. Projects while rotating through the Grove departments may include the above as well as writing tip sheets, catalog copy, pitch letters, buzz letters and lists, and other in-house and outward-facing publishing assets; assisting with bookseller outreach and sales reporting; light work with contracts, royalty statements, and databases; other administrative work. It will offer the opportunity to observe weekly departmental meetings in addition to sales launch and other all-staff meetings.

We are looking for someone who loves reading and writing, has a good editorial eye or is interested in developing one, is independent but also willing to work collaboratively, a good communicator, and organized. You do not need prior experience or an academic degree.

Fellows will receive a $25,000 stipend, for 24 hours a week of work, paid biweekly. The fellow is also eligible for health and dental benefits and paid time off. Candidates can be based anywhere in the United States and work remotely for now, though we do hope to be in person again in the coming months.

You can apply with a resume, cover letter, and list of three titles you loved that were published in the past year, to fellowship@groveatlantic.com through June 15.

https://groveatlantic.com/careers/

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2021 Autumn House Nonfiction Contest

Autumn House

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: For the 2021 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Steve Almond. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $2,500. 

  • The winner will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book

  • All finalists will be considered for publication

  • Nonfiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 double-spaced pages (50,000-75,000 words)

  • The reading fee for the Nonfiction Contest is $30 (We will waive the submission fee for anyone undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Please reach out, and we’ll step you through the submission process)

  • All nonfiction subjects (including personal essays, memoirs, travel writing, historical narratives, nature writing) or any combination of subjects are eligible

  • Submission should be previously unpublished

  • Do not include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript; if your name appears within the body of the text, please omit it or black it out

  • You may include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable

  • Do not include an acknowledgments page in the manuscript

  • Feel free to include a table of contents

  • Simultaneous submissions permitted

  • Friends, family members, and former students of judges or Autumn House editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.

  • Former employees of Autumn House, including interns, may not submit to the contest.

https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/nonfiction/

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2021 Narrative Prize

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: THE $4,000 NARRATIVE PRIZE is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative.

The prize is announced each September and is given to the best work published each year in Narrative by a new or emerging writer, as judged by the magazine’s editors. In some years, the prize may be divided between winners, when more than one work merits the award.

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/great-stories/narrative-prize?uid=103566&m=d1d4332c2c95162ffa168aed50ddf89e&d=1620073801m

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Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction

Philadelphia Stories

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: This is an annual national short fiction contest that features a first place $2,500 cash award and invitation to an awards dinner on the campus of Rosemont College; a second place cash prize of $750; and a third place cash prize of $500. The winner stories will be published in the print issue of Fall of Philadelphia Stories. The Marguerite McGlinn Prize for Fiction is made possible by the generous support of the McGlinn and Hansma families.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • Previously unpublished works of fiction up to 8,000 words. Please note, “published” includes any work published in print or online, including online magazines, blogs, public social media sites, etc.

  • Multiple submissions will be accepted for the contest only. Simultaneous submissions are also accepted, however, we must be notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

  • Only authors currently residing in the United States are eligible.

  • Submissions will only be accepted via the website. Please email contest@philadelphiastories.org if you are having any trouble with your submission.

  • There is a $15 reading fee for each story submitted.

  • All entrants will receive a complimentary copy of the Philadelphia Stories contest issue.

2021 JUDGE:

Rion Amilcar Scott is the author of the story collections The World Doesn’t Require You and Insurrections, which was awarded the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Hillsdale Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 and Crab Orchard Review, among others. He was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and earned an MFA from George Mason University where he won the Mary Roberts Rinehart award, a Completion Fellowship, and an Alumni Exemplar Award.

https://philadelphiastories.org/fiction-contest/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

CERASUS Magazine

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: Please note, we are not a vanity publisher, so will never ask you for money. Nor do we guarantee publication, unless we are confident you can supply a full, complete work of publishable quality. You must be prepared to accept constructive criticism and to take editorial advice.

We enjoy writing and art that demonstrate craft, wit and intelligence and which possess muscle. Don’t tell us how wonderful love is, or about the pretty flowers and butterflies. Equally, don’t burden us with your existential angst. Tell us something we don’t already know. Or, at least, tell us in a way we haven’t heard before.

By submitting to us, you are declaring that you are the sole author of your work to which you hold full rights. As well as plagiarism, we also do not tolerate gratuitous sex, violence, discriminatory representations of BAME and LBQT+ communities and slanderous allegations.

We are not averse to simultaneous submissions. (Let’s be honest, everybody still does it regardless.) But please extend us the basic courtesy of letting us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere.

  • Poetry can be anything between a 1 line epithet and a sequence of epic verse (short of the Iliad) and everything between. Send us one brilliant poem, or a clutch to choose from, or a short themed collection.

  • Fiction can be micro or flash, a short story, a novella strong enough to be serialised, or a standalone extract from a novel.

  • Prose can be (auto)biography, a review, or an article, tutorial or ‘think piece’ of interest to writers.

  • Submit as a Word compatible document with single spaced lines, titles in bold and a clear page break between items. Preferred fonts are Verdana 12pt for titles and Georgia 10pt for body text. 

  • Artwork can be full colour, greyscale and black & white graphics, illustrations, photographs, cartoons and comic strips that will fit within a US Letter sized page (8.5”X11”).

  • Submit as a print quality jpeg of at least 300dpi.

No covering details required. We take no account of your personal history or previous publications. All we are interested in is your submission. So please check it carefully before sending, as basic errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and layout may spoil your chance of being published.

We aim to reply to all submissions in a timely manner. Initially, we will let you know if you have been accepted, shortlisted, longlisted or declined, before making our final decisions after each quarter’s deadline.

We may accept your submission, subject to certain edit suggestions, which are open to further negotiation and which you can refuse.

If accepted, you grant us permission to feature your material in CERASUS Magazine and to sell it in one featured edition throughout the world. You still retain full rights to your work.

At the moment, we have no budget for cash payments. Each contributor will receive a complimentary hard copy and PDF of the Magazine in which they are featured.

Publication months are April, July, October and January. Our rolling submission deadlines close on 15th March, 15th June, 15th September and 15th December.

All submissions and enquiries should be sent to: cerasusmag@gmail.com

https://cerasusmagazine.com/submissions/

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Call for submissions: Whose harvest? Decolonizing the food justice movement

The Monitor

DEADLINE: June 15, 2021

INFO: The Monitor (based in Ottawa) is accepting pitches that explore the following questions (and more). How do we decolonize the food justice movement? How can we liberate nutrition programs from white frameworks that put shame on entire communities’ pantries and ways of eating? How do we create food and nutrition programming that is restorative for traumatized, marginalized and underserved communities and doesn’t centre on white, cis and thin bodies as leaders, experts and goals for participants to strive towards?

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

We are looking for feature articles, investigative journalism, illustrations, and book reviews, that are rooted in an intersectional analysis between 700-1,500 words. Your writing style should be accessible (not academic or theoretical).

The Monitor is committed to maintaining gender equity in every issue and is actively working to promote work from Black, Indigenous, and racialized writers. We prioritize publishing authors who are 2SLGBTQQIA+, disabled, fat, poor, and/or otherwise marginalized. 

HOW TO PITCH:

Your pitch should include what topic you want to cover, how you are approaching it (style, content) and your estimated word count. Please also include your relevant experience and background in writing about this topic. Pitches should be sent to monitor@policyalternatives.ca.

If you have not written for the Monitor before, please provide a link to a short writing sample.

If your pitch is accepted, first drafts are due July 16, 2021, 2021.  We will work with you through the editing process. We reserve the right to edit your work.

We aim to reply to every pitch–including those that we can’t accommodate right now. However, because of time constraints, we may not be able to respond to everyone. If you don’t hear back within two weeks of the pitch deadline, please assume that we were unable to accept your pitch.

We encourage you to keep reading the Monitor and pitch us again in the future!

https://monitormag.ca/articles/call-for-submissions-whose-harvest-decolonizing-the-food-justice-movement

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Letras Boricuas 2021 Fellowship

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation / The Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund

DEADLINE: June 20, 2021

INFO: The Letras Boricuas Fellowship is a new opportunity sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund, which will provide thirty writers — fifteen selected in 2021 and fifteen selected in 2022 — $25,000 each. Recipients will also participate in a gathering of all thirty Fellows to be hosted in San Juan, tentatively scheduled for April 2023.

To be eligible for consideration, writers must be 21 years or older at the time of application, be a current resident of Puerto Rico or the United States, and of Puerto Rican heritage. Writers must work in poetry (including spoken word), fiction, creative nonfiction (e.g. memoir, personal essays, and related forms) and/or children’s literature, and demonstrate a history of publication. Only individual writers may apply.

While fellowship award funds are unrestricted, the hope is to help writers in Puerto Rico and across the diaspora, from emerging to established, pursue their writing, amplify their work to a broader audience, and create work that celebrates Puerto Rican life and culture. It is also the aim that each Fellowship cohort will include writers of different genres and writers who live in Puerto Rico, as well Puerto Ricans who may live in the United States. Applications will be accepted in Spanish and/or English.

The Letras Boricuas Fellowship will have two cohorts. The first will be announced in fall 2021 with the fellowship running from January to December 2022. The second cohort will be announced in fall 2022 with the fellowship running from January to December 2023.

https://flamboyanfoundation.org/letras-boricuas/

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Artists in Residence Program

Caldera

DEADLINE: June 25, 2021

INFO: At Caldera, we believe in the power of creativity. Caldera is a catalyst for the transformation of youth through innovative, year round art and environmental programs. 

Through our Artists in Residence Program, Caldera supports artists, creatives, and cultural workers to build skills, relationships, and projects that inspire growth, combat oppression, and activate change. Residents draw inspiration from the residency community and the natural world surrounding our Arts Center in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Sisters.

Residencies are open to national and international artists, creatives and cultural workers in any discipline. Artists at any stage of their careers, who are not current students, are eligible to apply. Residencies are also available for parent artists who would like to bring their children.

Residents will receive private lodging, studio, and artist stipend. Please visit our website for full program overview and guidelines.

2022 Residency Dates

  • January 8 - February 1  -- 3.5 weeks

  • January 18 - February 1 -- 2 weeks

  • February 5 - March 1 -- 3.5 weeks

  • February 15 - March 1 -- 2 weeks

  • March 5 - 29 -- 3.5 weeks

  • March 15 - 29  -- 2 weeks


If you have questions about the residency or application, please contact Air@CalderaArts.org

Statement of Equity & Inclusion

We recognize that Caldera's communities face many societal inequities. We recognize the history and ongoing impacts of racism in our country, state, and institutions. We acknowledge that we will always have room to grow as an organization and as individuals in our understanding of racism and oppression.

We commit to continually examining our role in both perpetuating and combating institutional racism. We also commit to ongoing alignment of our policies and practices to advance racial equity, inclusion, and freedom of expression.

We commit to integrating equity and inclusion into all areas of our work to better serve our mission; when we do, we get closer to the world that we want for our youth.

At Caldera, we are striving towards racial equity and inclusion that we define as when the power and resources of the organization are held by the communities we serve, and we create opportunities for all to lead and thrive.

We celebrate the identities of all involved in Caldera, past and present. We are an inclusive creative community that welcomes marginalized voices and traditionally excluded people and groups.

Caldera encourages applicants of all backgrounds and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, size, disability, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, criminal background, religious background, marital status, or military status.

https://caldera.submittable.com/submit?fbclid=IwAR2M934-gmU5taomiEiaZ6TriIJBR5FaiXcj0frpN4-LoI9er3JlMWs3axY

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3rd annual SUMMER WRITING COMPETITION

sinθ Magazine

DEADLINE: June 27, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $0

INFO: sinθ Magazine, an international print creative arts magazine that connects and empowers members of the Sino diaspora, is bringing back the summer writing competition for its third iteration.

They’re accepting entries for both fiction (prose) and poetry and invite you to reflect on the following three prompts as inspiration for your pieces. You may reflect on the prompts separately or as a collective, drawing themes and ideas that resonate with you. Entries must engage with the prompt(s), but can do so either directly or indirectly. You may only submit one entry per category, so send us your best work!

PROMPTS:

Set your written piece on a horizon.

“黑夜给了我黑色的眼睛,我却用它寻找光明。”–故城,‘一代人’(1979

“The night gave me black eyes, but I used them to search for the light.” –Gu Cheng, ‘A Generation’ (1979)

“We are wiped of age first thing in the morning

sleep is a light wash / and don’t we know it

we are wrung and wrung”

– Jenny Xie, ‘Letters to Du Fu’ (2017)


JUDGES: RF Kuang (author of THE POPPY WARS trilogy) is announced as this year’s Fiction judge and Chen Chen (author of National Book Award-longlisted WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE A LIST OF FURTHER POSSIBILITIES) as this year’s Poetry judge.

PRIZE: First place in each category will receive a $50 USD cash prize.

HOW TO ENTER:

Email sinethetamag@gmail.com with “Writing Competition - NAME - CATEGORY” as the subject line. Attach your submission as a PDF or Word document. Do not include your name on the document, as entries will be judged anonymously. If you are entering a poetry and a prose piece, please submit each piece separately via email.

Please include the following completed form with your submission in the body of your email:

  • Name:

  • Chinese name (if available):

  • Short third-person bio (less than 80 words):

  • If poetry - line count:

  • If prose - word count:

  • Do you identify as a member of the Sino diaspora?: Yes/No (If the answer is no, please do not submit.)

  • Do you confirm that the submitted work is entirely your own, and that all quotes have been appropriately attributed?: Yes/No (If the answer is no, please do not submit.)

https://sinetheta.net/contest2021.html

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2021 Celebrate! Maya Project: A Young Writer's Fellowship on Social Justice

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

DEADLINE: June 28, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $35

INFO: This fellowship invites young writers, ages 18 to 25, to explore social justice issues including racial discrimination, women’s rights, and/or educational disparity. The work may be in any literary genre: fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, or a combination. The successful application will demonstrate insight, honesty, literary merit, and the likelihood of publication.

Two fellowships will be awarded. One will be unrestricted. The other will be awarded to a young writer from the Arkansas Southern Delta region.  Fellowship winners receive a two-week residency to focus completely on their work.  Writers may stay in the Maya Angelou Suite at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. 

Each writer’s suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space, and wireless internet. Fellowship recipients are provided with uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner prepared five nights a week and served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for breakfast and lunch. Fellows are given the opportunity to participate in the community outreach of their choice and are provided the chance to be published in eMerge, the online literary magazine of the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow.  

Fellowship applications must be accompanied by a writing sample and a non-refundable $35 application fee. Writers proposing more than one project must submit a separate application and fee for each one.

The winner will be announced no later than July 16, 2021. Residency must be completed by December 31, 2022.

https://form.jotform.com/210944500959964

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OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: A PANDEMY COOKBOOK

Saalt Press

DEADLINE: June 29, 2021

INFO: The core of this book is about processing our relationships to food and how our minds and bodies can hold on to trauma. Many of us have been taught to think that food is something to be locked up and rationed, pleasure is something to be earned, and these fleshy vessels to be weighed, speculated, and regulated.

I’m hoping that with this book, we can offer a place of quiet to unpack all that.

For me personally, this year has shifted a lot in terms of how I’ve had to relearn to respect my body. Any weight gained or lost during these months has forced me to recalibrate not only the language I use to describe this flesh, but also reclaim my pleasure, my gratitude, and my presentness from those who wish I hate myself. This year has also shown me that there are many small and powerful ways we can show up and support our communities, through food drives, community fridges, and meal distributions, to do our best to make sure we all eat.

For this project I’m asking for a contribution of one recipe. I want to know what is something you’ve consumed over this past year that has tickled your palate and nourished your spirit? This can be a meal, a dessert, a drink, a snack—don’t hold back.

With a final submission date of June 29th, prospective dimensions are as follows:

~ name of dish, ingredients list
~ 1 recipe (in Fahrenheit please, I am but a lowly American)
~ 1 or 2 images of the food/ingredients** (if this is something you're not comfortable with not a problem but it would definitely be appreciated!)
~ If you’re so inclined please include 100-700 word response to the prompt: How has the pandemic affected your relationship with food?
~ contributor bio (2-4 sentences) including any social media handles and/or websites you want to plug

This is a completely self-funded endeavor, with proceeds going back into printing and shipping, but I'm committed to each published contributor receiving a complimentary copy of the book.

https://www.saaltpress.com/open-call-pandemy-cookbook

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2022 BARD FICTION PRIZE

Bard College

DEADLINE: June 30, 2021

INFO: The Bard Fiction Prize is awarded to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application.

In addition to a $30,000 cash award, the winner receives an appointment as writer in residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation that he or she teach traditional courses. The recipient gives at least one public lecture and meets informally with students.

To apply, candidates should write a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard and submit a CV, along with three copies of the published book they feel best represents their work. No manuscripts will be accepted.

For information about the Bard Fiction Prize, call 845-758-7087, send an e-mail to bfp@bard.edu, or visit bard.edu/bfp. Applicants may also request information by writing to: Bard Fiction Prize, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000.

https://www.bard.edu/bfp/

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Fall 2021 Editorial Residency

The Seventh Wave

DEADLINE: June 30, 2021

INFO: The Seventh Wave is interested in building community for and with individuals who come from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to dig deeper into the hard conversations that impact how we view our lives, our environments, and our relationships to one another. We invite writers, artists, activists, and creators to take part in a global conversation that examines the complexities of our deep-seated narratives.

Our Editorial Residency is a first of its kind: a five-month, $500-grant, 7-session structured experience. We have taken our five years of experience in hosting physical residencies and translated that into a virtual, asynchronous opportunity. We are hopeful that our residents will find rest, inspiration, and urgency from our sessions, conversations, and workshops. While the central thread of this experience is our 7 working sessions, the experience will center around two workshops, with the goal of exposing our residents to a variety of styles and formats, each of which foster honest dialogue while maintaining a comfortable environment for all participants. More info below on the structure and outcome of the program:

Publication: publishing a piece in Issue 14. At the time of your application, you do not need to have written this piece, but you do need to specify what piece you would be working toward, and how you envision it speaking to our topic of “Economies of Harm.” Once accepted, each resident will have approximately 8 weeks to create or finesse their piece before workshopping it with their cohort. They will then have one month to polish up the piece for publication.

Seven Gatherings: partaking in 7 casual, virtual gatherings sprinkled throughout Issue 14 (August to December). These virtual Zoom gatherings will be dinners, afternoon coffee sessions, or morning meetings, and they average two hours in length. We will work with our cohort to determine the most conducive format for these restful conversations.

Workshop: Two of the seven sessions will be workshop sessions, where we focus on two of our residents. For those workshop sessions, TSW offers each resident $40 for takeout, so that we can do our small part in “cooking” for our residents while also supporting their favorite local restaurants. The other sessions will be topical, so discussing things like craft or process, but also practical, tackling topics like the freelance life, being a teaching artist, applying for grants, etc. The whole goal of our residency programs is to create a space and place for dialogue, collaboration, and exchange.

The Collective Journal: for our inaugural 2020 Editorial Residency, we created what we called “The Collective Journal,” which is an uncurated, collaborative space for our residents to use as as a diary, an archive, a record, a timeline, a prompt, a blank space, or an opportunity to connect with each other outside the organized space of our sessions together.

Why $500 for each resident? On average, overhead for each of our bi-coastal residencies is $2,000. Our residencies are free to attend, but residents do have to cover their own travel to and from. Normally, each resident/contributor receives $100 for publication. Given this residency has no operational costs, and that many artist and creative communities have been hit hard by COVID-19, we have decided to provide this stipend, which we feel represents an actionable amount for a creative who is in need of financial support and working on a project or manuscript.

https://theseventhwave.co/editorial-residency/

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Flash Fiction Anthology for Native American Writers

Hairstreak Butterfly Review

DEADLINE: June 30, 2021

INFO: Hairstreak Butterfly Review, a Colorado College literary journal, welcomes submissions for an anthology celebrating Native American writers.

  • Submit up to three fiction works (1,500 words each).

  • In your cover letter, please include your tribal affiliation. 

  • We are accepting flash fiction works in all genres and styles. Previously published works welcome. 

Ahéhee',

Natanya Ann Pulley (editor)

in collaboration with the University of New Mexico Press.

---

Natanya Ann Pulley

Natanya Ann Pulley is a Diné writer and her clans through her mother are Kinyaa’áani (Towering House People) and Táchii’nii (Red Running into Water People). She’s published in Waxwing, MonkeyBicycle, SplitLip, and The Offing (among others). Natanya is the founding editor of Hairstreak Butterfly Review and teaches texts by Native American writers, Fiction Writing, and Experimental Forms at Colorado College. Her debut story collection With Teeth was published by New Rivers Press (Oct. 2019) and her writing can be found at natanyapulley.com.

https://hairstreakbutterflyreview.submittable.com/submit/1976e82e-9250-4e3c-b79a-d729054838d4/flash-fiction-anthology-for-native-american-writers

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Call for submissions

FeelsZine

Deadline: June 30, 2021

INFO: We are currently accepting submissions for Issue 15: Falling out of Love (September 2021).

There is a complicated middle between love and love lost -- the process we go through and emotions we feel as we fall out of love. How do we navigate the messiness of changing feelings in a world that villainizes the one doing the leaving? How do we express ourselves about romantic partners, family, friends, places, and identities that are no longer serving us? How does it feel when we finally say goodbye? In Issue 15, we explore the ambivalence, the hurt, the strength, and the transformation that comes with desenamorarse -- falling out of love.

*We are looking for submissions beyond romantic love as this issue is not centred on one type of love*

We accept:

  • Writing: poetry, personal essays, fictional stories, interview proposals.

  • Visual Art: photography, illustration, art, typography.

Have an idea for a submission not listed above? Send us an email with your proposal, we’re eager to read it.

Before submitting, please read our COMMUNITY GUIDELINES.

We welcome (and encourage) people of all diverse experiences, abilities and communities to submit their work. Your voice is important, and we would like to support it. The more voices we hear, the more we can learn from one another.

Please keep up to date with the current deadlines and mission statements for upcoming issues *including if the issue is being printed in full colour or risograph* by following us on Instagram & Facebook

Submission Guidelines

1. Please title your email submissions using the following: "FEELS Submission - Issue ___ - [Your name as it should appear in the issue if accepted] - Title of Submission"

2. If submitting a collection of works, please submit all in one email with the name of the collection as the title.

3. If submitting multiple separate works for the same issue, please submit each individually.

4. Art submissions: FEELS is 7.5" x 9.5" with a 0.125" bleed. Please be advised that we will ask you to recolour your artwork as we print in risograph.

5. Longform written submissions: the maximum word count for submissions is 1200 words. Please submit as a word document or using Google Docs. 

6. Please indicate in the body of your email the country you are submitting from, as we publish a majority Canadian content as a Canadian publication, but do include global contributors as well. 

Please send all submissions to submittofeels@gmail.com. If you do not receive a reply to your email confirming it has reached us, please follow up with our main email, hellofeelszine@gmail.com.

We kindly request submissions are limited to one or two works due to the high volume of submissions we receive, and please have patience with us in responding to new emails--we promise to reply to each and every one.

https://feelszine.com/pages/submissions

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CRAFT FIRST CHAPTERS CONTEST

CRAFT

DEADLINE: June 30, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $20

INFO: CRAFT First Chapters Contest entries are open to all fiction writers; CRAFT is a market for adult literary fiction

  • Guest Judge: Masie Cochran of Tin House

  • International submissions are welcome

  • Excerpts of book-length fiction only—please submit the first chapter or chapters* of your unpublished novels/novellas, completed or in progress

  • Please do not submit short stories or nonfiction

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 5,000 word count maximum*

  • We review adult literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles

  • Previously unpublished work only—we do NOT review reprints for contests (previously published includes any form of self-publishing, blogs, personal websites, social media, etc.)

  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers, please notify us and withdraw your excerpt if your work is picked up elsewhere

  • We allow multiple submissions—please submit each excerpt as a separate submission accompanied by an entry fee

  • All submissions must be made via Submittable

  • Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable), and a summary of your book-length project

  • We do not require anonymous submissions

  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less Submittable’s fee)

https://www.craftliterary.com/first-chapters-contest/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ‘CONNECTION’ ISSUE

Soul in Space

DEADLINE: June 30, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $0

INFO: The Soul In Space is officially taking submissions for Issue 002, from writers and artists in all genres. This includes but is not limited to; poetry, visual art, fiction, essays, non fiction, music, young adult.

The topic for Issue 002 is Connection. Given everything that has occurred this past year, connection is something that has been a major focus. Whether, that's between partners, coworkers, siblings, parents, pets, the world, or self. We will love to see submissions that reflect on connection, and we encourage artists to experiment!

There is no fee and you can view the guidelines here.

All submissions are asked to be sent to submission@soulin.space and you have until June 30st at midnight.

At this time, submissions are open for Black and Indigenous creators only. This is to spotlight Black and Native creators, who are often looked over.

The Soul In Space aims to create a space that spotlights Black and Indigenous creatives and to spark conversations surrounding Decolonization, Black Liberation, and Indigenous Sovereignty.

https://rb.gy/5ut4lx

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Voodoonauts Summer Workshop 2021

DEADLINE: June 30, 2021

INFO: Voodoonauts is a community space and free online writing workshop where conversations around Afrofuturism as freedom take place. Voodoonauts was founded by four Black writers Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, LP Kindred, and Hugh "H.D" Hunter who saw a shortage of Black storytelling-centered spaces like this in the mainstream SFF community.

Our inaugural workshop was held in July 2020 with 25 Black writers at varying stages of their career. The purpose of this form is to select the second Voodoonauts class.

The 2021 workshop will take place online August 1 to August 3. The deadline to apply is June 30.

Email voodoonauts@gmail.com if you have any questions. Follow us on social media for updates:
Twitter: @voodoonauts
Instagram: @voodoonauts
website: https://www.voodoonauts.com/

OUR FOUNDERS

Shingai Njeri Kagunda is an Afrofuturist freedom dreamer, Swahili sea lover, and Femme Q. Storyteller who hails from Nairobi, Kenya. She is currently pursuing a Literary Arts MFA at Brown University. She has written work that includes both poetry and prose, published or forthcoming in The Elephant, Omenana, and FANTASY magazine. Shingai's short story "Holding Onto Water" was longlisted for the Nommo Awards 2020, & her flash fiction was shortlisted for the Fractured Lit. Prize 2020. She has been selected as a candidate for the Clarion UCSD Class of 2020/2021 (#clarionghostclass).

Yvette Lisa Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean sarungano (storyteller). She is pursuing her MFA at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where she teaches in the Writing Program. She has taught at Clarion West Writers Workshop online and earned her BA at Cornell University. Her work has been supported by fellowships from the Tin House Workshop and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She received the 2017 Cornell University George Harmon Coxe Award for Poetry selected by Sally Wen Mao and was the 2020 fiction winner of Columbia Journal’s Womxn History Month Special Issue. She is the co-founder of the Voodoonauts Summer Workshop for Black SFF writers. Her work has been anthologized in Tor.com and Fiyah Literary Magazine’s Breathe FIYAH anthology and the Voices of African Women Journal. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Columbia Journal, Tor.com, Fiyah Literary Magazine, and Kweli Journal.

Hugh “H.D.” Hunter is a storyteller, teaching artist, and community organizer from Atlanta, Georgia. He’s the author of two self-published books, Futureland (Random House, 2022), and Something Like Right (FSG, 2023). He's also the winner of several indie book awards for multicultural fiction.

Hugh is committed to stories about Black kids and their many expansive worlds. He loves vegan snacks, basketball, and stories that make you cry -- but make you smile after. According to some, he's the world's fastest reviser. Check out Hugh’s work at thesoutherndistrict.com and follow him @hd_tsd.

LP Kindred is a Chicagoan-Angeleno who writes and edits speculative fiction that features Black and/or Queer Lives. LP is a proud instructor for Clarion West and the inaugural Voodoonauts Summer Workshop, as well as BTS for FiyahCon/Ignyte Awards. When Kindred is not writing and supporting writers, he can be found singing, eating good food, pretending to be fancy, watching bad TV, and lifting heavy objects. He is or will be an alum of Hurston-Wright, VONA, and Clarion. His fiction can be found in Fiyah Literary Magazine, LeVar Burton Reads, Speculative City, Prismatica Magazine, Queer Blades, and Escape Pod. #GhostClass

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdp3CcfrEVqPS8et_ev__zpdL0WvtbsTJpDLmIH1MRuR8IRXA/viewform

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2021 FRESH VOICES FELLOWSHIP

Epiphany

DEADLINE: July 1, 2021

INFO: Epiphany is thrilled to announce the Fresh Voices Fellowship, a year-long fellowship supporting one emerging Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other writer of color who does not have an MFA and is not currently enrolled in a degree-granting creative writing program.

Through opening up the possibilities of the literary world to a BIPOC writer who has so far pursued their work outside the traditional establishment—whether due to lack of funds or opportunity, or by choice—the Fresh Voices Fellowship represents one small but significant piece of Epiphany’s commitment to diversity, not just among the background of the writers we publish, but within our organization, among our readers, on our editorial team, and on our Board. Because diversity does not just mean a range of skin tones, we are committed to engaging, too, with a diversity of expression—in communication, storytelling, language, education, and more—for in so doing, we hope to expand our editorial horizons, realign our expectations of what literature is and has been, and meet the voices and readers of the future.

It is our hope that our first Fresh Voices Fellow will walk away from the yearlong program with: new, hospitable contacts in the literary world; a demystified and holistic understanding of the publication process and operations of a small nonprofit literary journal; and a sense of empowerment, with which they will feel invigorated to participate in their writing life however they may choose. 

We are also offering everyone who applies to the Fresh Voices Fellowship a free digital subscription to Epiphany. If you apply for the fellowship, the code for a free digital subscription will be included in our initial response letter.

As the program is in its first year, we expect that it will evolve along with the winning Fellow and their interests. Benefits of the Fellowship include, but need not be limited to:

  • A $2000 stipend

  • Paid publication in the Spring/Summer 2022 print issue of Epiphany

  • Paid online publication at epiphanyzine.com

  • Connection with an appropriate mentor in the creative writing community

  • Additional mentorship provided by Epiphany’s Web Editor Diego Medina and EIC Rachel Lyon

  • Optional attendance at biweekly editorial meetings and, if of interest, a place on the editorial team

  • A crash course in the nitty-gritty of the independent publishing industry

  • A free 6- or 8-week creative writing workshop of the Fellow’s choice at, e.g.: the Sackett Street Writers Workshop, Catapult, the Center for Fiction, etc.

https://epiphanymagazine.submittable.com/submit/195748/2021-fresh-voices-fellowship

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BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers' Prize

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

DEADLINE: July 9, 2021 at 11:59 pm

INFO: The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean American Writers’ Prize invite submissions that speak to issues of land, justice, ancestral knowledge, belonging, ownership and oral histories; stories of pain, joy, grief, hope, return to memory; stories that critique and challenge the creative imagination to re-envision the world in the diaspora and the Caribbean.

WHO MAY SUBMIT:

  • Writers must be of Caribbean heritage or a Caribbean-descended writer whose work has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more

  • Be a resident of the United States/Canada

  • Be over the age of 18 years

  • Be an unpublished writer in the genre

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

  • Stories must be original fiction.

  • Word count: 2,000 words or less.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Stories must be emailed to contact@bklyncbeanlitfest.com with Subject Line: 2021 BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest - Writer's Last Name, First Name

The deadline for submission of stories is July 9th, 2021 at 11:59 pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/caribbean-american-submission

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BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

DEADLINE: July 9, 2021 at 11:59 pm

INFO: The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean invite submissions that speak to issues of land, justice, ancestral knowledge, belonging, ownership and oral histories; stories of pain, joy, grief, hope, return to memory; stories that critique and challenge the creative imagination to re-envision the world in the diaspora and the Caribbean.

WHO MAY SUBMIT:

  • Exclusively open to unpublished and published writers who live in the Caribbean regardless of their publishing status

  • Submitted stories must be original works of fiction

  • Eligible writers must be residents of the Caribbean

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

  • Stories must be original, unpublished fiction

  • Word count: 2,000 words or less.

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Stories must be emailed to contact@bklyncbeanlitfest.com with Subject Line: 2021 BCLF Short Fiction Story Contest - Writer's Last Name, First Name

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/caribbean-submission

FICTION / NONFICTION -- MAY 2021

2021 CRAFT SHORT FICTION PRIZE

CRAFT

DEADLINE: May 2, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $20

INFO: The 2021 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize is now open to unpublished short fiction up to 5,000 words.

Guest judge Kirstin Valdez Quade will select three winning pieces for publication.

GUIDELINES:

  • CRAFT Short Fiction Prize submissions are open to all fiction writers

  • International submissions are welcome

  • Short fiction only

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 5,000 word count maximum

  • We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft

  • Previously unpublished work only—we do NOT review reprints for contests (previously published includes blogs, personal websites, social media, etc.)

  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers, please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is picked up elsewhere

  • We allow multiple submissions—please submit each piece as a separate submission accompanied by an entry fee

  • All entries will also be considered for publication in CRAFT

  • Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable)

  • We do not require anonymous submissions

  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less fees)

AWARDS:

  • Winner: $2,000 award and a subscription to Journal of the Month

  • Runners-up: $500 award and $300 award respectively for the second and third place finalists

  • Publication of the top three stories in CRAFT, each with an introduction by the guest judge

  • Publication of an author's note (craft essay) to accompany the story by each of the writers of the top three entries

  • All entrants will receive an exclusive digital compilation next fall/winter that includes: the winning pieces with the guest judge's introductions and the winners' craft essays; excerpts from the finalist pieces; excerpts from craft essays; and more

https://craft.submittable.com/submit/185317/craft-short-fiction-prize-judge-kirstin-valdez-quade

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THE LEAPFROG GLOBAL FICTION PRIZE CONTEST

Leapfrog Press

DEADLINE: May 3, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $35

INFO: This year we have expanded to two awards for Adult novels, novellas, and short story collections, and Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) novels. Minimum word count: 22,000. Individual stories in a collection may have been published in journals. Books that have been self-published will be considered "unpublished" if fewer than about 200 copies were printed.  

We look for literary fiction and mainstream fiction, including science fiction. Generally we are less interested in strict genre fiction, but if a manuscript is good and grabs our attention, we don't care what the genre is.

The contest is open to all writers from around the globe.

JUDGING: All manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two Leapfrog and/or Can of Worms editors, and those that go to the second round of judging may be read by editors at other small presses as well. 

Manuscripts are reviewed "blind": the judges do not know the authors' names or any other information about them. This is important to our judging process and the integrity of the contest. 

GUIDELINES:

  • Upload your complete manuscript. If you have a synopsis available, we would like to see that as well, but this is optional.

  • Use the title as it appears on the manuscript as the file name (or as much as possible, if the title is very long). If submitting a synopsis, use the manuscript file name and add synopsis to the end, or incorporate the synopsis at the beginning of the manuscript.

  • Please be sure there is no identifying information anywhere in the file (author name or address), including on the title page and in page headers.

  • Minimum length 22,000 words. This category is for adult novels, novellas, and short story collections.

http://leapfrogpress.com/contest.htm

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MVICW POET & AUTHOR FELLOWSHIPS

Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Virtual Summer Writers' Conference

DEADLINE: May 3, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $25

INFO: MVICW is able to provide a number of need and merit-based fellowships (25-40% of registration cost) to attend our Virtual Summer Writers' Conference. Consideration is given to applicants demonstrating economic need. To apply for financial assistance to attend our MVICW Summer Writers' Conference, send a sample of your writing  (3 poems or 10 pages of fiction/CNF) and a letter of interest. 

Letter of Interest (approx. 750 words): Please tell us about who you are as a person and an artist. We'd like to hear about your life, your artistic career, and your creative work. If you have specific needs (financial or creative) which would be met by this award please outline them in your letter.

https://mvicw.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION / NONFICTION

Stellium Literary Magazine

DEADLINE: May 3, 2021

INFO: Stellium is a literary magazine centering Black queer and trans prose writers. We still accept work from other Black and QTPOC writers. We are a bimonthly (every two months) magazine seeking to create our first two digital issues.

The literary scene is flush with racist, homophobic, transphobic, and elitist platforms that often discriminate against QTPOC writing, let alone that of Black queer and trans creators. We've noticed how we're a trend to be recognized after shootings or attacks on our communities. Rarely are we considered "legitimate" unless our creative work can generate donations for publications and institutions that stick to the status quo during the rest of the year.

At Stellium, we're setting our intentions to not just make a statement in the world of prose but to redefine the space entirely. The magazine will publish five pieces each of prose poetryfictionnonfiction, and art within each issue. We seek work from emerging and established writers (with an emphasis on emerging). In due time, we hope to include a number of interviews, translations, reviews, and other works relevant to the QTPOC writing scene on our website, and (eventually) in print! 

We are currently curating pieces for our third and fourth issues. Here are the themes.

  • Issue Three - Home - Where (or who) is home? What does it mean now that you're older? What did you picture when you were young? Are you there now or arriving? How do you protect it, fill it, or renew it? Do you click your heels three times or do you simply open the door? Take us there.

  • Issue Four - Skepticism - What are you a skeptic of? Who deserves the most review and re-review? How have you been critiqued yourself? Why this issue in particular? Has it always been this way or did something change within? Ruin the façade.

What are we looking for?

  • 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 3k to 6k words. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

  • 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 2k to 4k words but we're not opposed to shorter works. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

https://stelliumlit.submittable.com/submit

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Anaphora Writing Residency

DEADLINES:

  • Priority: May 10, 2021

  • Final: May 15, 2021

INFO: Anaphora Writing Residency is a ten-day program designed exclusively for writers of color. The residency offers workshops, readings, craft talks, and discussions with professionals from the literary and publishing industry. The goal of the program is to nurture emerging and established writers of color, to create opportunities for publication, and establish a wide network of support for writers of different backgrounds.

DATES AND FEES: The upcoming residency will run on August 12 - 21, 2021, and will be held virtually. The program costs $2,400, and several partial fellowships are available every year, depending on funding availability. Applications must be submitted by the priority deadline to be eligible for fellowships. Our Founding Fellows and returning alumnx, will have the opportunity to attend the program at a discounted rate.

Applications are reviewed by an anonymous admission board of peers, which rotates every year. Notifications will be sent out by May 31st.  A non-refundable security deposit of $150 is required within two weeks of notification; program fees must be paid entirely prior to the beginning of the residency.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The program will provide workshops in poetry and prose, craft talks, daily readings (by guests and program participants), masterclasses, generative sessions, and discussions with professionals from the industry, including literary agents, editors, and publishers.

VISITING WRITERS - 2021

  • Eduardo C. Corral earned degrees from Arizona State University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His debut collection of poetry, Slow Lightning (2012), won the Yale Younger Poets Prize, making him the first Latino recipient of the award. His second collection is Guillotine (2020). Praised for his seamless blending of English and Spanish, tender treatment of history, and careful exploration of sexuality, Corral has received numerous honors and awards, including the Discovery/The Nation Award, the J. Howard and Barbara M.J. Wood Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. A CantoMundo Fellow, he has held the Olive B. O’Connor Fellowship in Creative Writing at Colgate University and was the Philip Roth Resident in Creative Writing at Bucknell University. In 2016 he won the Holmes National Poetry Prize from Princeton University. Corral teaches in the MFA program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and is currently a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University.

  • Kwame Dawes has authored 36 books of poetry, fiction, criticism, and essays, including, most recently, Nebraska (UNP, 2019), Bivouac (Akashic Books, 2019), and City of Bones: A Testament (Northwestern, 2017). Speak from Here to There (Peepal Tree Press), co-written with Australian poet John Kinsella, appeared in 2016. He is Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner and Chancellor’s Professor of English at the University of Nebraska. He is also a faculty member in the Pacific MFA Program. He is Director of the African Poetry Book Fund and Artistic Director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. Dawes is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

  • Natashia Deón is a 2017 NAACP Image Award Nominee and author of the critically-acclaimed novel, Grace (Counterpoint Press), which was named a best book of 2016 by The New York Times, The Root, Kirkus Review, Book Riot, and Entropy Magazine, and has been featured in People Magazine, TIME Magazine, and Red Book. Grace won the 2017 American Library Association, Black Caucus Award for Best Debut Fiction. A practicing attorney, mother, and law professor, Deón is the recipient of a PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellowship and served as a 2017 U.S. Delegate to Armenia in partnership with the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, for a reconciliation project involving Armenian and Turkish writers.

  • Born in Manila and raised in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, Sasha Pimentel is the author of For Want of Water, selected by Gregory Pardlo as winner of the National Poetry Series and longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award, and Insides She Swallowed, winner of the American Book Award. She has published poems and essays in The New York Times Magazine, PBS NewsHour, ESPN, The American Poetry Review, New England Review, and Literary Hub, and other literary publications. She has been a Picador Guest Professor for Literature at Universität Leipzig in Germany, an NEA fellow, and March 2021's guest editor for Poem-A-Day for the Academy of American Poets. She teaches poetry and creative nonfiction in the bilingual (Español-English) Department of Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso, on the border of Ciudad Juárez, México.

  • Matthew Shenoda is a writer, professor, university administrator, and author and editor of several books. His poems and essays have appeared in a variety of newspapers, journals, radio programs and anthologies. His debut collection of poems, Somewhere Else (Coffee House Press), was named one of 2005's debut books of the year by Poets & Writers Magazine and was winner of a 2006 American Book Award. He is also the author of Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone (BOA Editions Ltd.), editor of Duppy Conqueror: New & Selected Poems by Kwame Dawes, and most recently author of Tahrir Suite: Poems (TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press), winner of the 2015 Arab American Book Award and with Kwame Dawes editor of Bearden’s Odyssey: Poets Respond to the Art of Romare Bearden (TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press, 2017).

  • Anni Liu is a poet, essayist, translator and editor. Her poetry collection Border Vista (Persea, 2022) won the 2021 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize. She was born and raised in 西安, 陕西, then later in Bowling Green, Ohio. She earned her MFA from Indiana University, where she served as poetry editor of Indiana Review. Her work is featured in Ploughshares, Ecotone, the Georgia Review, Two Lines, Hyphen, Pleiades, Quarterly West, and elsewhere, and her honors include an Undocupoets Fellowship, a Katherine Bakeless Nason Scholarship to Bread Loaf Environmental Conference, and the National Society for Arts and Letters’ Literature Award. She’s also been supported by the Mae Fellowship and awarded a residency at the Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing, MN. She is Associate Editor at Graywolf Press, and lives in Minneapolis with her partner and plants.

  • Before joining Ayesha Pande Literary, Annie Hwang began her career at Folio Literary Management where she had the pleasure of working with debut and seasoned authors alike. As a former journalist, Annie possesses a keen editorial eye which she brings to her approach to agenting, taking an active role in the careers of her clients. Annie represents voice-driven literary fiction and select nonfiction. In particular, she gravitates toward subversive and irreverent literary fiction and impactful mission-driven narrative nonfiction that grapples with the complexities of our world. A fierce champion of underrepresented voices, Annie is always on the hunt for gifted storytelling that stretches its genre to new heights.

https://www.anaphoraarts.com/anaphora-writing-residency-2021

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The Kurt Brown Prizes

AWP

DEADLINE: May 14, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $10

INFO: Each year, AWP offers three annual scholarships to emerging writers who wish to attend a writers’ conference, center, festival, retreat, or residency. The scholarships are applied to the event or workshop fees of the winners’ chosen program. Winners and six finalists also receive a one-year individual membership in AWP. Visit our website for more information and a list of past winners. 

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Previous recipients of Kurt Brown Prizes (formerly known as WC&C scholarships), and former or current students of the judge are not eligible to submit.

  • Our judges this year are Erika T. Wurth for fiction, Joshunda Sanders for creative nonfiction, and Richard Terrill for poetry.

GUIDELINES:

  • Your name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript or it will be disqualified.

  • For fiction, one short story (or novel excerpt) up to 25 pages will be considered. Fiction must be double-spaced and presented in manuscript form with 12-pt font.

  • For poetry, up to 10 pages will be considered. Each new poem must start on a new page.

  • For creative nonfiction, up to 25 pages will be considered.

  • You may enter in more than one genre, and you may also enter multiple manuscripts in one genre, provided that each submission is accompanied by its own entry fee.

  • Please send us your best, unpublished work.

  • A $10 reading fee must accompany each submission and is not refundable.

PRIZE: All winners will be notified by email by June 11 and announced on AWP’s website and in the AWP Annual Conference & Bookfair program. Three winners will each receive a $500 scholarship to attend a WC&C member program. Winners have one year to use their prize, and funds are paid directly to the selected program. Member conferences reserve the right to determine participants in their programs; winning does not guarantee admittance to any program.

https://awp.submittable.com/submit/24932/the-kurt-brown-prizes

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ART WRITING INCUBATOR

Burnaway

DEADLINE: May 14, 2021

INFO: Held each summer, Art Writing Incubator (AWrI) is Burnaway’s signature annual writing intensive, which cultivates the next generation of critics through a series of day-long workshops with leading culture writers from around the country and one-on-one tutorials with Burnaway’s editors. The Art Writing Incubator aspires to foster new voices in the field of arts criticism, by emphasizing the discipline’s capacity to galvanize a more equitable, nimble and dynamic cultural landscape.

Where does art criticism belong in a world in crisis? The last year has upended the art world, dissolved cultural norms, and revealed fractures in our sociopolitical systems. Burnaway’s 2021 Art Writing Incubator (June 26 – August 3) will use the hundreds of cultural writers, activists and arts workers who refuse to ignore or return to pre-pandemic structures of inequalities as a model for training writers to rigorously confront present realities through their work. 

For the last six years, under the guidance of leading writers, critics and artists, Burnaway’s Arts Writing Incubator program has equipped participants with tools for pitching, writing good artist statements and producing considered criticism. The five-week program begins with a session hosted by Burnaway’s editorial masthead and subsequent weeks led by guest mentors. In addition, Burnaway has invited a renowned cultural figure to give a keynote public talk addressing the yearly theme. Over the course of the program, students will formally propose, develop, and complete a long-form writing project with one-on-one feedback from Burnaway’s editors. Following the completion of the program, these works will be compiled into a small chapbook circulated on Burnaway’s platform. 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

  • Paul Chan is an artist, writer, and publisher who lives in New York. Chan is the winner of the Hugo Boss Prize in 2014, a biennial award honoring artists who have made a visionary contribution to contemporary art. His work has been exhibited widely in many international shows including: Plato in LA, Getty Villa in Los Angeles in 2018; Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany in 2012, the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009; and the Whitney Biennial, in New York in 2006. Solo exhibitions have been mounted at The Cycladic Museum of Art in Athens, The Renaissance Society in Chicago, The Serpentine Gallery in London, and the New Museum in New York. A mid-career survey entitled Selected Works was mounted at Schaulager in Basel, Switzerland in 2014.

VISITING MENTORS:

  • Amber Esseiva is the Associate Curator at The Institute for Contemporary Art and Virginia Commonwealth University (ICA VCU).

  • Sukhdev Sandhu is the Associate Professor of English and Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University.

  • DeForrest Brown Jr is a writer, DJ, cultural theorist and the author of Assembling a Black Counter Culture, a general history of techno and adjacent electronic music with a focus on Black experiences in industrialized labor systems, and explores the development of on-the-ground culture in relation to a unique American art form.

  • Kristin Dombek is an essayist and cultural journalist, and the author of The Selfishness of Others: An Essay on the Fear of Narcissism. She has taught writing at Queens College, Queens University of Charlotte, Princeton University, and New York University.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all AWrI events in 2021 will be held virtually. Tuition for the 2021 cycle is $250, but thanks to generous funding from Critical Minded all BIPOC applicants will be accepted at a reduced fee. Additional needs-based support will be considered by Burnaway for non-BIPOC applicants. 

https://burnaway.org/programs/#incubator

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EMERGING WRITER’S CONTEST

Ploughshares

DEADLINE: May 15, 2021

INFO: The Emerging Writer’s Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We consider you “emerging” if you haven’t published a book. Current subscribers through our Winter 2021-2022 issue submit for free; other subscribers receive a one-year subscription to Ploughshares with their submission. 

This year’s judges are Kiley Reid in fiction, Paul Lisicky in nonfiction, and Paige Lewis in poetry.

PRIZE: One winner in each genre will receive $2,000, publication in Ploughshares, and a conversation with literary agency Aevitas Creative Management.  

https://www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest/guidelines

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LATINX IN Publishing Fellowship Program

The Latinx in Publishing

DEADLINE: May 15, 2021

INFO: Have you ever wanted to work with writers to help tell their stories? Do you love reading or have you worked in a library or bookstore? Have you written or edited for blogs, magazines, or journals? Are you interested in supporting the growth of Latinx representation in the publishing industry?  

The Publishing Fellowship Program will allow aspiring Latinx publishing mentees (living in the U.S. or Puerto Rico) to remotely shadow the process of a publishing professional. LxP will facilitate the mentee selection process, provide networking opportunities for the selected mentee with their network of members including publishing professionals, agents, editors, and writers, as well as conduct regular check-ins with an LxP program officer. The inaugural 2021 Fellow will be in editorial.

Supported by Macmillan, an aspiring Latinx editor (living in the U.S. or Puerto Rico) will have the opportunity to remotely shadow the editorial process of an editor or senior editor, from acquisition to publication for 10-month period. LxP will facilitate the mentee selection process, provide networking opportunities for the selected mentee with their network of members including agents, editors, and writers. Mentee and mentor will meet (virtually) at minimum once a month and there will be regular check-ins with an LxP program officer.

STIPEND: Mentee will receive a stipend of $2,500. 

TERM: 10 months (Starting June 2021).

ELIGIBILITY: The Publishing Fellow must be Latinx, at least 18 years old, and reside in the United States (including Puerto Rico), though they are not required to be citizens or “legal” residents. Latinx in Publishing defines “Latinx” as persons originating from, descendant from, or citizens of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Macmillan Publishers is a global trade book publishing company with prominent imprints around the world. Macmillan publishes a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats.

https://latinxinpublishing.com/publishing-fellowship

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RESIDENCIES

Ragdale

DEADLINE: May 15, 2021

INFO: Ragdale is a nonprofit artists’ community located on the former country estate of architect Howard Van Doren Shaw.

Nearly 200 residencies and fellowships are offered annually to creative professionals of all types, making Ragdale one of the largest interdisciplinary artists’ communities in the country. Ragdale residents represent a cross-section of ages, cultures, experiences, and mediums, for a diverse and vibrant community.

In each session, 13 artists-in-residence enjoy uninterrupted time for work, a supportive environment, dynamic artist exchanges, 50 acres of idyllic prairie, and a family-style dinner each evening.

Ragdale is now accepting applications for a limited number of fellowships taking place in 2021-2022.

Ragdale is proud to offer fellowships to teaching artists, artists with spinal cord injury (SCI), artists with disabilities, dancers, Latinx artists, composers/musicians, and more. We do not limit fellowships to these categories, and as we seek diverse voices and representations to enrich our artists' experiences, we encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

A fellowship at Ragdale includes an 18- or 25-day residency, free of charge, and a $500 stipend. Fellows are featured in a program (of up to 1/2 day) within 18- months of the residency coordinated by Director of Education, Regin Igloria.

Capacity for new fellowships is limited for 2022 because of the backlog of artists waiting to fulfill their residencies due to the pandemic. Due to the limited number of fellowships we can offer, the application will be exceedingly competitive. If we are unable to offer a fellowship this time, we highly encourage you to apply again for residencies and fellowships in future years.

https://www.ragdale.org/residencies

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Kimbilio National Fiction Prize

Kimbilio

DEADLINE: May 15, 2021

READLING FEE: $15

INFO: Published by Four Way Books, The Kimbilio National Fiction Prize is a celebration and affirmation of the best in contemporary fiction.

2021 judge Carolyn Ferrell will make the final selection of an outstanding novel or collection of short stories, which will be published in the spring of 2023. The competition is open to writers of the African Diaspora.

The selected manuscript will be promoted through Kimbilio and Four Way Books social media.  The author will read as part of events for both organization, including a visit to Kimbilio’s home city, Saint Louis.   

Four Way Books is dedicated to producing and promoting excellent literary publications and to creating opportunities for writers of merit. We believe that the work of writers brings good to the world—understanding, empathy, curiosity, wisdom—and that if we can be the conduit for connecting writers and readers, for making a writer’s life more meaningful by bringing validation to the artist and fine work to public attention, we are spending our days nobly.

JUDGE: The 2021 Judge is novelist and short story writer Carolyn Ferrell: 

Carolyn Ferrell is the author of the short-story collection Don’t Erase Me, which was awarded the 1997 Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, the John C. Zacharis First Book Award given by Ploughshares, and the Quality Paperback Book Prize for First Fiction. Her stories and essays have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories 2018, edited by Roxane Gay; The Best American Short Stories of the Century, edited by John Updike; Children of the Night: The Best Short Stories by Black Writers, 1967 to the Present, edited by Gloria Naylor; Apple, Tree: Writers on Their Parents, edited by Lise Funderburg; and other places. Her story “Something Street” will be reprinted in The Best American Short Stories 2020, edited by Curtis Sittenfeld. She is the recipient of grants and awards from the Fulbright Association, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Bronx Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Sarah Lawrence College. Since 1996, she has been a faculty member in both the undergraduate and MFA programs at Sarah Lawrence College.

http://kimbiliofiction.com/the-kimbilio-national-fiction-prize/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SHORT STORIES & FLASH FICTION

Digging Press LLC

DEADLINE: May 15, 2021

FEE: $3.50

INFO: Digging Press LLC is an independent publisher. We publish the literary and arts journal, Digging Through The Fat, and a chapbook series. We also produce a podcast and host a reading series. As an organization for cultural omnivores, we aim to nurture experimentation in the arts and encourage broad-mindedness and cultural inclusion.

We shall do our best to respond to submitters within three-four months, but in some cases, this period may be longer. If you have not received a response from us within 120 days, please send an email inquiry to editor@diggingpress.com. Please do not contact our editors or staff readers directly about the status of your submission.

PAYMENT: Contributors receive $10 per flash fiction; $15 per short stories.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted as long as they are indicated as such and the submission is withdrawn from Submittable immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.

Upon acceptance, creators are asked to complete a publication agreement prior to publication. The use of the Work by Digging Through The Fat (Digging Press, LLC) entails the assignment of First North American Serial Rights, for publication in the English language anywhere in North America. It is understood and agreed that the Publisher may use this Work only in the above-mentioned magazine. Publisher may also reprint the Work one additional time as part of a collection or anthology with the Creator’s consent.

For the journal, the length of time between acceptance and publication can be one to three months. For chapbooks, the length of time between acceptance and publication can be one year.

We welcome submissions from ALL. We especially want to encourage more submissions from women and non-binary writers, writers of color, and the LGBTQIA community. Help Digging Through The Fat’s community grow in diversity and beauty!

https://diggingpress.com/submissions/

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RESIDENCIES AT MT. SAN ANGELO

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

DEADLINE: May 15, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $50

INFO: The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) provides time and space for national and international writers, visual artists, and composers of talent and promise to bring forth their finest works, because the arts are vital, diversity is a strength, and creativity is essential. 

Selected artists come to VCCA’s Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, Virginia or the Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France for intense periods of creative work, free from the distractions of day-to-day life. During residencies lasting anywhere from two weeks to two months, VCCA Fellows enjoy private studios, private bedrooms, and meals. Whether sequestered in the rolling foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains or on the banks of the Garonne River in Southwest France, VCCA Fellows can work in concentrated solitude, then re-energize in the company of other artists. 

VCCA Fellows are selected by peer review on the basis of professional achievement or promise of achievement in their respective fields. Panelists for each discipline and genre undergo periodic review and rotate regularly to ensure that selection to VCCA is being made by high caliber artists who represent a diversity of styles and tastes.

https://www.vcca.com/apply/residencies-at-vcca/

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2021 Book-Pitch Contest

Voyage Journal

DEADLINE: May 16, 2021

INFO: It’s safe to assume that you are on the journey toward finishing that great YA novel. Whether you’re still meeting the characters in your head or adjusting that one comma on the final page, you can get something great out of this opportunity—send us your best book ideas!

This contest will give one writer publication, a significant cash prize, and an amazing mentorship opportunity to have their novel coached into the best version of itself.

We’re proud to announce that Voyage will partner with YA author, Kylie Schachte to provide one writer with the opportunity to receive 25 hours of direct, one-on-one book coaching (a $2500 value)! The 25 hours will be a combination of sessions and allotted time for Kylie to read pages. Kylie will work with authors to best determine how those hours will be divided.

In addition to the coaching, the winner will also receive publication of a chapter/excerpt of their choice and $2000 in payment.

No matter where you are on the book journey, this mentoring program will move your work forward. If you’ve had the idea in your head for years, but never knew how to start; if you finished the book years ago but have not known how to move it forward to selling and publication; if you’re adding the finishing touches on the epilogue—we’ll pair you with author, coach, and mentor Kylie Schachte, to help you find the best version of your story. The mentorship will be guided by your own commitment and sense of urgency. Do not let this opportunity to take your book to the next level pass!

Send us your best book pitch. We know a lot of you are bursting with stories, so you can include up to two separate pitches for each submission.

Your submission should include:

  • A query letter (max 1 page)

  • A one-page sample of the project

  • Info about where you are on the project

Our team will read through all the pitches and select the winner. Our judging criteria is based on what we feel is the most compelling idea and most thrilling pitch.

GUIDELINES:

  • Voyage submissions are open to all writers working in English

  • International submissions are allowed

  • Submissions (query, 1 sample page of the project) must be for a young adult novel (full novel does not need to be completed), and from the point-of-view of a young adult, meaning through the lens of a teen protagonist

  • Up to two book pitches (query, 1st page) per submission. If pitching two projects, please put both projects in the same document.

  • We’re open to any genre or style you can throw at us—just send us the best you’ve got

  • Previously unpublished work only, please

  • $20 reading fee per entry

  • Multiple submissions are okay—please submit each as a separate submission

  • Please: 1) double space; 2) use Times New Roman 12 pt font; 3) have 1-inch margins, and 4) put your last name and the page number in the top right-hand corner

  • Tell us in a brief cover letter your publication history (if applicable, no worries if not)

Bonus: Every entrant will receive access to a pre-recorded mini workshop TBA!

Note: To ensure the protection of our volunteer readers, and to keep Voyage a safe space, please let us know in your cover letter if your work can be triggering in any way. This will have no bearing on your submission or a decision—we just want to ensure the best possible environment for our readers. Thank you for your understanding.

FAQ:

Q: Will my query be published or shared publicly in any way?

A: No, your query/synopsis will never be published. We will only be using it to evaluate the entries. After the winner is chosen and has received their mentorship, we will publish an excerpt of their choice from their novel-in-progress.

Q: How will entries be judged?

A: The Voyage team will evaluate submissions. We’re looking for projects that offer intrigue, potential, and excite us overall. The editorial team recommends doing enough research on how to write a good query and synopsis.

https://thevoyagejournal.com/contests/

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Parent Artist Residency

Abrons Arts Center

DEADLINE: May 16, 2021 at 11:59pm ET

INFO: With support from Sustainable Arts Foundation, Abrons is pleased to announce the re-launch of its Parent Artist AIRspace Residency, which provides support for 1 parent artist working in the visual arts, music, curatorial practice, and/or literary arts. This residency will provide studio space, free tuition to Abrons Arts Camp for 1 child, a stipend, and opportunities for intergenerational engagement for 1 parent artist during summer of 2021

Program Components: 

  • $1,000 unrestricted stipend

  • A semi-private studio and/or office space, accessible 6 days a week from July 1-August 10, 2021

  • Free tuition to Abrons Arts Camp. The child must be between ages 6-8 as of July 5, 2021.

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Applicants must be New York City based and living within 5 boroughs at the time of application submission and during the residency period. Housing is not offered for this residency.

  • Applicants must identify as working in visual arts, music, curatorial practice and/or literary arts.

  • Collaborative groups are not eligible to apply.

  • Applicants must identify as a parent of a child between the ages of 6 and 8.

  • A program of the historic Henry Street Settlement, Abrons Arts Center is committed to the belief that artistic practice is key to a socio-politically engaged and healthy society. Applicants should closely review the Abrons Arts Center Mission Statement and Declaration of Inclusion before applying for the Residency.

Important Dates:

  • June 7, 2021: Applicants notified of status

  • July 1-August 10, 2021: Residency Dates

  • July 5-29, 2021: Dates of Abrons Arts Camp

  • August 2-5, 2021: Abrons Arts Camp “Make Up” Week

https://www.abronsartscenter.org/artist-residencies/

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Vox Media Writers Workshop

DEADLINE: May 16, 2021

INFO: The Vox Media Writers Workshop is a no-cost, hands-on training and mentorship program that pairs Vox Media editors and writers with talented people curious about a career in journalism. The workshop is specifically designed for people historically underrepresented in media and is focused on reaching people entering the industry — including rising college seniors, recent graduates, and people transitioning into the industry and looking to jump start their careers.

We are looking for 30 talented people who are interested in exploring a career in journalism. We are looking for a wide variety of coverage area interests from entertainment and politics to fashion, technology, and sports, and from a diverse set of backgrounds. The ideal candidates have a passion for storytelling and enthusiasm for developing their reporting and writing skills. They are also collaborative and open to getting feedback to improve their work. 

The application is designed to get a sense of why you are interested in the program in addition to a short (150 word) writing exercise. We anticipate the application taking between one and two hours; applicants will be selected based on their responses to these questions so please be thoughtful in your answers.

Those enrolled will develop or hone their storytelling skills while also learning about what it means to be a reporter today. They will also build relationships with expert voices across Vox Media’s many newsrooms including The Cut, Eater, New York Magazine, Polygon, SB Nation, The Verge, and Vox.

The workshop will be held remotely over the course of the summer on select dates between June and August and will pair 30 people with 15 Vox Media mentors.

This is not a full time commitment, but applicants must be able to attend all three remote workshops:

  • First workshop: Tuesday, June 8, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. ET

  • Second workshop: Wednesday, July 7, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. ET

  • Closing ceremony: Tuesday, August 10, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. ET

Along with attending these sessions, you and your mentor will set up one-on-one sessions dedicated to refining your story idea, building your outline, and reviewing notes.

Through a combination of three remote workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions, you will learn how to:

  • Find and vet story ideas

  • Focus your story idea

  • Conduct an interview with any type of source (including experts)

  • Write an impactful story

  • Pitch a freelance story to any publication

https://voxmediaevents.com/writersworkshop?fbclid=IwAR0fiJADVsuhgKPRcSMtOApQ3DXpc9OotQYopADq3Q1nhkuyV9rXKUjA-fw

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Artist Residencies

The Studios of Key West

DEADLINE: May 17, 2021

INFO: We are currently accepting applications for the 2021/22 season, which runs from October 2021-June 2022.

The Studios of Key West, the premiere arts organization at the Southernmost Point of the United States, offers a residency program for emerging and established artists and writers from around the world. We provide residencies to visual artists, writers, composers, musicians, media artists, performers, and interdisciplinary artists.

The program grants nearly 35 artists each year the time and space to imagine new artistic work, engage in valuable dialogue and explore island connections.

The Studios’ residency program is community-based and built upon the hope that visiting artists will take inspiration from Key West’s rich artistic past and present, and will engage with — and be inspired by — the remarkable people and culture that surrounds them.

Key West’s official motto, “One Human Family” reflects our commitment to living together as caring, sharing neighbors dedicated to making our home as close to paradise as we can. To that end, we encourage artists of all races, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities to apply.

Residencies are almost a full month, and run from the 16th of the month through the 14th of the next.

https://tskw.org/residency-about/

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Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant

Creative Capital

DEADLINE: May 19, 2021

INFO: The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 in three categories—articles, books, and short-form writing—the grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. We also support art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods and experiments with literary styles. As long as a writer meets the eligibility and publishing requirements, they can apply.

Writers are invited to apply in one of the following categories:

  • Articles

  • Books

  • Short-Form Writing

https://www.artswriters.org/?mc_cid=512ca08875&mc_eid=45394a798e

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Editorial Internship Open Call

Sundress Publications

DEADLINE: May 20, 2021

INFO: Sundress Publications is an entirely volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit publishing collective founded in 2000 that hosts a variety of online journals and publishes chapbooks, full-length collections, and literary anthologies in both print and digital formats. Sundress also publishes the annual Best of the Net Anthology, celebrating the best work published online, runs Poets in Pajamas, an online reading series, and the Gone Dark Archives, preserving online journals that have reached the end of their run.

This editorial internship position will run from July 1, 2021 to January 1, 2022. The editorial intern's responsibilities can include writing press releases, composing blog posts and promotional emails, proofreading manuscripts, assembling press kits, collating editorial data, research, managing spreadsheets, and more. The intern may also be responsible for writing copy, conducting interviews with Sundress authors, reviewing newly released books, and promoting our catalog of titles.

Preferred qualifications include:

  • A keen eye for proofreading

  • Strong written communication skills

  • Familiarity with WordPress, Microsoft Word, and Google Suite

  • Ability to work under a deadline and multitask

  • Knowledge of and interest in contemporary literature a plus

This is a REMOTE internship with the team communicating primarily via email and text messages and is therefore not restricted to applicants living in any particular geographic area. Interns are asked to devote 10 hours per week to their assignments.

While this is an unpaid internship, all interns will gain real-world experience of the ins and outs of independent publishing with a nationally recognized press while creating a portfolio of work for future employment opportunities. Interns will also be able to attend all workshops at the Sundress Academy for the Arts at cost.

We welcome, encourage, and are enthusiastic to see a diverse array of applicants in all areas, including race, ethnicity, disability, gender, class, religion, education, immigration status, and more.

To apply, please send a resume and a brief cover letter detailing your interest in the position to Staff Director Kanika Lawton at sundressstaffdirector@gmail.com.

A detailed application and interview guide can be found at: http://www.sundresspublications.com/internguide.pdf

http://www.sundresspublications.com

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Abrams Reporting Fellows

ProPublica

DEADLINE: May 23, 2021

INFO: ProPublica is excited to announce a new opportunity for early- to mid-career journalists who want to develop their investigative reporting skills.

We are looking for three two-year Abrams Reporting Fellows to join one of America’s most innovative (and fun) investigative newsrooms. We’re not interested in having you cover daily news. Your job will be to do enterprising, hard-hitting stories. Our newsroom zigs where others zag, taking on topics that are overlooked or telling stories in new and exciting ways.

Over the course of their two years, we expect that fellows will take on a mix of short-, medium- and longer-term stories. That includes reporting and writing stories of your own (examples include this and this) and collaborating on some of ProPublica’s biggest and most complex projects, like this one about the dangers of certain booster seats that prompted a congressional investigation.

This fellowship is different from others we’ve offered at ProPublica because it runs for two years. It pays $75,000 per year and includes full benefits. We hope fellows take on increasingly complex stories during their time on our staff, working independently and with colleagues.

Fellows will start on July 1, 2021. One fellow will write national stories based out of our headquarters in New York, one will cover the Midwest from our office in Chicago and one will cover the Southwest from our office in Phoenix. The locations for these positions are not negotiable. 

We’re looking for someone who:

  • Has some professional journalism experience.

  • Has produced original, revelatory, in-depth or investigative stories. If that experience is in the region you are hoping to cover, all the better, but we are very open to applicants with strong bodies of work from other places. You don’t have to be an “investigative reporter,” but you do have to have shown a dedication to digging for the truth, holding people and institutions accountable, and pointing to possible solutions.

  • Aches to report stories that are both important and powerfully told, and has a vision for how they’d approach their coverage based on where they would be located.

  • Is truly excited about all the possible ways we can do journalism nowadays, including digging deep into data, working with readers, and marrying narrative and investigative forms.

  • Brings perspectives and life experiences that point to unique stories and untapped potential for holding the powerful accountable.

  • Really likes working with others.

We know there are great candidates who may not exactly fit into what we’ve described above or who have important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

We are dedicated to improving our newsroom, in part by better reflecting the people we cover. (Here is a breakdown of our staff.) We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. And we are taking steps to meet that commitment. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities.

If all of this sounds exciting to you, you can apply using this form. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. 

https://www.propublica.org/fellowships/propublica-is-hiring-three-two-year-abrams-reporting-fellows

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Teaching Fellowship for Black Writers

GrubStreet

DEADLINE: May 25, 2021

INFO: GrubStreet’s Teaching Fellowship for Black Writers provides financial and professional development support to two self-identified Black writers interested in teaching classes, participating in events, and working with our instructors and staff to deepen our curriculum. The fellowship includes compensation of $20,000, artistic mentorship, and access to the GrubStreet community and the Muse and the Marketplace conference. In time, the program aims to offer sustainable support to Black Writers and create a cohort of fellows who have direct access to GrubStreet resources, classes, and events. We also hope the fellows can influence GrubStreet’s pedagogy and cultural vision based on their experience and feedback. 

DETAILS:

The Teaching Fellowship for Black Writers will provide the following compensation:

  • $20,000 per fellow for the year.

  • Access to mentorship from GrubStreet’s Education Director, Artistic Director, and other instructors.

  • Free access to the Muse and the Marketplace during the fellowship year and the option to lead a paid session at the conference.

  • Access to additional GrubStreet events.

  • A space at GrubStreet’s new home to work on personal writing projects.

  • 60 hours (or roughly 20 weeks) of free GrubStreet classes, which can be taken during or after the fellowship.

  • A two-year GrubStreet membership.

The teaching load and responsibilities for the fellowship year include: 

  • Teaching two ten-week classes (one must be an advanced-level class toward the end of the fellowship).

  • Teaching one six-week class.

  • Teaching one week-long teen camp.

  • Teaching one three-hour seminar (plus, the option to teach more for additional payment).

  • Serve as a reader and panel juror for our Emerging Writer Fellowship.

  • Moderate or participate in a Boston Writers of Color’s event.

  • Meet with program heads at GrubStreet monthly (or as needed by fellow) to track progress and discuss curriculum ideas.

  • Meet with new fellows at the end of your own fellowship year.

The fellowship begins September 7th, 2021 and runs through the end of August 2022.

WHO SHOULD APPLY:

This fellowship is open to writers who self-identify as Black, are 18 or older, are able to work with both adult and teen audiences, and have a passion for expansive pedagogy, curriculum development, and professional growth. Ideal candidates will have some publication and teaching experience. Preference will be given to those working on their first book or a larger project. MFAs, a long publishing record, or extensive teaching experience are not requirements to apply, though feel free to tell us if you have any of these things.

Covid-19 Update: Although all of our programming is currently taking place virtually, we hope that fellows will be able to join us in-person later in 2021 and in 2022. Priority will be given to applicants who will be able to join us in Boston when it's safe to do so. 

HOW TO APPLY:

The Teaching Fellowship for Black Writers Application Form will require the following:

  • A personal statement (500 words max), which should include:

  • Your background as a writer and teacher.

  • Your personal philosophy or approach to creative writing workshops.

  • How this particular fellowship fits your interests and goals as a writer and educator.

  • Your CV or resume.

  • A writing sample (20 pages limit for prose; 12 pages for poetry; 25 pages for scripts; and 20 pages for other or fused genres) that best exemplifies your current trajectory as a writer.

  • Two personal references (name, email, and phone number) who can speak to your experience and dedication to writing and teaching. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Final decisions announced the week of June 28th, 2021.

  • Program kicks off on September 7th, 2021 and runs through end of August, 2022

https://grubstreet.org/programs/teaching-fellowship-for-black-writers/

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Emerging Writer Fellowship

The Center for Fiction

DEADLINE: May 30, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

APPLICATION FEE: $10

INFO: The Center for Fiction NYC Emerging Writer Fellowship offers grants, editorial mentorship, and other opportunities to early-career New York City-based practitioners who are at a critical moment in their development as fiction writers.

During the one-year fellowship period (beginning October 21, 2021), grantees will receive:

  • A grant of $5,000

  • The opportunity to have their manuscript revised and critiqued by an experienced editor

  • Access to write in our Writers Studio

  • The opportunity to meet with editors, authors, and agents who represent new writers at monthly dinners

  • Two public readings as part of our annual program of events

  • A professional headshot for personal publicity use

  • Inclusion in an anthology distributed to industry professionals

  • Tickets to our First Novel Fete and/or Benefit & Awards Dinner

  • Complimentary admission to all Center events

  • 25% discount on writing workshops at the Center

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicants must be current residents of one of the five boroughs, and must remain in New York City for the entire year of the fellowship. Students in degree-granting programs are not eligible to apply. This program supports emerging writers whose work shows promise of excellence. Applicants can be of any age, but must be in the early stages of their careers as fiction writers and will not have had the support needed to achieve major recognition for their work. We define “emerging writer” as someone who has not yet had a novel or short story collection published by either a major or independent publisher, and who is also not currently under contract to a publisher for a work of fiction. Eligible applicants may have had stories or novel excerpts published in magazines, literary journals or online, but this is not a requirement. If at any point during the judging process an applicant signs a contract for publication or accepts an offer to study in a degree-granting program, he or she must alert us immediately to have the application pulled from consideration.

https://centerforfiction.org/grants-awards/nyc-emerging-writers-fellowship/

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LitUp WRITER’S FELLOWSHIP

Reese's Book Club

DEADLINE: May 30, 2021 at 11:59pm PT

APPLICATION FEE: $0

INFO: Powered by The Readership, LitUp will provide five emerging writers with an all-expenses-paid retreat, a three-month mentorship with a published author, and marketing support from Reese’s Book Club. LitUp is a journey and we’re with you every step of the way.

LitUp by Reese’s Book Club is a writers fellowship for unpublished, underrepresented women. We’re set to discover, mentor, and champion first-time authors, so more diverse stories are seen, heard, and read by all.

ELIGIBILITY: Unagented, unpublished women writers who identify as diverse. Full eligibility details can be found here

APPLICATION MATERIALS: One completed fiction manuscript with a woman at the center of its story; a 750-word synopsis of your manuscript, and series of short essays

THE ROADMAP:

  • Hone Your Craft at Our Writer's Retreat: Selected fellows will participate in an all-expenses-paid writer's retreat to develop their manuscript and learn about the business side of publishing.

  • Get Mentored and Build a Support Network: Post retreat, fellows are matched with a published author for a three-month mentorship to get their book ready for market.

  • Join the Reese’s Book Club Family: Through it all, we stand by you every step of the way, including a first-look window with top agents and a book launch marketing commitment from us and our partners.

What do I need to apply? What type of manuscripts are you accepting? Is there an application fee?

Each applicant must submit:

  • An original adult or young adult fiction manuscript featuring a woman at the center of the story that is completed and written in English. We accept genre fiction but are currently not accepting non-fiction, picture books, middle grade, or co-written manuscripts. We will not accept plagiarism or copyright infringement.

    • All manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins. Please number your pages.

    • Your name should not appear anywhere within the manuscript or file name.

  • A brief, 750-words or less synopsis of your work

  • Responses to a series of short essay questions within the application

There is no application fee. We neither require nor accept letters of recommendation.

Candidates may only submit one application and one manuscript. Once submitted, applications cannot be updated. Late applications will not be accepted.

https://reesesbookclub.com/litup

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The Fire Inside Volume 2

Zora’s Den

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

INFO: Zora’s Den is an online community of Black women writers started in January 2017. Our mission is to uplift their stories, thus acknowledging free agency over their experiences and voices, in their own words. Hence submissions are open for those identifying as Black women. 

Submissions are open for The Fire Inside, Volume II. Following the success of Zora’s Den’s first anthology, we want your kick-ass fiction, your soulful non-fiction, and your bold poetry. Zora Neale Hurston was known for her spunk. Let’s honor that spirit with our words, in voices distinctly our own. Send us the fire inside you!

GUIDELINES:

  • Poetry: up to 3 poems.

  • Fiction: limited to 1 story, no more than 3,000 words.

  • Flash Fiction: limited to 2 stories, up to 1,200 words each.

  • Creative Nonfiction: limited to 1 essay, no more than 1,500 words.

SUBMISSIONS:

Fiction, Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction must be double-spaced and formatted in a 12-point font (preferably Times New Roman). Poetry should be single-spaced and please send multiple poems in one submission entry. Please number the pages, provide the word count and title only. Please do not add additional spaces between sentences. Accepted files for prose and poetry submissions include .doc or .pdf—use minimal document styling and do not include author identifying information on any pages of submitted document.

Submitted material must be unpublished. We will consider simultaneous submissions, but please inform us immediately if the work has been accepted by another publication. Please edit your work with care.

By sending your submission you agree to the following statements:

  • You are a writer or artist who identifies as a Black woman.

  • You have completely read and submitted within the guidelines.

https://zorasden.submittable.com/submit/190865/the-fire-inside-volume-2

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2021 Moondancer Fellowship

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

APPLICATION FEE: $35

INFO: The Moondancer fellowship is awarded to an author who expresses their love of nature and concern for the environment through their writing. This fellowship is open to poets, fiction writers, playwrights, essayists, columnists, memoirists, and screenwriters. Prior publication is not a requirement. The submitted work sample should demonstrate literary merit and the promise of publication, or in the case of theater and film, production. 

 The fellowship winner will receive a two-week residency to allow the recipient to focus completely on their work. Each writer’s suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space, and wireless internet. We provide uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner prepared five nights a week and served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for breakfast and lunch.

Only one writing project may be proposed per application. The winner will be announced no later than June 18, 2021. Residency must be completed by July 31, 2022. Exceptions will be made for COVID-19 concerns.

https://www.writerscolony.org/fellowships

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “COOKOUT” ISSUE

Lucky Jefferson

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

INFO: Grab your sunglasses, sandals, and favorite dish—you’re invited to our cookout. 

Send us unpublished poetry (there is no line limit but we adore shorter poems), flash fiction, and food-inspired art that describes what you would bring to our cookout.

Topics may include:

  • food 

  • games / entertainment

  • libations

  • decorations

  • cutlery

GUIDELINES:

  • Send no more than 3 poems in a submission. Separate poems by page break.

  • No more than 1000 words for flash fiction.

  • Include a short and sweet cover page highlighting: your name, email address, mailing address, and bio (third-person, 50 words max)

No translations or work that has been previously published in print or online. 

Please absolutely no sexually explicit poems or works highlighting extreme violence, racism, antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, insta poems or love poems. We're hopeless romantics, but we're not interested in printing romance unless it's a unique perspective.

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/191426/issue-7-cookout-early-bird-submission

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AWAKE

Lucky Jefferson

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

Lucky Jefferson's digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black writers in American society. 

The third issue of our digital zine will explore Black Resiliency. While the undercurrents of trauma will remain embedded in the fabric of our history, and stories, trauma is not our only defining trait. 

Send poems, essays, flash fiction, and art that embrace and magnify the persistence, strength, and power of our people through text, form, and structure.

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media. Accepted authors will receive $15 for each accepted work.

GUIDELINES:

  • 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 Black resiliency is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).

  • Include a cover page highlighting 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.

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/167135/awake-submission-a-digital-zine-for-black-authors

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Liminal Review

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

INFO: We’re open to fiction, short prose, reviews, poetry, creative nonfiction, marginalia, and illustrations.

The Liminal Review was founded in December 2020 by Alix Berber and Shauna Smullen. Two queer artists looking to carve out a new space for marginalised voices in Ireland and beyond. The project emerged from a curiosity for the concept of liminal spaces, transition and temporality. Liminality is familiar to everyone, even if the word might not be. Liminality is the experience of transition, metamorphosis, of crossing the small and momentous thresholds of life and death.

Please only submit to one category (Poetry or Fiction or Nonfiction) per submission period to liminalreview [at] gmail. com

The Liminal Review is currently run without any outside funding and we are as of now unable to pay contributors. It is our explicit goal to be able to offer contributors payment in the future. Featured writers will receive a contributor copy.

Please read the following submission guidelines carefully. Submissions that fail to adhere to the guidelines will not be considered for publication. If you have any further questions please feel free to reach out via the contact form, email or our social media channels.

The Liminal Review’s stated goal is to give special consideration to emerging authors/artists regardless of their previous publishing history. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists and writers, as well as those living with disabilities, are strongly encouraged to submit.

https://www.liminalreview.com/home/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ‘Promises for You’ COLUMN

Raising Mothers

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

INFO: Raising Mothers celebrates and centers the experiences of  Black, Indigenous, and Brown parents. We’re currently accepting submissions for our column, Promises for You. We want to give voice and space to those who have experienced infertility, miscarriage, and child loss at any age.

Each essay should include a promise to offer other parents living similar experiences. Photo essays are also considered for the column.

Honorarium is $20.

https://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/

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The 2021 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize

Wasafiri

DEADLINE: May 31, 2021

ENTRY FEE: £10 for a single entry / £16 for a double entry.

INFO: Representing more of the globe than any other prize of its kind, the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is opening its doors for 2021 and welcoming work in fiction, poetry, and life writing from unpublished writers around the world. The prize will remain open from 1 February to 31 May 2021.  

Winners of the prize will be announced on 14 October and will receive £1,000 each to support their work. All fifteen shortlisted writers will be offered mentoring and career guidance from partners The Literary Consultancy and The Good Literary Agency. All winners of the prize, running since 2009, remain part of the Wasafiri community, and are supported by the magazine as their careers grow. Past winners and shortlistees have gone on to score deals with major international publishing houses such as Verso, Peepal Tree Press, and HarperCollins India and to be shortlisted for and win prizes including the TS Eliot Prize, Ambit Short Fiction, and Bocas Poetry Prize, among very many others. 

This year’s multiply-award-winning international judging panel comprises Tishani Doshi (Poetry), Hirsh Sawhney (Fiction), and Christie Watson (Life Writing). It will be chaired by renowned novelist and Professor of Creative Writing Andrew Cowan, who says of this role, ‘I’m thrilled to be chairing the judging for this year’s Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize. I’m looking forward to working with Tishani, Hirsh, and Christie, who are such wonderful writers. It’ll be a real pleasure, and a genuine honour.’ 

JUDGES:

  • Andrew Cowan is a novelist and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia and has taught creative writing all over the world. His first novel  Pig  was published in 1994 and received multiple national awards. Including a Betty Trask Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. It was followed by much-celebrated novels  Common Ground  (1996), Crustaceans (2000), What I Know  (2005), and Worthless Men  (2013), and Your Fault (2019). He has also written a creative writing guidebook, The Art of Writing Fiction, and he is currently completing the monograph Against Creative Writing.  

  • Tishani  Doshi is Welsh-Gujarati  poet, novelist, and dancer. Her most recent books are Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Poetry Award, and a novel, Small Days and Nights, shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize and a New York Times Bestsellers Editor’s Choice. God at the Door (Bloodaxe Books), her fourth collection of poems, is forthcoming in spring 2021. She lives in Tamil Nadu, India.   

  • Hirsh Sawhney’s writing has appeared in international anthologies and periodicals including the Times Literary SupplementThe New York Times Book ReviewThe Guardian, the Indian Express, the Financial TimesOutlook, and many more. His novel South Haven was nominated for the 2017 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and he is the editor of the fiction anthology Delhi Noir. He currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut and teaches at Wesleyan University. 

  • Christie Watson is an award-winning and bestselling writer of fiction and non-fiction. She has been a nurse for over twenty years and is currently Professor of Medical and Health Humanities at UEA. Her work has been translated into twenty-three languages. 

https://www.wasafiri.org/article/the-2021-queen-mary-wasafiri-new-writing-prize-open-for-submissions/

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PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists

PEN America

DEADLINE: June 1, 2021, at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists is offered annually to an author of children’s or young adult fiction for a novel-in-progress. Previously called the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, the award was developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and assist a writer at a crucial moment in their career to complete their novel. The author of the winning manuscript, selected blindly by judges unaware of nominees’ names, will receive an award of $5,000.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE:

  • The candidate is a writer of children's or young adult fiction.

  • Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated significant sales.

  • The writer’s previously published book(s) must be published by a U.S. trade publisher. Self-published works are ineligible.

  • The submitted work must be a novel-in-progress that will not be published prior to April 1, 2022.

  • Please note: At this time, graphic novels and picture books are not eligible for the fellowship.


HOW TO APPLY OR NOMINATE:

Writers may apply themselves or nominate a fellow writer. Please submit the following materials:

  • Cover letter: A 1-2 page letter including a brief (1-3 sentence) summary of the project, a description of how the candidate meets the criteria for the grant, and a list of the candidate's published novel(s) for children and/or young adults.

  • Professional review: Copies of or links to 1-3 reviews of the candidate's novel(s) from professional publications.

  • Letter of recommendation: A 1-2 page letter of support from an editor or fellow writer.

  • Project outline: A brief (2-4 page) outline of the novel-in-progress being submitted. The candidate's name should not appear anywhere on the outline to ensure anonymity, as only the outline, letter of utility, and manuscript will be given to the judges for consideration.

  • Letter of Utility: A brief description (1-2 pages) of how the funds will be used to complete the project. What will the candidate be able to accomplish with this funding that they could not do otherwise? Book sales, earnings, or other relevant information may be included here. The candidate’s name should notappear anywhere on the letter of utility to ensure anonymity, as only the outline, letter of utility, and manuscript will be given to the judges for consideration.

  • Manuscript sample: 50–75 pages of the text. The candidate's name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript sample, in order to ensure anonymity for the judging process. Only the outline, letter of utility, and manuscript sample will be given to the judges for consideration.

  • Please upload the Project Outline, Letter of Utility, and Manuscript sample as one anonymous PDF file. Please upload the Cover Letter, Professional Review(s), and Letter of Recommendation as a separate PDF file.

https://pen.submittable.com/submit

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The Native Children’s and YA Writing Intensive

We Need Diverse Books

DEADLINE: June 1, 2021

INFO: The Native Children’s and YA Writing Intensive will offer an opportunity for reflection, conversation, celebration, and manuscript and career development to Native/First Nations writers.

We’ll be sharing information, resources, and contacts related to children’s and YA writing, Native books, and the surrounding publishing world. 

We’re committed to community building, nurturing new voices, supporting working literary artists, and serving kids and teens while centering the needs of Native youth.

Up to 20 participants will be invited to participate in the program, including group discussions of manuscripts in progress. 

Scholarship priority will be given to early acceptances. As part of your application, please be sure to indicate whether financial assistance would be critical to your participation.

FORMAT: The Native Children’s and YA Writing will take place virtually in 2021

DATE(S): Thursday, August 5, 2021, to Sunday, August 8, 2021  

COST: $100. Proceeds from the program will support future Native Writing Intensives.

Registration scholarships are available. Most participants will receive scholarship support.

APPLICATIONS: Please submit your applications via this link.

https://diversebooks.org/programs/native-writing-intensive/

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PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Literary Oral History 

PEN America

DEADLINE: June 1, 2021, at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Literary Oral History recognize literary works of nonfiction that use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. For the 2022 grant cycle, we will confer two PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Literary Oral History with cash prizes of $15,000 each. 

ELIGIBILITY:

  • The submitted project must be the work of a single individual, written in English.

  • The project must be an unpublished work-in-progress that will not be published prior to April 1, 2022, as the grants are intended to support the completion of a final book.

  • The project must be a work of literary nonfiction (scholarly/academic writing is not eligible).

  • Oral history must be a significant component of the project and its research.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please note that the application will require the following, submitted as one PDF file, in the below order,using a standard 12-point font and 1 inch margins:

  • A 1-2 page, single-spaced description of the work, answering: Why is this project important, and why did this author chose to undertake this project?

  • A 1-2 page, single-spaced statement answering: Why and how is oral history used in the project?

  • A 1-2 page, single-spaced statement answering: How will this grant aid in the completion of the project? (This space can additionally be used to discuss any permissions, rights, publishing contracts, publication timelines, or other aspects of your project, should they be applicable.)

  • A CV for the author of the project, which should include information on previous and forthcoming publications.

  • An outline that includes the work completed thus far and the work remaining. The outline should include the names of participants.

  • Unedited transcripts of the project interviews (6-10 double-spaced pages) relating to the writing sample.

  • A writing sample from the project (20-40 double-spaced pages) which utilizes the submitted project interviews.

https://pen.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: horror anthology for TEENAGE writers

Cemetery Gates / Death’s Head Press / Night Worms

DEADLINE: June 1, 2021

INFO: Cemetery Gates, Death’s Head Press, and Night Worms are putting together Generation Dread, a YA horror anthology with stories written by teenage writers to shine a light on the next generation of horror writers. The anthology will be edited by Gabino Iglesias.

GUIDELINES:

  • Word Count 1500 to 3000 words

  • Only topics featured in YA books, no racial slurs.

  • All writers between 15-19 years of age are encouraged to submit.

  • A parent or guardian will have to co-sign the acceptance contract if the writer is under 18.

  • No poetry, art, or nonfiction.

  • We strongly encourage LGBTQ+, disabled, and young writers of color to submit.

PAYMENT: $100 scholarship

Stories and questions can be sent to iglesiasworkshops@gmail.com

https://cemeterygatesmedia.com/2021/03/09/generation-dread-submissions/

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PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

PEN America

DEADLINE: June 1, 2021, at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants were established in the summer of 2003 by a gift from Priscilla and Michael Henry Heim in response to the low number of literary translations currently appearing in English. Its purpose is to promote the publication and reception of translated world literature in English.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • The PEN/Heim Translation Fund provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation.

  • Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion.

  • There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English.

  • The Fund seeks to encourage translators to undertake projects they might not otherwise have had the means to attempt.

  • Anthologies with multiple translators, works of literary criticism, and scholarly or technical texts do not qualify.

  • Translators who have previously been awarded grants by the Fund are ineligible to reapply for three years after the year in which they receive a grant.

  • Please note that projects that have been previously submitted and have not received a grant are unlikely to be reconsidered in a subsequent year.

  • Projects may have up to two translators.

  • Translators may only submit one project per year.

HOW TO APPLY:

Translators must complete the applications form by 11:59 PM (EST) June 1, 2021. The application will require the following materials. Please use a standard 12pt font with 1 inch margins. 

1. The application form, with all items completed:

  • A 1-2 page, single-spaced statement outlining the work and describing its importance.

  • A biography and bibliography of the original author, including information on translations of their work into other languages.

  • A CV of the translator, no longer than 3 pages.

  • If the book is not in the public domain and the project is not yet under contract, please include a photocopy of the copyright notice on the original (the copyright notice is a line including the character ©, a date, and the name of the copyright holder, which appears as part of the front matter in every book), and a letter from the copyright holder stating that English-language rights to the book are available. A letter or copy of an email from the copyright holder is sufficient.

  • If the translation is currently under contract with a publisher, please submit a copy of the contract.


2. An 8–10 page, single-spaced sample of the translation. For prose, this should be within the range of 3,000-5,000 words. For poetry, please include 1-2 poems per page, within the 8–10 page range. 

3. The same passage in the original language (and, if the work has been previously translated, the same passage in the earlier version).

https://pen.submittable.com/submit

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-1000 Below: Flash Prose and Poetry Contest

Midway Journal

DEADLINE: June 1, 2021

FEE: $10 per entry (unlimited entries)

INFO: Enter Midway Journal’s -1000 Below: Flash Prose and Poetry Contest for a chance to win the $500 grand prize! See contest guidelines below.

You may submit an unlimited number of entries, but a new entry fee must be paid for each new submission. You may also submit to each genre. However, there is only one grand prize winner, one second prize winner and one third prize winner and not a winner in each genre.

Paste the title of your submission and your contact information (name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address) in the cover letter box. Your name and contact information must not appear anywhere on the manuscript you upload.

Previously published work will not be accepted. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but must be withdrawn from the contest if accepted elsewhere.

  • Poetry: up to 2 poems per entry, up to 40 words per poem. No more than one poem per page.

  • Prose (Fiction and Nonfiction): 1 piece per entry, up to 1,000 words per piece.

All submissions will be considered for publication.

PRIZES:

  • First Prize: $500 + publication in Midway Journal

  • Second Prize: $250 + publication in Midway Journal

  • Third Prize: $50 + publication in Midway Journal

JUDGE: Tiana Clark is the author of the poetry collection, I Can’t Talk About the Trees Without the Blood (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018), winner of the 2017 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, and Equilibrium (Bull City Press, 2016), selected by Afaa Michael Weaver for the 2016 Frost Place Chapbook Competition. Clark is a winner for the 2020 Kate Tufts Discovery Award (Claremont Graduate University), a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, a recipient of a 2019 Pushcart Prize, a winner of the 2017 Furious Flower’s Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Poetry Prize, and the 2015 Rattle Poetry Prize. She was the 2017-2018 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing. Clark is the recipient of scholarships and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Kenyon Review Writers Workshop. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (M.F.A) and Tennessee State University (B.A.) where she studied Africana and Women’s studies. Her writing has appeared in or is forthcoming from The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, The Washington Post, VQR, Tin House Online, Kenyon Review, BuzzFeed News, American Poetry Review, New England Review, Oxford American, Best New Poets 2015, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

JUDGING PROCESS:

 The staff of Midway Journal will select a group of finalists from all the contest entries. Finalists will be chosen for strong work regardless of genre and sent to the judge by September. The finalists will be sent to judge blindly. A winner will be announced in October.

http://midwayjournal.com/contest/

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2021 SLP Nonfiction/Hybrid Chapbook Contest

Split/Lip Press

DEADLINE: June 2, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $10

INFO: Split/Lip Press's annual Chapbook Contest is on! We're looking for nonfiction/hybrid chapbook manuscripts that are considered complete projects only in their collected state—your pieces should require one another to be fully realized. We're interested in chapbooks that are a collection of stones, Indiana-Jones-and-the-Temple-of-Doom-style, which gain power through proximity—however, if you have a single, sustained, long NF/hybrid piece, we'd love to see it as well!  We've always got our eyes out for work that questions boundaries (physical, emotional, metaphysical, meta-emotional—you get the gist). Dazzle us with your version(s) of truth!  

Our definition of "chapbook" is 40-60pg, but we've got a little flex in both directions, so don't let those guidelines exclude your work if you're pretty close to that page count. 

Our nonfiction/hybrid judge for the 2021 Chapbook Contest is Jenny Boully. Jenny is a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow in General Nonfiction, and the author of Betwixt-and-Between: Essays on the Writing Life. Her previous books include not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward themThe Book of Beginnings and Endings: Essays[one love affair]*of the mismatched teacups, of the single-serving spoon: a book of failures, and The Body: An Essay. A ลูกครึ่ง (half-child), she was born in Thailand and grew up on the southwest side of San  Antonio, Texas. She attended Hollins University, where she double majored in English and Philosophy and then went on to earn an MA in English Criticism and Writing. Her other degrees include an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in English from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and the Bennington Writing Seminars.

Chapbooks will be read continuously throughout the reading period by all members of our nonfiction/hybrid chapbook reading team, who will select their individual top five faves. Our NF/hybrid editor, Lauren Westerfield, will collate the overall top five chapbooks, which will then be read by Jenny Boully, and she will select our winner (+ a runner-up, for good measure)!

The NF/hybrid winner of the 2021 Chapbook Contest will receive a $250 honorarium20 free copies of their published chapbook, and  the following additional benefits of publication with Split/Lip Press:

  • 25% royalties, distributed quarterly, which you begin earning with the very first book sale

  • PDF copies available to send to reviewers

  • additional copies (beyond the first free 20 copies) available to the author for purchase at a discounted rate of print cost + 25%

  • a personalized book design process

  • an online Zoom reading event on publication day, hosted by Split/Lip Press

  • during non-pandemic times, the opportunity to read at an AWP off-site event hosted by Split/Lip Press

  • all the social media support you can handle

To get an idea of what we love, please check out the past nonfiction/hybrid winners of the SLP Chapbook Contests: I Once Met You But You Were Deadby SJ Sindu, The Space Poet by Samantha Edmonds, and last year's winner, Flee by Calvin Walds. We'd love it if you'd add a copy to your submission, and we'll happily throw in free shipping as a thanks!   

Under-represented perspectives are WELCOME and ENCOURAGED and HIGHLY SOUGHTwe want to help bring your voice to the world! 

https://splitlippress.submittable.com/submit/161792/2021-slp-nonfiction-hybrid-chapbook-contest

 

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CALL FOR PITCHES 

Rebel Women Lit

DEADLINE: Ongoing

INFO: Rebel Women Lit (RWL) publishes discussions on contemporary literary culture, interviews with writers, reviews of publications (creative and scholarly) related to the Caribbean, the African diaspora, and Black Feminism, as well as short fiction and poetry by emerging and established Caribbean writers. 

We invite submissions of:

  • discussion essays on contemporary literary culture (700-1,500 words)

  • discussion essays on contemporary Caribbean social justice issues (700-1,500 words)

  • critical reviews of scholarly or creative literary works (1,000-1,200 words)

  • interviews with Caribbean & African authors and/or literary scholars (2,000-2,500 words)

  • poems and short fiction (maximum 4,000 words) from emerging and established Caribbean and African writers 

We publish one post per week and accept submissions on a rolling basis. We kindly ask that  you do not write a piece before pitching it to our editors, unless you are submitting a short story or poem for consideration in our Arts section. . Please review the style requirements below and adhere to the word limits for all submissions. 

GENERAL REQUIREMENT: Permissions: Contributors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reprint and reproduce any material. Similarly, it is the responsibility of contributors to supply the source of all previously published material. Accepted writers will be compensated a small stipend of 20USD - 30USD for each piece.

REVIEWS:

  • Reviews should be preceded by information about the text in the following format:

  • Full name of author, Title. City: press, year of publication 

INTERVIEWS: Interviews must begin with a short paragraph that includes information about the interviewee, the date and general purpose of the interview. The first question must be preceded by the full name of the interviewer and a colon, in bold. The first response should be preceded by the full name of the interviewee and a colon, in bold. Subsequent questions and responses should be preceded by initials and colons, in bold.

PITCHES: Pitches should be summarized in four to eight sentences. All pitches must include: the subject of your writing or review, the main topics and/or themes to be critically explored, and the relevance to the RWL community. 

https://www.rebelwomenlit.com/pitch

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APPALACHIAN FUTURES: BLACK, NATIVE, AND QUEER VOICES

University Press of Kentucky

DEADLINE: N/A

INFO: This book series gives voice to Black, Native, Latinx, Asian, Queer, and other nonwhite or ignored identities within the Appalachian region. It does not seek to define the region. Reading from Appalachia rather than about Appalachia, it will observe the process of becoming by amplifying the experiences that a multiplicity of writers, activists, organizers, and everyday people find within its boundaries and in their absence from this place. This series will advance a creative ecosystem unrivaled within traditional cultural hubs, creating a space for the voices and stories of Appalachia’s future.

EDITORS:

  • Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle 
    Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and is the author of Even As We Breathe. Her work has appeared in Yes! Magazine, Lit Hub, Smoky Mountain Living Magazine, South Writ Large, and The Atlantic. Clapsaddle teaches at Swain County High School and serves on the board of trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network.

  • Davis Shoulders 
    Davis Shoulders is a director and worker-owner of Atlas Books, an independent and cooperatively-owned bookstore in Johnson City, TN (forthcoming 2021). They have served as the Events Organizer for Union Ave Books in Knoxville, TN since 2018.

  • Crystal Wilkinson 
    Crystal Wilkinson is the author of Perfect Black, The Birds of Opulence, Blackberries, Blackberries, and Water Street. She was named a 2020 USA Fellow by United States Artists and teaches at the University of Kentucky, where she is Associate Professor of English in the MFA in Creative Writing Program.

FORTHCOMING BOOKS:

  • Chocolate City Way Up South in Appalachia: Black Knoxville at the Intersection of Race, Place, and Region, Enkeshi Thom El-Amin of Black in Appalachia podcast

  • A collection of essays by queer & trans organizers & artists across Appalachia, edited by Rae Garringer of Country Queers podcast

  • Tar Hollow Trans: Reflections on Culture and Identity in Appalachia, Stacy Jane Grover

  • A collection of Black voices of Appalachia, edited by Crystal Wilkinson

  • A collection of Native voices of Appalachia, edited by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

  • A collection of Queer Appalachian writers on religion, edited by Davis Shoulders

https://www.kentuckypress.com/appalachian-futures-black-native-and-queer-voices/


FICTION / NONFICTION -- APRIL 2021

BOUNDARY

Color Bloq

DEADLINE: April 4, 2021

INFO: When we first announced this call for contributors in Fall 2019, we had a clear vision for the collection. And then the pandemic happened, disrupting our plans and shifting our focus. We decided to only publish one collection in 2020. With the WORLDBUILDING collection, we wanted to provide an opportunity for our queer and trans BIPOC family to dream with us. To wonder about the possibilities of resistance and joy.

Now that we’ve all gained plenty of experience navigating a world impacted by COVID-19, we are revisiting the theme of BOUNDARY with a fresh lens. We invite you to send us your best pitch that speaks to or expands on this call for submissions.

As you develop your pitch, consider the following prompts or feel free to address the central theme in a way that suits your creative vision and style. Explore the boundaries of everyday interactions: from the personal to the political, professional to private, even those that define the barriers between what’s sexual and what’s intimate (or even platonic and romantic!). What has shaped the boundaries you maintain today? What impacts the boundaries you navigate between social, cultural, and political institutions? What lessons have you learned about your boundaries and those of others over this last year of sharp adjustments, unexpected changes, distance and isolation? In what ways have you excelled in these life lessons and where have you faltered?

At this time, we are only accepting ONE pitch per person (if you submit for multiple writing categories, the first one read will be the only one considered).

You may only submit ONE PITCH per theme.

We publish queer & trans BIPOC writers, exclusively.

Pieces must be original and unpublished works.

DO NOT email your pitch to us.

How to Pitch to the Online Magazine

You may submit a fully developed pitch OR complete article for consideration. Pitches must be 100(min) to 250(max) words, providing a solid foundation to develop a full essay. It needs to include a statement on the central theme as well as supporting information regarding how that theme will be explored. This will be roughly 1-2 paragraphs and may be written as either a potential introduction to the piece or as an essay summary. Submissions must substantially address the publication theme to which it is being pitched. All submissions will undergo editorial review.

You may only submit ONE PITCH per theme. All submissions should be uploaded using the following naming convention: “First Initial+Last Name - THEME” Ex: “ABraddock - BOUNDARY”

Feature-length Articles & Cultural Critiques

These articles focus on history; social, cultural, and/or political context; reporting and analysis; or deep study into a singular topic. We are looking for nonfiction essays/articles/critiques ranging from 1200-2000 words. 

Personal Essays

Personal essays are first-person stories by individuals on their own lived experiences and relationships to the thematic topic. We are looking for personal essays ranging from 600-800 words.

Alternative Formats: Interviews, Reviews, Roundtables, etc. 

We encourage pitches that fall outside of longform formats that also centrally address the publication theme. These include, but are not limited to: interviews, reviews, roundtables, experimental mixed-format (i.e. photo essays), multi-person collaborations, and more. Alongside the requested 1-2 paragraph summary, alternative format pitches must provide a statement describing the suggested format as well as a brief justification explaining how the format enhances the contributor’s engagement with the theme. 

COMPENSATION:

  • Feature-length Articles & Cultural Critiques: $500 - $1,000

  • Personal Essays: $275 

  • Alternative Formats (Interviews, Reviews, Roundtables, etc.: $500 - $1,000

Color Bloq / ColorBloq.org is a nonprofit organization building a community of Queer & Trans People of Color (QTPoC) through a digital magazine, and cultural & educational events. It is our mission to curate safe(r) spaces where we elevate our issues, our culture, our excellence, and our joy.

https://www.colorbloq.org/submit

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MVICW ANNUAL WRITING CONTEST

Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Virtual Summer Writers' Conference

DEADLINE: April 5, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $25

INFO: We are thrilled to offer our annual competition to attend this year's Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Virtual Summer Writers' Conference. The competition is open to anyone who will be 18 years or older as of the start of the program. Two winners (one in poetry and one in fiction/CNF) will receive tthe full cost of attendance plus a one-on-one manuscript session with one of our visiting writers! Two second prize winners (one in each genre) will receive $500 toward the cost of registration.

GUIDELINES:

  • Poetry: (1-3 pages) Submit your single best poem.

  • Prose: (up to 3,000 words) Submit ONE short story OR one flash fiction piece OR novel excerpt OR creative non-fiction entry.

Entries will be judged anonymously. DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE POEM/STORY/CNF or the file attachment. Payment is $25 per submission, and you are welcome to submit more than one piece by submitting them separately and paying the submission fee for each entry.

Please note that previous MVICW first place contest or full fellowship winners are not eligible to apply.

PRIZES:

  • Two First Prizes: Full Registration & One-on-One Manuscript Session: Poetry and Fiction/CNF 

  • Two Second Prizes: $500 each (Toward Registration): Poetry and Fiction/CNF

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES:

  • The entry must be submitted in English and must be your own original work.

  • You may submit new or previously published material. As the manuscripts will not be published/reprinted, the author retains all rights to the work.

  • There is no restriction to style, content, or genre.

  • You must be 18 years old or older on the day the retreat begins to enter.

  • The submission must not include your real or pen name or any information that identifies you in any way.

  • Contest closes at midnight on the deadline date

  • Winners will be announced one month after the deadline.

DETAILS ON AWARDS AND RULES:

Full Fellowships cover the full cost of registration to attend the MVICW Virtual Summer Writers’ Conference plus an added one-on-one manuscript session with one of our visiting writers. Runner-up recipients will receive $500 toward registration.

You are not eligible to enter the competition if you are (a) our employee or independent contractor of MVICW; (b) a family member (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) of our employees; (c) a judge involved in the competition, including any reviewer who participates in selecting the nominees and finalists; (d) a close friend of the judge so that the judge can identify your work; (e) a previous MVICW full fellowship/first place contest winner. 

We will notify potential winners via telephone or email. If potential winners decline the prize or fail to respond within seven (7) days after the first contact, the winners will be deemed to forfeit the prize and MVICW has the right to select alternate potential winner(s) in their place.

https://mvicw.submittable.com/submit

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SUMMER 2021 INTERNSHIP

Graywolf Press

DEADLINE: April 5, 2021

INFO: Our application period for the Summer 2021 internship is now open. Internships are being conducted remotely, but applicants must reside in California, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, or North Carolina for the duration of the internship.

This internship is intended to provide intensive educational experience in the workings of a literary nonprofit publishing house, but will be conducted mainly within the Editorial department. Some time will be spent on projects from the Marketing and Publicity or Development departments of Graywolf as well.

Over the course of the program, interns will have an opportunity to learn more about the publishing industry as a whole through focused conversations with staff members about the departments they work in and their careers. In addition to these informational interviews, interns will be invited to attend key all-staff and department specific meetings. Interns are also encouraged to take advantage of any opportunities to ask questions and learn more about areas of publishing that are of particular interest to them.

Interns will receive minimum wage ($15 per hour), paid twice monthly as regular wages. They will also receive a free copy of each Graywolf book published during the session. The internship schedule is a flexible ten hours per week for a period of twelve weeks; total compensation is based on time worked and would equate to $1,800 for this period. We expect interns to set aside up to three office hours each week for check-ins, meetings, and informational interviews. Office hours to be determined based on availability between 10:00am and 5:00pm CT, Mondays through Thursdays, and 10:00am and 3:00pm CT Fridays.

While we understand that applicants will have simultaneous commitments such as school and employment, we will not consider applicants who will be enrolled in another book publishing internship, or who will otherwise be employed by another book publisher at any point during Graywolf’s summer 2021 internship. We do not discourage you from applying for multiple publishing positions at once, but we ask that you withdraw your application from Submittable as soon as you accept a position elsewhere. This restriction does not apply to those working in journal and magazine publishers.

TASKS AND DUTIES:

Interns will complete the following tasks and duties remotely. Applicants must have access to a workspace with personal computer and high-speed internet for video conferencing and email.

Tasks and duties will include:

  • Reading, evaluating, and reporting on fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions

  • Sending manuscript rejections, requests, and submission guidelines

  • Seeking out promising new authors by reading print and online journals, blogs, etc.

  • Other projects as needed, including research, fact checking, and data entry

QUALIFICATIONS:

Because of extensive interest in the internships, the acceptance process will be highly selective. Ideal candidates will be self-motivated, detail-oriented, energetic, and eager to seek out and support new and original literary voices. Preference will be given to applicants in at least the third or fourth year of an undergraduate degree or who have equivalent experience.

Internships are being conducted remotely, but applicants must reside in California, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, or North Carolina for the duration of the internship.

HOW TO APPLY:

The application will require the following as separate PDF, DOC, or DOCX files:

  • Resume

  • Cover letter

  • Overview and discussion of a contemporary book of poetry, fiction, or literary nonfiction, which incorporates at least two of the following items: assessment of the book’s aims and strengths, critique, personal response, and cultural or literary context. (One page maximum, single spaced.)

Graywolf Press welcomes applicants of all abilities. Please let us know in your cover letter if you require accommodation.

https://www.graywolfpress.org/about-us/jobs-and-internships

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS: FICTION

Perennial Press

DEADLINE: April 7, 2021

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

INFO: Perennial Press archives truths through fiction, art, and poetry. We are committed to highlighting and uplifting voices & perspectives that have traditionally been underrepresented in literature. We center narratives of womxn, people of color, and queer folks. Our published works explore trauma and resilience in our histories, and visions of more just futures.

GUIDELINES:

We are open for submissions of novels, novellas, and short-story collections. Submissions should be a minimum of 48 pages.

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. All submitters will receive a free PDF copy of our anthology super / natural.

What kind of works do we like?

  • We love all realms of speculative fictionsci-fi, cli-fi, visionary fiction; if it’s good we’ll probably be into it.

  • We also like fiction that tackles political and social topics with nuance. We like experimental stuff.

  • We don’t care if you have a degree in writing, but we care that your writing is thoughtful and evokes feeling in the reader. We want to have an experience when we’re reading your manuscript.

Please note:

  • We only publish inclusive works.

  • You must have a complete manuscript ready upon submission.

  • We will not accept multiple submissions from any one person, unless otherwise noted. Please send one manuscript at a time.

  • If any of your work has been previously published, please indicate where and when in your cover letter.

https://perennialpress.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS: NON-FICTION

Perennial Press

DEADLINE: April 7, 2021

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

INFO: Perennial Press archives truths through fiction, art, and poetry. We are committed to highlighting and uplifting voices & perspectives that have traditionally been underrepresented in literature. We center narratives of womxn, people of color, and queer folks. Our published works explore trauma and resilience in our histories, and visions of more just futures.

GUIDELINES:

We are open for non-fiction manuscript submissions. Send us your memoir, essay collection, creative non-fiction x poetry hybrids, you name it! Submissions should be a minimum of 48 pages. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. We require a $10 submission fee to cover overhead costs to review all manuscripts. All submitters will receive a free PDF copy of our anthology super / natural.

What kind of works do we like?

  • We love all realms of non-fiction with feminist leanings, social critiques, self call-outs, reflections, ruminations, you name it!

  • We also like fiction that tackles political and social topics with nuance. 

  • We don’t care if you have a degree in writing, but we care that your writing is thoughtful and evokes feeling in the reader. We want to have an experience when we’re reading your manuscript.

Please note:

  • We only publish inclusive works.

  • You must have a complete manuscript ready upon submission.

  • We will not accept multiple submissions from any one person, unless otherwise noted. Please send one manuscript at a time.

  • If any of your work has been previously published, please indicate where and when in your cover letter.

https://perennialpress.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR Fiction, Flash Fiction, Poetry & Translations

SAND

DEADLINE: April 10, 2021

INFO: SAND looks for submissions that push the boundaries of form, message, and voice in fresh and unpredictable ways—work that is haunting for its soul, edge, and truth.

SAND is made by a diverse international team in Berlin, and we welcome writers and artists from a range of perspectives to submit, including those who are women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, people of color, working class, and/or geographically underrepresented. Most of us editors are also writers, and we know how it goes. That’s why we consider every submission, why we welcome emerging writers and artists, and why we will never charge you fees for submitting. (Donations and subscriptions are of course appreciated, and help us stay weird and independent.)

  • Submissions are open until April 10th, 2021. There is a cap on fiction, poetry, and flash fiction submissions, so these genres may close before April 10th. Submit to these genres as early as possible.

  • We accept previously unpublished poems, including translations, and visual art. (Creative Nonfiction is currently closed.) Work forthcoming in a book, including stand-alone excerpts, is acceptable, as long as it appears in SAND before the book’s publication date. We ask for worldwide First Serial Rights. (Rights revert to you after publication.)

  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please inform us as soon as possible if the work has been accepted elsewhere. We also accept multiple submissions as long as they are in separate categories. 

  • Please allow six months for a response before sending an inquiry.

  • We will pay contributors as long as our funding will allow. We also send all contributors a free copy of SAND and promise faithful promotion of your writing/art for as long as we both shall live.

GUIDELINES:

  • Poetry: Please send us poems that take interesting risks. Your weird poems, your challenging poems, your sensitive poems. Poems unanticipated.We want poems that are attentive to their language; precise and economical. We would like to see specific and deliberate methods for setting the words on the page. If your work considers classical forms and uses them to new ends, send it. If it rejects traditional forms and forges new ones, we want it. Push the bounds of what is ordinarily pondered, and send the results our way.Due to design considerations, prose poetry that is particularly wide is likely to undergo some spatial shifts during the editing process.We will not consider submissions over 5 pages.There is a cap on poetry submissions, and this category might close before April 10th.

  • Fiction and Flash Fiction: Send subversive fiction that will pull the tops of our heads off, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson. We want to read stories that need to be told from perspectives that aren’t always heard. Take risks that surprise us and keep us wanting to read long after your story is finished. To make sure your submission is right for SAND, read about our fiction preferences here.We accept previously unpublished short stories, flash fiction, and translations. We do not read full novels, novel excerpts, full novellas, or plays.Writers may submit one short story (up to 5,000 words) OR a single file with up to three pieces of flash fiction (of up to 1000 words each, not to exceed 3000 words).Do not include your name or any other identifying information on the document you submit. Fiction reads submissions blind. We will automatically reject any submissions that include identifying information. There is a cap on fiction and flash fiction submissions, and these categories might close before April 10th.


    We accept translations of fiction into English. Submitters should ensure that they have permission from the author and publisher to print the translation before submitting.Submit the most complete, most polished version of your work. In exceptional cases, we sometimes edit stories in conversation with the author, who naturally has the final say.

  • Creative Nonfiction: Nonfiction submissions are currently closed. 

  • Translations: We accept translations into English of poetry, fiction, and flash fiction. (Creative nonfiction is currently closed.) We generally include the original version of a poem or flash piece alongside the translation. For reasons of space, we publish translated longer prose in English only.The original work may be previously published, as long as it has not been translated to English before. Permission must be granted for publication in SAND from both the author and the translator and, if necessary, the author’s publisher.Please include the name and brief biography for both the author and translator in your cover letter, as well as a copy of the text in its original language.

https://sandjournal.com/submit/

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SHORT STORY CONTEST: EXCLUSIVELY FOR WOMEN OVER 45

Next Tribe

DEADLINE: April 11, 2021

ENTRY FEES:

  • NextTribe Members: $10

  • Non-Members: $45 (includes $10 application fee plus a discounted membership in NextTribe for the coming year).

INFO: As we have long said, we believe every woman has a story, and because we really, really want to hear yours, we’ve decided to host a short story contest just for women like you, women who have had a lot of life experiences to fuel their imagination and writing. 

PRIZES:

  • $500 plus publication in NextTribe and a lot of hooting and hollering

  • 2 runners up, $100 each and publication in NextTribe

GUIDELINES:

  • There are a few rules and guidelines, which you most definitely should read or your submission may be disqualified. The biggest one is that you need to be a woman over age 45 or identify as one. Read them all here

  • No more than 20 pages, double spaced at 12-point Times Roman font (approx. 5,000 words)

  • Your work will be judged by a panel of truly exceptional writers, all of whom have published fiction and know a good story when they read one. 

JUDGES:

Cathi Hanauer: Cathi Hanauer is the New York Times bestselling author of three novels—Gone, Sweet Ruin, and My Sister’s Bones—and editor of two essay anthologies, The Bitch in the House and The Bitch is Back, which was an NPR “Best Book” of 2016. She has written articles, essays, and criticism for The New York Times, Elle, O, Real Simple, Refinery 29, and numerous other publications; has contributed to many essay anthologies; and is the co-founder, along with her husband, Daniel Jones, of the New York Times “Modern Love” column. 

Christine Pride: Christine Pride is a writer, editor, and 15-year publishing veteran. She has held posts at various Big Five imprints, including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Hyperion, and, most recently, as a Senior Editor at Simon and Schuster. Christine has published a range of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, with an emphasis on inspirational stories and memoirs.  In the fall of 2018, Christine left her full time in-house editorial post to focus on freelance, writing and editing.  Her first novel, We Are Not Like Them, written with Jo Piazza, will be published by Atria in October 2021. 

Dawn Raffel: Dawn Raffel‘s most recent book, The Strange Case of Dr. Couney, was chosen as one of NPR’s best books of 2018 and awarded a 2019 Christopher Award for books that affirm the highest values of the human spirit. Previous books include a memoir, The Secret Life of Objects; a novel, Carrying the Body; and two story collections,  Further Adventures in the Restless Universe and In the Year of Long Division. She has held editorial positions, including fiction editor, at major publications, and taught in the MFA program at Columbia University. As the editor of The Literarian, the literary journal of the Center for Fiction in New York, she has helped many award-winning writers along the way. 

Natalie Serber: Natalie Serber is the author of a memoir, Community Chest, and a story collection, Shout Her Lovely Name, a New York Times Notable Book of 2012, a summer reading selection from O, the Oprah Magazine, and an Oregonian Top 10 Book of the Pacific Northwest. Her fiction has appeared in The Greensboro ReviewThe Bellingham ReviewGulf CoastInkwell, and elsewhere. Essays and reviews have appeared in The New York TimesO, The Oprah MagazineThe Huffington Post and others. Natalie has been short listed in Best American Short Stories. 

https://nexttribe.com/short-story-contest/

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IMAGINE 2200 - CLIMATE FICTION FOR FUTURE ANCESTORS

Fix / Grist

DEADLINE: April 12, 2021 at 11:59pm PT

ENTRY FEE: $0

AWARD: $8,700 in prizes, publication, and a reason to stay hopeful.

INFO: Imagine 2200 is a new climate-fiction contest by Fix, Grist’s solutions lab. What we’re seeking: short stories that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress.

The world is crazy right now, and the stakes are high: just, you know, our entire frickin’ future. Our newsfeeds are full of denial, delay, and doom that make us want to scream into our pillows. But that’s just the old story. At Fix, we are telling the new story, of a path to a clean, green, and just future, and the people who are driving it. Our mission is to make the story of a better world so irresistible, you want it right now.

With that goal in mind, we decided to launch our first foray into the world of hopeful, forward-looking fiction — to inspire visions of the future that haven’t even been dreamt up yet, and welcome more voices into the climate conversation. Join this uprising of imagination, and help us turn the page on earth’s next chapter.

Envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress. What will the world look like in the year 2200 — or anywhere between then and now? How will we move around the cities of the future? What will we eat, drink, wear, use, and live in? How will we hold our relationships to land, resources, and one another? What kind of a world do you, a future ancestor, want to build? This is your opportunity to build it — on paper.

Stories should be set anywhere between the present day and the year 2200, and should show our path to a clean, green, and just future. (Of course, we don’t expect your story to be totally rosy or pollyannaish. 180 years of equitable climate progress will involve hard work and struggle, and we invite you to show that, too.)

Imagine 2200 draws inspiration from Afrofuturism, as well as Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, disabled, feminist, and queer futures. The contest is also grounded in hopepunk and solarpunk — literary genres that uplift equitable climate solutions and continued service to one’s community, even in the face of despair.

We’ll be reading for the following core elements:

  • Hope

  • Intersectionality

  • Resilience

  • A society that is radically different from the one we live in today, and how we got there

  • A focus on climate, with creative and clearly articulated solutions that put people and planet first

We will also judge submissions based on the quality of artistic voice, originality, craftsmanship, and technique, and the depth of environmental, scientific, historical, and/or cultural background that informs the story.

https://grist.submittable.com/submit?utm_source=internalgrist&utm_medium=pardotnewsletter&utm_campaign=clifi

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MACDOWELL FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: April 15, 2021

INFO: MacDowell's mission is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. We encourage applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics, and who are investigating an unlimited array of inquiries and concerns.

About 300 artists in seven disciplines are awarded fellowships each year and the sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence. There are no residency fees. Travel grants as well as need-based stipends are available to open the residency experience to the broadest possible community of artists. Artists with professional standing in their fields, as well as emerging artists, are eligible to apply. MacDowell encourages artists from all backgrounds and all countries in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts.

We are currently accepting applications for the fall 2021 season. Please note: This residency season will be extended to not only include the traditional fall months of October 2021 - January 2022, but also February - May 2022. The next deadline will be January 15, 2022 for our summer 2022 season. At this time, we are not planning a September deadline.

In order to determine if this is the best time for you to apply, please consider the following:

MacDowell is currently operating at a reduced capacity due to the pandemic.

We are scheduling residencies for distinct groups of artists based on artist availability (rather than rolling arrivals/departures) and are limiting each group to no more than 20 artists who will have limited opportunities for social interaction.

  • Residency length is 2 to 4 weeks; all artists arrive within one or two days and departures are staggered with a gap between sessions.

  • Due to continued travel restrictions, we recommend that you consult your local and NH State guidelines to determine if this is an appropriate time to travel.

  • Given the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and availability of the vaccine, MacDowell reserves the right to suspend the application and/or residency sessions. If MacDowell needs to cancel a future residency session due to the pandemic, we will do our best to reschedule the artists whose residencies were not fulfilled.

Artists may apply only once in a two-year period. If there are particular aspects of a MacDowell residency that appeal to you that are not currently being offered, please consider waiting to apply until those aspects are reinstated. For questions, contact the admissions department at admissions@macdowell.org.

https://www.macdowell.org/apply/apply-for-fellowship

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PIGEON PAGES FICTION CONTEST

DEADLINE: April 15, 2021

INFO: The Pigeon Pages Fiction Contest is currently open for submissions.

The contest will be judged by C Pam Zhang, author of How Much Of These Hills Is Gold.

AWARDS:

  • The winner will receive $250 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

  • Honorable mentions will receive $50 and publication.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • Previously unpublished fiction pieces of 3,000 words or less are eligible for this contest. 

  • There is a $10 fee to submit.

  • We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if the submitted piece is accepted elsewhere.

  • Please do not include personal information on your piece, as submissions will be read blind.

  • All submissions will be considered for publication in the general journal.

https://pigeonpagesnyc.com/fiction-contest

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Bethany Arts Community Residencies

DEADLINE: April 15, 2021

INFO: BAC offers short term residencies attracting artists at different stages of their careers from around the world for the development of both new works and works in progress. BAC welcomes artists working across most disciplines, including visual artists in any medium, writers, playwrights, choreographers, musicians, composers, performance artists, filmmakers, and lighting, projection, costume and sound designers. During their time on site, these artists will develop new works while engaging with local artists and the public.

BAC provides a collective environment for artists of all disciplines where they can engage in meaningful interaction and stimulating discussions with their peers, while pursuing individual or group projects. It is an ideal setting for the exchange of ideas, the inspiration for new work, and the harmonious cross-fertilization of disciplines. Successful applicants are typically mid-career or established artists. However, emerging artists who believe their work is of exceptional merit are eligible as well.

Individuals and small teams of up to 3 artists may apply.

BAC residencies have three important parts:

  1. Evening Meals: All residents must attend evening meals (provided by BAC) with their fellow artists.

  2. Residency Plan: All residents must have a plan of action for what they will complete during their time at BAC.

  3. Public Component: All residencies must include a public component accessible to the outside community that connects to their residency plan.

Public Component
The public component of your application must relate to your artist residency and engage the local and broader community. This may include open studio visits, presentations, teaching a class/workshop, works-in-progress showing, exhibition, or other outreach or community engagement project. BAC will help you schedule your public component but it is up to you to plan how you will execute this event and identify any outside community partners that you are interested in working with in your application. Please make sure that the public component you identify is able to be completed while you are in residence. BAC encourages all the artists to engage with and support each other during their stay, including attending fellow residents’ public programs.

Artist Live/Work Spaces
The artist living spaces are inviting and comfortable with expansive views of our scenic property. Residents have access to our facilities and 25-acre grounds offering a fruit orchard and meditation trail. At the heart of the campus is our commercial kitchen and dining area where artists in residence and visitors of BAC can gather for daily meals.

Meals
Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided during your stay. All residents must attend evening meals with their fellow artists. These dinner gatherings encourage the exchange of ideas and the development of collaborative relationships with other residents. This allows the artists to gain familiarity with each other’s’ work and establish a vigorous, engaging dialogue that supports collaboration and connection. We will do our very best to accommodate all food allergies and sensitivities, please let us know of any concerns you may have or specific needs in your application.

Subsidy
BAC offers a weekly subsidy to resident artists.

https://bethanyarts.org/residencies/

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2021 Gulf Coast Prizes in Fiction and Nonfiction

Gulf Coast Journal

DEADLINE: April 15, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $23 (includes a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast).

INFO: Entries for the Gulf Coast Prizes in Fiction and Nonfiction should be a single prose work not exceeding 7,000 words. We only accept submissions via Submittable. 

JUDGES: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Fiction) and Kiese Laymon (Nonfiction).

PRIZES: The contest awards $1,500 and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner in each genre. Two honorable mentions in each genre are awarded $250. All entries are considered for publication and the entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast.

GUIDELINES:

  • Click here for online submissions accepted via Gulf Coast’s Submittable

  • Submit your work as a single .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.

  • Only previously unpublished work will be considered.

  • The contest will be judged blindly, so please do not include your cover letter, your name, or any contact information in the uploaded document. This information should only be pasted in the “Comments” field in Submittable.

https://gulfcoastmag.org/contests/gulf-coast-prize/

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HAMBIDGE RESIDENCIES

Hambidge Center

DEADLINE: April 15, 2021 (for Fall Session - September through December).

INFO: The Hambidge Center is situated on 600 forested acres in the mountains of north Georgia and offers miles of nature trails, meadows, waterfalls, a swimming hole and an abundance of wildflowers.

The oldest residency program in the Southeast, Hambidge provides a self-directed program that honors the creative process and trusts individuals to know what they need to cultivate their talent, whether it’s to work and produce, to think, to experiment or to rejuvenate. Residents’ time is their own; there are no workshops, critiques, nor required activities.


Each resident is given their own private studio which provides work and living space with a bathroom and full kitchen. The studios are designed to protect the time, space and solitude that allows residents to focus on their work.


Resident groups are intentionally kept small enough (8-10 people) to gather around the dinner table each evening, Tuesday through Friday, for delicious vegetarian meals prepared by our chef. These communal meals are an essential part of the Hambidge residency experience. Serious topics are discussed (and light-hearted ones, too), experiences are shared, and encouragement is given. Many a collaboration and life-long friendship have begun at the Hambidge dinner table.

Members of each resident group come from different walks of life and work in different creative disciplines; from musicians, chefs and scientists, to visual artists, writers, and beyond. Each year, residents of all ages come to Hambidge from over 30 states across the U.S., as well as internationally.

Specialized equipment and facilities include the Antinori Pottery Studio, and a beautifully rebuilt turn-of-the-century Steinway grand piano housed in Garden Studio.




WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU APPLY

  • The studios are comfortable, but rustic and secluded. They are purposely simple, and most are out of sight of each other, if not quite isolated. 

  • We are located in a forested environment. Residents should expect to occasionally encounter wildlife and insects – and sometimes the insects are inside the studios. 

  • It is dark at night. There are no street lights or ambient light, other than the moon and stars.

  • Due to our remote location, there is no cell service at Hambidge. Each studio has a phone for emergency, local and incoming calls. 

  • To encourage focused creativity, there is no internet in the studios. Wi-fi is available 24 hours a day in the communal space of Lucinda's Rock House.

ELIGIBILITY: Qualified applicants must be working at a professional level in their field. We seek applications from emerging and mid-career creatives, as well as from those who are established with national and/or international reputations. 

Applications for residency are judged primarily on the quality of submitted work samples and professional promise. Hambidge accepts approximately 170 artists each year. There are no publication, exhibition, or performance requirements contingent on a Hambidge residency. 

The Hambidge Center encourages creative professionals of all backgrounds to apply for admission. We celebrate varied ideas, world views, and personal characteristics, and are committed to being an organization that welcomes and respects everyone regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, race, religion, philosophical or political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, nationality, geographic origin, and socioeconomic status. 

FEES: There is a $30 application fee. If this represents a barrier to submitting an application, please contact our Operations Manager at center@hambidge.org to discuss a waiver.

The residency fee is $250 per week. 

Note: the actual cost of a residency is $1500/wk. Every year, the Hambidge Center raises funds to supplement $1250 for every residency week, leaving each resident with only the $250/wk fee.

FUNDING: Hambidge offers several merit-based Distinguished Fellowships which remove the fees for a two-week residency and provide a $700 stipend. Available Distinguished Fellowships vary from session to session and are listed in the Awards & Financial Assistance section of each session's application. Unless otherwise noted, they are reserved for first-time residents. The list of previously awarded Distinguished Fellowships can be seen here

FINANCIAL AID: Hambidge offers limited financial aid scholarships to accepted residents. Priority will be given to minority residents with the goal of a more diverse and inclusive residency program.

Upon acceptance to the program and receiving the financial aid forms, applicants will be required to provide completed documents within 5 days, including last year’s Tax Return, and a Statement of Need. The Statement is a description of financial needs: the reasons for requesting aid and an explanation of the applicant’s financial situation, including current expenses, debt, and sources of income. International applicants will be asked to complete a questionnaire instead of providing a tax return. 

Admission Panels: Applications in each discipline are reviewed by panels of three esteemed peers within that discipline. Panel membership is rotated frequently. 

Length of Stay: Applicants may request stays between two weeks and eight weeks. Residents arrive on Tuesday and depart on Sunday. Residencies of one week are available to Arts & Culture Administrator applicants and Culinary applicants ONLY. Eight-week residencies will only be scheduled in the Fall and Spring Sessions. The maximum length of residencies awarded in Summer Session is four weeks. Because of differing lengths of individual stays, residents will arrive and depart on varying schedules. 

Creative Disciplines
Hambidge accepts applications in the following disciplines:

  • ARTS & CULTURE ADMINISTRATION - including propopsals for professional projects and/or personal creative projects by administrators working for arts, culture or environmental organizations, or independently (a freelance curator, for example). It is not a requirement that the organization be a non-profit, however it must be an organization that works with or assists other people or produces public projects.

  • CERAMICS - including functional and sculptural

  • CULINARY ARTS - including recipe development, cookbook writing, food writing, food styling, food photography, and food preservation

  • DANCE - including choreography, performance, and theory

  • MUSIC - including composition, performance, vocal, and theory, in all genres of music

  • SCIENCE - this residency offers scientists in any branch of science a place to write and/or organize research

  • VISUAL ARTS - including book arts, conceptual art, design, drawing, environmental art, fiber arts, film & video, installation arts, metalworking, mixed media, multimedia art, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and woodworking. Note: We do not have darkroom or printmaking facilities, but provide exploration space for artists working in those disciplines. Those working in wood or metal must bring their own tools and machinery.

  • WRITING - including academic scholarship, criticism, fiction, history, poetry, journalism, nonfiction, philosophy, playwriting, screenwriting, storytelling.

References: Hambidge no longer requires letters of recommendation as part of the application materials.  

Collaborations and Couples: Collaborators must submit individual applications, but may choose to share studio/living space. Applications must contain a joint proposal of the work they intend to do while in residence and an example of previous collaborative work. The acceptance of one collaborator does NOT guarantee the acceptance of the other.

Non-collaborating couples who wish to be in residence together must submit individual applications. Upon acceptance, they may request concurrent residency dates and choose whether or not to share studio/living space. No other provisions are made for partners. The acceptance of one partner does NOT guarantee the acceptance of the other. 

Children: Hambidge has successfully hosted several residents accompanied by their children. We are still developing our parental program, but we are quite willing to work with resident parents to find the best timing and to recommend part-time childcare for their stay. Please contact us at center@hambidge.org or 706-746-7324 to discuss these options before submitting your application. 

Pets: With the exception of licensed service animals (as defined by the ADA), pets are not permitted. 

International Applicants: Hambidge welcomes applicants in all disciplines from around the world. Writers who work in languages other than English should supply samples of work in translation as well as in the original. A working understanding of English is required. Hambidge does not provide an interpreter for residents who speak little or no English. 

Application Instructions: All application materials must be submitted electronically through hambidge.slideroom.com. Step-by-step instructions are included in each application. For technical assistance during the application process, contact Slidroom Support in the Help tab of the application portal. 

Late applications will not be accepted. Notification of results is sent via email approximately 5 weeks after the application deadline. 

NOTE: We will contact you using the EMAIL address in your Slideroom Account Information. Before submitting your application, please double check to make sure ALL your Slideroom account info is current.

https://www.hambidge.org/guidelines-apply

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Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award

Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators

DEADLINE: April 15, 2021 by midnight PT

INFO: The Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award is for authors over the age of fifty who have not been traditionally published in the children’s literature field. The grant was established by Newbery Award winner and Newbery Honor Book recipient Karen Cushman and her husband, Philip Cushman, in conjunction with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. 

The award is open to unpublished children’s book authors or author/illustrators over the age of fifty, and one winner will be chosen from the pool of those who have submitted material for the SCBWI Work-in-Progress Grants. The winner will receive $500 and free tuition to any SCBWI conference anywhere in the world. (Conference tuition includes tuition to the general conference, and does not include transportation, hotel, and expenses.) 

SCBWI reserves the right not to confer this award in any given year.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • You must be a current member.

  • The award is open to unpublished writers and writer-illustrators fifty years of age and older.

  • The applicant cannot have been published or have a project under contract in the children’s book field.

  • All Work-in-Progress Grant guidelines apply.

  • The final judging will be by a committee including Karen Cushman and Lin Oliver.

  • Submit through the Work-in-Progress Award Portal HERE.

https://www.scbwi.org/awards/grants/work-in-progress-grants/karen-and-philip-cushman-late-bloomer-award/

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The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting Fellowship Program

Ida B. Wells Society

DEADLINE: April 19, 2021 by 5:00pm ET

INFO: The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting Fellowship Program is a yearlong, intensive, no-cost training program that will bring fellows to New York City to learn in-depth investigative reporting techniques from some of the most accomplished journalists in the field.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

  • Must have three years of professional news reporting experience.

  • The program is open to all print, broadcast, online and multimedia journalists.

  • Must be able to participate in 4-6 weeklong trainings in New York City.

  • Freelancers can apply, but they must have a news organization willing to write a supportive statement and publish their work.

What a participant’s news organization agrees to do if their employee is selected:

  • Provide support and guidance to the participant as they take part in the program and develop a project.

  • Publish the project.

  • Allow participants to continue to earn their salaries while taking part in the six weeklong trainings in NYC without incurring vacation penalties. The trainings will be scattered throughout the year.

https://idabwellssociety.org/fellowship-program/

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Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant

Whiting Foundation

DEADLINE: April 26, 2021

INFO: The Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant of $40,000 is awarded to writers in the process of completing a book of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction. The Whiting Foundation recognizes that these works are essential to our culture, but come into being at great cost to writers in time and resources. The grant is intended to encourage original and ambitious projects by giving recipients the additional means to do exacting research and devote time to composition.

The Grant will be awarded to as many as eight writers in the process of completing a book-length work of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general readership. It is intended for multiyear book projects requiring large amounts of deep and focused research, thinking, and writing at a crucial point mid-process, after significant work has been accomplished but when an extra infusion of support can make a difference in the ultimate shape and quality of the work. 

Whiting welcomes applications for works of history, cultural or political reportage, biography, memoir, the sciences, philosophy, criticism, food or travel writing, graphic nonfiction, and personal essays, among other categories. Again, the work should be intended for a general, not academic, adult reader. Self-help titles, books for young readers, and textbooks are not eligible. Examples of the wide range of previous grantees can be found here

Projects must be under contract with a US publisher to be eligible. Contracts with self-publishing companies are not eligible. Applicants must be US citizens or residents. (In previous cycles, projects had to be under contract for two years at time of application; recognizing that many projects do not secure publishing contracts until they are nearly complete, we have removed the 2-year restriction.)

Writers must submit the following materials:

  • The original proposal that led to the contract with a publisher

  • Up to 25,000 words from your draft. Please submit complete draft chapters, rather than short excerpts from across your book, to the extent the word count allows

  • A statement of work to be completed and plan for use of funds

  • A signed and dated contract (please note that to be eligible, books must be under contract with a US publisher – unfortunately, we can make no exceptions to this requirement)

  • A current resume

  • A list of grants, fellowships, or other funding received for the book

  • A letter of support from the book’s publisher or editor (due no later than May 10, 2021)

Each project under submission will have two first-round readers who will evaluate for substance and execution. Finalists will be considered by a panel of five judges who will evaluate for content and need and who will choose the grantees. Readers and judges will consist of experts in the field, and will serve anonymously to shield them from any external pressures. The grantees will be announced in the fall.

https://www.whiting.org/writers/creative-nonfiction-grant/about

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WNDB Internship Grant Program

We Need Diverse Books

DEADLINE: April 30, 2021

INFO: The WNDB Internship Grant Program provides supplemental grants to applicants from diverse backgrounds who wish to pursue a career in children’s and adult publishing. The high cost of living in New York City and other major publishing hubs bars many marginalized students from accepting the opportunity to intern in publishing—a vital entry point to the industry.

In 2021, we will have a maximum of twenty $3,000 grants to award for our Children’s Internship Grant Program and ten $3,000 grants to award for the Adult Internship Grant Program. Internship positions must take place between June 1st and August 31st.  In addition to the grant award, grantees are expected to attend various events throughout the summer including an introductory Internship Grant Bootcamp, as well as additional professional development and networking events, publishing panels, organized partner mentor/mentee meetings, and an exit interview/testimonial of the program. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the publishing industry, WNDB adapted the Internship Grant program to better serve applicants and our publishing partners.  For Summer 2021, remote positions are permitted.

https://diversebooks.org/internship-grants-application-process/

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Black Voices in the Public Sphere Fellowship

Boston Review

DEADLINE: April 30, 2021

INFO: Boston Review is now accepting applications for the Black Voices in the Public Sphere Fellowship, designed to prepare and support the next generation of Black journalists, editors, and publishers.

It is no secret that there is a profound lack of diversity in the media. Our new fellowship is intended to address this problem, building on Boston Review’s long-term and deep commitment to publishing work on race and racial justice. “There are not many publications that can match Boston Review’s commitment to publishing Black thinkers, giving space to debates about Black liberation from across the political spectrum, or insisting on the significance of race in broader questions of justice, democracy, and citizenship,” Boston Review contributor Brandon Terry noted during our 2020 panel on Black Lives Matter. 

Despite much hand-wringing about the lack of diversity in the media, the industry remains an overwhelmingly white profession—largely because of the exclusive network that lands young people their first media jobs, as well as the low entry-level salaries. The New York Times recently reported that the people who edit the ten most-read magazines are all white. The lack of diversity in the media industry reflects the widely known reality that historically marginalized and oppressed voices still receive fewer opportunities than their white peers—in access, in leadership positions, and, significantly, in influencing the shape of public discourse in the United States. 

The program is designed to provide aspiring Black media professionals with training, mentorship, networking opportunities, and workshops. With the guidance of Boston Review editors and professional mentors, fellows will develop projects to be published online or in print. These projects will take different forms depending on fellows’ interests—from writing a series of columns to curating a series of essays, designing forums, moderating live debates, and facilitating interviews.

The advisory board for the Black Voices in the Public Sphere Fellowship includes:

  • Danielle Allen, Director of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, lead investigator for Harvard's Democratic Knowledge Project, and former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board

  • Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, and former editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune

  • Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, regular contributor at the New Yorker, and author of the book Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership

  • Brandon Terry, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and editor of the book, Fifty Years Since MLK

Beyond exploring their own interests and bringing those ideas into public conversations with their individual projects, fellows will also receive training from Boston Revieweditors in every step of the publishing process—from acquisitions, structural and line editing, copyediting and fact checking, to web and print production and promotion on social and conventional media.

DETAILS:

  • The fellowship is a full-time position running from September 2021 through May 2022. Fellows will receive a $4,000 monthly stipend.

  • Applications are now being accepted via Submittable and are due April 30, 2021. A decision will be made in May.


ELIGIBILITY:

  • The Black Voices in the Public Sphere Fellowship recognizes aspiring media professionals who demonstrate an interest in exploring the publishing world and a commitment to enlarging the landscape of ideas in the media. 

  • A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required to apply. Established professionals should not apply.

  • Previous editorial experience is helpful but not required. Most important is the clarity of a candidate’s vision for a publishing project and their career goals.

  • Boston Review hopes to hold the fellowship program in person, but if COVID-19 restrictions persist, the fellowship will be held virtually. Fellows will be apprised of any changes.

https://bostonreview.net/fellowship

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Nonwhite and Woman: 153 Micro Essays on Being in the World

Woodhall Press

DEADLINE: April 30, 2021

INFO: Woodhall Press is seeking well-crafted, true narratives from BIPOC writers who self-identify as women (cis/trans) for their upcoming anthology, Nonwhite and Woman: 153 Micro Essays on Being in the World (edited by Darien Hsu Gee and Carla Crujido, and published April 8, 2022).

Nonwhite and Woman celebrates how women of color live and thrive in the world, and how they make their lives their own. The anthology’s title is from Lucille Clifton's luminous poem, won’t you celebrate with me, which serves as the anthology’s epigraph. Read the full poem here. The poem's inclusion in the anthology is granted from Copper Canyon Press.

How has the color of your skin influenced your life? What did you do to claim yourself and your identity, or how was it challenged? Show us a single moment, a string of vignettes, or literary snapshots of your life. We’re looking for micro essays, micro memoirs or prose poems of 300 words or less; please be sure to title your work. You may submit up to 3 pieces. Previously published work accepted—please indicate when and where the work has appeared and confirm that you hold the rights to reprint the work in our anthology. Emerging and established authors welcome.

In addition to the essays, the anthology will include discussion questions, a classroom teaching guide, and an extensive resources list. If you would like to be a part of that process in pulling these materials together, please reach out as well.

https://www.woodhallpress.com/nonwhite-and-woman

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Call for Pitches: What Is Enough?

YES! Magazine

DEADLINE: April 30, 2021

INFO: The myth of scarcity is powerful. It pits us against one another and other life forms, often to the detriment of our environment and well-being. This way of being has underpinned many human societies for centuries, justifying the exploitation and oppression of, and overall dominance over other human beings and the Earth itself. 

In the modern era, industrialization and global trade permits the world’s people to produce more than they ever could hope to consume, yet the stratification between the haves and have-nots has never been more pronounced. Even in the United States, where prosperity and lifespan have improved over the long term for all social classes, there is the ever-expanding chasm between the wealthy and everyone else that is happening at an exponential rate. This continues to impose an artificial zero-sum mentality upon the population, which political leaders use to justify their resistance to change. 

Although Earth’s resources are being depleted, there is a sufficient amount to meet the basic needs of all life on the planet. Yet, we are still challenged with the question, “What is Enough?” To different people, “enough” can have entirely different meanings—from our financial wherewithal and our position in society to how we feel about ourselves, our happiness, our joy, to what right we think we have to exploit Earth’s resources. 

Many forces are to blame:

• Colonization, enslavement, and genocide, and the creation of a global White supremacist capitalist patriarchal system
• Private ownership of the means of production 
• Detachment from our neighbors, and a weak sense of responsibility for the welfare of the wider community 
• A competitive and quantity-over-quality mindset
• Belief in (or a compulsion for) perpetual growth
• Putting profit over people (and all life), including the commodification of and profiteering from basic needs (water, food, shelter) and the accumulation of land and wealth
• Repression of organized labor, and the working class generally 
• Manifest destiny, belief that colonizers had a God-given right to settle and conquer
• Unfair and undemocratic global trade agreements

By creating new narratives, and redistributing land and wealth, we are slowly shifting the paradigm by repairing the harm caused by all of the above. We are unlearning harmful theories and practices; reconnecting relationships with one another, other life forms, and Earth; forming alliances; creating and supporting transformative policies (over reformative policies); and reclaiming the commons. 

Still, we know a one-size-fits-all solution isn’t practical, especially when considered on a planetary scale. There is an axis of privilege that can’t be ignored: Where some people have way too much stuff and want to declutter, others don’t have enough by any reasonable standard, and others fall in between, having “enough” by some measures, but “too much” by other standards, but who still may be asked to give up something for the greater good. Further, there’s a biblical tenet that “to whom much is given much is required.” A better system could mean that wealthier people pay a fair share of taxes—maybe get by with one or maybe two houses instead of three or more, so those with no home can have one—and use the revenue to create a living society in which everyone has their basic needs met, the chaos and violence caused by White supremacy is uprooted, and exploitation, poverty, and scarcity mindsets are ended. 

The fall issue of YES! Magazine will recognize where people are in the moment, understand that a definition of “enough” is relative to those circumstances, and likewise explore equitable, nondiscriminatory solutions that are tailored to the needs of our most vulnerable communities. 

Reporters, what’s happening in communities near you? Tell us about the socioeconomic solutions that promote thriving living conditions for everyone. What local policies reflect true transformation of our harmful systems, rather than weak reforms? Send us your leads and pitches for reported stories on community initiatives or groups that cultivate “enoughness”: human rights, environmental stewardship, decolonization, racial equity, food justice, economic fairness, localization, well-being and caretaking, and happiness.

All of the stories we seek will be examples of excellent journalism and storytelling: stories that have compelling characters, are well-researched, and demonstrate struggle and resolution. Hurry and send your pitches to fall2021@yesmagazine.org by April 30 to be considered for the fall issue. (After that, you can continue to send them to submissions@yesmagazine.org.

https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2021/04/06/call-for-submissions-what-is-enough

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ‘UNITY’ ISSUE

Skin Magazine

DEADLINES: April 30, 2021

INFO: For Skin Magazine’s third issue, we will cover the theme of UNITY.

When was the last time you felt like a part of something? Is unity to you something that you can experience on the individual level? What do you think we can do to become a more united world? We'd love to see how you depict and explore the concept of unity!

GUIDELINES:

  • Acceptable submission forms: visual art, photography, poetry, essays, interviews, collages, and playlists.

  • Submission limit: Up to three (3) submissions per submitter.

  • Please remember that we will only allow unpublished and original content

https://twitter.com/skinthemag/status/1347759767905701891

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

BLF Press

DEADLINE: April 30, 2021

INFO: BLF Press is a small, independent, Black feminist publishing house. We anticipate publishing one to two titles of extraordinary quality a year.  

We are open to various types of literary work. While we will consider all submissions that meet our guidelines, we are especially interested in work that centers women, including Black women (cis and trans), same gender loving women, non-binary folks, and folks who identify as LGBTQ+. Our preferred genres are literary fiction, speculative fiction, and short fiction. Please do not submit if you do not identify as BIPOC.

We are open to various types of literary work. While we will consider all manuscripts that meet our guidelines, we are especially interested in work that centers women, including Black women (cis and trans), same gender loving women, non-binary persons, and people who identify as LGBTQ+. Our preferred genres are literary fiction, speculative fiction, and short fiction. Please do not submit if you do not identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of color.

We are not accepting children's literature, YA or NA, horror, romance, erotica, or memoir at this time. 

Please send us your very best unpublished work (this includes work published on blogs).  Prose (fiction and non-fiction) manuscripts should be from 40,000-80,000 words. Poetry manuscripts should be at least 50 pages. If your work is under serious consideration by another publisher, please wait until you have received a decision before submitting it to us.

We accept Microsoft Word files only. Please use the following formatting guidelines:

  • Double-spaced Times New Roman or similar font

  • Three-space paragraph indents

  • One inch margins

  • Name, title, genre, page number in the upper right hand corner of the header

https://blfpress.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

just femme & dandy

DEADLINE: April 30, 2021

INFO: just femme & dandy is a biannual literary & arts magazine for and by the LGBTQIA+ community on fashion. We offer a space in the literary & arts world that has yet to exist, and hope to celebrate the queer, trans, non-binary, and intersex community, who have long since coded ourselves with how we adorn and dress our bodies when it has been dangerous to identify solely with words. Until recently, we could only find a handful of models within popular culture and the public imagination to inform our own aesthetic choices, and so the styles (and art) we don and make operate as a patchwork quilt, collaged together with vintage and thrift store finds, our sister or mother’s lipstick and gowns, our father’s neckties and waistcoats.

We offer a space for the LGBTQIA+ community, but one that privileges underrepresented and marginalized writers and artists. Just as we transcend the lines between gender, sexuality, aesthetic, & style, just femme & dandy offers a home for works categorized by the interests of fashion and style rather than aesthetic genre, and we fully encourage and expect works that blur the lines between the written and the visual, the still and the moving. just femme & dandy embraces all the layers of hybridity that push against the tensions that pressure us to conform. Nothing is off limits. To get an idea of what we accept, think of the following, and beyond: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, illustration, drag, dance, video, film, photography, tutorials, interviews, reviews, listicles, thinkpieces, commentaries, historical investigations, and so on. When we say nothing is off limits, we mean it.

just femme & dandy is an anti-racist, pro-Black space. We prioritize submissions from artists who are BIPOC as well as people of color. We seek work that addresses fashion and style as it relates to the lives of people who are LBTQIA+, including but not limited to bodypositivity and fatpositivity, mental illness, neurodiversity, chronic illness, disability, non-binary, intersex, artists with intellectual & developmental disabilities (IDD), and transgender lives.

We accept submissions in the glowup, sew what, triple thread(s), no scrubs, sole mates, the mane attraction, and cancel & gretel until April 30, 2021.

We pay 50 USD per text-based submission and 150 USD per multimedia submission (video, photography, image + text, fashion spread + interview, etc.).

Please take a look at our different sections to get a better sense of what we are after. We also take pitches. Email justfemmeanddandy@gmail.com, making sure to address the specific editor(s) and category you believe your submission fits. Please include a short bio, no more than 150 words, along with a note of how your submission fits either our mission and the particular category you are submitting to for consideration. We take simultaneous submissions, but please be sure to let us know as soon as your submission has been accepted for publication elsewhere.

Please do not submit any work that engages in violence, sexual fantasies, misogyny, racism, ableism, or other forms of bigotry. We will not publish any creator with a pattern of harmful and abusive behavior, and we will immediately remove work from any creator if such a pattern is exposed after publication. If you don’t think your submission fits our categories, but still falls under the umbrella of LGBTQIA+ fashion, please send it along, addressing it to editors in chief Addie Tsai and/or Sarah Sheppeck. We only accept previously unpublished work, which includes online publications and blogs. If it’s been previously posted on a blog, that’s fine, but we would prefer it to be removed from a blog site before publication. just femme & dandy retains first publication rights. After publication, rights will revert back to the creator. Please credit just femme & dandy if the piece appears elsewhere after publication, including but not limited to journals, magazines, anthologies, chapbooks, books, YouTube, Vimeo, and other multimedia platforms. 

just femme & dandy’s debut issue will launch Summer 2021. We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!

https://www.justfemmeanddandy.com/about

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: QUEER & TRANS WRITERS

Foglifter

DEADLINE: May 1, 2021

INFO: Foglifter’s literary journal is a biannual compendium of the most dynamic, urgent LGBTQ+ writing today. It’s a space where queer and trans writerscelebrate, mourn, rage, and embrace.

Foglifter welcomes daring and thoughtful work by queer and trans writers in all forms, and we are especially interested in cross-genre, intersectional, marginal, and transgressive work. We want the pieces that challenged you as a writer, what you poured yourself into and risked the most to make. But we also want your tenderest, gentlest work, what you hold closest to your heart. Whatever you’re working on now that’s keeping you alive and writing, Foglifter wants to read it.

GUIDELINES:

Title your submission with the title of the work(s) you are submitting (separated by commas).

Include a 50-word or less bio (with pronouns after your name, please!) in your cover letter. (If accepted, we will request an author photo; JPG or PNG files are best.)

We accept the following unpublished unsolicited submissions:

  • 3 to 5 poems

  • up to 7500 words of fiction or nonfiction (up to three flash fiction pieces)

  • up to 20 pages of cross-genre work, text-image hybrids, or drama

All submissions must be in one DOC or DOCX file.

  • We accept simultaneous submissions; however, please withdraw your piece immediately if it is accepted elsewhere (or, if you only need to withdraw part of a submission, send us a message in Submittable).

  • Only send one submission during each reading period.

  • We do not accept previously published material.

  • If you've recently appeared in the journal, please wait two reading periods (1 yr) to submit again.

  • Contributors receive two copies of the issue in which they appear and a $25 honorarium (via PayPal).

https://foglifterjournal.com/submit/

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2021 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize

CRAFT

DEADLINE: May 2, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $20

INFO: The 2021 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize is now open to unpublished short fiction up to 5,000 words.

Guest judge Kirstin Valdez Quade will select three winning pieces for publication.

GUIDELINES:

  • CRAFT Short Fiction Prize submissions are open to all fiction writers

  • International submissions are welcome

  • Short fiction only

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 5,000 word count maximum

  • We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft

  • Previously unpublished work only—we do NOT review reprints for contests (previously published includes blogs, personal websites, social media, etc.)

  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers, please notify us and withdraw your piece if your work is picked up elsewhere

  • We allow multiple submissions—please submit each piece as a separate submission accompanied by an entry fee

  • All entries will also be considered for publication in CRAFT

  • Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable)

  • We do not require anonymous submissions

  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less fees)

AWARDS:

  • Winner: $2,000 award and a subscription to Journal of the Month

  • Runners-up: $500 award and $300 award respectively for the second and third place finalists

  • Publication of the top three stories in CRAFT, each with an introduction by the guest judge

  • Publication of an author's note (craft essay) to accompany the story by each of the writers of the top three entries

  • All entrants will receive an exclusive digital compilation next fall/winter that includes: the winning pieces with the guest judge's introductions and the winners' craft essays; excerpts from the finalist pieces; excerpts from craft essays; and more

https://craft.submittable.com/submit/185317/craft-short-fiction-prize-judge-kirstin-valdez-quade

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Capsule Stories Second Isolation Edition

Capsule Stories

DEADLINE: May 1, 2021, at 11:59 pm CST

INFO: When we published Capsule Stories Isolation Edition in mid-April 2020, we thought the coronavirus pandemic would be over within a few months. We wrote in the edition’s letter from the editor: “Throughout March 2020, we saw our world rapidly changing. It didn’t feel like anything we knew. It was tough to process how quickly things changed—travel restrictions, social distancing, schools closed, stay at home orders, businesses shut down. We didn’t have the words we needed to experience this moment in time.”

Almost a year later, the pandemic is peaking again. The virus is claiming more and more lives and leaving countless people sick, hurt, and broken. Our lives have changed forever. Once again, we are searching for words to describe how we are getting through this and how we are surviving.

Our first Isolation Edition captured our immediate stories and feelings about the first month of the pandemic. Now we want to go deeper and explore how our lives have been changed, how we’ve changed, after living in the pandemic for a year.

Capsule Stories Second Isolation Edition will capture our stories and feelings during the yearlong coronavirus pandemic and the isolating social measures that come with it. We recognize that in uncertain times, writers often turn to the written word to work through their feelings, to document all the changes in their lives, to be angry with the world, to heal. We want to provide writers with a place to express those feelings, and we want to give readers a collection of writing that helps them feel less alone in this isolating and lonely time.

We accept short stories, poems, and remarkably written essays. For short stories and essays, we’re interested in pieces under 3000 words. You may include up to five poems in a single poetry submission (please send them all in one Word document), and only send one story or essay at a time. Please send previously unpublished work only—a piece is considered published if it has been posted or made publicly available on a blog, website, or social media platform. You may only submit one submission per edition. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know if your submission is accepted elsewhere. Please include a brief third-person bio with your submission, and attach your submissions in a Word document (no PDFs unless your poetry has very specific formatting, please!).

All writers are welcome to submit, especially writers of color, LGBTQ writers, writers with disabilities, and all writers from marginalized backgrounds.

Capsule Stories does not tolerate plagiarism. We run pieces through Copyscape to check for duplicate content before sending acceptances.

A note on privacy and safety: You will be asked to enter your mailing address before submitting on Submittable, as this speeds up our acceptance process. However, we want you to feel safe. If you do not want to enter your address into Submittable for privacy or safety reasons, please enter a placeholder and let us know in your cover letter that the address is a placeholder. Likewise, feel free to enter a placeholder phone number as we don’t need that info from you.

https://capsulestories.submittable.com/submit

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The Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize Contest

Leapfrog Press

DEADLINE: May 3, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $35

INFO: This year we have expanded to two awards for Adult novels, novellas, and short story collections, and Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) novels. Minimum word count: 22,000. Individual stories in a collection may have been published in journals. Books that have been self-published will be considered "unpublished" if fewer than about 200 copies were printed.  

We look for literary fiction and mainstream fiction, including science fiction. Generally we are less interested in strict genre fiction, but if a manuscript is good and grabs our attention, we don't care what the genre is.

The contest is open to all writers from around the globe.

JUDGING: All manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two Leapfrog and/or Can of Worms editors, and those that go to the second round of judging may be read by editors at other small presses as well. 

Manuscripts are reviewed "blind": the judges do not know the authors' names or any other information about them. This is important to our judging process and the integrity of the contest. 

GUIDELINES:

  • Upload your complete manuscript. If you have a synopsis available, we would like to see that as well, but this is optional.

  • Use the title as it appears on the manuscript as the file name (or as much as possible, if the title is very long). If submitting a synopsis, use the manuscript file name and add synopsis to the end, or incorporate the synopsis at the beginning of the manuscript.

  • Please be sure there is no identifying information anywhere in the file (author name or address), including on the title page and in page headers.

  • Minimum length 22,000 words. This category is for adult novels, novellas, and short story collections.

http://leapfrogpress.com/contest.htm

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MVICW Poet & Author Fellowships

Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Virtual Summer Writers' Conference

DEADLINE: May 3, 2021

ENTRY FEE: $25

INFO: MVICW is able to provide a number of need and merit-based fellowships (25-40% of registration cost) to attend our Virtual Summer Writers' Conference. Consideration is given to applicants demonstrating economic need. To apply for financial assistance to attend our MVICW Summer Writers' Conference, send a sample of your writing  (3 poems or 10 pages of fiction/CNF) and a letter of interest. 

Letter of Interest (approx. 750 words): Please tell us about who you are as a person and an artist. We'd like to hear about your life, your artistic career, and your creative work. If you have specific needs (financial or creative) which would be met by this award please outline them in your letter.

https://mvicw.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION / NONFICTION

Stellium Literary Magazine

DEADLINE: May 3, 2021

INFO: Stellium is a literary magazine centering Black queer and trans prose writers. We still accept work from other Black and QTPOC writers. We are a bimonthly (every two months) magazine seeking to create our first two digital issues.

The literary scene is flush with racist, homophobic, transphobic, and elitist platforms that often discriminate against QTPOC writing, let alone that of Black queer and trans creators. We've noticed how we're a trend to be recognized after shootings or attacks on our communities. Rarely are we considered "legitimate" unless our creative work can generate donations for publications and institutions that stick to the status quo during the rest of the year.

At Stellium, we're setting our intentions to not just make a statement in the world of prose but to redefine the space entirely. The magazine will publish five pieces each of prose poetryfictionnonfiction, and art within each issue. We seek work from emerging and established writers (with an emphasis on emerging). In due time, we hope to include a number of interviews, translations, reviews, and other works relevant to the QTPOC writing scene on our website, and (eventually) in print! 

We are currently curating pieces for our third and fourth issues. Here are the themes.

  • Issue Three - Home - Where (or who) is home? What does it mean now that you're older? What did you picture when you were young? Are you there now or arriving? How do you protect it, fill it, or renew it? Do you click your heels three times or do you simply open the door? Take us there.

  • Issue Four - Skepticism - What are you a skeptic of? Who deserves the most review and re-review? How have you been critiqued yourself? Why this issue in particular? Has it always been this way or did something change within? Ruin the façade.

What are we looking for?

  • 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 3k to 6k words. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

  • 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 2k to 4k words but we're not opposed to shorter works. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

https://stelliumlit.submittable.com/submit

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Appalachian Futures: Black, Native, and Queer Voices

University Press of Kentucky

DEADLINE: N/A

INFO: This book series gives voice to Black, Native, Latinx, Asian, Queer, and other nonwhite or ignored identities within the Appalachian region. It does not seek to define the region. Reading from Appalachia rather than about Appalachia, it will observe the process of becoming by amplifying the experiences that a multiplicity of writers, activists, organizers, and everyday people find within its boundaries and in their absence from this place. This series will advance a creative ecosystem unrivaled within traditional cultural hubs, creating a space for the voices and stories of Appalachia’s future.

EDITORS:

  • Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle 
    Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and is the author of Even As We Breathe. Her work has appeared in Yes! Magazine, Lit Hub, Smoky Mountain Living Magazine, South Writ Large, and The Atlantic. Clapsaddle teaches at Swain County High School and serves on the board of trustees for the North Carolina Writers Network.

  • Davis Shoulders 
    Davis Shoulders is a director and worker-owner of Atlas Books, an independent and cooperatively-owned bookstore in Johnson City, TN (forthcoming 2021). They have served as the Events Organizer for Union Ave Books in Knoxville, TN since 2018.

  • Crystal Wilkinson 
    Crystal Wilkinson is the author of Perfect Black, The Birds of Opulence, Blackberries, Blackberries, and Water Street. She was named a 2020 USA Fellow by United States Artists and teaches at the University of Kentucky, where she is Associate Professor of English in the MFA in Creative Writing Program.

FORTHCOMING BOOKS:

  • Chocolate City Way Up South in Appalachia: Black Knoxville at the Intersection of Race, Place, and Region, Enkeshi Thom El-Amin of Black in Appalachia podcast

  • A collection of essays by queer & trans organizers & artists across Appalachia, edited by Rae Garringer of Country Queers podcast

  • Tar Hollow Trans: Reflections on Culture and Identity in Appalachia, Stacy Jane Grover

  • A collection of Black voices of Appalachia, edited by Crystal Wilkinson

  • A collection of Native voices of Appalachia, edited by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

  • A collection of Queer Appalachian writers on religion, edited by Davis Shoulders

https://www.kentuckypress.com/appalachian-futures-black-native-and-queer-voices/

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ONGOING

CALL FOR BIPOC FEMME WRITERS!

Miss Read Books

DEADLINE: Ongoing

INFO: Are you a BIPOC femme writer? Do you have a passion for writing romance, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and/or thriller? I'm looking for you!

I am so pleased to announce that Miss Read Books is officially accepting short story submissions for our new weekly blog series -- our mission is to not only introduce readers to new authors, but uplift authors who's voices deserve to be raised!

This is a PAID opportunity for up and coming authors to have your work published in the Miss Read Books weekly blog, as well as be published in a monthly digital zine distributed to Miss Read Books email subscribers at the end of every month. Please see the guidelines for submissions below:

GUIDELINES: 2000 words MAX, no exceptions

PAY RATE: $.03 per word. Payment via PayPal.

GENRES: Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

LANGUAGE: English (Currently I am only accepting stories from authors based in the US, translated works are acceptable & encouraged!)

RIGHTS: We claim non-exclusive digital rights (text and audio) and two-time non-exclusive anthology rights for our monthly Miss Read Books zine collection, as well as the annual Miss Read Books anthology.

Please submit the below to nyasha@missreadbooks.org. It's just me, so while I try to respond to every submission, I will be prioritizing responses!

Name -- Email Address -- Cover Letter (Who are you? Why this story?) -- Story Title -- Word Count-- Genre--

And don't forget to ATTACH the file containing your story! (.DOC, or .DOCX format)

Please only submit ONE short story at a time -- as the sole owner/employee of this lil outfit, you have a much better opportunity of being read if I'm not spammed with multiple submissions from the same author!

https://www.missreadbooks.org/post/this-is-a-call-for-bipoc-femme-writers-miss-read-books


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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NONFICTION ESSAYS / MEMOIR

Gay Mag

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: From writer, author and cultural critic Roxane Gay:

I am starting a new project, part of which will include publishing an emerging writer twice a month, starting in January 2021. I define emerging writer as someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts.

Please submit your best nonfiction and nonfiction only. I am interested in literary essays and memoir. Please submit only one essay at a time. Essays should be between 1500 and 3000 words.

I am interested in thoughtful essays, beautiful, intelligent writing, deep explorations, timelessness, and challenging conventional thinking without being cheap and lazy. I am interested in provocative work but we are not interested in senseless provocation. You don't have to cannibalize yourself to tell a compelling story. The essays in Unruly Bodies might give you a sense of what I like but I am always open to being surprised. I am not looking to publish anew what I've already published.

Again, I am only interested in nonfiction, which is to say no poetry, fiction, or anything else that is not nonfiction. 

We respond to all submissions, generally within six weeks.

PAYMENT: All essays will be paid a flat fee of $2,000.

https://gay.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Chaotic Merge

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: Chaotic Merge is looking for submissions from all different forms of artist. We seek work that is adventurous and test the border of art and structure. Don't be afraid to mess with everything you have ever learned in your lives. We write to have fun!We encourage voice of people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community to submit their work.

We are open for submissions all year round.*We strongly suggest following all guidelines upon submitting. 

GUIDELINES:

  • Submit all work to ChaoticMergeMagazine@gmail.com

  • Title your email subject as follows: Full name_Genre_Title of work. Anything labelled otherwise will not be read.

  • Depending on your genre, please limit each submission to:

    • Up to 5 unpublished poems (a non-English work & its English translation count as one poem submission)

    • 2 unpublished short fiction piece (up to 5,000 words) 

    • Up to 5 unpublished art/photographs/ illustrations in pdf, png, and jpeg or

    • 2 unpublished Screenplay or Play (up to 10-15 pages) 

  • All work submitted should be accompanied by a short author bio between 50 and 100 words, a author/creator photo in jpg, and your pronouns.While we accept simultaneous submissions, do indicate in your email that this is a simultaneous submission, and write in to us immediately to withdraw your work once it has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Publication Rights: Chaotic Merge Magazine publishes only unpublished work, unless we ourselves request for them. By submitting your work, you affirm that you are the sole author and maintain all rights for your work. By submitting your work, you authorize Chaotic Merge Magazine to publish your work in both its e-journal and online platforms.

https://chaoticmergemagazine.com/submit/

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FELLOWSHIP FOR BIPOC EDITORS

Shenandoah

INFO: In order for structural change to happen in the predominantly white publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book publishers to literary magazines like ours. We recognize that if we want Black writers, Indigenous writers, and other writers of color to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core. With this in mind, we’re excited to announce a new initiative: The Shenandoah Fellowship for BIPOC Editors.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new BIPOC voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and forge connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Requirements and Eligibility

A single fellow will be selected for each issue of Shenandoah going forward, alternating genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics) as we see fit. Fellows will choose two–three pieces of prose, five–ten poems, or two–three comic artists for their issue; these authors will be paid at the same rates as other Shenandoah authors ($100 per poem; $50 per comic panel; $100 for every thousand words of prose—for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author). Each fellow will receive a $1000 honorarium for their work. We welcome writers and editors of all experience levels. No previous editorial experience is necessary, but we are looking for applicants who are passionate and informed about the literary community. We welcome candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The Application

  1. In 500 words or fewer, describe why this fellowship would be valuable to you, addressing what you think is the role and value of a literary magazine in the publishing ecosystem. Make sure to include your writing and editing experience and the genre you would be most excited to work in (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics).

  2. In 500 words or fewer, tell us about a favorite piece of writing you recently read in a literary magazine in your desired genre. Describe how you found it, who wrote it, its aesthetic attributes, and what you loved about it.

  3. In 500 words or fewer, compose a solicitation email to an emerging writer (who has published no more than one book) who you would love to work with. Include in your email what you admire about this writer’s work and why you would like to work with them.

  4. We'd love to know where you heard about this fellowship, if you don't mind sharing!

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis at https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit. Upload a single document that responds to these prompts separately.

https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit/175611/fellowship-for-bipoc-editors

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Fashion and Race Database

The Fashion and Race Database seeking contributors to publish original content, particularly essays or opinion pieces, and short profiles of Objects that Matter, or profiles of significant fashion figures. We also invite you to submit events and announcements. 

We are currently accepting submissions for publication in 2021:

  • Objects That Matter [500-800 words] - A short profile overview of an object in fashion: both its cultural origins and enumerated examples of its global reach/influence or even appropriation. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website.

    Rate: $295 CAD

  • Profiles [500-800 words] - A profile of select Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) who have shaped the history and business of fashion in the face of structural racism and adversity. Please see the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Essays & Op-Eds [1200-1500 words] - We are looking for essays or opinion pieces that amplify voices and writing of BIPOC scholars, students, artists, archivists, curators, business professionals and more. We are particularly seeking pieces that are timely and address issues or nuances related to fashion and race today. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $540 CAD

  • ‘Our Fashion History’ [500-800 words, 3-5 photos] - Based upon an activity that Founder Kim Jenkins would facilitate during fashion history class or during her ‘Fashion and Justice’ workshops, ‘Our Fashion History’ invites contributors to present an essay that describes 3-5 family/personal photos, ultimately bringing a diverse perspective to the narrative of fashion history. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Call for Research Assistant: Ongoing - The Research Assistant will research, gather, catalog and publish knowledge-rich content, working in tandem with a lead editor. The assistant will not only contribute to this groundbreaking academic and creative platform, they will also acquire advanced research and publishing skills.

    This position is paid and, depending upon the applicant’s circumstances, may be eligible for internship or course credits. Applicants not enrolled at an academic institution are also welcome. This is a remote position but you will be working with team members located in the EST and PST time zones. This is a part time position requiring 10 hours of work per week. Research Assistants are hired for a commitment of 13 weeks. Rate: $33 CAD per hour

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://fashionandrace.org/database/contributors/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Latin American Literature Today

INFO: Latin American Literature Today (LALT) welcomes throughout the year submissions of translated texts (Spanish-English, Brazilian Portuguese-English) of contemporary Latin American prose, verse, interviews, essays, and book reviews.

Furthermore, the journal is committed to foregrounding the work of translators, so we encourage and welcome contributions such as translator’s notes, essays on the art of translation, translation reviews, interviews to translators, as well as translation “previews” from forthcoming book publications.

All translation submissions and questions should be directed to Denise Kripper, our Translation Editor, to translation.lalt@gmail.com. Submissions will be reviewed by the entire LALT editorial committee.

LENGTH OF SUBMISSIONS:

  • Creative prose (fiction and non-fiction) should have a maximum length of 5000 words

  • Poems should be limited to 3 to 5 poems

  • Articles and interviews should have a maximum length of 2,000 to 2,200 words, unless otherwise directed by the editor;

  • Book reviews should have a maximum length of 1,200 words

DEADLINE: Rolling Submissions

http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/submission-guidelines-translators

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hyphen Magazine

INFO: Hyphen Magazine publishes literary fiction of all forms, including stories that blur "genre" lines (literary sci-fi, noir fiction with a strong voice, for example). We generally do not accept novel excerpts unless they stand alone. Asian American themes are not essential though certainly welcome; strong writing and unique voice are considered first and foremost.

  • Send only your best, previously unpublished work. Asian American themes are not essential. We are much more interested in work that incorporates identity than in work that is about identity.

  • Please use 1" margins, 12-pt Times New Roman font.

  • Short stories should be no longer than 5,000 words. A series of short shorts (flash fiction) totaling no more than 5,000 words will also be considered (though not all stories may be taken).

  • Simultaneous submissions (when you send the same submission to us and other publications) are okay as long as you let us know and notify us immediately when a piece has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Multiple submissions are not okay (when you send more than one submission to us in the same genre). If you send more than one story, only the first story will be considered; the others will not be read. Please wait to hear back before submitting again.

  • Submitting to more than one genre at a time is okay (but please send them separately).

Please note:

  • Fiction features alternate between original short stories and novel excerpts. Those looking to have their forthcoming novels excerpted should have their publicist contact the Fiction Editor.

  • Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, and is dependent upon space availability.

  • Reading period can be up to six months. If you have not heard back after six months, feel free to contact the editor.

  • We are able to pay writers $25 per piece upon publication.

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://hyphenmag.submittable.com/submit/77191/fiction-poetry

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

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MICRO/FLASH FAST RESPONSE FOR BIPOC WRITERS

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INTERVENXIONS

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

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SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

VIDA Review

INFO: The VIDA Review is an online literary magazine publishing original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews. 

We are exclusively interested in work by those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); cis and trans women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, nonbinary, and two-spirit people; LGBQIA people; people with disabilities; and people living at the intersections of these identities.

All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

Please send one submission at a time, and please submit only once every 6 months.

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you label them as such and promptly let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

Please note that all submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter and brief third-person biography statement, and that (unless otherwise stated) we ask for First North American Rights to publish writing. Following publication, all rights revert back to the writer; we only ask that you credit the VIDA Review as the place your work first appeared.

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Nonfiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Book Reviews

  • Must be a review for a full-length or chapbook of poetry or prose by a writer from a historically-marginalized community

  • Must be published by small or independent presses

  • Must have been published within the last five years

  • Do not send us a review of your own book

  • Include publisher, price, and page number, as well as the word count of the review at the top of your submission

  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know and withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • No self-published titles are accepted

  • Reviews should be double-spaced and be no more than 1,200 words

PAYMENT: Payment for those accepted will range between $15-$20. We recognize that this is a token amount of money but hope to increase this amount in the future. Payment will be made via PayPal within 2 months of publication.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://thevidareview.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

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SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

 

FICTION / NONFICTION -- MARCH 2021

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Magical realism / speculative fiction

Augur Magazine

DEADLINE: March 7, 2021

INFO: Augur Magazine is currently open to submissions from Canadian writers.

We’re looking for dream-touched realism, slipstream, fabulism, magical realism (note: educate yourself before you claim this term) and, for lack of a better descriptor, “literary” speculative fiction. Our perfect submission defies categorization—pieces that could be “too speculative” for CanLit magazines or “not speculative enough” for speculative magazines.

That said, we’re no strangers to rich realism, high fantasy, and science fiction, so if you think you match our tone, give us a try. We recommend checking out our preview issue, free online, or grabbing an issue, to see what we’ve published before.

Please don’t send us: gross-out or gratuitously violent pieces, horror that uses neurodivergence or mental health as the horror element, comedy that punches down, stories that are “speculative” because a non-marginalized group suddenly experiences what it’s like to be a marginalized group (e.g. a man “has to live with sexism”, a white woman is suddenly “treated like a woman of colour”), anything that minimizes sexual trauma/any trauma as a plot device (eg. A woman is assaulted in order to motivate a man, without dealing with her story or experience), casual or blatant misogyny/bigotry/racism/etc., or otherwise insensitive pieces.

We accept multiple submissions and simultaneous submissions. Our goal is to respond to all submissions within eight weeks.

If you submit and do not receive a verification email, please resubmit and send us an email letting us know what happened. Our submissions system should send you a verification email within 24 hours.

All text submissions must be formatted in standard manuscript format and submitted in .doc format. We strongly prefer pieces be set in in Size 12, Times New Roman or Times font.

Finally: If you fit into our guidelines, don’t self-reject! Submit, submit, submit!

A NOTE ON INTERSECTIONALITY

If you are comfortable doing so, we encourage you to declare your intersectional identities in your cover letter, so we may be informed as we select pieces for our issues. That said, we acknowledge that the current socio-political landscape does not often reward the disclosure of marginalized standpoints, and so we by no means require this from our writers.

If you do choose to disclose, we will treat this information as confidential. And, if your piece is chosen, we will not out you in words you have not used about yourself publicly. We’re about representation, not presentation.

What does “intersectional” mean? Any intersection of identity that you sit at. For example, a POC trans settler or a disabled assault survivor. Common declarations might include: LGBTQ+, visible minority (broadly stated or specific), settler, disabled, assault survivor, women, immigrants, class standing, etc. We also encourage folks who aren’t marginalized to get into the practice of self-identifying, to normalize the practice across the board.

We do accept submissions from non-marginalized/ and non-Canadian writers. However, these submissions will never dominate our magazine, and our editorial preference will always skew towards intersectional/marginalized/diverse, Canadian and Indigenous/Native/First Nations creators.

A NOTE ON CITIZENSHIP DECLARATION FOR INDIGENOUS CREATORS

Canadian granting bodies require us to keep track of who we’re publishing—we need to know that we’re hitting the required Canadian quotas. So, as a result, we ask folks to identify as from Canada/Turtle Island or as International. However, we recognize that this complicates the submissions process for folks who live within Canadian settler borders but who resist/refuse Canadian identity.

We welcome all of our Indigenous authors and creators to self-identify their citizenship however feels most comfortable and accurate. If you prefer, you are welcome to exempt yourself from the CND/TI and INT requirements—we just ask that you also let us know if you are situated within Canadian borders, so we can keep track of what the Canadian government will recognize as a part of our quota.

http://www.augurmag.com/submissions/

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I Want Sky: Celebrating Sarah Hegazy and Queer SWANA Life

Mizna / AAWW

DEADLINE: March 8, 2021

INFO: In her suicide note, composed in the mute solidarity of the asylum of forced exile—and by a hand whose skin had yet to wrinkle—Sarah Hegazy apologizes.

On a simple, lined, spiral-bound notebook, with the faint red margin appearing on the left, not the right, inhospitable to her native tongue, she starts at the top, addressing her siblings, in blue-ballpoint Arabic:

“I tried to survive and failed, forgive me.”

On the next line she addresses her friends, asking absolution for being not strong enough.

On the next she addresses the world, forgiving it its manifest cruelty.

Her signature ends it, the very short letter. The whole thing doesn’t reach even half the page.

The last word in it is the Hegazy in her name. Written minutes or hours or days or weeks or months before Sarah committed suicide on June 14, 2020—none of us are ever going to know—Sarah pens the sickle of the ي, with a flourish.

This all happened because, on September 22, 2017, Sarah lifted a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo, to signal to a country and a regime that wished so much for her not to exist, that she, Sarah Hegazy, was there, in an evening dedicated to music.

Sarah Hegazy ended her life in response to unimaginable cruelty, after being imprisoned and tortured by the Egyptian regime. Concurrent with her death was the novel coronavirus pandemic, in its sixth month of claiming lives and livelihoods and attention spans, a pandemic of constant uncertainty. Concurrent with that was the more familiar endemic of these United States: the routine killing, with utter impunity, of Black people, by a criminal state and its apparatus of enforcement. Concurrent with that was the rising horror of watching, at a time so steeped already in palpable despair, the United States’ necropolitic deadly crack down on protestors, for their insistence on hope and dignity and Black liberation.

In the midst of that, and the difficulty of in-person gathering, and a news cycle snowballing with terror, there were few avenues available to collectively mark and witness Sarah’s passing. For this special issue of The Margins, we invite submissions honoring Sarah Hegazy’s one irreplaceable life, and the lives of all LGBTQ+ Arabs and people of the SWANA region and its diaspora, and, too often, the risk inherent in their visibility.

We are looking for essays, poetry, short fiction, songs, comic strips, all forms of hybrid work, and submissions that queer any/all of these genres. We invite submissions that sing with joy on the page, or that rage, or that ask why, or that answer, or that name and mourn our losses, or that deny the past its salience, or that imagine a better tomorrow, or that do all or none of these things.

Please format the title of your submission as follows: “LAST NAME – I Want Sky – TITLE OF PIECE.” Be sure to include a short biography (maximum 60 words) in your cover letter, and tell us a little bit about why your work speaks to this call for submissions.

Please double-space all prose submissions and limit them to approximately 3,000 words (though you may write as short as you like). You may send us up to five poems per submission. Please attach your submission as Rich Text Format, MS Word, or PDF. For graphic work, please submit with enough detail that we can read the text in JPG, GIF, PNG, or PDF format. Please do not include your name on the attachments of your submissions. We accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. Writers whose pieces are accepted for the issue will receive compensation.

Mizna is a critical platform for contemporary literature, art, film, and cultural programming centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. For more than twenty years, we have sought to reflect the depth and multiplicity of our community and have been committed to being a space for Arab, Muslim, and other artists from the region to create our narratives and engage audiences in meaningful and artistically excellent art.

AAWW is a national literary nonprofit dedicated to publishing, incubating, and amplifying work by Asian and Asian diasporic writers and artists. Since its founding in 1991, AAWW has provided a countercultural literary space that operates at the intersections of migration, race, and social justice. AAWW’s award-winning digital magazine The Margins imagines a vibrant, nuanced, multiracial, and transnational Asian America through original fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, reportage, and interviews.

Mariam Bazeed is an Egyptian immigrant, writer, performer, and cook living in a rent-stabilized apartment in Brooklyn. An alliteration-leaning writer of prose, poetry, plays, and personal essays, they are currently at work, with poet Kamelya Omayma Youssef, on Kilo Batra: In Death More Radiant [working title]; a play commission by Detroit-based A Host of People, written partially in verse and two languages, premiering at the Arab American National Museum.

https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/185951/i-want-sky-celebrating-sarah-hegazy-and-queer-swana-life

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CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIPS

National Endowment for the Arts

DEADLINE: March 10, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process in which the criteria for review are the artistic excellence and artistic merit of the submitted manuscript. Through this program, the Arts Endowment seeks to sustain and nurture a diverse range of creative writers at various stages of their careers and to continue to expand the portfolio of American art.

The program operates on a two-year cycle with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. For FY 2022, which is covered by these guidelines, fellowships in prose (fiction and nonfiction) are available. Fellowships in poetry will be offered in FY 2023 and guidelines will be available in January 2022. You may apply only once each year.

Competition for fellowships is extremely rigorous. We typically receive more than 1,600 applications each year in this category and award fellowships to fewer than 3% of applicants.

ELIGIBILITY:

You are eligible to apply in Prose if you meet the following requirements:

  • You are a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

  • You have not received two or more Fellowships (in poetry, prose, or translation) from the National Endowment for the Arts. If you have received any award from the National Endowment for the Arts, you must have submitted acceptable Final Reports to the Arts Endowment by their due date(s).

  • You have not received any National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship (in poetry or prose) or Translation Fellowship on or after January 1, 2013 (FY 2013).

  • This is your only application to the Arts Endowment for FY 2022 individual support. You may not apply for both a Literature Fellowship under this deadline and a Translation Project under the January 13, 2021 deadline.

  • You have had published, between January 1, 2014, and March 10, 2021:

    • At least five (5) different short stories, works of short fiction, excerpts from novels or memoirs, or creative essays (or any combination thereof) in two or more literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or publications that regularly include fiction and/or creative nonfiction as a portion of their content; or

    • A novel or novella; or

    • A volume of short fiction or a collection of short stories; or

    • A volume of creative nonfiction.

To qualify, work must have been published for the first time with an eligible publisher between these dates, not only reprinted or reissued in another format during this period. Publishers are eligible if they have a stated marketing and distribution policy; publish work with competitive selection and a stated editorial policy; and offer professional editing.

You may use digital, audio, or online publications to establish eligibility, provided that the publisher has a competitive selection process and stated editorial policy. If the online publication or website no longer exists, you must provide, upon request, sufficient evidence that your work once appeared online. If sufficient evidence cannot be provided, the online publication will not be eligible.

https://www.arts.gov/grants/creative-writing-fellowships

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5th Annual Chapbook Contest

Thirty West Publishing House

DEADLINE: March 12, 2021

INFO: Thirty West Publishing House announces its 5th chapbook contest. Accepting poetry, fiction, or CNF manuscripts.

SUBMISSION FEE: $13

GUIDELINES:

  • The manuscript should be between 20-30 pages of content. If you'd like to add a title page and table of contents, that is appreciated, but not required.

  • Please take a look at our previously published chaps and books to get a feel for what we like to publish. Our chapbooks are generally on the longer side, typically over 30 pages in length.

  • Poetry and prose are what we want. If it fits in a chapbook, send them in. Flash & microfiction, essays, and cross-genre are also welcomed.

  • We will not accept email submissions for the contest. Any manuscripts submitted this way will be unread and eventually deleted.

  • Manuscripts should be currently unpublished (as in no reprints). See the note below on acknowledgments.

  • Previously published material within the manuscript must contain proper acknowledgment from online and in-print journals, magazines, etc.

REWARDS:

  • The winning author will receive a $500 USD cash honorarium and an author package of their chapbook upon publication.

  • The winning manuscript will be subject to an official Thirty West publishing contract. This includes royalties, marketing, and reviews.

  • The finished chapbook will be archived and sold through thirtywestph.com and many book fairs that we frequent including AWP, Brooklyn Book Fest, Philalalia, Baltimore Book Fest, and more.

https://www.thirtywestph.com/contest

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Ida B. Wells Fellowship

Type Investigations

DEADLINE: March 14, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The Ida B. Wells Fellowship promotes diversity in journalism by helping to create a pipeline of investigative reporters of color who bring diverse backgrounds, experiences, and interests to their work.

The one-year fellowship helps reporters complete their first substantial work of investigative reporting by providing a $20,000 award and editorial guidance from a dedicated editor at Type Investigations. Fellows will also receive funds to cover travel and other reporting costs, and the costs associated with attending the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, as well as a one-week data reporting boot camp. They will enjoy access to research resources, legal assistance, professional mentors and assistance with story placement and publicity.

Type Investigations holds an annual competition in the spring to select the fellows, who will be expected to publish or air their findings in a U.S. media outlet within one year of the start of the fellowship. We'll be selecting five fellows in 2021.

We will select one Southern Ida B. Wells Fellow, who is based in, and will report from North or South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas or Mississippi. The Southern fellow's work must appear in an outlet serving this region. The Ida B. Wells Fellowship is a one-time educational opportunity and is non-renewable.

Journalists of color are strongly encouraged to apply, as are other reporters who believe their presence would contribute substantially to diversifying investigative reporting in other ways.

The deadline for the 2021 application is Sunday, March 14 at 11:59pm EST. Please submit your application at least an hour prior to the deadline in case you experience technical issues. Late applications will not be accepted. You will be alerted the week of March 29 if your application has been moved along to round two. If your application is selected for round two of the process, you will be asked to provide two letters of recommendation at that time. Fellows will be chosen in mid-May. The fellowship begins June 1, 2021 and ends May 31, 2022.

The fellowship honors Ida B. Wells, the pioneering African-American activist and investigative reporter who, during the Jim Crow era, led the nation’s first campaign against lynching. Born into slavery and orphaned at age 16, Wells not only dispelled stereotypes regarding rape and lasciviousness that led to black men and women being lynched, but revealed that often these victims’ only “crimes” were threatening white supremacy through acts of resistance or achievement. She continued her reporting in the face of death threats.

Studies have shown that diverse editorial staffs are essential for producing reporting that is relatable, relevant, and actionable for all audiences. But nearly 90 years after Wells’ death, women and people of color still struggle for acceptance, credibility and opportunity as investigative reporters.

People of color constitute less than 23 percent of all newsroom jobs, according to an annual survey by the American Society of Newsroom Editors, and 19 percent of supervisors; their presence is even smaller on investigative teams. Women are also underrepresented, with 42 percent of newsroom jobs.  Survey data indicates that fewer than 10 percent of journalists come from a working-class background.

https://www.typeinvestigations.org/about/special-funds/ida-b-wells-fellowship/

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2021 SUMMER RESIDENCIES

Tin House

DEADLINE: March 14, 2021

INFO: Each residency will feature two writers at the same time (in separate apartments). 

If eligible, you may apply for all of the residencies using this single application.

Tin House Workshop recognizes that the ongoing pandemic makes traveling and timelines more difficult than ever. We’re committed to working with each resident to make their visit as comfortable and safe as possible. Should anyone need to cancel their residency due to COVID concerns, we will still honor the stipend. 

APPLICATION FEE: $25

Application Requirements (submitted as one document):

A personal essay (1,500 words or less outlining your journey as a writer and description of the project you will be working on) + writing sample.

  • Fiction and Nonfiction: One writing sample of no more than 7,000 words. A short story/essay or a portion of a novel/NF project may be submitted. If you are submitting an excerpt, please include a synopsis.

  • Poetry: Up to six poems, totaling no more than 20 pages.

  • Translation: Please follow the requirements for the genre in the original language and submit both your translation and the original text.

  • Graphic Narrative: Project synopsis and up to 30 pages of the project.

  • Play/Screenplay: Project synopsis and up to 30 pages of the project.

Please submit something from the project you will be working on during the residency.

No reference letters, please.

As part of our Pay It Forward program, you have the option of helping to cover the cost of another writer’s application fee. All additional funds raised will be carried over to our next residency application period. Thank you!

RESIDENCY FOR DEBUT WRITERS:

This residency is intended to support writers who are working on their debut manuscripts.

  • Dates: June 3rd-June 28th, 2021

  • Stipend: $1200

  • Eligibility:

  • Working on a full-length manuscript in any genre.

  • Applicants may be under contract but cannot be scheduled to publish their debuts before the Summer of 2022.

  • Chapbooks and self-published works do not count towards this requirement.

  • International writers may apply.

  • 2020/2021 Tin House Scholars/Workshop faculty, former Residents, and Tin House Books authors may not apply.

  • You must be 21 years of age or older by June 1st, 2021.

RESIDENCY FOR TEACHERS:

This residency is intended to support writers who teach and are working on a full-length manuscript.

  • Dates: July 8th-August 3rd, 2021

  • Stipend: $1200

  • Eligibility

  • Working on a full-length manuscript in any genre.

  • Applicants may teach full or part-time, any grade, any subject.

  • International writers may apply.

  • 2020/2021 Tin House Scholars/Workshop faculty, former Residents, and Tin House Books authors may not apply.

  • You must be 21 years of age or older by July 1st, 2021.

RESIDENCY FOR PARENTS:

These weekend residencies are intended to support writers with school-aged children at home.

  • Dates: August 12th-16th, 2021 & August 19th-23rd, 2021

  • Stipend: $500

  • Eligibility:

  • Working on a full-length manuscript in any genre.

  • Applicants must have at least one child under the age of 18 living at home as of August 1st, 2021.

  • International writers may apply.

  • 2020/2021 Tin House Scholars/Workshop faculty, former Residents, and Tin House Books authors may not apply.

  • You must be 21 years of age or older by August 1st, 2021.

https://tinhouseonline.submittable.com/submit/186243/2021-tin-house-summer-residencies

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

aaduna

DEADLINE: March 14, 2021

INFO: aaduna seeks to uncover new and emerging creative visionaries, especially people of color, in the realm of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and the visual arts.

aaduna seeks to broaden the current online paradigms associated with publishing works by emerging writers and artists especially for people of color. From a multicultural viewpoint, aaduna comprehends the fact that while cultures and ethnicities tend to exist separate from each other, such a development is a contrived political, social, and economic construct. Therefore, aaduna seeks to erase such artificial distinctions, and welcomes submissions from emerging writers and visual artists whose work goes beyond expectations based solely on physicality, social or cultural characteristics. aaduna also welcomes work from established writers and artists who are looking to expand their arenas of influence and readership or want to become more engaged  in a diverse, multicultural  creative community.  While aaduna is primarily interested in providing a viable publishing platform for people of color, the world is huge, and there is a widening audience for other artists whose creativity reflects voices that are divergent; voices that are powerful, and voices committed to change.  aaduna welcomes such voices.

The aaduna editorial policy is committed to presenting work in the manner and style that reflects how the creative person behind the work wants to see that work presented to the public, realizing that the most effective judge of any work’s quality and import ultimately rests within the marketplace. It is within this reality that aaduna will be a conduit for providing the public with works that are stimulating, enjoyable, insightful, open for vigorous discussion, and in some measure, a catalyst to embolden the intellect, imagination, and human spirit.

aaduna does not provide honorarium. However, aaduna will work with each published artist to build an appropriate platform that may lead to a wide variety of market opportunities.

Aaduna si dofa rey. (The world is huge).

https://www.aaduna.org

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “ISOLA” ISSUE

Golden Walkman Magazine

DEADLINE: March 15, 2021

INFO: Golden Walkman Magazine is a literary magazine in the form of a podcast aimed at giving the written word a voice. Each month, Golden will release an issue featuring work in response to a specific theme alongside general issues.

For the April issue, guest editor Camille Wanliss has chosen the theme “Isola.” When translated to English, isola means "island." It's also the root word for isolation. For this issue, Golden will explore what it means to be islanded - geographically and metaphorically. Whether your piece takes place on a tropical island, the isle of Manhattan, or relates to moments of feeling marooned, stranded, and cast adrift, they want to hear from you.

Accepting poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction (no more than 1,000 words).

https://www.goldwalkmag.com/themed-issues.html

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MY TIME: A Writer’s Fellowship for parents

The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

DEADLINE: March 15, 2021

INFO: The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow is pleased to announce the My Time fellowship funded by the Sustainable Arts Foundation. Writers who are also parents of dependent children under the age of 18 are invited to apply.  Work may be any literary genre: fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, scripts or screenplays.  The successful application will demonstrate literary merit and the likelihood of publication however, prior publication is not a requirement. 

The fellowship winner will receive a one-week residency to allow the recipient to focus completely on their work. A $400 stipend is available to cover childcare and/or travel costs.  Each writers’ suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space, and wireless internet. We provide uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner prepared five nights a week, and served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for breakfast and lunch.

APPLICATION FEE: Fellowship applications must be accompanied by a writing sample and a non-refundable $35 application fee.

The winner will be announced no later than March 31, 2021. Residency may be completed at any time during 2021. This may be extended up to twelve months for extenuating circumstances including COVID-19 concerns.

https://www.writerscolony.org/fellowships

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2021 Summer Online Workshops

VONA

DEADLINE: March 15, 2021 at midnight PST

INFO: Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation is a community-based organization that puts writers of color, their narratives, voices, and experiences at the center of all conversations. VONA supports individual writer growth, creates platforms for community engagement rooted in social justice, and provides workshops and mentors focused on expanding writing opportunities.

This summer, our signature one-week sessions will be held online.

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Session One: June 27-July 3

  • Session Two: July 18-July 24

Participants are notified of their acceptance to SESSION ONE by April 8th and have until April 15, 2021, to confirm their acceptance and pay a non-refundable deposit of $200.00. Waitlisted applicants will be notified by April 22, 2021.

Participants are notified of their acceptance to SESSION TWO by April 22nd and have until April 29, 2021 to confirm their acceptance and pay a non-refundable deposit of $200.00. Waitlisted applicants will be notified by May 6, 2021. 

Writers will only be able to enroll in ONE workshop; however, all are encouraged to apply for first and second choices.  

FEES & TUITION:

  • Application Fee: $30.00

  • Week-long workshop: $1,000

  • *Residency: $1,200

https://www.vonavoices.org/summer-2021-workshops

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Giving Room

DEADLINE: March 15, 2021

INFO: The Giving Room Review is dedicated to making space in the world for the voices that deserve it most. Our mission is to create a platform accessible for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, and women artists.

The Giving Room Review only accepts work that is original and previously unpublished. Please expect a wait time of 1-3 months regarding the decision we have made on your submission. Please be patient as we are a small team of editors. Rest assured that we are doing our best and working as quickly as possible. Feel free to inquiry us via email about your submission’s status if you have not heard back from us after 3 months.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but you must notify us immediately if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.

​Currently, we are unable to pay for publication.

Fiction
Submissions should be no more than four thousand (4,000) words. Please include page numbers and your name on every page in the header, use 12 point Times New Roman font and double space your work.

Creative Nonfiction
All types of creative nonfiction (memoir, essays, etc.) are acceptable. Submissions should be no more than four thousand (4,000) words. Please include page numbers and your name on every page in the header, use 12 point Times New Roman font and double space your work.

Poetry
You may submit up to five (5) poetry selections per submission. Please use 12 point Times New Roman font and single space your poems unless you are using a specific format for your work.

Visual Arts
All visual art (photography, paintings, sculpture, collage, etc.) is acceptable for publication. You may submit up to five (5) photographs per submission. Please submit photographs in PNG or PDF files.

Blog/Interviews
If you have an idea for a blog post or an interview you would like to conduct, please feel free to email us a short (500-1000 word) pitch. We are looking for articles and interviews of all kinds within the realm of revealing a fresh perspective on an important matter that deserves our readers’ attention.

You can email your submission to us via email: thegivingroomreview@gmail.com. Please include a third person bio with your submission.

http://www.thegivingroomreview.com/submit.html

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Emerging Voices Fellowship

PEN America

DEADLINE: March 17, 2021

INFO: The Emerging Voices Fellowship provides a five-month immersive mentorship program for early-career writers from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in the publishing world. The program is committed to cultivating the careers of Black writers, and serves writers who identify as Indigenous, persons of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, writers with disabilities, and those living outside of urban centers. Through curated one-on-one mentorship and introductions to editors, agents, and publishers, in addition to workshops on editing, marketing, and creating a platform, the five-month fellowship nurtures creative community, provides a professional skill-set, and demystifies the path to publication—with the ultimate goal of diversifying the publishing and media industries.

The Emerging Voices Fellowship grew out of PEN America Los Angeles’s forum “Writing the Immigrant Experience,” held at the Los Angeles Central Library in March 1994, which explored the experiences of first- and second-generation immigrant writers. In 1996, PEN America Los Angeles initiated Emerging Voices as a mentorship program designed to provide professional resources to writers seeking financial and creative support to pursue their craft professionally. In 2021, virtually accessible programs and an expanded cohort of fellows will further the goal of diversifying the publishing and media industries by enabling participation from writers across the country.

GUIDELINES: Twelve fellows will receive an honorarium of $1,000. Fellows will be paired with a mentor to serve as a source of guidance for the project, and the cohort will convene virtually at least twice for intensive shared experiences.

PEN America will draw on the Emerging Voices Advisory Committee, as well as its network of agents, editors, publishers, partner organizations, and outlets in order to assist efforts for publication and dissemination of the work of the fellows. Opportunities for sharing the created work through public forums will be organized on virtual platforms.

TIMELINE: The five months of the fellowship are designed for fellows to connect with mentors and the cohort and refine their writing project while learning new skills and building relationships with publishing industry instructors, PEN America staff, and the literary community.

  • February–March: 2021 Emerging Voices Fellowship application period

  • April: Fellows announced

  • May-October: 2021 Emerging Voices Fellowship period

  • November: Final virtual public reading event

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age or older at time of application.

  • Applicants do not need to be a U.S. permanent resident and/or citizen but must be residing in the United States at the time of applying for, and during the duration of, the fellowship.

  • Applicants must be available to participate actively in all dimensions of fellowship programming, including mandatory workshops, virtual gatherings, and virtual public programs.

  • Applicants cannot be enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application.

  • Applicants cannot be a recipient of an advanced degree in creative writing.

  • Applicants cannot have one or more books published through major or independent publishers, university presses, or established presses, nor have a book under contract to a publisher at the time of application. Chapbooks or work published in literary journals are acceptable.

  • Former Emerging Voices Fellows are not eligible to reapply.

https://pen.org/emerging-voices-fellowship/

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Baldwin for the Arts: Literature

DEADLINE: March 15, 2021

INFO:

A place to write.
A place to make music.
A place to paint, sculpt, and draw.
A place to dream.

Located just 60 miles north of New York City on four beautiful acres, Baldwin for the Arts is a safe and nurturing space for BIPOC artists. It is a place to go and not have to explain. It is a place to create system-changing work. It is a place to gather safely with other BIPOC artists who are writing, composing and creating visual work.

Featuring multiple residential buildings, common spaces and organic food grown onsite, BFTA offers artists the ability to enjoy the freedom and creativity that comes with space, good food, and great company.

From author Jacqueline Woodson: In 2018, after receiving the Astrid Lindgren Prize from Sweden, I founded Baldwin For The Arts. I wanted to create a safe and nurturing space for BIPOC artists. I wanted a place where we could go and not have to explain. I wanted us to understand how important our work is to the canon – and I want us to keep creating that work.

Located north of New York City on 4.5 acres of land and modeled after Cave Canem and Macdowell – a retreat where I was offered my first residency, a residency that changed the course of both my life and my writing — Baldwin For The Arts aspires to do this for many BIPOC artists to come. Nestled among 100 year old trees, just steps away from a stunning reservoir, my hope is that artists will walk the land, clear their minds and create work that will change the world.

DISCIPLINES: Emerging and established BIPOC artists may apply in the following disciplines: Literature, music composition, visual arts.

  • Literature: Writers of novels, short story, graphic writing, journalism, essays, biography, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and translation into English are accepted.

  • Music Composition: All types of composition in all musical styles are considered at BFTA from hip hop to classical, and from post-modern jazz to electronica.

  • Visual Arts: In this wide-ranging discipline, creators of three-dimensional and two-dimensional art – photographers and printmakers to sculptors and creators of large-scale installation as well as everything in between – are considered.

APPLICATION FEE: $15

https://baldwinforthearts.org/

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Black Creatives Revisions Workshop

We Need Diverse Books

DEADLINE: March 19, 2021

INFO: The Black Creatives Revision Workshop is an extended opportunity for writers who have completed a full draft of a Middle Grade, Young Adult, or Adult novel. Twelve writers will be chosen from the applicant pool to receive training from a small faculty of esteemed Black authors to complete revisions of their manuscript and to submit their novel to a team of editors at Penguin Random House (PRH). 

The Revision Workshop is for writers who believe that they will benefit from instruction in their final stages of revision and who will complete their edited manuscript within the six-month period of the workshop. The writers will also be dedicated to joining a committed community of other creatives participating in the Workshop. 

Throughout the program, there will be opportunities for manuscript exchange and building writing partnerships along with extracurricular programming to introduce publishing industry do’s and don’ts. The BCF’s Program Manager and the Workshop’s Writing Mentors will also offer varied resources and support to the writers, fostering a nurturing environment and a supportive community for the participants. 

The Workshop will focus on the writers completing their revisions by the end of the program so that they are ready to submit to PRH at the conclusion of the workshop.

PARTICIPANT OPPORTUNITIES: WNDB is offering twelve (12) slots total to writers who identify as part of the African diaspora. Only US-based applicants will be considered. The cohort will be split among the following categories: six Middle Grade (MG) or Young Adult (YA) and six Adult (A).

The selected participants will be expected to attend all program events, including all courses and Q&A sessions. Industry brown bag lunches are not mandatory, but participants are highly recommended to attend.  

Additionally, all successful applicants will be awarded stipends. Twelve stipends of $1000 will be awarded to all selected applicants and $4500 prizes will be awarded to 2 finalists at the completion of the program (one finalist who writes Adult and one finalist who writes MG or YA). Finalist manuscripts will be shared with PRH editors, and publishing offers will be strongly considered.

ELIGIBILITY:

This Workshop is available to: 

  • unpublished and unagented writers

  • who identify as part of the African diaspora and

  • who have a fully completed manuscript that a.) features Black protagonists, and that b.) focuses on a diverse central subject matter.

The work must not be published, either traditionally, self-published, in any other form, and cannot be submitted to other programs designed to lead to publication. 

Applicants who do not have a completed manuscript at the time of application will not be considered. Applicants should only submit one work in one genre. Multiple applications will not be considered.

The submitted manuscript should be:

  • Fully written and complete; partially finished drafts are not eligible for submission.

  • Unpublished in any form, including individual chapters or short story adaptations.

  • Between 30,000 (For MG) and 100,000 words. There is some leeway for overages in word count, but there has to be some boundaries in place in order to realistically facilitate a full revision in the allotted time AND to facilitate a reasonable timeline for review of all manuscripts once the course is completed

  • Original work of the participant, not co-written or co-created.

Participants must sign a document committing to submit a final manuscript to PRH at the conclusion of the program.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE: Over six months, writers accepted into the program will attend mandatory course sessions led by a faculty experienced in the development of a well-revised manuscript that is ready for submission. 

Workshop participants will be given six months and a modest stipend to work through the course with the expectation that they will submit a completed manuscript for consideration at PRH at the end of the workshop. Every participant must submit a manuscript at the end of the course.

The workshop will be broken up month by month, with each month presenting a week where there is:

  • One 1 & 1/2 - 2-hour revision faculty-led session

  • One Industry Brown Bag lunch (not mandatory)

  • One Faculty led Live Q&A

Participants will have between 2-3 weeks between workshop sessions and will be expected during that time to review faculty lessons and work through their revisions independently. There will be message boards for communication between participants and, though it is not required, it is recommended that participants use these boards to find critique partners within their genre group and to ask questions that might be pertinent and useful to the entire group. 

https://diversebooks.org/programs/black-creatives-revisions-workshop/

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LITerary CLEveland: Black Women Coping in Cleveland

Gordon Square Review

DEADLINE: March 22, 2021

INFO: In January of 2020, City Lab released a study that deemed Cleveland, OH the worst large city in America for Black women. According to the report, Cleveland came in last or second to last for educational outcomes, income, and health outcomes for Black women.

What is the impact of living as a Black woman in a city that considers you unworthy of the opportunity or treatment offered to any other residents? How do you survive, cope, or thrive in such an environment?

Though our new Amplify Projects, Literary Cleveland is launching Black Women Coping in Cleveland, a writing project led by spring intern Dr. Tisha Carter. For this project we are seeking essays and poems by Black women about their experiences living in Cleveland. If you fall into this category this is your opportunity to be heard. Submit your writing about what it is like for you to live in Cleveland, what struggles you face, where you find comfort and joy. We’re looking for any and all writing about your life in the city, not just those that fit into media narratives. Tell your whole truth.

Dr. Carter will select poems and essays for publication in an online anthology, a collective of many Black women’s experiences in the worst large city for them in America.

GUIDELINES:

  • Who can submit: Submissions are limited to Black women with a Northeast Ohio connection. If you currently live in Northeast Ohio (including the Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Youngstown, Kent, or Lorain/Elyria/Oberlin areas) or if you have a strong tie to Northeast Ohio as a past resident, student, etc. you are welcome to submit.

  • Genre: For this project, we are accepting poetry, prose, essays, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction.

  • Length: For prose, essays, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction submit one piece only. For poetry, you may submit up to three pieces. All submissions should be less than 1,500 words total.

  • Contact: Email info@litcleveland.org with any questions.

Project Coordinator: Dr. Tisha Carter has a Doctorate in Ministry from South University and works as the Director of Residency at Grace Church. She has continuously focused her efforts on creating spaces for women, especially African American women, and has recently been a contributor to Literary Cleveland's Beauty for Ashes: Stories of Maternal Hope.

https://gordonsquarereview.submittable.com/submit

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LITerary CLEveland: Breaking the Silence: Queer Self, Life, and Love in Northeast Ohio

Gordon Square Review

DEADLINE: March 22, 2021

INFO: Day of Silence started in the mid-’90s and since has been widely popularized by the LGBTQ2 advocacy group, GLSEN. LGBTQ2 students and allies around the country and the world take a vow of silence on this day to protest the bullying and discrimination of LGBTQ2 people in schools. At the end of the day, participants Break the Silence by attending various rallies and events to share their stories.

2020 was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender non-conforming people according to data from the Human Rights Campaign. At least 44 people were killed, the majority of which were Black transgender women. In states with smaller LGBTQ2 communities, violent acts and deaths are felt even harsher. With the addition of the pandemic, queer communities are faced with numerous other crises, including public health, mental health, isolation, and loss of community centers.

Through our new Amplify Projects, Literary Cleveland is launching Breaking the Silence: Queer Self, Life, and Love in Northeast Ohio, a writing project led by spring intern Alexander Saint Franqui. After a tragic year for our community, Breaking the Silence seeks to uplift narratives that center on the queer experience in the Greater Cleveland area, especially those written by Black/Indigenous/People of Color. For this project, we are accepting poetry, prose, essays, creative non-fiction, and flash fiction written by queer/LGBTQ2 identified people.

Saint will select poems and essays for publication in an online anthology, a collective of queer experiences in the Greater Cleveland area.

GUIDELINES:

  • Who can submit: Submissions are limited to queer/LGBTQ2 identified people with a Northeast Ohio connection. If you currently live in Northeast Ohio (including the Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Youngstown, Kent, or Lorain/Elyria/Oberlin areas) or if you have a strong tie to Northeast Ohio as a past resident, student, etc. you are welcome to submit.

  • Genre: For this project, we are accepting poetry, prose, essays, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction.

  • Length: For prose, essays, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction submit one piece only. For poetry, you may submit up to three pieces. All submissions should be less than 1,500 words total.

  • Contact: Email info@litcleveland.org with any questions.

Project Coordinator: Alexander Saint Franqui is an emerging QTBIPOC writer and second-year student at Oberlin College originally from Jersey City, New Jersey. He enjoys writing about identity, family, and connections to the natural world. His poem, "Yemayá," was recently in the inaugural issue of Catchwater Magazine.

https://gordonsquarereview.submittable.com/submit

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Summer Mentorship Program

The Adroit Journal’s

DEADLINE: March 22, 2021 at 11:59pm PST

INFO: Now in its ninth year, The Adroit Journal’s Summer Mentorship Program is an online program that pairs established writers with high school students (including graduating seniors) and gap year students (high school class of ’20 or ’21) interested in learning more about the creative writing processes of drafting, redrafting and editing.

The 2021 program will cater to poetryfictioncreative nonfiction/memoir, and spoken word. The aim of the mentorship program is not formalized instruction, but rather an individualized, flexible, and often informal correspondence. Poetry and spoken word mentorship students will share weekly work with mentors and peers, while fiction and creative nonfiction/memoir mentorship students will share biweekly work with mentors and peers.

Applicants should possess a firm work ethic and some familiarity with the writing and revision process; should be comfortable with receiving (and giving) commentary and critique; and should be prompt and generous communicators. Applicants should also possess the will to explore and improve!

APPLICATION FEE: $0

TUITION: Tuition for participation in the full program is $350/student. Furthermore, we want to assure applicants for whom tuition will be a barrier that fee remission and financial aid will be available. Need for financial assistance will be addressed entirely separately and will not be an influencing factor on mentorship admission decisions. Program administrators and application screeners will not have access to financial need information until after admission decisions have been made.

This opportunity will not offer academic credit (this is a mentorship, not a class!), and participation in this workshop is not a route to publication in The Adroit Journal. At the end of the day, we are looking for the best potential: the writers with the drive to explore and discuss, to be active participants, and to challenge themselves in their writing.

https://theadroitjournal.org/about/mentorship/?amp

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WWB EDITORIAL FELLOWSHIP

Words Without Borders

DEADLINE: March 26, 2021 at noon EST

INFO: Words Without Borders seeks applicants for its editorial fellowship. The WWB Editorial Fellowship program is designed to provide training for individuals looking to build a career around the publication and promotion of international literature. The editorial fellow will gain hands-on experience with all aspects of the publication of a digital literary magazine—from issue planning to online promotion. The fellow will become familiar with the special considerations and skills required for editing literature in translation and working within the context of a nonprofit organization.

This is a unique opportunity for an early-career publishing professional to be mentored by experienced editors while also making a contribution to one of the premier magazines for contemporary international literature.
 

Responsibilities
Reporting to the editor and working closely with editorial and communications teams, the fellow’s primary duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

—Participate in editorial meetings, generate ideas for future magazine content.
—Develop at least one issue or feature idea together with editor, identifying contributors and translators, and performing line edits.
—Prepare electronic galleys for monthly magazine.
—Proofread magazine and blog content. 
—Propose, commission, and edit features for WWB Daily, the WWB blog.
—Prepare monthly contracts and maintain editorial schedule.
—Support archive projects, including cataloging and categorizing content from past WWB issues.
—Maintain a schedule of upcoming titles in translation for book reviews.
—Draft social media copy, select images, and schedule social media posts for issue and blog content.
—Update organizational contact database with issue and contributor information.
—Attend and help staff WWB’s literary events in NYC.
 

Qualifications
The ideal candidate will be highly organized, responsible, and able to work both without supervision and as part of a team. They will also be skilled at written and verbal communications and have knowledge of the international literary landscape.

—Bachelor’s degree; master’s degree a plus but not required.
—Demonstrated interest in international literature.
—Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
—Superior organizational skills, attention to detail, and initiative.
—Proficient with Microsoft Office or other word-processing programs.
—Ability to work both independently and collaboratively on a small, dynamic team.
—Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
—Fluent in English with knowledge of one or more foreign languages.
—Experience with multimedia content production (including slideshows, podcasts, video, and/or creating GIFS) a plus.
 

The editorial fellow will work remotely and commit to working sixteen hours per week for nine months, beginning in September.

The editorial fellow position pays $16 per hour.

Words Without Borders does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, parental status, military service, or disability. We are committed to pursuing equity and inclusion in our organization and seek candidates with diverse backgrounds and new perspectives to our work. Permission to work in the U.S. is required.

To apply
To apply, please submit the following materials to jobs@wordswithoutborders.org with the subject line "Editorial Fellowship Application":

1) A thoughtful cover letter that outlines relevant skills and experiences and explains how the position aligns with your professional goals.
2) A résumé.
3) A three- to five-page writing sample, plus a link to any relevant multimedia or editorial work (if applicable); both published and unpublished work are acceptable.

https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/words-without-borders-fall-editorial-fellowship

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THE BETTY L. YU AND JIN C. YU CREATIVE WRITING PRIZES

Charles Yu / TaiwaneseAmerican.org

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021 at 11:59pm PT

INFO: TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to announce the inaugural Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. Created in collaboration with Taiwanese American author Charles Yu, the Prizes are intended to encourage and recognize creative literary work by Taiwanese American high school and college students, and to foster discussion and community around such work.

Submissions may be in any literary genre including fiction, poetry, personal essays or other creative non-fiction. Submissions must be sent via Google Form. In order to be eligible, submissions must be from writers of Taiwanese heritage (or writers with other significant connection to Taiwan), or have subject matter otherwise relevant to the Taiwanese or Taiwanese American experience. 

Submissions will be considered in two categories, High School (enrolled in high school as of the deadline) and College (enrolled in community college or as an undergraduate as of the deadline). Winners and finalists will be announced in May 2021. A total of $1500 will be awarded to the winners. In addition, each of the winners and finalists will have their submitted work published online by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and considered for publication in a future edition of Chrysanthemum, and offered the opportunity to participate in an individual mentoring session with one of the judges.

JUDGES:

  • Shawna Yang Ryan is a Taiwanese American novelist, short story writer and creative writing professor, who has published the novels Water Ghosts and Green Island. She currently teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

  • Charles Yu is a Taiwanese American writer. He is the author of the novels How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and Interior Chinatown as well as the short-story collections Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You. In 2020, he received the National Book Award for Fiction.

The Prizes are named in honor of Betty Lin Yu and Jin-Chyuan Yu for their service to the Taiwanese-American community, including establishment of TACL LID Youth Camp in Southern California, co-founding of the South Bay Taiwanese-American School, the first school in the United States specifically for the purpose of Taiwanese Language instruction, establishment of North America Taiwanese Engineering Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosa Association for Public Affair (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women Association (NATWA), and Taiwan American Association (TAA).

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4Kv0n-AH68wgRGV7GPpLMdiLi2WSYjQ7m5fR6vfWx-7hrqg/viewform

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The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing

Restless Books

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing was created to honor outstanding debut literary works by first-generation immigrants, awarded for fiction and nonfiction in alternating years. The winner receives $10,000 and publication by Restless Books.

Submissions for the 2021 Prize in Nonfiction are open until March 31, 2021.

GUIDELINES AND ELIGIBILITY:

Nonfiction submissions can take the form of a memoir, a collection of essays, or a book-length work of narrative nonfiction. The submission should address some combination of identity, the meeting of cultures and communities, immigration and migration, and today’s globalized society.

  • Nonfiction submissions must consist of either a complete manuscript, or a sample of at least 25,000 words and a detailed proposal that includes a synopsis and an annotated table of contents. All submissions must be in English (translations welcome). 

  • Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. “First-generation” can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere.

  • Nonfiction candidates must not have previously published a book of nonfiction in English. We encourage applicants to look at the other titles Restless has published and previous contest winners to get a sense of our aesthetic.

  • We will accept only one submission per candidate per submission period, and submissions must be under the author’s real name, not under a pseudonym. Agented submissions are welcome.

  • Candidates may not submit the same manuscript for the Prize in subsequent years unless specifically invited by Restless.

  • Restless reserves the right to invite writers to submit for the Prize.

  • Restless reserves the right to consider any Prize submission for publication.

  • Submitted manuscripts may be simultaneously under consideration for publication by other publishing houses. Once a manuscript has been selected as the winner of the Prize, Restless will contact the author and ask that the manuscript be withdrawn from consideration elsewhere. A publishing contract between the winning author and Restless Books must be signed before the winner is announced.

* Please note that while Restless Books welcomes all submissions for the Prize, we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts for our publishing program.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: Candidates are asked to submit a CV and a one-page cover letter as the first pages of their manuscript. The cover letter should address the candidate’s background as a writer, experience as an immigrant, and inspiration for the submitted work.

Restless will accept only electronic submissions by way of our submissions manager. The manuscript should be a PDF or Word file (.doc and .docx), and the text should be double-spaced, in twelve-point font, and with numbered pages. Fiction manuscripts must be a minimum of 45,000 words. Nonfiction samples must be at least 25,000 words. 

APPLICATION FEE: $0

JUDGES:

  • Francisco Cantú is a writer, translator, and the author of The Line Becomes a River, winner of the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction. A former Fulbright fellow, he has been the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Award, and an Art for Justice fellowship. His writing and translations have been featured in The New Yorker, Best American Essays, Harper’s, and VQR, as well as on This American Life. A lifelong resident of the Southwest, he now lives in Tucson, where he teaches writing and works to support incarcerated migrants through correspondence and accompaniment programs.

  • Shuchi Saraswat is a writer and editor based in Boston. Her literary criticism and essays have appeared in a number of publications including The Boston Globe, Women’s Review of Books, Literary Hub: Bookmarks, and Ecotone. In 2018 she founded the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith, a reading series focused on themes of migration, and in 2019 she served as a co-judge for the National Book Award in Translated Literature. She is currently a nonfiction editor at the literary magazine AGNI.

  • Ilan Stavans is the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include On Borrowed Words, Spanglish, Dictionary Days, The Disappearance, and A Critic’s Journey. He has edited The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature, the three-volume set Isaac Bashevis Singer: Collected Stories, The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, among dozens of other volumes. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Chile’s Presidential Medal, the International Latino Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award. Stavans’s work, translated into twenty languages, has been adapted to the stage and screen. A cofounder of the Great Books Summer Program at Amherst, Stanford, Chicago, Oxford, and Dublin, he is the host of the NPR podcast "In Contrast."

https://restlessbooks.org/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing

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Winter 2021 Story Contest

Narrative Magazine

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021 at midnight PST

INFO: OUR WINTER CONTEST is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, 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.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

AWARDS:

  • First Prize is $2,500

  • Second Prize is $1,000

  • Third Prize is $500

  • Ten finalists will receive $100 each

  • All entries will be considered for publication

SUBMISSION FEE: There is a $27 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

JUDGING: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by April 30, 2021. All writers who enter will be notified by email of the judges’ decisions. The judges reserve the option to declare a tie in the selection of winners and to award only as many winners and finalists as are appropriate to the quality of work represented in the magazine.

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/winter-2021-story-contest?uid=103566&m=8a98a70d5e5890d57d24516a7d3a252e&d=1610120952

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Afrofuture, Sci-Fi, speculative fiction

Bee Infinite Publishing

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: Bee Infinite Publishing, a Los Angeles-based independent publisher, is accepting submissions for its first anthology! Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) writers are invited to share short stories, poetry, and essays.

We have the power to imagine our future and in our upcoming anthology, Future Splendor: Celebrating A New Renaissance, we boldly ask how do you WANT to see the future? Tell us your vision. 

We’re looking for Afrofuture, Sci-Fi, speculative fiction visions of the 2020s and beyond. We challenge you to share visions of liberation, joy, empowerment, and more.

To get you in the mindset, realize at this moment we are future ancestors of the next creatives. In the Indigenous tradition, it’s encouraged to look seven generations ahead when thinking about your legacy and impact. As of 2021, we’re very much in the future. 

GUIDELINE:

Send us your short stories, poetry and essays at info@beeinfinite.org 

  • Short stories: 6,000 word max. 

  • Essays: 1,000 words max.

  • Poetry: 800 words max. 

  • You are welcome to submit 2-3 poems for review, and 1-2 short stories and essays for review.

  • For prose, please include your word count at the top of your document, use 12 pt Times New Roman or Courier New fonts. All work should be submitted in Word document format.

  • When submitting, make sure to include SUBMISSION in your subject line followed by the title of your piece and your name. 

https://www.beeinfinite.org/submissions

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Liminal Transit Review

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: Liminal Transit Review is a literary journal that publishes work related to themes such as (but not limited to) diaspora, immigration, displacement, borders, and decolonization. LTR publishes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction (including flash fiction and flash nonfiction), and also encourages cross genre work and work that does not conform to traditional genre boundaries. 

We publish work focusing on themes including but not limited to immigration, diaspora, displacement, decolonization, and border, and the intersections of these themes with literature, movement, and transit. We’re interested in work about geography and place, its connections with literature and identity. In addition to cross genre work, we’re also particularly drawn to experimental, abstract, and theoretical work.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • Up to five poems, 10 pages of cross-genre work, or 3,000 words of prose. Multiple flash fictions or nonfictions are allowed if their total word count is under 3,000 words.

  • Attach all submissions to our Google form as a single document (Word or PDF) in 12-point Garamond or Comic Sans. Prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) must be double spaced.

  • Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Please email us immediately at liminaltransitreview [at] gmail [dot] com if your work is accepted elsewhere.

  • Multiple submissions are not allowed. Please submit once per issue and in only one genre.

  • Include trigger or content warnings if needed.

  • Please submit in English. Translations are not accepted at this time.

  • We aim to respond within two months. If you have not heard back by April 25, 2021 for your submission to the May 2021 issue, please email us.

https://liminaltransitreview.com/submit/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Renascence” ISSUE

Yellow Arrow Journal

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: Yellow Arrow Journal is excited to announce submissions are open for the spring 2021 (Vol. VI, No. 1) issue on Renascence.

SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES:

  • Accepted submissions include creative nonfiction and poetry by authors that identify as women (cover art guidelines follow below).

  • Submissions must relate to the theme on the overarching topic of cultural resurrections, as interpreted by the author, using the following definition and guiding questions (these change for each theme and are available during open submissions):

    • Renascence - the revival of something that has been dormant

    • How does your culture shape your personal identity? What part of your culture has been lost, or nearly lost? How was it lost? Why?

    • How have cultural absences affected your life? Strengthened it? Made it more difficult? What do you wish you had learned in school about your cultural identity?

    • What parts of your personal identity have been awakened/reawakened by your cultural identity? How?

  • Creative nonfiction (1 submission per author per issue) must be between 500 and 5,000 words. Poetry (up to 2 poems per author per issue, grouped into a single document) may be any length.

  • Submissions do not need to be in English but must include an English translation.

  • No previously published work will be accepted at this time—this includes all printed and online material; simultaneous submissions are okay but please let us know when you send in your submission(s) and if a submission is published elsewhere in the interim, email submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com immediately.

If selected, you will receive $10.00USD and a PDF of the journal issue. Note that payments are through PayPal; while we will try to accommodate those that do not have a PayPal account, this is not always possible, especially for people outside of the U.S. Thank you for understanding.

https://www.yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions

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2021-2022 Practitioner Fellowship

Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: CSREA invites artists, media makers, and writers whose work focuses on race, ethnicity, and/or indigeneity in the United States to apply to be a Practitioner Fellow for the Spring 2022 academic semester. 

This program is a virtual Spring semester fellowship. The terms of the program may be subject to change. 

THE FELLOWSHIP: Fellows will have access to Brown University resources and are invited to contribute to the academic community. There will be opportunities to present work-in-progress in a campus-wide public lecture or performance. Projects should focus at least in part on issues of race, ethnicity, and/or indigeneity in the United States, or U.S.-related transnational contexts. Fellows are expected to cover their own expenses (including health benefits) for the duration of their appointment. 

Fellowship Details:

  • Awardees receive a $10,000 stipend for a semester-long fellowship and have access to up to $1,500 each in research/project funds

  • Required attendance at virtual Practitioner Fellows Workshop (5-7 sessions during the Spring 2022 semester, depending on size of cohort)

  • In-person on campus Capstone Week workshop where participants will present work (travel and lodging provided)

QUALIFICATIONS:

APPLICATION PROCESS: Applicants must complete this application form and submit the following supplementary documents to be fully considered: 

  • A cover letter discussing what the applicant hopes to achieve during the fellowship period and why being affiliated with CSREA and Brown would be especially helpful in accomplishing the goals

  • A current Curriculum Vitae (CV) or résumé

  • A sample of scholarly or creative work (maximum 35 pages)

  • A one-page project abstract

  • A more detailed project proposal (1,000 - 2,000 words):

    • The proposal should outline the project that the applicant will pursue during the term of the fellowship

  • Two letters of recommendation endorsing the applicant and proposed project

https://www.brown.edu/academics/race-ethnicity/programs-initiatives/csrea-fellows-program/practitioner-fellows

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE 8

The Rush

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: The Rush seeks to publish fiction, poetry, prose, and art; providing a platform to a diverse body of writers on a transcontinental level, from emerging to established writers. We welcome Spanish and English work. 

  • Fiction: 1500 words max

  • Nonfiction 1500 words max

  • Personal Essay: 1500 words max

  • Poetry: 3 poems per submission (3 pp max)

  • Flash Fiction: one page

  • Art: Up to 3 pieces.

We aim to respond to all submissions within sixty days. Please feel free to query us if you have not received a response by the allotted time.  We are a volunteer-based journal; your patience is appreciated.

We encourage and welcome simultaneous submissions; please let us know by adding a note to your submission if your work has been accepted elsewhere. If you have sent multiple pieces in one submission and must withdraw one-piece or two, there is no need to withdraw the entire submission if there are still some pieces for our consideration. 

We do not accept work that has been previously published.

We do not own anyone’s work. The author may republish the work elsewhere after publication. Acceptance grants us non-exclusive North American Serial Rights in print and digital format. 

Please include “Full Name” and “Submission Type” in the subject header.

https://www.rushmagazine.org/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE 01: LOVER BOY

superfoot

DEADLINE: March 31, 2021

INFO: superfroot, an online-only literary arts magazine, is accepting submissions for ISSUE 01: LOVER BOY.

lover boy refers to love of all kinds. send us your work about first loves, heartbreak, love letters, hookups, soulmates, twin flames, unrequited. anything to do with love, hearts, cupid, platonic love and more, we want to read it! 

we are accepting prose, art, flash, and photography.​

while we are open to submissions from everyone, we are especially interested in publishing voices that are underrepresented and historically silenced.

GUIDELINES:

  • PROSE: submit no more than one story up to 5,000 words. 

  • FLASH: under 1,000 words per story. please only submit up to three at once.

  • ARTWORK: submit 1-5 high quality jpgs of art to our email address with a short cover letter and biography. feel free to also include titles for each piece. we may choose all pieces or just one. 

  • PHOTOGRAPHY: submit 1-5 pieces of photography (single photos or sets) to our email address with a short cover letter, biography, and titles of each photo or title of collection if needed.

https://www.superfroot.com/issue-01-lover

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2022 AIR Application fiction / nonfiction

Marble House Project

DEADLINE: April 1, 2021

INFO: Marble House Project is a multidisciplinary artist residency program that fosters collaboration and the exchange of ideas, by providing an environment for artists across disciplines to live and work together. The residency integrates sustainable practices, including small-scale organic food production and waste conservation. Residents sustain their growth by engaging with the grounds while working on their artistic practice. Marble House Project is founded on the belief that the act of creating, whether in the studio or in nature, is how human potential expands and community thrives.

Marble House Project accepts approximately 60 residents and is open to artists living in the United States and abroad. You must be at least 21 years old.   Residencies run from April through October, scheduled into six three-week residencies and one two-week family-friendly residency for artists with children. Please note that if you apply to the family friendly residency, it is a specific date within the artist in residency application. Each session accommodates eight artists and is specifically curated to bring together a diverse group of creative workers, to maximize potential for collaboration and dialogue while in residence and beyond. 

All residents live together in the historic, eight-bedroom Manley-Lefevre house, a communal space organized around responsibilities-sharing systems which highlight sustainability and community. All residents will be paired and asked to cook for shared dinners three times over the course of their residency, Monday-Friday. A substantial amount of the food we provide comes from our organic garden, which also serves as a space for gathering and an educational tool. Residents are invited to help with planting, harvesting, and maintenance. While not required, our hope is that you will spend some time in the garden alongside your studio practice. Each session culminates with ART SEED, our public open house weekend event. Artists are invited to share their work with our community through artist talks, readings, performances, and open studios.

Marble House Project provides private bedrooms, food, private studio space, and artist support. We are not able to cover costs related to travel or materials. There is no fee to attend the residency.

Applications are accepted in all creative fields including but not limited to writing, dance and choreography, performance, music composition and sound, film and video, visual arts, and culinary arts. Applications are reviewed by a jury of alumni, staff, and outside experts, and artists are selected based on quality of work, commitment to practice, and project description. Please choose the application that best describes your work. Two artists may apply together as a collaborative, and should complete one application. Within each application you will be asked to select the session dates best for you. You may choose the family friendly residency only if you will be bringing your children. Family friendly applicants may select additional dates if willing to attend without your children.

Marble House Project does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. For exact dates, more information or questions about the residency, visit our FAQ page.  If you still have questions you may   contact info@marblehouseproject.org

APPLICATION FEE: $35

https://marblehouseproject.submittable.com/submit

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The Orison Prizes in Poetry & Fiction

Orison Books

DEADLINE: April 1, 2021

INFO: Each year, we accept submissions of full-length poetry (50-100 pp.) and fiction (30,000 word minimum) manuscripts for The Orison Prizes in Poetry and Fiction, judged by different prominent writers each year in an anonymous judging process.

The winning entry in each genre will be awarded publication and a $1,500 cash prize, in addition to a standard royalties contract. Finalists will be selected by the editorial staff at Orison Books, and the winners will be selected from among the finalist manuscripts by the judges. In the event that a judge in either genre does not select a winner from among the finalists, the Editor will select a winner. The editors also reserve the right to select no finalists, in which case all entry fees will be refunded to the entrants. All finalist manuscripts will be considered for publication under a standard royalties contract.

ENTRY FEE: $25

2021 JUDGES:

  • Poetry: Jericho Brown

  • Fiction: Debra Spark

GUIDELINES:

  • Original English work only; no translations.

  • Do not include your name anywhere in your manuscript file or file name, but only in your Duosuma cover letter.

  • Individual poems and stories or excerpts may have been previously published in periodicals and/or chapbooks, but the manuscript as a whole must not have been published in book form, whether digital or in print. Self-published manuscripts are considered previously published and are not eligible.

  • Please include any publication acknowledgments in your cover letter, listing any periodicals where individual pieces from your manuscript first appeared. Acknowledgments should not appear in the manuscript file.

  • Poetry manuscripts must be 50-100 pages of poems (each poem beginning on a new page). Fiction manuscripts must have a minimum word count of 30,000.

  • Fiction manuscripts may consist of short stories, a novel, a novella, flash/micro fiction, or any combination of forms, as long as the manuscript meets the 30,000 word minimum.

  • Existing Orison Books authors are not eligible for The Orison Prizes.

  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please notify us immediately should a manuscript be accepted for publication elsewhere.

  • Multiple manuscripts may be submitted; each manuscript must be accompanied by a separate entry fee.

  • Orison Books is committed to running ethical and transparent contests. Current or former students of the judge or the lead genre editor(s), or anyone with a close personal relationship with that judge or lead editor(s), are not eligible to submit in the category in question. Judges also never see author names until after they have made their selections.

  • Orison Books undertakes never to extend contest deadlines, except in the case of technical problems or other events that would prevent submitters from entering the contest by the original deadline.

https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/orison-prizes-poetry-fiction-eyhfu

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New South WRITING Contest

DEADLINE: April 1, 2021

INFO: New South holds an annual writing contest at the beginning of each year. Submissions for New South’s 2021 writing contest are now open. Winners and runners-up will be featured in issue 14.2 of New South.

EJ Koh will judge our prose category and Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach will judge our poetry.

GUIDELINES:

New South’s contest is open to writers who have not yet published more than one book of prose or poetry (chapbooks are fine). The contest awards $1,000 to one winner in poetry and one winner in prose, and a $250 runner’s up prize in each category.

Your $18 entry fee includes a one-year subscription to New South. You may submit electronically via Submittable ONLY. Discounted entry fees, which do not include a subscription to New South, are available for $9. Please take care that you are submitting under the contest category; regular submissions received during the contest period WILL NOT be entered into the contest. All paper mailed entries will be destroyed.

The deadline for contest submissions is April 1st, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST. (Submittable submissions will close automatically). Each entry must include: 1) A reading fee of either eighteen dollars ($18) or nine dollars ($9) if using the discounted entry form. 2) The submitter’s contact info, including a mailing address for your subscription. (Do not include any identifying information in the manuscript).

Each prose submission may contain one (1) short story or non-fiction piece of up to 7,500 words per $18 entry fee. Each poetry submission may contain up to three (3) poems per $18 entry fee. Entrants are welcome to submit more than once, but must pay a separate entry fee each time.

No GSU staff, students, or University system of Georgia staff or students are eligible for the prize. Any alumni who enter the contest must be five (5) years or more removed from attending GSU. Additionally, no relatives of the New South team or the judges are eligible. 

https://newsouthjournal.com/contest/

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Call for Submissions: Issue 5: To Be Tender

Raising Mothers 

DEADLINE: April 2, 2021

INFO: Raising Mothers is currently seeking submissions in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, graphic narrative, and hybrid writing exploring the theme TO BE TENDER. We are interested in submissions from BIPOC women and nonbinary writers of color who explore this theme from either the child or parent perspective.

If vulnerability is a superpower, how does it save you? In a world that demands so much of us, that would turn us into stone and shatter us, how do we manage to tend to the softness within us? How do we nurture and care for ourselves and our children? How do we hold space for tenderness? How do we create soft places to land?

Please submit prose between 1500-4000 words. For poetry submissions, submit 3-5 poems in a single document totaling no more than ten pages in length.

https://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “FINDING YOUR WAY BACK”ISSUE

Hue Journal

DEADLINE: N/A

INFO: Hue is a platform for the forgotten shades; an online and print journal to amplify voices that aren’t accurately depicted in mainstream media.

We are now accepting submissions for our Spring 2021 Issue. Our theme is “Finding Your Way Back“, after 2020 and a year of uncertainty that many are still living in, we felt this theme was more than necessary. We are opening submissions to articles and short stories at this time. Other mediums will be accepted later in the month.

https://wearehuejournal.com/contact/

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ONGOING

CALL FOR BIPOC FEMME WRITERS!

Miss Read Books

DEADLINE: Ongoing

INFO: Are you a BIPOC femme writer? Do you have a passion for writing romance, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and/or thriller? I'm looking for you!

I am so pleased to announce that Miss Read Books is officially accepting short story submissions for our new weekly blog series -- our mission is to not only introduce readers to new authors, but uplift authors who's voices deserve to be raised!

This is a PAID opportunity for up and coming authors to have your work published in the Miss Read Books weekly blog, as well as be published in a monthly digital zine distributed to Miss Read Books email subscribers at the end of every month. Please see the guidelines for submissions below:

GUIDELINES: 2000 words MAX, no exceptions

PAY RATE: $.03 per word. Payment via PayPal.

GENRES: Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

LANGUAGE: English (Currently I am only accepting stories from authors based in the US, translated works are acceptable & encouraged!)

RIGHTS: We claim non-exclusive digital rights (text and audio) and two-time non-exclusive anthology rights for our monthly Miss Read Books zine collection, as well as the annual Miss Read Books anthology.

Please submit the below to nyasha@missreadbooks.org. It's just me, so while I try to respond to every submission, I will be prioritizing responses!

Name -- Email Address -- Cover Letter (Who are you? Why this story?) -- Story Title -- Word Count-- Genre--

And don't forget to ATTACH the file containing your story! (.DOC, or .DOCX format)

Please only submit ONE short story at a time -- as the sole owner/employee of this lil outfit, you have a much better opportunity of being read if I'm not spammed with multiple submissions from the same author!

https://www.missreadbooks.org/post/this-is-a-call-for-bipoc-femme-writers-miss-read-books


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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NONFICTION ESSAYS / MEMOIR

Gay Mag

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: From writer, author and cultural critic Roxane Gay:

I am starting a new project, part of which will include publishing an emerging writer twice a month, starting in January 2021. I define emerging writer as someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts.

Please submit your best nonfiction and nonfiction only. I am interested in literary essays and memoir. Please submit only one essay at a time. Essays should be between 1500 and 3000 words.

I am interested in thoughtful essays, beautiful, intelligent writing, deep explorations, timelessness, and challenging conventional thinking without being cheap and lazy. I am interested in provocative work but we are not interested in senseless provocation. You don't have to cannibalize yourself to tell a compelling story. The essays in Unruly Bodies might give you a sense of what I like but I am always open to being surprised. I am not looking to publish anew what I've already published.

Again, I am only interested in nonfiction, which is to say no poetry, fiction, or anything else that is not nonfiction. 

We respond to all submissions, generally within six weeks.

PAYMENT: All essays will be paid a flat fee of $2,000.

https://gay.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Chaotic Merge

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: Chaotic Merge is looking for submissions from all different forms of artist. We seek work that is adventurous and test the border of art and structure. Don't be afraid to mess with everything you have ever learned in your lives. We write to have fun!We encourage voice of people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community to submit their work.

We are open for submissions all year round.*We strongly suggest following all guidelines upon submitting. 

GUIDELINES:

  • Submit all work to ChaoticMergeMagazine@gmail.com

  • Title your email subject as follows: Full name_Genre_Title of work. Anything labelled otherwise will not be read.

  • Depending on your genre, please limit each submission to:

    • Up to 5 unpublished poems (a non-English work & its English translation count as one poem submission)

    • 2 unpublished short fiction piece (up to 5,000 words) 

    • Up to 5 unpublished art/photographs/ illustrations in pdf, png, and jpeg or

    • 2 unpublished Screenplay or Play (up to 10-15 pages) 

  • All work submitted should be accompanied by a short author bio between 50 and 100 words, a author/creator photo in jpg, and your pronouns.While we accept simultaneous submissions, do indicate in your email that this is a simultaneous submission, and write in to us immediately to withdraw your work once it has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Publication Rights: Chaotic Merge Magazine publishes only unpublished work, unless we ourselves request for them. By submitting your work, you affirm that you are the sole author and maintain all rights for your work. By submitting your work, you authorize Chaotic Merge Magazine to publish your work in both its e-journal and online platforms.

https://chaoticmergemagazine.com/submit/

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FELLOWSHIP FOR BIPOC EDITORS

Shenandoah

INFO: In order for structural change to happen in the predominantly white publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book publishers to literary magazines like ours. We recognize that if we want Black writers, Indigenous writers, and other writers of color to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core. With this in mind, we’re excited to announce a new initiative: The Shenandoah Fellowship for BIPOC Editors.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new BIPOC voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and forge connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Requirements and Eligibility

A single fellow will be selected for each issue of Shenandoah going forward, alternating genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics) as we see fit. Fellows will choose two–three pieces of prose, five–ten poems, or two–three comic artists for their issue; these authors will be paid at the same rates as other Shenandoah authors ($100 per poem; $50 per comic panel; $100 for every thousand words of prose—for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author). Each fellow will receive a $1000 honorarium for their work. We welcome writers and editors of all experience levels. No previous editorial experience is necessary, but we are looking for applicants who are passionate and informed about the literary community. We welcome candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The Application

  1. In 500 words or fewer, describe why this fellowship would be valuable to you, addressing what you think is the role and value of a literary magazine in the publishing ecosystem. Make sure to include your writing and editing experience and the genre you would be most excited to work in (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics).

  2. In 500 words or fewer, tell us about a favorite piece of writing you recently read in a literary magazine in your desired genre. Describe how you found it, who wrote it, its aesthetic attributes, and what you loved about it.

  3. In 500 words or fewer, compose a solicitation email to an emerging writer (who has published no more than one book) who you would love to work with. Include in your email what you admire about this writer’s work and why you would like to work with them.

  4. We'd love to know where you heard about this fellowship, if you don't mind sharing!

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis at https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit. Upload a single document that responds to these prompts separately.

https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit/175611/fellowship-for-bipoc-editors

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Fashion and Race Database

The Fashion and Race Database seeking contributors to publish original content, particularly essays or opinion pieces, and short profiles of Objects that Matter, or profiles of significant fashion figures. We also invite you to submit events and announcements. 

We are currently accepting submissions for publication in 2021:

  • Objects That Matter [500-800 words] - A short profile overview of an object in fashion: both its cultural origins and enumerated examples of its global reach/influence or even appropriation. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website.

    Rate: $295 CAD

  • Profiles [500-800 words] - A profile of select Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) who have shaped the history and business of fashion in the face of structural racism and adversity. Please see the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Essays & Op-Eds [1200-1500 words] - We are looking for essays or opinion pieces that amplify voices and writing of BIPOC scholars, students, artists, archivists, curators, business professionals and more. We are particularly seeking pieces that are timely and address issues or nuances related to fashion and race today. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $540 CAD

  • ‘Our Fashion History’ [500-800 words, 3-5 photos] - Based upon an activity that Founder Kim Jenkins would facilitate during fashion history class or during her ‘Fashion and Justice’ workshops, ‘Our Fashion History’ invites contributors to present an essay that describes 3-5 family/personal photos, ultimately bringing a diverse perspective to the narrative of fashion history. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Call for Research Assistant: Ongoing - The Research Assistant will research, gather, catalog and publish knowledge-rich content, working in tandem with a lead editor. The assistant will not only contribute to this groundbreaking academic and creative platform, they will also acquire advanced research and publishing skills.

    This position is paid and, depending upon the applicant’s circumstances, may be eligible for internship or course credits. Applicants not enrolled at an academic institution are also welcome. This is a remote position but you will be working with team members located in the EST and PST time zones. This is a part time position requiring 10 hours of work per week. Research Assistants are hired for a commitment of 13 weeks. Rate: $33 CAD per hour

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://fashionandrace.org/database/contributors/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Latin American Literature Today

INFO: Latin American Literature Today (LALT) welcomes throughout the year submissions of translated texts (Spanish-English, Brazilian Portuguese-English) of contemporary Latin American prose, verse, interviews, essays, and book reviews.

Furthermore, the journal is committed to foregrounding the work of translators, so we encourage and welcome contributions such as translator’s notes, essays on the art of translation, translation reviews, interviews to translators, as well as translation “previews” from forthcoming book publications.

All translation submissions and questions should be directed to Denise Kripper, our Translation Editor, to translation.lalt@gmail.com. Submissions will be reviewed by the entire LALT editorial committee.

LENGTH OF SUBMISSIONS:

  • Creative prose (fiction and non-fiction) should have a maximum length of 5000 words

  • Poems should be limited to 3 to 5 poems

  • Articles and interviews should have a maximum length of 2,000 to 2,200 words, unless otherwise directed by the editor;

  • Book reviews should have a maximum length of 1,200 words

DEADLINE: Rolling Submissions

http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/submission-guidelines-translators

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hyphen Magazine

INFO: Hyphen Magazine publishes literary fiction of all forms, including stories that blur "genre" lines (literary sci-fi, noir fiction with a strong voice, for example). We generally do not accept novel excerpts unless they stand alone. Asian American themes are not essential though certainly welcome; strong writing and unique voice are considered first and foremost.

  • Send only your best, previously unpublished work. Asian American themes are not essential. We are much more interested in work that incorporates identity than in work that is about identity.

  • Please use 1" margins, 12-pt Times New Roman font.

  • Short stories should be no longer than 5,000 words. A series of short shorts (flash fiction) totaling no more than 5,000 words will also be considered (though not all stories may be taken).

  • Simultaneous submissions (when you send the same submission to us and other publications) are okay as long as you let us know and notify us immediately when a piece has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Multiple submissions are not okay (when you send more than one submission to us in the same genre). If you send more than one story, only the first story will be considered; the others will not be read. Please wait to hear back before submitting again.

  • Submitting to more than one genre at a time is okay (but please send them separately).

Please note:

  • Fiction features alternate between original short stories and novel excerpts. Those looking to have their forthcoming novels excerpted should have their publicist contact the Fiction Editor.

  • Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, and is dependent upon space availability.

  • Reading period can be up to six months. If you have not heard back after six months, feel free to contact the editor.

  • We are able to pay writers $25 per piece upon publication.

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://hyphenmag.submittable.com/submit/77191/fiction-poetry

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

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MICRO/FLASH FAST RESPONSE FOR BIPOC WRITERS

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INTERVENXIONS

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

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SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

VIDA Review

INFO: The VIDA Review is an online literary magazine publishing original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews. 

We are exclusively interested in work by those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); cis and trans women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, nonbinary, and two-spirit people; LGBQIA people; people with disabilities; and people living at the intersections of these identities.

All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

Please send one submission at a time, and please submit only once every 6 months.

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you label them as such and promptly let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

Please note that all submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter and brief third-person biography statement, and that (unless otherwise stated) we ask for First North American Rights to publish writing. Following publication, all rights revert back to the writer; we only ask that you credit the VIDA Review as the place your work first appeared.

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Nonfiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Book Reviews

  • Must be a review for a full-length or chapbook of poetry or prose by a writer from a historically-marginalized community

  • Must be published by small or independent presses

  • Must have been published within the last five years

  • Do not send us a review of your own book

  • Include publisher, price, and page number, as well as the word count of the review at the top of your submission

  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know and withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • No self-published titles are accepted

  • Reviews should be double-spaced and be no more than 1,200 words

PAYMENT: Payment for those accepted will range between $15-$20. We recognize that this is a token amount of money but hope to increase this amount in the future. Payment will be made via PayPal within 2 months of publication.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://thevidareview.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

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SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

 

FICTION / NONFICTION -- FEBRUARY 2021

CALL FOR PITCHES: REPORTING

South Asian Avant-Garde

DEADLINE: February 2, 2021, at 11pm EST

INFO: SAAG is looking for provocative, underreported stories, that do not get local and international media coverage. We are open to pitches for both individual and collaborative work only for reported prose and/or photo-journalism.

We seek stories that are cognizant of SAAG’s internationalist ethos, and its geographically diverse audience. We encourage unexpected collaborations, and use of eclectic sources of knowledge. SAAG is committed to rigorous standards for fact-checking and ethical reporting.

In no more than 5 brief paragraphs, please send us:

  • A note about you.

  • The basic premise of the story, and the tension you will explore.

  • Your main characters, and at least 2 primary sources.

  • Your timeline, and reporting plan. 

  • Which editor(s) you would like to work with.

  • Published clips, if any.

PAYMENT: Our fees will range from $300 to $600, depending on reporting timeline, length, travel, and other factors to defray the costs of rigorous reporting

Send your pitch in the body of the email to reporting@saaganthology.com with the subject line “Reporting Pitch.”

https://saaganthology.com/Submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SUSTAINABILITY

Listwa Publishing

DEADLINE: February 5, 2021

INFO: Listwa Publishing, an ambitious team of young Saint Lucians whose aim is to assist Caribbean writers in sharing their stories across the region and beyond, is seeking stories about sustainability.

Share with us your experiences related to agriculture, sustainability and going green throughout the pandemic in 2020.

Submissions should be sent to submission.listwa@gmail.com

AWARD: $1,500 in cash and prizes.

https://twitter.com/ListwaP/status/1353045179234619392

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THE CPB YOUNG WRITING FELLOWSHIP

The Bombay Review

DEADLINES / FEES:

  • Early: February 5, 2021, INR 500

  • Regular: April 30, 2021, INR 1,000

  • Late: June 30, 2021, INR 1,250

INFO: In 2014, The Bombay Review launched on a quiet college evening by two friends in Pune, India. 7 years later, we have realised that we are in a position to help the literary landscape of our home country, and the region. We began the year by funding new writing coming from LGBTQ+ and Dalit backgrounds, followed it with an annual creative writing award for fiction and poetry, and are now offering fellowships.

Over the years, TBR has been supported by a wide range of writers and poets from all over the world. From New York Times editors to Booker Prize winners, the 13 year old writer we published to Altaf Tyrewala’s 90 year old grandmother – it has been lovely.

These literary fellowships represent a significant fulfillment of one aspect of our continuing mission: to recognize, publish, and support extraordinary authors in the early stages of their careers.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

This fellowship at The Bombay Review offers qualified young individuals time to develop as writers by receiving a modest stipend, healthy work space for writing, and mentorship from qualified writers. Fellows will receive INR 20,000 over the course of 2 months, and do not have to be physically present in either New York or Mumbai. In light of the pandemic situation, the fellowship has moved completely online.

Points to note:

  • Fellows will undertake a significant writing project.

  • Assist with creative and editorial projects for The Bombay Review’s website and social media.

  • Participate in the readings and events curated by the magazine.

  • The average workload will be 10 hrs / week for 8 weeks.

  • Fellows will participate in reading and writing exercises, workshop and discussions.

  • Reviewing pieces of other Fellows will be a compulsory requirement.

ELIGIBILITY:

Eligible candidates must meet the following requirements:

  • Age between 20 and 25, as of January 2021.

  • A BA/MA/BFA/MFA in creative writing, English literature, or comparative literature ongoing or completed before December 1, 2020 but no earlier than January 1, 2017 is preferred. However, we would love to award those from other fields as well.

  • Must be a citizen of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Maldives.

All application materials must be submitted by June 30th, 2021 for full consideration.

https://thebombayreview.com/the-cpb-young-writing-fellowship/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BLOOM

living zine

DEADLINE: February 6, 2021

INFO: living zine is currently accepting submissions for issue 03 on the topic of “Bloom” - a beautiful process of becoming. This word applies to nature and humans, as it means to develop and flourish into something more beautiful than previously. It also means to flourish and grow with vigor, and to shine; glow.

Bloom is much more than flowers. It’s about emotion, growing, and the raw taste of who you are becoming.

Submit your art, writing, photography, and everything else to be included in living zine's third digital and printed magazine!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8fXvPvykS6M0A32SjIzsPeQxopCWNdAmuC54NnEtmL5Y0Wg/viewform?usp=send_form

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Call for submissions for bilingual anthology

Dominican Writers Association

DEADLINE: February 6, 2021, by 11:59pm EST

INFO: Dominican Writers Association invites authors who define themselves as part of the Dominican LGBTQ community on the island or in the diaspora to participate in the anthology ¡Pájaros, lesbianas y queers, a volar! This compilation aims to archive and celebrate the vision and experiences of our community in terms of identity, history, homophobia, transphobia, sexual rights, religion, race, intergenerational lens, human rights and intersectionality.

Although we will give priority to the works written in the workshops scheduled for the anthology, their publication is not guaranteed. All writings will go through the same process of reading, selection and editing.

LITERARY GENRES:

  • Poetry: up to 5 poems (no more than 10 pages)

  • Nonfiction: memoir, essays (academic or creative)

  • Fiction: short story or novel excerpt

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • All work must be unpublished to be considered

  • Multiple submissions are welcome but only one submission per genre

  • Works in Spanish, English or Spanglish accepted

  • DWA acquires first rights (which revert back to the author upon publication) and request acknowledgement in subsequent publications.

  • Manuscripts should not exceed 10 pages, double spaced,Times New Roman, 12 font size, and one-inch margin on all sides, unless a hybrid submission. Please avoid complicated formatting.

  • Visual work should be in jpeg format.

  • Each submission should be a single file attachment in .doc or .docx.

  • All submissions must be titled: (firstname_lastname_genre) before uploading.

  • The first page of the manuscript is the cover page. Include a short Bio (200 word limit ) written in third person. In the top left corner write: submission title, genre, author’s name, address, phone, email and website, if available. (total pages 11 with cover page)

  • Unfortunately, writers will not receive any monetary compensation. They will receive 2 free copies of the anthology and a discounted rate for additional copies purchased.

https://dominicanwriters.submittable.com/submit?fbclid=IwAR1gFxq_glXfgIbH9wfLqY-sRX6UeNEvp4v_js4TlVqj4Dgl-RLqtWih3GQ

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BONDS

querencia literary magazine

DEADLINE: February 8, 2021

INFO: querencia literary magazine, an online lit magazine that highlights the creative voices of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and historically underrepresented communities, is currently open for submissions on the theme “Bonds.”

Send us work that explores your interpretation of bonds, whether it may be bonds between family, friends, ancestors, strangers, heritage, nature, the universe, or even with yourself.

GUIDELINES:

All submissions must abide by the following guidelines, dependent on category:

  • Nonfiction must be under 2,000 words; no more than two submissions per submission period. 

  • Fiction must be under 2,500 words; no more than two submissions per submission period. 

  • Poems must be under 3 typed pages double spaced; no more than three submissions per submission period. 

Each submission must be in its own file (i.e. please do not put three separate poems in a single .docx). Kindly attach all your submissions/files and email to querencia.litmag[at]gmail.com. The subject line should be formatted as [name] [category*] [title of piece].

​We accept simultaneous submissions. If your work is selected for publication elsewhere, please notify us as soon as possible.

https://www.querencialitmag.org/

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2021 Art Critic Mentoring Program

CUE Art Foundation

DEADLINE: February 9, 2021 at 11:59pm ET

INFO: CUE is currently looking for writers in the New York, NY, area to write an essay on Lizania Cruz's upcoming exhibition at CUE, on view July 22 – August 25, 2021.

Co-presented with AICA USA (US section of International Association of Art Critics), the Art Critic Mentoring program provides seven writers annually with the opportunity to work with an established art critic appointed by AICA to compose a long-form critical essay on one of CUE’s exhibiting artists. Over the course of two months, each writer conducts studio visits with an exhibiting artist and composes a long-form critical essay, which will be published by CUE in a printed exhibition catalogue and online. The program is open to writers of any age in the early stages of their careers. The writer selection process consists of a nomination and open call hybrid. Writers are awarded a $600 honorarium. To read past essays, browse the archive

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

To apply for the program, please submit the following:

  1. A current CV containing relevant experience, max. 4 pages.

  2. Three writing samples:

  • The strongest samples are reviews, blog entries, short essays, and short-form writing. These may be published or unpublished texts.

    • Must be contemporary visual arts-related (no dance, literature, podcast/radio journalism or commercial/feature film analysis).

    • School papers, research papers, dissertations, exhibition proposals/summaries, and artwork wall labels are not accepted.

  • Your writing samples must be combined into a single PDF document (max. 16 pages total), labeled as follows: "ACMP application - Your Name - Location” (for example: "ACMP application - Jane Doe - NYC").

https://cueartfoundation.submittable.com/submit/2599af52-6792-46cb-b64e-315cfcd98efd/art-critic-mentoring-program-2021-nyc

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'Reflect America' Fellowship

NPR

DEADLINE: February 12, at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The Reflect America Fellowship will bring a tenacious journalist to NPR for 12 months to help our journalism look and sound like America.

The fellowship is designed for an early- or mid-career journalist who wants to work and grow in one of the nation's most dynamic newsrooms. Fellows will work with reporters, editors and producers to find new, diverse sources and help the newsroom build on its source-tracking strategy. The Fellow will have the opportunity to gain critical skills in reporting, writing and producing on audio and digital platforms while working with some of the country's best journalists.

This fellowship builds on seven years of work to increase the diversity of NPR's sources. In 2013, the network began tracking the race/ethnicity, gender and geographic location of its news sources on its two largest shows, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. NPR found that its sources were overwhelmingly white, male and located on the east and west coasts. A 2016 study of digital sources and a more recent study found similar challenges. This fellowship will boost newsroom efforts to bring more voices into our journalism and make diverse sourcing a routine part of our work.

What does the fellowship involve?
The fellowship is a series of three-month rotations spent with various shows, podcasts and coverage teams at NPR. The Fellow will be embedded with producers, reporters, editors and other staff, working to find, vet and book a diversity of experts and everyday people for stories and interviews on the radio, online and in podcasts. The final rotation will be spent reporting with one of NPR's news teams.

Will I be on the air and get bylines on NPR.org?
Yes. While we expect the Reflect America Fellow to do research and develop sources in partnership with reporters, producers and editors, the fellowship includes assignments to report on air and online.

What's the fellowship like?
Ask Pien Huang (PHuang@npr.org@Pien_Huang), the first Reflect America Fellow, who's now reporting on health for NPR, and/or current Fellow Ashish Valentine (AValentine@npr.org@ashishval), who will complete his fellowship by reporting on race and ethnicity as a part of our National desk team.

Do you have to be an American citizen to take part in the program?
No, but foreign nationals must have appropriate employment authorizations.

Who should apply?
Journalists with at least two years' experience (including internships and other fellowships) in any journalism medium. A full job description and application can be found here.

What do I need in order to apply?
1. In lieu of a cover letter, each completed application must include answers to the following questions:

  • How would you go about finding more diverse sources, particularly people of color?

  • What three news stories do you think will be most important in 2021 (and why)?

  • What people, accounts and outlets do you follow to stay informed?

  • Tell us about a time when you pitched a story or a source that was rejected. What did you learn from that?

  • Tell us about an NPR story you think would have been enhanced by more diverse sources. Who else would you have interviewed? Why?

2. Up to five links to your best journalistic work.

3. Contact information for two people who can speak to your work ethic, journalistic skills and passion for diversity.

4. Your resume.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=658957059&live=1

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CALL FOR BLACK WOMEN WRITERS

V is for Voices

DEADLINE: February 14, 2021 11:59pm ET

INFO: Voices is a poetic performance piece and artistic campaign. We need you! The creative process will be just as crucial as the piece itself. This is an urgent call for submissions of poems and monologues written by Black Women for all women and those who love us. We are also accepting visual art submissions that we will curate throughout the campaign for performance and the solidarity-making toolkit. The performance piece will ultimately be in service of and for women to speak to the complexities of their experiences as well as an inclusive vision for change, justice, compassion and solidarity. We seek to encourage and establish a world that nurtures radical truth telling love. We welcome all poems and monologues that speak to our hurt, our hope, and our wisdom. Poems that cast spells and poems that animate the future we know is possible. We want paintings, portraits, collages, and illustrations that establish our visions for a world where we are heard. What are our examples of sisterhood? What is our call to action? How do we work together and expand one another? This project seeks to get out of the stories that have been constructed for us. What are the stories we have inherited and carried that have been hard to give up for the sake of transformative justice? What are the stories we still lean on today as a source of strength, inspiration, and guidance? What will be our new story?

All submissions must be created by Black women: cis women, transwomen, and non-binary people across the African continent and Diaspora. We welcome all written forms of storytelling: poems, monologues, short stories etc. All work must be unpublished original work and never before publicly performed. 1000 word max. Languages: English, Spanish, & French. For visual artists, we welcome all files in .jpg or .pdf format. (300 dpi or higher recommended)

Voices/V-Day assumes no liability for any statements made by you that you submit to Voices/V-Day. Please remember that your piece may be made public. Please do not include first or last names, including your own, nicknames, towns, schools and other identifying information in association with your story.

We have created several prompts to inspire and animate our submissions. Please feel free to write in response to any of these prompts:

  • Share a story where you have used your voice to speak up against violence.

  • What are ways that you have been silenced?

  • What are stories that demonstrate examples of solidarity and transformational justice?

  • What are visions for a world where women are loved holistically?

  • Praise a woman or several women in your community that are often unheard or underrepresented.

  • What is an example of when someone has shown you solidarity and how did they show it?

  • Describe a story where a man in your life showed support or care holistically?

  • Tell the history of a scar on your body.

  • Describe the first time you stood up to someone who abused their authority.

  • Share a story from the perspective of your lover’s arms.

  • What is advice an elder woman has given you in your life that you have had to use and how was it useful?

  • How has social media helped or hindered your voice?

  • Whose voices do you carry with you?

  • Tell us about a letter you never sent.

  • How are you stealing your body back?

  • What is power to you?

  • What are things you do in the dark?

  • Who are the women that have mothered you?

  • How would your mother describe you?

  • What do you want to scream to the world?

  • Sing us a song of resistance.

  • Describe the loss or grief and how you moved through it.

  • Speak in tongues.

  • What have others erased while you speak?

  • How do you make life out of death? -or- how do you make life

  • When was the last time you felt safe?

  • Describe a community where you feel safe.

  • Who would you be if money wasn’t a concern?

  • Can you describe the relationship between you and the sister you’ve never had.

  • Share a moment when you were ‘seen’ or ‘heard’ by someone you least expected? How did you feel?

  • What do you believe are your great-great grandmother’s dreams for you?

  • Share a time you witnessed another woman’s courage? What did you see in her? Did you see it in yourself too?

  • Write a love letter to your voice when it was silenced or misunderstood.

  • If your voice had a personality and being in the world, what would it look like? What would it do?

https://voices.vday.org/speak/

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Crystal Wilkinson Creative Writing Prize FOR EMERGING BLACK WRITERS

New Limestone Review / PLUCK! 

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021

INFO: New Limestone Review & PLUCK! welcome emerging Black writers to submit to the inaugural Crystal Wilkinson Creative Writing Prize. Submissions may be fiction, nonfiction/memoir, poetry, and other hybrid forms. 

This contest was named in honor of writer and Professor, Crystal Wilkinson. As MFA candidates at the University of Kentucky, we named this inaugural prize in honor of Crystal Wilkinson, a prolific writer who grew up in Appalachia. Wilkinson has impacted countless students of English and writing during her career as a professor and even more individuals who have found her published works over the years.

In 2000, Crystal Wilkinson published her first volume of short stories, Blackberries, Blackberries (Toby Press), which received a Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature. Wilkinson’s second book, Water Street (Toby Press 2002), was nominated for the UK Orange Award and placed on the short list for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. In 2016, she published her novel The Birds of Opulence (The University Press of Kentucky), which received the Weatherford Fiction Award and the prestigious Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Her forthcoming book of collected poems, Perfect Black (The University Press of Kentucky), will be published in August 2021.

Wilkinson has held various writer-in-residence and teaching positions throughout her career: at Eastern Kentucky University, Indiana University-Bloomington, Morehead State University, and Berea College. She is currently a Professor of English at the University of Kentucky in the MFA in Creative Writing.

The winner will be chosen by Dr. Damaris Hill, who serves as an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. She is the author of The Fluid Boundaries of Suffrage and Jim Crow: Staking Claims in the American Heartland, an edited collection of essays, and chapbook of poems entitled \ Vi-zə-bəl \ \ Teks-chərs \(Visible Textures). Her memoir in verse, A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing (Bloomsbury) was published in 2019.

PRIZE:

  • $500 for first place

  • $250 for second place

We will announce the winners in Spring of 2021. 

ELIGIBILITY:

You are eligible if you:

  • Have yet to publish a book (including eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, self-published works, and poetry chapbooks with a print run of more than 300).

  • Have no book forthcoming before December 31, 2021.

  • Are not currently a student or faculty at the University of Kentucky or have not been in the last two years (graduated no sooner than December 2018).

https://newlimestonereview.as.uky.edu/2021-nlr-pluck-crystal-wilkinson-creative-writing-prize/

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Indigenous Voices Awards

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021

INFO: The Indigenous Voices Awards aim to support Indigenous literary production in its diversity and complexity. The awards honour the sovereignty of Indigenous creative voices and reject cultural appropriation; to be eligible for the Indigenous Voices Awards, authors must be Indigenous and must make a declaration of Indigenous identity. The awards are intended to support Indigenous artistic communities and to resist the individualism of prize culture. As such, the IVA Board will endeavour to create opportunities for mentorship, professionalization, and creative collaboration among applicants, jurors, and other members of the Indigenous artistic community when possible.

Each year, the number of prizes, their amounts, and their stipulations will be determined by the IVA Board based on the amount of money available in the Trust Fund, feedback from the Indigenous literary community, and reassessment of the campaign’s goals and objectives, with attentiveness to sustainability. The precise details of the awards will be subject to alteration based on decisions of the IVA Board, while ensuring the awards continue to support Indigenous literary arts and artists.

On “Emerging” and “Established” Writer

While for many people the category of “emerging writer” implies youth, ILSA and the prize committee recognize that there are Indigenous artists of diverse ages who are finding their voices as writers, including many older people and even quite a few elders. Our definition of “emerging” is not focused on age but on the writer’s history of publication. For the purposes of these awards, “emerging” refers to writers who are thus far unpublished or who have published three books or fewer.

PRIZE CATEGORIES:

This year there are 10 categories totalling $35,000 for emerging Indigenous writers

Three Indigenous Voices Awards for Prose in English

  • Published Prose in English: fiction

  • Published Prose in English: Creative non-fiction and life-writing

  • Unpublished Prose in English

Two Indigenous Voices Awards for Poetry in English

  • Published Poetry in English

  • Unpublished Poetry in English

Three Awards for work in French

  • Published Prose in French

  • Published Poetry in French

  • Unpublished Work in French

Two Awards for Alternate Categories

  • Published Graphic Novels and Illustrated books in any language

  • Published work in an Indigenous language

https://indigenousvoicesawards.org/english-submission-page

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Writing for Justice Fellowship

PEN America

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

INFO: PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship will commission six or more writers—emerging or established—to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate.

The PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship aims to harness the power of writers and writing in bearing witness to the societal consequences of mass incarceration by capturing and sharing the stories of incarcerated individuals, their families, communities, and the wider impact of the criminal justice system. Our goal is to ignite a broad, sustained conversation about the dangers of over-incarceration and the imperative to mobilize behind rational and humane policies. As an organization of writers dedicated to promoting free expression and informed discourse, PEN America is honored to have been entrusted by the Art for Justice Fund to engage the literary community in addressing this pressing societal issue. 

GUIDELINES: Please read the following closely, as our application requirements have changed and our program has shifted due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Writing for Justice Fellowship is open-genre, and proposed writing projects, which must be authored by the applicant, may include—but are not limited to—fictional stories; works of literary or long-form journalism; theatrical scripts; memoirs; poetry collections; or multimedia projects. The most competitive applications will demonstrate how the proposed project will engage issues of reform, fuel public debate, crystallize concepts of reform, and facilitate the possibility of societal change. As part of our mission to stimulate discussion, emphasis will be placed on proposed projects that show strong promise for publication. Fellows must commit to contribute actively to bringing attention to their work and that of other Fellows. The Fellowship is open to writers at any stage of their career. Currently and formerly incarcerated writers are highly encouraged to apply, and special provisions will be made for incarcerated writers to participate through alternative methods.

Fellows will receive an honorarium of between $5,000-$8,000, based on scope of project. Fellows will be paired with a mentor to serve as a source of guidance for the project, and the cohort will convene at least twice for intensive shared experiences either digitally or in person, depending on the pandemic’s continued impact. PEN America will draw on the Writing for Justice Advisory Committee, as well as its network of agents, editors, publishers, partner organizations and outlets in order to assist efforts for publication and dissemination of the work of the Fellows. Opportunities for sharing the created work through public forums will be organized in New York City, in the Fellow’s home community, and possibly additional locations.

FELLOWSHIP TIMELINE:

The first eight months of the Fellowship are designed for Fellows to research, create, and connect with mentors and the cohort, working toward submission of a polished final product that is ready for publication. The final four months of the Fellowship will focus on placing the works for public dissemination and opportunities for Fellows to present their work publicly.

  • May 2021: Applicants notified of final application status

  • May 2021-December 2021: Fellows work on their projects, meet with mentors

  • June 2021: Cohort meeting #1 (NYC or digital)

  • September 2021: Cohort meeting #2 (Location TBD or digital)

  • Late December 2021: Work completed and submitted for publication

  • January 2022–May 2022: Placing work and local public presentations

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible for this Fellowship, the applicant must be:

  • 21 years of age or older.

  • An individual writer. Collaborative projects are acceptable, but only one project lead may apply and participate in the Fellowship’s activities.

  • Residing in the United States during the Fellowship duration.

  • Available to participate actively in all dimensions of Fellowship programming, including mandatory gatherings and public programs. (The Fellowship will cover costs associated with these events, separately from the Fellowship honorarium.) Currently incarcerated writers and formerly incarcerated writers restricted by parole will participate through alternative means.

  • Able to demonstrate a track record of successful projects brought to completion on time.

https://pen.org/writing-justice-application/

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2021 Jerome Emerging Artist Residency - For MN & NYC Artists

The Anderson Center

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021, by 11:59pm CST.

INFO: The Anderson Center’s Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program offers month-long residency-fellowships at Tower View to a cohort of early-career artists from Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City for concentrated, uninterrupted creative time to advance their personal artistic goals and projects.

The program aims to meet the specific needs of emerging artists while welcoming them into a supportive and inspiring residency environment that empowers them to take risks, embrace challenges, and utilize unconventional approaches to problem-solving. 

Thanks to support from the Jerome Foundation, selected emerging artists receive a $625/week artist stipend, documentation support, art-making resources, facilitation of community connections, lodging & studio space, a travel honorarium, groceries, and chef-prepared communal dinners.

Located at the historic Tower View estate, a venerable research-and-development lab for the arts rooted in an expansive natural setting, the program is an ideal fit for early-career artists whose work reveals a significant potential for cultural and community impact, is technically accomplished, engages diverse communities. 

The Anderson Center’s goal is for connections participating artists make with one another, as well as connections made with other creatives and community members, to outlast the duration of their residency visit. The organization believes that the environment and resources of Tower View, along with an exchange of ideas across disciplines, can serve as a catalyst for new inspiration and innovative directions for the work emerging artists create while in residence. 

APPLICATION FEE: $0

TO APPLY: Applications must be submitted on or before the deadline in order to be considered in the jury review period. 

Jury review will take place in late February and early March. Applicants will be notified by March 4 at the latest as to the status of their application. A phone interview process with finalists will take place in late March following a second round of jury review. Selected artist residents, wait-list and runners-up will be notified by April 5, 2021.

Artists must be legal residents of Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City to be eligible to apply. To be considered, eligible artists must submit an application through the Anderson Center’s online form via Submittable. Each artist in a collaborative / partnership / collective should submit their own application and then note in the materials they are applying as a group. Complete program details are below. Please contact Adam Wiltgen at 651-388-2009 x4 or adam@andersoncenter.org for any questions.

LOCATION: The Anderson Center campus is located on the 350-acre historic Tower View Estate, built by scientist & farmer Dr. Alexander Pierce Anderson between 1915 and 1921, on the western edge of Red Wing, Minnesota, and its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center features a large sculpture garden, and is adjacent to the Cannon Valley Trail, a 20-mile biking and walking trail that runs from Cannon Falls to Red Wing. 

The Center is approximately 45 minutes southeast of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Transportation is provided between the Center and the Twin Cities airport on the first and last day of residencies only. Artist Residents that choose to drive will have access to private parking on the property.

The community of Red Wing, Minn., (pop. 16,000) is nestled amidst the scenic bluffs of the upper Mississippi River. The town is settled on the ancestral homelands of the Mdewakanton & Wapakute bands of the Dakota people. The City of Red Wing is named after Tatanka Mani (Walking Buffalo), a leader of the Mdewakanton Dakota in the upper Mississippi Valley who wore a ceremonial swan’s wing dyed in brilliant red. In 1815, Tatanka Mani and his people moved their village south to a place they called Khemnichan (Hill, Wood, & Water) in present-day downtown Red Wing. Euro-American immigrants who met him as they advanced into the region in the early nineteenth century came to know him and his village as “Red Wing.”

Since its settlement and eventual incorporation in 1857, Red Wing established itself as a center for agriculture, industry, tourism, medical care, technology, and the arts. The Red Wing Shoe Company and its iconic brands, in particular, continue to have a significant impact on the community’s economic, business, and community development climates. Natural resources abound with Red Wing's riverfront, winding paths through the majestic bluffs, bike trails, and 35 city parks. The Prairie Island Indian Community is located northwest of the city. Frontenac State Park is to the southeast on Lake Pepin. Minnesota State College Southeast Technical’s Red Wing campus is known for its string and brass instrument repair programs. The MN Dept. of Corrections also operates a large juvenile residential facility in Red Wing.

Other amenities include a destination bakery, a chocolate shop, coffee shops, restaurants, the flagship Red Wing Shoe Company store, Goodhue County Historical Society Museum, the Red Wing Stoneware & Pottery store, the Pottery Museum of Red Wing, a Duluth Trading store, the Red Wing Marine Museum, a Target, several pharmacies, a plant nursery & garden center, a Mayo Health System Hospital, a small independent bookstore, and a public library (the Center has arranged for residents to have access to a library card for their month at the Center)

Other key community stakeholders include the historic Sheldon Theatre, the Red Wing Arts Association, Red Wing YMCA, Red Wing Youth Outreach, Hispanic Outreach of Goodhue County, Red Wing Area Friends of Immigrants, Red Wing Area Women’s Art History Club, Live Healthy Red Wing, Artreach, Red Wing Artisan Collective, the Artist Sanctuary, Pier 55 Red Wing Area Seniors, Big Turn Music Festival, Red Wing AAUW, Red Wing Environmental Learning Center, Red Wing Girl Scouts, Red Wing Public Schools, Tower View Alternative School, and Universal Music Center, as well as several City boards, commissions, and departments.

ELIGIBILITY AND DEFINITION OF “EMERGING ARTIST”: While the Anderson Center’s general Artist Residency Program hosts artists with a wide range of talent and experience, the Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program exclusively focuses on meeting the specific needs of artists who are in the early stages of their artistic development and career. 

The Anderson Center defines an emerging artist as someone who has some evidence of professional achievement but has not yet a substantial record of accomplishment. These are the applicants who are practicing vocational artists but are not yet recognized as "established" by the artistic community (other artists, curators, producers, critics, and arts administrators). 

The organization looks for artists whose work reveals a significant potential for cultural and community impact. These are artists who are uncompromising in their approach to creation and production, people who are not afraid to take risks, embrace challenges, and utilize unconventional approaches to problem-solving. 

Degree-seeking students at the time of application, or during the grant period, are not eligible for a residency (including K-12, college, graduate or post graduate studies). Age is not a factor in determining emerging artist status.

Artists that are part of an artistic collective, partnership, or collaborative are welcome to apply! However, each artist should complete their own application form. Please note in the materials you submit that you are applying as group and wish to be reviewed by the jury as a collaborative. 

Artists of all disciplines are eligible and are encouraged to apply. Artists must currently be legal residents of Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City and have been residents for at least one year prior to the submission of an application. Applications must be submitted through the Anderson Center’s online webform via Submittable. The primary goal of eligible artists must be to generate new works, as opposed to remounting or re-interpreting existing works.

Further details from the Jerome Foundation on emerging artist eligibility requirements can be found here: https://www.jeromefdn.org/defining-early-career-emerging-artists

APPLICATION: A completed application form includes a brief artist statement, a work plan, an emerging artist statement, work samples, and a resume. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed by the panel. You may begin your application, leave and return as many times as necessary to complete the form PRIOR to clicking the submit button at the bottom of the completed form. Important: do not submit your application form until you are completely finished editing as your application will be finalized at that time.

The Artist Statement, provides an opportunity for you to share, in 100 words or less, a brief statement or summary about your current and future work.

The Work Plan is a 1-2 page Word or PDF document. Write about your work, yourself, and your current thinking about what you’d like to accomplish at the Anderson Center as clearly and concisely as possible. The document can be single-spaced.

An Emerging Artist Statement addresses, in 250 words or less, your status as an emerging artist or early-career artist. How would participating in this program impact or advance your practice as an emerging artist? In what ways would this program meet your needs as an emerging artist? Why is this residency important to this stage of your career path? How do you identify as an emerging artist?

Work Samples should be of recent work and should include:

  • For composers and musicians: 3 to 5 recordings

  • For visual artists: At least 5 images of work (300 dpi or larger)

  • For nonfiction and fiction writers: 10 pages of double-spaced prose

  • For playwrights & screenwriters: 10-page excerpt (does not need to be from the beginning)

  • For poets: 10 pages of poetry

  • For translators: 10 pages of translation and original text

  • For performance artists: 3 short videos excerpts of performances (no videos longer than 5 minutes)

  • For filmmakers: at least 3 short film clips (no videos longer than 5 minutes)

The Resume, CV, or Biographical Outline is a Word or PDF document that shows education, work experience, publications, awards, and any previous residency experience. 3 pages maximum.

DURATION OF RESIDENCY: The Anderson Center’s Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program offers residencies-fellowships of two weeks or one month in August. Preference is given to those applying for month-long stays. August is the only month the Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program takes place. 

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Each artist-in-residence receives:

  • $625/week artist stipend

  • Travel honorarium ($550 for New Yorkers and $150 for Minnesotans)

  • $450 documentation budget (services for photography, video, audio, etc.)

Evening dinners are prepared and presented by the Anderson Center chef Monday through Friday. The chef also shops for meal items for artist residents, and residents are responsible for preparing their own breakfasts and lunches, and meals over the weekends. 

There is also a housekeeper who cleans and maintains the historic facilities. Additional cleaning and sanitization measures are being taken during the pandemic to help ensure the health and safety of artists, staff, and the community.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Each resident is provided room, board, and workspace for the length of the residency period in the historic Tower View mansion. Visual artists are provided a 15' x 26' studio. Other workspaces on site include gas and electric kilns, a print studio (with a Vandercook 219 letterpress and a Charles Brand-like etching press), and an open-air metalsmith facility. Options for rehearsal and studio space are also available for musicians, composers, dancers and choreographers.

Residents have access to the many walking trails on campus and to the Cannon Valley Trail, which goes through the Anderson Center’s property. Bicycles are also provided. Residents have responded to many different aspects of the gorgeous Tower View campus through their work, including composers sampling natural sounds and visual artists harvesting plant materials to create site-specific natural inks.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The program is set-up to minimize distractions and other obligations so that artists have every opportunity to fully focus on their work. However, the Anderson Center was one of the first artist residency programs in the country to require that residents give back to the local community and connect with area residents & organizations through community engagement activities.

Staff work with artists to facilitate and customize at least one hour of mutually beneficial exchange with the Red Wing community that helps foster connection and greater a sense of place.

Within the last few years, Anderson Center residents have connected with 12 schools in five area communities (ranging from elementary through college), 5 senior centers, 2 correctional or detention facilities, 7 community organizations serving children and families, and 8 community organizations serving adults. Residents have also engaged individuals from all walks of life through public workshops, events, discussions, and artful interventions. 

During the pandemic, community engagement activities have safely and creatively continued in small group, outdoor, online or distance settings. Examples from the later half of 2020 include a writing exercise letter exchange with residents of a correctional facility, a poetry walk along a park trail, an outdoor natural dye workshop, a distanced reading/discussion with students of Tower View Alternative High School, and various public & private online interviews/discussions with community stakeholders.

PROGRAM MISSION & VALUES: The mission of the Anderson Center is to, in the unique and historic setting of Tower View, offer residencies in the arts, sciences, and humanities; provide a dynamic environment for the exchange of ideas; encourage the pursuit of creative and scholarly endeavors; and serve as a forum for significant contributions to society.

The Anderson Center Residency Program was set-up by a working poet to support other artists and continues to function by those with hands-on experience in the creative process. The organization seeks out feedback from residents each month in order to implement necessary changes as it works toward continual improvement of the program. Most importantly, staff trust artists to know what they need most to advance their individual practices. The Center does not dictate specific outcomes. Instead, the expectation is that the gift of time and space will generate significant advancements in residents' work. The Anderson Center trusts the artists to best use their time to benefit their own work and reach their own goals.

As an interdisciplinary arts organization, the Anderson Center embraces artists who are diverse in every way. Since its inception, the organization has intentionally worked with artists representing a wide range of disciplines, with the belief that the exchange of ideas is generative. The residency program supports artists from around the world, representing a wide range of cultures, races, sexual identities and genders. The Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program exemplifies this diversity of identity and background for artists living in New York City and Minnesota. The Center strives to bring people and ideas together and operates with a spirit of welcome for all.

The Anderson Center aims to support work that is technically accomplished, conceptually rigorous and engages diverse communities. A goal of the Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program in particular is to advance the practice of early-career artists that are uncompromising in their approach to creation and production, and whose work pushes boundaries and explores new creative territories.

SELECTION TIMELINE:

  • February 15, 2021 (11:59 p.m. CST) – application deadline

  • March 4, 2021 – Jury has selected Round 2 applications. All artists are notified of the status of their application

  • March 22, 2021 – Jury has selected finalists. Phone interviews with finalists begin.

  • April 4, 2021 – Final notification to selected artists, wait-list and runners-up

https://theandersoncenter.submittable.com/submit/174353/2021-jerome-emerging-artist-residency-for-mn-nyc-artists

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE III

EX/POST MAGAZINE

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021

INFO: EX/POST is currently accepting submissions for Issue III. All submissions are read anonymously. We welcome people of all ages, ethnicities, and sexualities to submit. We are open to multiple and simultaneous submissions as long as you state such in your cover letter. Unless solicited, please submit only previously unpublished work; we do not consider work that has been featured on personal websites or social media as published.

All submissions should be in 12-point Times New Roman, with poetry single-spaced. Please do not include any identifying information within the body of the work submitted.

At this time, we are able to offer a modest honorarium to accepted writers. Upon acceptance, EX/POST MAGAZINE receives first North American publishing and archival rights. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. We ask that you credit us if the work is reprinted in the future.

EXPEDITED DECISION POLICY: We aim to return decisions within a few weeks, but if you wish to receive a decision within three days, attach a receipt of a $3 donation via our PayPal below to an email with your submission to expostmag@gmail.com—do not submit via Duosuma. All funds go toward supporting our microgrant and paying contributors.

YOUNG WRITERS SPOTLIGHT: For any of the below genres, feel free to note in your submission if you are a young writer (ages 18 and under) for special inclusion in our issue and blog.

POETRY: Please send up to five poems. Include a brief third-person biography with your cover letter. We also accept short videos of spoken word.

PROSE: Please send up to three works of fiction or nonfiction under 7,000 words total. Include a brief third-person biography with your cover letter.

DRAMA: Please send up to two one-act plays under ten pages each. Include a brief third-person biography with your cover letter.

ART: Please send up to five pieces of art. Include a brief third-person biography with your cover letter, as well as an artist statement under 300 words and description of medium used. We accept photography, digital art, painting, and mixed media.

ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, BLOGS: Interested in publishing on our blog? Have a great piece of art that doesn't fit into the categories above? Please send a pitch to expostmag@gmail.com, with the subject line "PITCH_{FIRST AND LAST NAME}." Include a brief third-person biography, as well as an outline and timeline of your intended piece.

https://www.expostmag.com/submit

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ARTISTS & WRITERS RESIDENCY

Vermont Studio Center

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021

INFO: Each month, VSC welcomes over 50 artists and writers from across the country and around the world to our historic campus in northern Vermont.

All of our residencies include:

  • A private room in modest, shared housing

  • 24-hour access to a private studio space in one of our 6 medium-specific studio buildings

  • 3 communal meals per day (plus fresh fruit, coffee/tea/cold beverages, and cereal available around the clock)

Most residents stay with us for 1 month, so our sessions adhere to a 4-week calendar however, residencies can be scheduled in 2-week increments ranging from 2 to 12 weeks if a shorter or longer stay better suits your needs. Although we accept residents for stays for 2 weeks, we recommend a minimum stay of one month for the fullest experience.

Each 4-week session includes:

  • Opening Night Dinner & Reception

  • 7 Resident Presentation (“Res Pres”) Nights

  • 2 Open Studios Nights

  • Public Slide Talks / Public Readings from our Visiting Artists & Writers

  • Visiting Writer Craft Talks (open to writers only)

  • Opportunities for studio visits/manuscript critiques with Visiting Artists/Writers

Most months, numerous other spontaneous events take place--intimate readings, pop-up shows, group hikes or swims, performances, site-specific installations, movie screenings, dance parties, and bonfires, to name a few.

All events in our monthly program are optional. Our program is designed to enhance your studio practice by providing opportunities to engage with a supportive creative community; you are welcome to participate in as many or as few of these activities as you like. 

https://vermontstudiocenter.org/

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MARY MCCARTHY PRIZE IN SHORT FICTION

Sarabande Books, Inc.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2021

INFO: This contest is open to any short fiction writer of English. Employees and board members of Sarabande Books, Inc. are not eligible. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a short novel. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included. Translations and previously published collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, close friends of a judge or current students in a degree-granting program with a judge are not eligible.

PRIZE: $2,000 cash award, publication of the winning manuscript, and a standard royalty contract.

The judge for the 2021 Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction is Danielle Evans!

MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS:

  • Manuscript must be ANONYMOUS—the author’s name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (title page should contain the title only)

  • Must be typed, standard font, 12 pt., double-spaced; if printed must be on standard white printer paper, unbound (binder clip or rubber bands preferred)

  • Between 150-250 pages

  • Manuscript should be paginated consecutively with a table of contents and acknowledgements page (a list of publications in which stories or sections of the manuscript have appeared).

  • Must be accompanied by a $29 submission fee

Multiple submissions are permitted if submitted separately, each with a submission fee. Once submitted, electronic manuscripts can only be edited within a week of submitting, but do note that any publications resulting from this contest will undergo a full editorial and copyedit. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but please withdraw your manuscript if accepted elsewhere.

A winner will be selected in September, and all entrants will be notified of the winners and finalists shortly afterward. Sarabande Books considers all finalists for publication. 

http://www.sarabandebooks.org/mccarthy

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Fable, and Fairy Tales Prize

Fractured Lit Ghost

DEADLINE: February 16, 2021

INFO: We invite writers to submit to the Fractured Lit Ghost, Fable, and Fractured Fairy Tales Prize. Guest judge Kevin Brockmeier will choose three prize winners from a shortlist.

Fractured Lit is looking for stories of ghosts, fables, allegory, and fractured fairy tales in 1,000 words or less. Using these genre themes please remember that we're searching for flash that investigates the mysteries of being human, the sorrow, and the joy of connecting to the diverse population around us. We want something new. Something that scares as much as it resonates; stories that help us discover the roots of desire and conflict, that shimmer on the page, that keep us reading, and wondering long after the last period on the page. Transport us from the here and now to a new land of discovery, a new way of being terrified, a new way of embracing all of the ways we show our humanness. Fractured Lit is a flash fiction–centered place for all writers of any background and experience.

In addition to his most recent work, A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip, KEVIN BROCKMEIER is the author of the novels The Illumination, The Brief History of the Dead, and The Truth About Celia; the story collections Things That Fall from the Sky and The View from the Seventh Layer; and the children’s novels City of Names and Grooves: A Kind of Mystery. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. He has published his stories in such venues as The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, McSweeney’s, Zoetrope, Tin House, The Oxford American, The Best American Short Stories, The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and New Stories from the South. He has received the Borders Original Voices Award, three O. Henry Awards (one, a first prize), the PEN USA Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an NEA Grant. In 2007, he was named one of Granta magazine’s Best Young American Novelists He teaches frequently at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and he lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was raised. The Ghost Variations will be published by Pantheon Books in March 2021.

PRIZES:

  • 1st Place: $3000 and publication.

  • 2nd Place: $300 and publication.

  • 3rd Place: $200 and publication.

  • All entries will be considered for publication.

READING FEE: $20

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/181614/fractured-lit-ghost-fable-and-fairy-tales-prize-3000-judged-by-kevin-brockme

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Soros Justice Media Fellowships

Open Society Foundations

DEADLINE: February 17, 2021

INFO: The Soros Justice Media Fellowships support writers, print and broadcast journalists, artists, filmmakers, and other individuals with distinctive voices proposing to complete media projects that engage and inform, spur debate and conversation, and catalyze change on important U.S. criminal justice issues.

The Media Fellowships aim to mitigate the time, space, and market constraints that often discourage individuals from pursuing vital but marginalized, controversial, or unpopular topics in comprehensive and creative ways. Media Fellowships are 12 months in duration, and fellows are expected to make their projects their full-time work during the term of the fellowship. Media Fellowships come with an award that ranges between $63,000 and $85,000, depending on level of experience, for the 12 months. Up to three people can apply jointly for a single Media Fellowship, but joint applications carry a single award.

All projects must, at a minimum, relate to one or more of the following U.S. criminal justice reform goals: reducing the number of people who are incarcerated or under correctional control, challenging extreme punishment, and promoting fairness and accountability in our systems of justice. Please carefully review the complete guidelines for more details on the specific requirements for each category of fellowships. 

We strongly encourage applications for projects that demonstrate a clear understanding of the intersection of criminal justice issues with the particular needs of low-income communities, communities of color, immigrants, LGBTI people, women and children, and those otherwise disproportionately affected by harsh criminal justice policies, as well as applications for projects that cut across various criminal justice fields and related sectors, such as education, health and mental health, housing, and employment.

We especially welcome applications from individuals directly affected by, or with significant direct personal experience with, the policies, practices, and systems their projects seek to address (e.g., applicants who have themselves been incarcerated, applicants who have a family member or loved one who has been incarcerated and whose fellowship project emerges from that experience, or applicants who are survivors of violence or crime).

https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/soros-justice-fellowships

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SOMETHING IN THE WATER

The Blood Beats Series

DEADLINE: February 20, 2021

INFO: Are you a writer, based in Africa? We’re looking for your short stories for a new anthology with the theme SOMETHING IN THE WATER. Stories with queer narratives are encouraged and appreciated.

GUIDELINES:

  • Stories should be no longer than 6,000 words.

  • Formatting should be 12 pt font, Times New Roman, double-spaced.

  • Contributors will be paid a modest remuneration upon publication.

Send submissions to gtwybbseries@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/TheBloodBeats_/status/1325345885291761669

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VOICES OF COLOR FELLOWSHIPS

Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing

DEADLINE: February 22, 2021

​INFO: The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing is proud to announce the Leonard A. Slade, Jr. Poetry Fellowships for Poets of Color (established 2018) and The Voices of Color Fiction Fellowships.  

The fellowships provide support for writers of color. Application for these fellowships is open to all writers of color, ages 18 and older. The awards provide funding to attend a week of choice at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. First Prize recipients will receive the full retreat package, covering tuition and lodging. Two Second Prize recipients (one in each genre) will receive $500 credit toward the cost of tuition. These fellowships assist MVICW with our commitment to expanding the American literary canon by promoting voices from a wide array of cultural backgrounds, and to increasing philanthropic support for writers of color in the arts.

Leonard A. Slade Jr. Fellowships:

  • Two Full Fellowships in Poetry

  • Tuition & Lodging for the Week

  • $1700 Fellowship Value

Voices of Color Fiction Fellowships:

  • Two Full Fellowships in Fiction/CNF

  • Tuition & Lodging for the Week

  • $1700 Fellowship Value

Two Second Prize Fellowships:

  • One Poetry & One Fiction/CNF

  • $500 Toward Tuition

Please note: In the case that the 2021 Summer Writers’ Conference must be virtual (due to continued health concerns with Covid-19), first place Fellowship & Contest winners will receive full registration for both weeks of the conference as their award. Second prize winners will receive $500 off registration for the week of their choice.

https://www.mvicw.com/voices-of-color

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Emerging Writer Fellowship

GrubStreet

DEADLINE: February 22nd, by 11:59 pm EST

INFO: The Emerging Writer Fellowship aims to develop new, exciting voices by providing three writers per year tuition-free access to GrubStreet’s classes and Muse & the Marketplace conferences. Over the course of one year, each Emerging Writer Fellow will attend a combination of seminars and multi-week courses of their choosing, bookended by attendance at both the 2021 and the 2022 Muse & the Marketplace conference, in order to enhance their understanding of craft and the publishing industry.

Covid-19 Update: Although all of our programming is currently taking place virtually, we hope that this year's fellows will be able to join us in-person for classes and events later in 2021 and into 2022. Priority will be given to applicants who will be able to join us in Boston when it's safe to do so.

Overview: The Emerging Writer Fellowship will be awarded to three writers who demonstrate a passion for writing, a commitment to developing their writing abilities, and financial need. Any person 18 and older who demonstrates ability and passion for writing is eligible.

The Emerging Writer Fellowship will provide access to each of the following:

  • 4 multi-week courses

  • 4 one-day (6hr) classes

  • 4 three-hour seminars

  • 3-day pass to the 2021 and 2022 Muse & the Marketplace conferences

  • Access to GrubStreet's Education Director and/or other program staff members for quarterly (or as-needed) office hours for personalized mentorship. (Not Required)

The fellowship year begins at the 2021 Muse & the Marketplace conference, which will take place virtually in late April, and culminates in attendance at the 2022 Muse & the Marketplace.

Who Should Apply

This fellowship is open to anyone 18 and older with a passion for writing. The fellowship specifically aims to assist writers in need of financial assistance in reaching their writing goals. We particularly encourage writers of color, ethnic minorities, those who identify as LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and other members of communities historically underrepresented by the literary community to apply.

Why We Created This Fellowship

Over the years, GrubStreet encountered more and more people who loved to write but didn't have the money to invest in a creative writing education that would help advance their craft or give them a thoughtful introduction to the publishing world. As part of its mission to make sure that voices of every type and talent are heard, GrubStreet developed the Emerging Writer Fellowship to eliminate some of the financial barriers to entry. Through this program, we hope to connect writers to a literary world – a world made richer and more relevant with the contribution of these voices. 

In the program's first year, we were able to offer one fellowship to one student. As of the 2018-2019 cycle, we are able to offer a second fellowship in memory of novelist Anita Shreve, longtime board member and dear friend of GrubStreet. Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we will now be offering three fellowships in the 2021-2022 cycle. 

How to Apply

The Emerging Writer Fellowship Application Form will require the following:

  • A sample of your writing that demonstrates your artistic style and voice. 5-10 pages for prose, screenwriting, or playwriting. 3-7 pages for poetry.

  • A personal statement -- no more than 500 words please! -- which should include the following:

    • A description of your relationship to writing. By this we mean: what excites you about it? What does it mean to you personally?

    • How the fellowship will help you in your growth and success as a writer.

    • Your writing and workshop history (Note: Prior workshop experience at GrubStreet is not required).

Important Dates

  • The Fellowship year begins at the 2021 Muse & the Marketplace Conference, which will take place virtually in two parts: (1) Wednesday, April 21st - Sunday, April 25th and (2) Wednesday, April 28th - Sunday, May 2nd.

  • All applicants can expect to hear back by early April, 2021.

https://grubstreet.org/programs/emerging-writer-fellowship/

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Teen Summer Writing Fellowship (BOSTON)

GrubStreet

DEADLINE February 23, 2021 at 11:59pm

INFO: GrubStreet's Teen Summer Writing Fellowship immerses high school students in the writer's life of creative craft and publishing. During three weeks at GrubStreet, teens work with published authors and meet with literary agents and editors, take field trips to inspirational locales like the ICA, and more. In the spirit of writers' residencies for adults, all teens will receive a stipend for their commitment to the program and their time spent as working writers. 

The Teen Summer Writing Fellowship is an intensive, three-week creative writing program for young writers. Through classes, workshops, and readings, students will generate new work, learn about the craft of writing, and gain knowledge of the writing/publishing world. In the tradition of adult writing fellowships, each student will receive a stipend of $625 upon completing the program and successfully completing its requirements.

The YAWP Fellowship is by application only and 20 students will be chosen to participate. YAWP fellowship recipients may only attend the fellowship every other year, once as an incoming freshman/sophomore and once as an incoming junior/senior. Students learn techniques in all genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting. And no matter their favorite genre, they’re expected to try any and all writing techniques covered in the program. Students are also encouraged to fuse genres and explore sub-genres like sci-fi/fantasy, verse novels, speculative fiction/magical realism, mystery, romance, and whatever their imagination calls for. This program is rooted in artistic exploration and learning how to commit to their art no matter where life takes you.

Note: Due to COVID, it is likely that part or all of the 2021 Teen Writing Fellowship will be held remotely. The 2020 program was also remote, and it was still a huge success! The information below applies to the in-person version of the program; however, if we go remote, comparable benefits will be provided before, during, and after the three-week program.

When: Mondays through Fridays, July 12th - July 30th, 2021

  • Snacks are included each day.

  • Lunch is included each day.

  • If needed, transportation assistance (MBTA subway/bus pass) is also provided upon request. (Commuter rail passes are available on a case-by-case basis, depending on budgets.)

  • A live and in-person fellowship reception and showcase will be scheduled when it is safe to gather again.

Who: All incoming 9th-12th graders in the greater Boston area with an interest in creative writing. (This means that you must be going into the 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade in Fall 2021 to apply.) 

Where: GrubStreet Seaport location (if it is safe to gather; otherwise, it will be remote)

The program has these 3 elements:

  1. Generative: Writing from exercises in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and screenwriting.

  2. Workshopping: Learning how a traditional workshop works, learning how to give and receive feedback.

  3. Learning About the EDITING/Writing/Publishing World: Learning about opportunities for writers during and outside of college, as well as the world of agents, editors, and the writing marketplace.

Stipends: In the spirit of adult writers' residencies, teen participants will be paid a $625 stipend for their three-week commitment to learning about writing. Payment of the stipend is contingent on being on time, attending all of the sessions, and meeting fellowship requirements. 

The Application Process:

Once the application period opens, each student must upload in their online application the following documents:

  • Creative Writing Sample (2-10 pages) which can include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, screenplays, cross-genre or experimental work. This may include multiple pieces and/or genres (no academic essays).

  • Personal Statement (no more than 600 words) -- Answer the question: In your opinion, what is the purpose of creative writing in your own life and in the world as a whole?

  • The online application will also ask for the following information:

    • Your name, contact information, and high school name.

    • Your parent/guardian name, contact information

    • A teacher/mentor name, contact information

    • Your demographic information (optional)

    Please email yawp@grubstreet.org with any questions.

20 students will be chosen to participate with a short list of alternates. Any updates or additional information will be posted to this site, as appropriate. Students will be notified by Friday, March 19th, 11:59pm.

https://grubstreet.org/programs/for-teens/summer-fellowship/

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2021 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship

International Women’s Media Foundation

DEADLINE: February 25, 2021

INFO: The Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship gives academic and professional opportunities to women journalists committed to human rights and social justice reporting. During this fellowship, the selected journalist will have the chance to complete research and coursework at MIT’s Center for International Studies and to participate in internships with The Boston Globe and The New York Times. 

Due to COVID-19, the 2021-2022 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship may take place in-person or virtually. The IWMF and its partners reserve the right to determine the format of the Fellowship prior to the Fellowship start date.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • The Neuffer Fellowship is open to women and non-binary journalists whose work focuses on human rights and social justice issues.

  • All applicants for the Neuffer Fellowship must be working journalists with at least three years of full-time, professional journalism experience. Internships and journalism-related work completed as a university student do not count as professional experience. Applicants may be affiliated or freelance journalists.

  • Journalists from any country around the world are eligible to apply. However, applicants must speak, read, and write English fluently in order to fully participate in and benefit from the Fellowship.

https://iwmf.submittable.com/submit/182820/2021-elizabeth-neuffer-fellowship?fbclid=IwAR3iN4oA7umSiaOXtPBKEZiRl3rzq0iT0mTGzyPVe7-XCsVdU_xxOrhE26E

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INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Sustainable Arts Foundation

DEADLINE: February 26, 2021 at 5pm EST

INFO: This year, Sustainable Arts Foundation will make awards of $5,000 each to twenty artists and writers with children. Additionally, we will name twenty finalists. Our awards offer unrestricted cash, and recipients can use the funds as they see fit. Our selection process is focused almost entirely on the strength of the submitted portfolio.

Changes for 2021: In order to simplify the process for our applicants, we no longer request a biography or statement of future plans. The only essay response in the application is the artist statement. This aligns with our goal of keeping our review process focused on the portfolio.

Eligibility: To be eligible, the applicant must have at least one child under the age of 18. Parents of older children with a disability or special needs may also be eligible.

Who Should Apply:

  • Artists and writers with at least one child under the age of 18 and a strong portfolio of polished work are welcome to apply.

  • We are inspired by anyone who is making creative work while raising a family. Given the intense demand for these awards (we typically receive 2,000-3,000 applications), and the fact that the awards are based on demonstrated excellence in your discipline, we don’t recommend that artists or writers who are beginning their creative careers apply to this program.

While we don’t require that applicants have published or exhibited their work, the rigor and critique involved in that process can certainly benefit the portfolio. Portfolios of writing or artwork created in a more personal vein for sharing with friends and family are not suitable.

We invite you to view our list of previous awardees and follow the links to their work to get a feel for their level of craft.

Racial Equity: As of Fall 2016, we make half our awards to applicants of color. You can read more about this decision on our website.

Writers may apply in one of the following categories:

  • Creative Nonfiction

  • Early and Middle Grade Readers

  • Fiction

  • Graphic Novel/Graphic Memoir

  • Illustrated Children's Books

  • Illustrated Children's Books (Text Only)

  • Poetry

  • Young Adult Fiction

Please see our FAQ for more information about disciplines.

Criteria: The application consists of 3 parts: personal information, artist statement, and portfolio. You may download a PDF copy of our application in case it's helpful to prepare your submission offline, but please note that our application must be completed online through this website.

Personal Information: We need your contact information so we can keep you posted on the status of your application. This will be kept separate from your artist statement and portfolio; our jurors will not see it.

Artist Statement: This is your chance to tell us about your work. Please give us a concise statement of your work and goals as an artist. This should not be a CV or list of accomplishments, but a description of what compels and informs your work. Please do not exceed 500 words. Please do not use your name anywhere in this statement.

Portfolio: All submitted work must have been created since becoming a parent, and within the last 5 years. Please view our portfolio requirements page for specific details about portfolio requirements for all disciplines.

APPLICATION FEE: Our application fee is $20. 100% of this fee goes to our jurors, who are all parent artists and writers themselves. This fee ensures that at least two jurors will review each application and be compensated for their work.

https://apply.sustainableartsfoundation.org/

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WWB EDITORIAL FELLOWSHIP

Words Without Borders

DEADLINE: Februray 26, 2021 at noon EST

INFO: Words Without Borders seeks applicants for its editorial fellowship. The WWB Editorial Fellowship program is designed to provide training for individuals looking to build a career around the publication and promotion of international literature. The editorial fellow will gain hands-on experience with all aspects of the publication of a digital literary magazine—from issue planning to online promotion. The fellow will become familiar with the special considerations and skills required for editing literature in translation and working within the context of a nonprofit organization.

This is a unique opportunity for an early-career publishing professional to be mentored by experienced editors while also making a contribution to one of the premier magazines for contemporary international literature.
 

Responsibilities
Reporting to the editor and working closely with editorial and communications teams, the fellow’s primary duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

—Participate in editorial meetings, generate ideas for future magazine content.
—Develop at least one issue or feature idea together with editor, identifying contributors and translators, and performing line edits.
—Prepare electronic galleys for monthly magazine.
—Proofread magazine and blog content. 
—Propose, commission, and edit features for WWB Daily, the WWB blog.
—Prepare monthly contracts and maintain editorial schedule.
—Support archive projects, including cataloging and categorizing content from past WWB issues.
—Maintain a schedule of upcoming titles in translation for book reviews.
—Draft social media copy, select images, and schedule social media posts for issue and blog content.
—Update organizational contact database with issue and contributor information.
—Attend and help staff WWB’s literary events in NYC.
 

Qualifications
The ideal candidate will be highly organized, responsible, and able to work both without supervision and as part of a team. They will also be skilled at written and verbal communications and have knowledge of the international literary landscape.

—Bachelor’s degree; master’s degree a plus but not required.
—Demonstrated interest in international literature.
—Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
—Superior organizational skills, attention to detail, and initiative.
—Proficient with Microsoft Office or other word-processing programs.
—Ability to work both independently and collaboratively on a small, dynamic team.
—Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
—Fluent in English with knowledge of one or more foreign languages.
—Experience with multimedia content production (including slideshows, podcasts, video, and/or creating GIFS) a plus.
 

The editorial fellow will work remotely and commit to working sixteen hours per week for nine months, beginning in September.

The editorial fellow position pays $16 per hour.

Words Without Borders does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, parental status, military service, or disability. We are committed to pursuing equity and inclusion in our organization and seek candidates with diverse backgrounds and new perspectives to our work. Permission to work in the U.S. is required.

To apply
To apply, please submit the following materials to jobs@wordswithoutborders.org with the subject line "Editorial Fellowship Application":

1) A thoughtful cover letter that outlines relevant skills and experiences and explains how the position aligns with your professional goals.
2) A résumé.
3) A three- to five-page writing sample, plus a link to any relevant multimedia or editorial work (if applicable); both published and unpublished work are acceptable.

https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/words-without-borders-fall-editorial-fellowship

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LMCC's Arts Center Residency

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

DEADLINE: February 28, 2021 at 11:59 pm EST

INFO: Throughout the pandemic, LMCC has continued to serve, support, and connect artists. More than ever, we believe that the creativity of artists and cultural organizations does not subside in the current moment and we are committed to these acts of care and stewardship. LMCC will rise to meet the immediate needs of the artist community we serve, with intention and responsibility toward our shared futures. 

At the heels of a successful launch of a COVID-19 response program in 2020, LMCC will now turn our focus to the principal themes of equity and sustainability. Concurrent to Governors Island’s ambitious plans for addressing climate change and environmental issues in the long-term, LMCC is proud to join the effort in demonstrating the stake that artists must have in the timely issues.

This Open Call will provide short-term, project-based residencies to artists and creative practitioners whose work is concerned with the broader themes of equity and sustainability. These are thematic anchors which applicants may either choose to address explicitly or elaborate on how their practice and/or projects are relevant.

The residency will take place in the open plan studios at LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island in two sessions: 

  • Session One: May 4 – August 20, 2021

  • Session Two: August 30 – December 17, 2021

Program Offerings

Residency participants will be provided the following basic amenities:

  • Access to free, temporary, daytime work space in LMCC’s Arts Center for 3 months

  • Basic work tables and chairs

  • Basic overhead lighting

  • Electricity

  • Wi-Fi

  • Heat & A/C

In addition, all residency participants will be offered:

  • Regular and robust virtual communication, group sharing, peer critique opportunities facilitated by LMCC

  • Opportunities to share work in-person with the public during LMCC’s 2021 Public Season, scheduled for June – October 2021 at scheduled open studios moments

  • Access to LMCC’s hands-on publicity and marketing efforts via its website, e-blasts, social media channels

 Please note:

  • There is NO stipend offered as part of the opportunity

  • Studios facilities do not offer access to medium- or technique-specific amenities such as a woodshop, print or media lab, or a large rehearsal space

  • Artists must provide their own supplies and tools; restrictions apply

  • Participants will be required to observe mandatory health and safety guidelines in light of the COVID-19 public health pandemic – including but not limited to filling out a daily health screening questionnaire, employing masks or facial coverings indoors at all times, and practicing safe social distancing on-site.

Applicant Eligibility:

To be eligible, applicants must be:

  • A practicing artist and/or creative practitioner able to demonstrate a sustained commitment to their work, career, and a public audience;

  • Able to express alignment with the theme of ‘equity’ and ‘sustainability’ through their proposed projects and/or ongoing practice (definitions enclosed in the application form);

  • Must not have been supported by an LMCC residency program in the last six (6) months;

  • Must not be scheduled to participate in another residency during the residency time frame offered;

  • Artists who work independently or as a small collective (no more than 3);

  • 21 years of age or older;

Application Timeline

  • February 2, 2021, 10:00 AM EST – Application go live (on Submittable)

  • February 28, 2021, 11:59 PM EST – Application Deadline

  • March 2021 – Selection Juries

  • April 16, 2021 – All applicants notified of decisions

  • Residencies will take place in two sessions, as outlined above, from May through December 2021

https://lmcc.net/resources/artist-residencies/arts-center-residency/?mc_cid=c3ac310653&mc_eid=2bec2fd1bc

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CALL FOR ESSAYS

The Rumpus

DEADLINE: February 28, 2021

INFO: Timely essays can be sent directly to our managing editor Marissa Korbel at mkorbel@therumpus.net; all other essays should be sent through Submittable during our open reading periods.

We welcome essay submissions between 1500-4000 words in length. In addition to personal narrative-driven essays we are interested in non-traditional forms of nonfiction. Essays should explore issues and ideas with depth and breadth, illuminating a larger cultural context or human struggle. Regardless of topic, we are looking for well-crafted sentences, a clear voice, vivid scenes, dramatic arc, reflection, thematic build, and attention to the musicality of prose. 

Because the volume of submissions is so high and it takes time to read work carefully, it is generally not advisable to send time-sensitive work. Essays that deal with current events in ways that do not rely on timeliness are very welcome. 

Essays must be previously unpublished. This includes personal blogs and social media. Please submit only one essay for consideration at a time; we ask that you wait until a decision has been made on that essay to submit again.

A cover letter is also welcome. Tell us a little bit about yourself, why you chose The Rumpus, where your work has appeared before, or anything else you think might be important for us to know. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but do withdraw your submission if your essay is picked up elsewhere.

Thank you for taking the time to proofread your submission. Double-spaced text is appreciated. If you have not heard a decision from us after three months, feel free to check in.

https://therumpus.submittable.com/submit/3882/essays

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2021 Voyage First Chapters Contest

Voyage Journal

DEADLINE: February 28, 2021

INFO: We can’t get enough of your first chapters! That’s why we’ve decided to host another first chapters contest! Voyage wants to see the first chapters of your Young Adult novels! It’s no secret that one of the most difficult challenges in writing a book is getting that first chapter right—and we’re asking you to rise to the occasion. Can you write a first chapter that captivates your audience enough to make them want to keep reading? If the answer is yes, then we want to read your first chapter!

Guest judge, Melissa de la Cruz, will choose three stories from a shortlist.

PRIZES:

  • 1st Place winner will receive $3000 and an hour-long consultation with Literary Agent Claire Friedman of Inkwell Management Literary Agency.

  • 2nd Place will receive $300 and publication, and 3rd place $200 and publication.

  • Finalists will receive written feedback from Literary Agent Claire Friedman.

  • Bonus: Every entrant will receive access to a pre-recorded mini workshop TBA!

SUBMISSION FEE: $20

https://thevoyagejournal.com/submit/

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2022 Creative Capital Awards 

Creative Capital

DEADLINE: March 1, 2021

INFO: Creative Capital helps visionary artists in all disciplines build thriving careers, and every year we review applications from artists ready to take the next step in their creative practices. The selected artists receive the Creative Capital Award, which includes up to $50,000 in funding for bold new projects, as well as a wide range of counsel, career development, and networking opportunities to make their work come to life.

Artists can submit their project ideas through a free application, open this year, from February 1 to March 1, 2021 at 4pm ET. This application helps us identify a selection of artists working at the forefront of their fields. It’s designed to provoke deep thought about project ideas to determine intention, impact, timeliness, and capacity.

The application for the Creative Capital Awards is competitive—of the thousands of applications we receive, we are only able to select a limited number of artists each year to receive an award. The application also takes time to complete (requiring at least an hour) and the final results are not announced until later in the year. However, we hope that the application serves to provoke deep reflection about creative practice and project development.

What Type of Work Are We Looking For?
Creative Capital looks for projects that redefine and reimagine what art is and what it can do. Projects should challenge the status quo and provoke conversations about the topics they are engaging.

What matters most in the application is the strength, vision and originality of the project idea, capacity of the artist to make it happen, and how the project development fits in with the trajectory of the artist’s overall creative practice.

How We Review Applications

The application is designed to provide a glimpse at the core ideas of an artist’s project idea and career. We know that projects evolve, shift, and change over the course of their development, and in fact we expect that this will happen for artists that receive the award.

Timeline and Capacity
The first year after receiving the Creative Capital Award involves a lot of engagement. We encourage artists to slow down with their projects during this time to take advantage of the resources we offer. That’s why we are looking for projects in early stages of development that will premiere to the public about two to five years after receiving the award.

In addition to explaining a compelling and original project idea, applicants should describe why this project is a new step in their careers. If an artist has a history of making a specific type of work, and they apply with a project that appears to be an extension of that work, it might not be as competitive when compared to other projects.

Direct Funding Support
The Creative Capital Award comes with $50,000 in project funding, given at strategic amounts meant to help in different stages of project development.

The budget requirement in the application is to get a sense of the project and how the artist plans to make it work. The total project budget doesn’t need to come to $50,000—it might take far more money to fully execute an ambitious idea. This budget is an opportunity to tell a different story about what it will take to make a vision into reality.

What are Nonmonetary Services?
In addition to funding, it takes all kinds of nonmonetary services to make original new work. The core of these services include networking and gathering opportunities with a range of peers and professionals from across the arts.

The Creative Capital Award also comes with access to a range of services ranging from legal and financial counsel to business and communications skills—essentially any tool for pushing one’s practice outside of the actual creative process. How an artist uses these resources is up to them, and it can vary immensely depending on one’s situation, location, or field.

How COVID Might Affect Project Timelines
As a national organization working with artists and venues across the country, we understand how the pandemic has affected and disrupted communities and the creative process. Creative Capital’s commitment to artists is for the long-term, and it is designed to withstand challenges such as the ones we face today. While it may be difficult to imagine what a world might look like in which we can all experience art in person again, we do anticipate that this will be a reality soon, and we look forward to helping artists get through to that time.

Tips for Artists in Different Disciplines
This year, we hosted five different info sessions speaking to artists and professionals in different disciplines. Watch these info sessions through our YouTube channel.

Disciplines
Since Creative Capital often supports projects that blur boundaries between discipline, field, and genre, it’s common that many of the artists applying for an award identify as multidisciplinary. The award application allows for selecting up to two disciplines that best describe a project. Some artists even identify with more than this, but classifying work by one to two disciplines helps us choose reviewers who are best qualified to understand it.

When determining which discipline to select, artists should think about the ways in which their audience will experience the project in the future: will they read it in a book, will they see it performed in a theater-type setting, will they stream it online, will they see it in a gallery? This can help indicate which disciplines are the most relevant.

Work Samples
Not all artists readily have examples of the work they are proposing in their application, and that’s ok. A good work sample helps the reviewer, who probably isn’t familiar with every artist’s work, begin to imagine the future project. Artists can use the description field to make the connection between the image or video of a past work, and the future project proposed in the application. The application asks for six work samples, except for writers and literary artists who can submit three written work samples, or up to 25 pages in total. More information about work sample requirements can be found on the application.

https://creative-capital.org/2021/02/01/now-accepting-applications-for-the-2022-creative-capital-award/?mc_cid=6e1d2989af&mc_eid=45394a798e

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CALL FOR PAPERS: “BLACK LOVE” ISSUE

WSQ / Feminist Press

DEADLINE: March 1, 2021

INFO: WSQ, an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of emerging perspectives on women, gender, and sexuality, seeks to focus on groups that imagine a world beyond limitations imposed by borders to conceptualize for themselves what justice looks like when we center love and care at the heart of our politics. Moving away from the mere ephemeral, this issue explores the moment love moves from theory to practice. As bell hooks has noted, “We need to concentrate on the politicization of love, not just in the context of talking about victimization in intimate relationships, but in a critical discussion where love can be understood as a powerful force that challenges and resists domination” (1989, 26). The policing of affect within Black diasporic communities and the larger public hinders our ability to see love as a collective and political tool. On the other hand, Robin D. G. Kelley asserts that “once we strip radical social movements down to their bare essence and understand the collective desires of people in motion, freedom and love lay at the very heart of the matter” (2002, 12). The chasm between the actual policing of affect and Kelley’s vision in Freedom Dreams is that we do not have a clear definition of love. Without it, we are unable to uncover its radical potential as a pathway to freedom.

We invite papers that interrogate Black love as a concept and tool for forming, sustaining, and fragmenting global Black communities in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Submissions might attend to questions such as: What are the histories and legacies of Black love? How have expressions and practices of Black love changed across locales and periods? What does it mean to lead with care in everyday actions? What does it mean to transgress boundaries of affect? What does it mean to jeopardize one’s freedom for one’s community? What does it mean to lead with care in everyday actions? How do gender roles and affect shape political engagement? How do we reconcile loving harmful Black folks as they are violent toward us?

Possible Topics:

  • Diasporic Solidarities

  • Parental Incarceration and Family Separation

  • Restorative and Healing Justice Projects

  • Intercommunal Feminist Praxis

  • Self-Love Affect Studies

  • The Politics of Beauty and Hair

  • (Community) Parenting Consciousness Raising

  • Social Media Studies

  • Masculinity

  • Performativity

  • Radical Friendships and Intimacy

  • Queer Community Formation

  • Pleasure and Sex Work

  • Community Healing and Self-Care

  • Protest, Rebellion, Riot

  • Trans-inclusive Feminist Politics

  • Religion and Spirituality

  • Sexuality

  • Disability Studies

  • Iconic Figures/Popular Culture

  • Fat Studies

  • Cultural Production-Visual Arts/Theatre

GUEST EDITORS:

  • Mary Phillips (WSQ Editorial Board & Lehman College, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies)

  • Rashida L. Harrison (Michigan State University, Assistant Professor of Social Relations and Policy)

  • Nicole M. Jackson (Bowling Green State University, Associate Professor of History)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  • Scholarly articles should be sent to guest issue editors Mary Phillips, Rashida L. Harrison, and Nicole M. Jackson at WSQBlackLove@gmail.com. We will give priority consideration to submissions received by March 1, 2021. Please send complete articles, not abstracts.

  • Submissions should not exceed 6,000 words (including un-embedded notes and works cited) and should comply with the formatting guidelines at http://www.feministpress.org/wsq/submission- guidelines.

  • Poetry submissions related to the issue theme should be sent to WSQ’s poetry editor at WSQpoetry@gmail.com by March 1, 2021. Please review previous issues of WSQ to see what type of submissions we prefer before submitting poems. Please note that poetry submissions may be held for six months or longer. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if the poetry editor is notified immediately of acceptance elsewhere. We do not accept work that has been previously published. Please paste poetry submissions into the body of the e-mail along with all contact information.

  • Fiction, essay, memoir, and translation submissions related to the issue theme between 2,000 and 2,500 words should be sent to WSQ’s fiction/nonfiction editor, at WSQCreativeProse@gmail.com by March 1, 2021. Please review previous issues of WSQ to see what type of submissions we prefer before submitting prose. Please note that prose submissions may be held for six months or longer. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if the prose editor is notified immediately of acceptance elsewhere. We do not accept work that has been previously published. Please provide all contact information in the body of the e-mail.

ABOUT WSQ: Since 1972, WSQ has been an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of emerging perspectives on women, gender, and sexuality. Its peer-reviewed interdisciplinary thematic issues focus on such topics as Asian Diasporas, Protest, Beauty, Precarious Work, At Sea, Solidarity, Queer Methods, Activisms, The Global and the Intimate, Trans-, The Sexual Body, and Mother, combining legal, queer, cultural, technological, and historical work to present the most exciting new scholarship, fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, and visual arts on ideas that engage popular and academic readers alike. WSQ is edited by Brianne Waychoff (Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY) and Red Washburn (Kingsborough Community College, CUNY) and published by the Feminist Press at the City University of New York. Visit http://www.feministpress.org/wsq.

https://www.feministpress.org/current-call-for-papers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC Environmental Voices Newsletter Column

ReVision Energy

DEADLINE: N/A

INFO: ReVision Energy’s “Under the Sun” is an in-house publication by our employee-owned solar company which seeks to guide its readership to a deeper understanding of solar energy technology, and the larger issues surrounding the transition to a world powered by 100% renewable energy. We recognize that voices in the BIPOC community have not had their fair share at the table in the larger environmental movement, and we’re seeking to amplify thought leaders, activists, artists, and others who are passionate about the environment, sustainability, and the convergence of anti-racism work and climate justice. This takes the form of a column in our monthly newsletter that will continue indefinitely.

Our audience is ~45,000 readers primarily in Northern New England, but also across the United States, who have a shared passion around the environment and renewable energy. Typical subject matter includes renewable energy policy, technology advances, adjacent sustainability topics (organic agriculture, impact of climate change on fisheries), as well as youth perspectives and artistic interpretations of environmentalism.

Our editorial team will consider a wide range of pitches that touch on relevant topics, including energy sovereignty, sustainable food systems, historic injustices in the environmental/climate movement, and visions for a sustainable planet and livable communities. Pieces may take the form of original journalistic style work as well as editorial/opinion. If you are doing this work and don’t necessarily identify as a content writer, please still get in touch as we may be able to help you craft your story or shoot a video amplifying your work. We’re also interested in artistic work on these topics, inclusive of stories, poems, visual art, photographs, videos, and music. A New England connection is helpful, but not required.

We prefer first-run of any stories, but will consider re-prints. Compensation is 50c/word for editorial pieces ranging 500-1000 words. Compensation for other formats will be competitive with professional publications and negotiated directly and transparently prior to publication. Creator retains right to their piece, but our rights include feature in our email newsletter, as well as on our website/blog, and promotion on social media.

https://www.revisionenergy.com/call-for-submissions/

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CORE RESIDENCY

Millay Colony

DEADLINE: March 1, 2021, at 12am midnight

INFO: One of the oldest and longest-running artist residencies in the world, the Millay Colony for the Arts has hosted @3000 composers, poets, writers, visual artists, playwrights, screenwriters and filmmakers since its beginnings in 1973; we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2023!

WHAT WE DO: We provide uninterrupted time and a nurturing space for artists to do what they do best: create. Our historic “Core Residency” program hosts 6-7 artists from May through November to create work in a secluded setting that might not otherwise have been realized. Works created while in residence enrich lives and communities globally: our alumni are consistently recognized with Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim Fellowships, National Book Awards, Lambda Literary Prizes and other honors. Our mostly month-long residencies — June and September offer two-week sessions —  feature private bedrooms and studios, shared living space, groceries and chef-prepared communal dinners. Friendships formed while in residence continue past departure and often spark creative collaborations and ongoing professional development opportunities and networking.  In response to need and due to space constraints, we continue to strive to serve the needs of creators at every stage of their career and have implemented additional residencies as well.

WHERE WE ARE: We are located at Steepletop, in Austerlitz, NY, situated in the picturesque Hudson Valley nestled against the the foothills of the Berkshires. Our seven acre campus features sylvan meadows and pristine woods, with designated trails for hiking and biking as well as nearby lakes, rivers and streams.  In the summer, wild blueberries and other delicacies abound, while in  winter, cross-country skis and snowshoes are welcome; nearby Harvey Mountain State Forest draws visitors year-round.  We are 30 minutes from Chatham, NY and Great Barrington, MA; other attractions include The Mount, Tanglewood, the Norman Rockwell Museum, Chesterwood, MassMOCA, Naumkeag, Jacobs Pillow, PS21, the Columbia County Film Festival and the Berkshire’s Shakespeare & Company.  

APPLICATION FEE: $40

https://millaycolony.submittable.com/submit

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GENERAL SUBMISSIONS

Tulsa Review

DEADLINE: March 1, 2021

INFO: The Tulsa Review seeks bold, unique voices for publication in our annual journal. We accept submissions of any unpublished, short creative writing (such as poems, fiction, novel excerpts, creative nonfiction, one-act plays, and short screenplays) and visual artwork (such as photographs, illustrations, or digital images).

GUIDELINES:

  1. Any writer or artist who is not a TCC student may submit their unpublished work as a General Submission.

  2. Do not include your name on your manuscript or artwork. We read and judge submissions blindly.

  3. Each submission in every category must be submitted individually.

  4. Prose and poetry submissions must be in a .DOC, .DOCX, .RTF, or .TXT file format. Please use Times New Roman font, size 1

    • For fiction and nonfiction use double spaced lines. Do not exceed 7,500 words. Writers can submit up to 2 works in each genre.

    • Poets can submit up to 5 poems. Do not exceed 25-30 lines.

    • For drama, writers can submit up to 3 works.

    • Visual artwork must be submitted as a .PDF of less than 5 MB. (If your artwork is selected for publication, we will contact you for a higher-resolution image.) Artists can submit up to 5 pieces.

  5. We encourage submissions to multiple genres.

  6. Submissions are accepted year-round but are reviewed only during the spring semester.

  7. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please let us know immediately if a work has been accepted for publication elsewhere.

  8. When a submission is accepted for publication, Tulsa Review is given first-publication rights. (Rights revert to the author/artist after publication.)

  9. TCC students, if you wish to submit to the TCC Student Writing Contest, please see the TCC Student Writing Contest Guidelines. If you are a TCC student submitting to a contest, there is no need to make a separate General Submission.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

For each piece submit a short bio (no more than 30 words) to be included with publication. Feel free to include any social media information, or personal creative website in the bio. All contributors will be notified by April 1, 2021 whether their work has been accepted.

https://www.tulsaccreview.com/submit/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Gender and Sexuality Issue

Mental Realness Mag

DEADLINE: March 1, 2021

INFO: We’re looking for submissions for the next print issue of Mental Realness Mag. We accept all forms of written submissions and the following visual submissions: photography, illustrations, paintings, and digital art. We ask that you stay within the confines of our chosen theme, however, an out-of-the-box approach is always welcome. Our ultimate goal is catharsis for both our contributors and our readers.

THEME: Gender and Sexuality

(Including topics of love, violence, body issue, self care, therapy, vogue, house, chosen family, and healing, etc.)

  • We only accept unpublished work.

  • Please include a short bio (50 words or less) with your submission along with any relevant social media handles (no more than three in total).

  • Anonymity can be requested or an alias can be used.

  • Written submissions must be between 20-400 words.

  • Please include a title for any written submission.

  • Please submit no more than two written submissions or five visual submissions at a time.

  • We pay $15 per accepted written submission and $10 per accepted visual submission. 

  • Any visual submissions done with traditional mediums must be scanned (paintings, illustrations, etc.).

  • Priority will be given to trans femme contributors for this issue

https://www.mentalrealnessmag.com/submit

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Spring 2021 Call for Submissions

A Gathering Together Literary Journal

DEADLINE: March 1, 2021

INFO: A Gathering Together is a journal that resists the easy and often unsophisticated attempt to say profound things in the moment, without deep contemplation, or in the heat of discursive battle.

We primarily select works that speak to Mekhet--the Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) term for resonating across time and space. This term is reserved for works that simultaneously transcend and address the moment they speak from, works that will last beyond the creator's last breath and still be relevant, or works that put the writer and reader in conversation with the intellectual thought of Ancestors of all kinds.

Our writers are primarily descendants of Africa and her Diaspora. All writers whose works resonate with the human experience, and thus the Diasporic African experience, are considered. Our back issues are all available online and serve as a good model for the variety of writers and works we've featured.

We welcome submissions of previously unpublished essays, short stories, poetry, reviews, visual art, and film for our Spring 2021 issue.

Artists who want to be featured in our upcoming issues are invited to send us a letter of interest, brief bio, and a sample portfolio. Writers who want to conduct artist interviews are welcome to send us pitches letting us know how the interview and artist would be a good fit for our journal. Features are generally published January-March or July-September.

We are especially keen to have more visual arts, reviews (any format), essays, and short stories. If you have questions, contact us at submissions@agatheringtogether.com

A Gathering Together is unable to compensate writers at this time.

https://www.agatheringtogether.com/how-to-submit/

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Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards

Penguin Random House / We Need Diverse Books

DEADLINE: March 2, 2021 3:00 pm CT (or when 1000 applications have been received)

INFO: Penguin Random House is passionate about encouraging the next generation of readers and authors and promoting diverse voices and stories. For 27 years, Penguin Random House has supported this mission through the Creative Writing Awards, which in 2019 entered into an innovative new partnership with national advocacy organization We Need Diverse Books. Through this program, Penguin Random House will award college scholarships of up to $10,000 each to five U.S. high school seniors, nationwide.

Creative Writing Awards winners have gone on to become professional and award-winning authors. Since 1993, this program has awarded more than $2.8 million dollars to public high school students for original poetry, memoir/personal essay, fiction/drama, and spoken-word compositions. This signature program continues to empower and celebrate hundreds of young writers each year.

This program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship, tuition assistance and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability, or national origin.

AWARD INFORMATION:

Awards will be distributed as follows:

  • $10,000 Maya Angelou Award for Spoken-Word Poetry

  • $10,000 Poetry

  • $10,000 Fiction/Drama

  • $10,000 Personal Essay/Memoir

Fifty Honorable Mention recipients will receive a “Creativity Kit” gift from Penguin Random House.

In recognition of the Creative Writing Awards previously being centered on New York City and as an extension of our longtime work with local schools there, we will also offer an additional first-place prize of $10,000 to the top entrant from the NYC area.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applicants must:

  • Be current high school seniors at a public high school in the United States

  • Be 21 years of age and under

  • Plan to enroll in an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, or approved vocational-technical school Fall 2021

  • Submit one original literary composition in English in one of the following genres of poetry, spoken word, fiction/drama or personal essay/memoir.

    • All submissions must be typed, double-spaced with a minimum 12 point font size and no longer than 10 pages.

    • All literary pages with multiple pages must be numbered with a page number and total number of pages (Ex. 1/3, 2/3, 3/3).

    • A four-page minimum is recommended for the fiction/drama genre.

    • Spoken word entries must upload a typed entry along with an emailed audio format file.

    • Only one entry per student may be submitted and considered.

https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/penguinrandomhouse/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE MARGINS

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: The Margins is now accepting submissions and pitches in the following categories: author interviews and features; critical books essays; and essays on writing craft. Pay ranges from $150 to $300 depending on length and type of piece.

Please read The Margins to familiarize yourself with the type of work we publish in the magazine. Pitches should be 500 words or under. We cover literary work in all genres, including but not limited to poetry, fiction, experimental and hybrid-genre, creative non-fiction, academic work, and translations.

You can view a list of 2021 titles we are interested in covering on this page, but feel free to send submissions and pitches for books not included here. We aim to publish interviews, critical books essays, and craft essays related to books published from Fall 2020 onward.

Due to the volume of submissions we receive, our response time is 4 to 6 weeks. All accepted pieces will undergo a collaborative editing process that may take up to 1 month, and involve multiple rounds of edits.

Author Interviews and Features

We’re looking for conversations with authors of upcoming or recently published books. We’re also interested in pitches for features and profiles that cover an author’s body of work and that include elements of reporting. We accept both pitches and completed conversations and features.

Critical Books Essays

Send us completed critical essays on upcoming or recently published books, or essays on previously published books that are tied to a timely issue. We don’t publish reviews, and are instead looking for essays that place a text in a larger historical, political, or cultural context; essays that place two books in conversation with one another; essays that place a book in conversation with another work of art. We are open to essays that combine memoir and criticism. Essays should be no longer than 3,000 words.

Essays on Craft

We’re accepting completed essays from authors with upcoming or recently published books on writing craft or on the historical, political, and literary context in which their work sits. Essays should be no longer than 2,000 words.

https://aaww.org/new-books-coverage-the-margins/?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-tipsheet.art&utm_content=later-13873041&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram

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Call For BIPOC Femme Writers!

Miss Read Books

DEADLINE: Ongoing

INFO: Are you a BIPOC femme writer? Do you have a passion for writing romance, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and/or thriller? I'm looking for you!

I am so pleased to announce that Miss Read Books is officially accepting short story submissions for our new weekly blog series -- our mission is to not only introduce readers to new authors, but uplift authors who's voices deserve to be raised!

This is a PAID opportunity for up and coming authors to have your work published in the Miss Read Books weekly blog, as well as be published in a monthly digital zine distributed to Miss Read Books email subscribers at the end of every month. Please see the guidelines for submissions below:

GUIDELINES: 2000 words MAX, no exceptions

PAY RATE: $.03 per word. Payment via PayPal.

GENRES: Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

LANGUAGE: English (Currently I am only accepting stories from authors based in the US, translated works are acceptable & encouraged!)

RIGHTS: We claim non-exclusive digital rights (text and audio) and two-time non-exclusive anthology rights for our monthly Miss Read Books zine collection, as well as the annual Miss Read Books anthology.

Please submit the below to nyasha@missreadbooks.org. It's just me, so while I try to respond to every submission, I will be prioritizing responses!

Name -- Email Address -- Cover Letter (Who are you? Why this story?) -- Story Title -- Word Count-- Genre--

And don't forget to ATTACH the file containing your story! (.DOC, or .DOCX format)

Please only submit ONE short story at a time -- as the sole owner/employee of this lil outfit, you have a much better opportunity of being read if I'm not spammed with multiple submissions from the same author!

https://www.missreadbooks.org/post/this-is-a-call-for-bipoc-femme-writers-miss-read-books


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ONGOING

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NONFICTION ESSAYS / MEMOIR

Gay Mag

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: From writer, author and cultural critic Roxane Gay:

I am starting a new project, part of which will include publishing an emerging writer twice a month, starting in January 2021. I define emerging writer as someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts.

Please submit your best nonfiction and nonfiction only. I am interested in literary essays and memoir. Please submit only one essay at a time. Essays should be between 1500 and 3000 words.

I am interested in thoughtful essays, beautiful, intelligent writing, deep explorations, timelessness, and challenging conventional thinking without being cheap and lazy. I am interested in provocative work but we are not interested in senseless provocation. You don't have to cannibalize yourself to tell a compelling story. The essays in Unruly Bodies might give you a sense of what I like but I am always open to being surprised. I am not looking to publish anew what I've already published.

Again, I am only interested in nonfiction, which is to say no poetry, fiction, or anything else that is not nonfiction. 

We respond to all submissions, generally within six weeks.

PAYMENT: All essays will be paid a flat fee of $2,000.

https://gay.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Chaotic Merge

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: Chaotic Merge is looking for submissions from all different forms of artist. We seek work that is adventurous and test the border of art and structure. Don't be afraid to mess with everything you have ever learned in your lives. We write to have fun!We encourage voice of people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community to submit their work.

We are open for submissions all year round.*We strongly suggest following all guidelines upon submitting. 

GUIDELINES:

  • Submit all work to ChaoticMergeMagazine@gmail.com

  • Title your email subject as follows: Full name_Genre_Title of work. Anything labelled otherwise will not be read.

  • Depending on your genre, please limit each submission to:

    • Up to 5 unpublished poems (a non-English work & its English translation count as one poem submission)

    • 2 unpublished short fiction piece (up to 5,000 words) 

    • Up to 5 unpublished art/photographs/ illustrations in pdf, png, and jpeg or

    • 2 unpublished Screenplay or Play (up to 10-15 pages) 

  • All work submitted should be accompanied by a short author bio between 50 and 100 words, a author/creator photo in jpg, and your pronouns.While we accept simultaneous submissions, do indicate in your email that this is a simultaneous submission, and write in to us immediately to withdraw your work once it has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Publication Rights: Chaotic Merge Magazine publishes only unpublished work, unless we ourselves request for them. By submitting your work, you affirm that you are the sole author and maintain all rights for your work. By submitting your work, you authorize Chaotic Merge Magazine to publish your work in both its e-journal and online platforms.

https://chaoticmergemagazine.com/submit/

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FELLOWSHIP FOR BIPOC EDITORS

Shenandoah

INFO: In order for structural change to happen in the predominantly white publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book publishers to literary magazines like ours. We recognize that if we want Black writers, Indigenous writers, and other writers of color to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core. With this in mind, we’re excited to announce a new initiative: The Shenandoah Fellowship for BIPOC Editors.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new BIPOC voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and forge connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Requirements and Eligibility

A single fellow will be selected for each issue of Shenandoah going forward, alternating genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics) as we see fit. Fellows will choose two–three pieces of prose, five–ten poems, or two–three comic artists for their issue; these authors will be paid at the same rates as other Shenandoah authors ($100 per poem; $50 per comic panel; $100 for every thousand words of prose—for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author). Each fellow will receive a $1000 honorarium for their work. We welcome writers and editors of all experience levels. No previous editorial experience is necessary, but we are looking for applicants who are passionate and informed about the literary community. We welcome candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The Application

  1. In 500 words or fewer, describe why this fellowship would be valuable to you, addressing what you think is the role and value of a literary magazine in the publishing ecosystem. Make sure to include your writing and editing experience and the genre you would be most excited to work in (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics).

  2. In 500 words or fewer, tell us about a favorite piece of writing you recently read in a literary magazine in your desired genre. Describe how you found it, who wrote it, its aesthetic attributes, and what you loved about it.

  3. In 500 words or fewer, compose a solicitation email to an emerging writer (who has published no more than one book) who you would love to work with. Include in your email what you admire about this writer’s work and why you would like to work with them.

  4. We'd love to know where you heard about this fellowship, if you don't mind sharing!

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis at https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit. Upload a single document that responds to these prompts separately.

https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit/175611/fellowship-for-bipoc-editors

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Fashion and Race Database

The Fashion and Race Database seeking contributors to publish original content, particularly essays or opinion pieces, and short profiles of Objects that Matter, or profiles of significant fashion figures. We also invite you to submit events and announcements. 

We are currently accepting submissions for publication in 2021:

  • Objects That Matter [500-800 words] - A short profile overview of an object in fashion: both its cultural origins and enumerated examples of its global reach/influence or even appropriation. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website.

    Rate: $295 CAD

  • Profiles [500-800 words] - A profile of select Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) who have shaped the history and business of fashion in the face of structural racism and adversity. Please see the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Essays & Op-Eds [1200-1500 words] - We are looking for essays or opinion pieces that amplify voices and writing of BIPOC scholars, students, artists, archivists, curators, business professionals and more. We are particularly seeking pieces that are timely and address issues or nuances related to fashion and race today. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $540 CAD

  • ‘Our Fashion History’ [500-800 words, 3-5 photos] - Based upon an activity that Founder Kim Jenkins would facilitate during fashion history class or during her ‘Fashion and Justice’ workshops, ‘Our Fashion History’ invites contributors to present an essay that describes 3-5 family/personal photos, ultimately bringing a diverse perspective to the narrative of fashion history. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Call for Research Assistant: Ongoing - The Research Assistant will research, gather, catalog and publish knowledge-rich content, working in tandem with a lead editor. The assistant will not only contribute to this groundbreaking academic and creative platform, they will also acquire advanced research and publishing skills.

    This position is paid and, depending upon the applicant’s circumstances, may be eligible for internship or course credits. Applicants not enrolled at an academic institution are also welcome. This is a remote position but you will be working with team members located in the EST and PST time zones. This is a part time position requiring 10 hours of work per week. Research Assistants are hired for a commitment of 13 weeks. Rate: $33 CAD per hour

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://fashionandrace.org/database/contributors/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Latin American Literature Today

INFO: Latin American Literature Today (LALT) welcomes throughout the year submissions of translated texts (Spanish-English, Brazilian Portuguese-English) of contemporary Latin American prose, verse, interviews, essays, and book reviews.

Furthermore, the journal is committed to foregrounding the work of translators, so we encourage and welcome contributions such as translator’s notes, essays on the art of translation, translation reviews, interviews to translators, as well as translation “previews” from forthcoming book publications.

All translation submissions and questions should be directed to Denise Kripper, our Translation Editor, to translation.lalt@gmail.com. Submissions will be reviewed by the entire LALT editorial committee.

LENGTH OF SUBMISSIONS:

  • Creative prose (fiction and non-fiction) should have a maximum length of 5000 words

  • Poems should be limited to 3 to 5 poems

  • Articles and interviews should have a maximum length of 2,000 to 2,200 words, unless otherwise directed by the editor;

  • Book reviews should have a maximum length of 1,200 words

DEADLINE: Rolling Submissions

http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/submission-guidelines-translators

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hyphen Magazine

INFO: Hyphen Magazine publishes literary fiction of all forms, including stories that blur "genre" lines (literary sci-fi, noir fiction with a strong voice, for example). We generally do not accept novel excerpts unless they stand alone. Asian American themes are not essential though certainly welcome; strong writing and unique voice are considered first and foremost.

  • Send only your best, previously unpublished work. Asian American themes are not essential. We are much more interested in work that incorporates identity than in work that is about identity.

  • Please use 1" margins, 12-pt Times New Roman font.

  • Short stories should be no longer than 5,000 words. A series of short shorts (flash fiction) totaling no more than 5,000 words will also be considered (though not all stories may be taken).

  • Simultaneous submissions (when you send the same submission to us and other publications) are okay as long as you let us know and notify us immediately when a piece has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Multiple submissions are not okay (when you send more than one submission to us in the same genre). If you send more than one story, only the first story will be considered; the others will not be read. Please wait to hear back before submitting again.

  • Submitting to more than one genre at a time is okay (but please send them separately).

Please note:

  • Fiction features alternate between original short stories and novel excerpts. Those looking to have their forthcoming novels excerpted should have their publicist contact the Fiction Editor.

  • Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, and is dependent upon space availability.

  • Reading period can be up to six months. If you have not heard back after six months, feel free to contact the editor.

  • We are able to pay writers $25 per piece upon publication.

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://hyphenmag.submittable.com/submit/77191/fiction-poetry

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

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MICRO/FLASH FAST RESPONSE FOR BIPOC WRITERS

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INTERVENXIONS

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

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SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

VIDA Review

INFO: The VIDA Review is an online literary magazine publishing original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews. 

We are exclusively interested in work by those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); cis and trans women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, nonbinary, and two-spirit people; LGBQIA people; people with disabilities; and people living at the intersections of these identities.

All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

Please send one submission at a time, and please submit only once every 6 months.

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you label them as such and promptly let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

Please note that all submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter and brief third-person biography statement, and that (unless otherwise stated) we ask for First North American Rights to publish writing. Following publication, all rights revert back to the writer; we only ask that you credit the VIDA Review as the place your work first appeared.

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Nonfiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Book Reviews

  • Must be a review for a full-length or chapbook of poetry or prose by a writer from a historically-marginalized community

  • Must be published by small or independent presses

  • Must have been published within the last five years

  • Do not send us a review of your own book

  • Include publisher, price, and page number, as well as the word count of the review at the top of your submission

  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know and withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • No self-published titles are accepted

  • Reviews should be double-spaced and be no more than 1,200 words

PAYMENT: Payment for those accepted will range between $15-$20. We recognize that this is a token amount of money but hope to increase this amount in the future. Payment will be made via PayPal within 2 months of publication.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://thevidareview.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

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SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- JANUARY 2021

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NON-FICTION: ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS, ETC.

Circumference

DEADLINE: January 2, 2021

INFO: Circumference was founded in 2003 by Jennifer Kronovet and Stefania Heim as a journal for poetry in translation. We believe translation continues to be a vital part of public and artistic discourse.

We’re interested in new translations of poetry and drama, particularly (but not exclusively) from contemporary authors. We’re expanding to include interviews and dialogues between artists and thinkers of all stripes: conversations where disagreement tends to enrich debate, rather than suspend it. We’re on the hunt for profiles and long-form writing that sheds light on literary and artistic praxis around the world.

We publish all poems in their original languages alongside their translations. We pay you for your work.

GUIDELINES: Please upload your pitch with the subject “Non-fiction: [Genre, focus of your piece].” Please include links to your writing, and feel free to include 1–2 pages of the piece, if available. 

We only accept work that has not been previously published in English. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please do let us know if your work will appear elsewhere. We’ll do our best to get back to you within four months. 

https://circumferencemag.submittable.com/submit?utm_source=Words+of+Mouth&utm_campaign=9575a9f2ea-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_29_05_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d4310f52d6-9575a9f2ea-242929430

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LITERARY PORTFOLIO SUBMISSIONS

P+B In Print

DEADLINE: January 4, 2021

INFO: P+B Publications is an independent publisher, seeking the best new work by women and non-binary authors. In the spirit of Pen + Brush, we believe fervently that our publishing program exists to act as forceful means of dispelling the misconception that too few women produce consistently high-level literary fiction and poetry.

We publish with the following goals:

  1. All work we publish is of a high quality

  2. We never pre-filter submissions based on publishing experience, education, or background

We are looking to work with strong new voices and we are committed to publishing them.

Pen + Brush publishes poetry and short and long literary fiction. We publish short stories and poems in our literary magazine Pen + Brush In Print, which is distributed in print and electronically.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: P+B In Print No. 5 

We are currently accepting submissions for our P+B In Print, No. 5 literary magazine, to be released in 2021. This issue will feature a guest editor, Novella Ford, whose theme is inspired by the recent  HBO series created by Misha Green, Lovecraft Country episode “I Am.”  We are seeking submissions that explore a question Hippolyta, a mother of a gifted artist, a science nerd and a widowed business owner, asks after unexpected travel through space and time; each experience revealing herself to herself, in order to name herself. At the end of the journey, she joyously proclaimed “How can I fit everything that I am now, into this place?” A clarion call for anyone who has experienced a shift in their persona, creative practice, principles, and/or actions.

For some, the quarantine due to COVID 19 has provided a time to sit with oneself and operate in solitude. For others, quarantine, global uprisings against police brutality, a protracted U.S. election season, and more, gave way to a dizzying cocktail of financial insecurity, anxiety, and stretching to meet the needs of many. You may not have made it completely to the other side, but you know more about what you are capable of than when the year 2020 started. What happens in the aftermath when we awaken to ourselves; when we cannot unknow what has been revealed? How do we make room for our glorious revelations in seemingly fixed spaces? 

For P+B In Print, No. 5, we are looking for a variety of work led by the imagination, that is also revelatory and worthy of the journey. How the theme is approached is up to you. We are excited by different writing styles, genres, and subgenres. 

Aligned with P+B’s vision to provide a platform to showcase the work of female and non-binary artists and writers to a broader audience with the ultimate goal of effecting real change within the marketplace, we are pleased to offer an honorarium ($150 - $500) for all submissions accepted for publication.  *Please note these honorariums are made possible by generous grants and donations received during this publication period, amounts may vary for subsequent publications.  

We are only accepting previously unpublished work.

Fiction/Non Fiction (under 3500 words) - up to $500

We are accepting one submission per author. Excerpts from book-length projects are fine, but we will be looking for the excerpt to stand strong on its own. Short stories, essays, autobiographical/memoir, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction are all welcomed. Humor, satire, and the political also have a place here.

Poetry (under 2 pages typed) - $150 for two published poems

We are accepting up to four submissions per author. 

Each submission should include a short bio, not to exceed 75 words. This will not impact the assessment of the work. We want to know a little bit about you!

About Guest Curator, Novella Ford:  

Novella Ford is the Associate Director of Public Programs and Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research division of The New York Public Library. She created the inaugural Schomburg Center Literary Festival in 2019 and has organized hundreds of public programs at the intersection of scholarship and popular culture.  She connects diverse audiences to the archives and engages history through dialogue, performance, literature, and visual arts.

http://www.penandbrush.org/explore/literary

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Gulf South Writer in the Woods

A Studio in the Woods

DEADLINE: January 8, 2021

INFO: Gulf South Writer in the Woods, a program of A Studio in the Woods and the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, supports the creative work, scholarship and community engagement of writers examining the Gulf South region.

Specifically, this year we aim to support BILAPOC Speculative Fiction writers working in prose, poetry and stage/screenwriting. Special consideration will be given to southern voices, under-represented communities, and perspectives not often heard. Eligible writers must live in the Gulf South, be from/have heritage in the Gulf South, and/or write about the Gulf South. The awardee will receive a stipend of $5,000, a 6-week residency at A Studio in the Woods over 18 months, Tulane University library access, and staff support from the presenting partners.

DATES The term of the Gulf South Writer in the Woods will be Winter 2021 through Summer 2023. The six weeks of residency at A Studio in the Woods can be scheduled in up to three sessions between July 2021-June 2022.

REQUIREMENTS

  • Exploration and early development of concept for a significant manuscript

  • Creative and radical thinking

  • Participation in six week residency

  • Giving a public lecture

  • Design and implement a community engagement event

  • Participating in a public dinner

ELIGIBILITY Creative writers working in Speculative Fiction in the format of prose, poetry, or stage/screenwriting will be considered. This year we aim to support BILAPOC writers working in prose, poetry and stage/screenwriting who live in the Gulf South, are from/have heritage in the Gulf South, and/or write about the Gulf South. There are no degree requirements. If the applicant is a student, they must be an active and advanced graduate student—in their second year of coursework and beyond. Note that this is an opportunity for a single writer, not a collaborative team or ensemble. Foreign language projects are welcome, however application and primary work sample must be in English.

SPECULATIVE FICTION Speculative Fiction is a broad category of fiction encompassing genres with certain elements that do not exist in terms of the recorded history and observed phenomena of the current universe, covering various themes in the context of the supernatural, futuristic, and many other imaginative topics.[1] Under this umbrella category, the genres include, but are not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero fiction, alternate history, utopian and dystopian fiction, and supernatural fiction, as well as combinations thereof (e.g. science fantasy).[2]

SELECTION PROCESS Every two years, a new Gulf South Writer in the Woods is selected through a jury process. The position will be awarded on the merit of the proposal, the stage of the manuscript, and its potential to result in new and refreshed understandings about this region. We will also consider the impact of the position on the writer’s career trajectory. The next selection process will take place in Winter 2023.

SUPPORT The awardee will receive a stipend of $5,000, a 6-week residency at A Studio in the Woods over 18 months, Tulane University library access, and staff support from the presenting partners. We are looking to support projects in the exploratory phase and will endeavor to connect the writer with faculty and experts in relevant fields. We will provide full room and board including food, utilities for living and studio space to selected resident. Resident is expected to cover personal living expenses, additional materials and supplies, and any other expenses relating to the cost of producing work incurred while in the program. Travel and shipping expenses to and from A Studio in the Woods for the residency are also the responsibility of the artist. To better understand project impact, each artist will work with an external evaluator.

GUIDELINES:

Gulf South Writer in the Woods proposals should include the following:

  • 500-word project summary.

  • Project narrative of no more than five double-spaced pages.

http://www.astudiointhewoods.org/2020/11/18/open-call-for-next-gulf-south-writer-in-the-woods/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Mermaids Monthly

DEADLINE: January 9, 2021

INFO: Mermaids Monthly - a new digital magazine about mermaids - is open for submissions. We are looking for art, comics, short fiction, poetry, and essays that match our mermaid theme.

Everything should in some way relate to merfolk. We are loose about how you want to define that, and we will consider other aquatic fantastical creatures to be on theme. Yes, kelpies and selkies and kappas and nagas are all okay! We would love to see creative interpretations of the theme, and we’re also extremely interested in seeing work from writers of many backgrounds. Our staff includes BIPOC and queer people who are excited to explore diverse mermaid bodies, cultures, genders, abilities, religions, neurotypes, ethnicities, and more.

We are interested in happy and sad, light and dark, funny and serious. Most of all, we want to see what you most want to share.

GUIDELINES:

  • Fiction up to 5,000 words. There is no minimum word count, and we love flash! (we pay $0.10/word for fiction)

  • Poetry of any length (we pay $50 – $100 for poems)

  • Comics up to 5 pages (we pay $75-$100 per page)

  • Each to Each micro art and word submissions (more below—we pay $25 for these)

  • Mermaid and undersea themed spot art (we pay $50 for spot illustrations)

  • Previously published mermaid and undersea illustrations and comics for us to reprint (we pay $25 – $50 licensing fee for interior and $100 – $150 for cover art licensing)

  • Non-fiction essay or article pitches for works up to 2,000 words (we pay $0.10 per word for non-fiction)

  • Reprints (we pay $0.01 per word for these with a minimum of $20 if the piece is shorter than 2,000 words)

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

https://mermaidsmonthly.com/submissions/


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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SHORT STORIES

Midnight & Indigo

DEADLINE: January 10, 2021

INFO: We are looking for previously unpublished, CHARACTER-DRIVEN fictional short stories written by Black women writers. All genres are welcome. Subject matter and plots can run the gamut, but we want emotion, grit, soul, and writing that forges an immediate connection with the reader.

GUIDELINES:

  • Stories must meet our minimum 1,500 word count requirement.

  • Submissions should be submitted in proper short story manuscript format with your name, email address, and the story’s total word count on the first page. For our purposes, you do not need to include a mailing address or phone number. Click here for an example of proper short story manuscript format.

  • We offer $100 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for online publication on midnightandindigo.com.

  • All submissions will be considered for publication in our upcoming print anthology (December 2021) at a rate of $125 per story.

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit/172076/short-stories-submission-deadline-january-10-2021

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Narrative & Personal Essays

Midnight & Indigo

DEADLINE: January 10, 2021

INFO: We are looking for previously unpublished, narrative and personal essays written by Black women writers.

Essays can be funny, entertaining, serious or sincere. Content must uplift, inspire and leave readers with something to think about. We want emotion, grit, soul, and writing that forges an immediate connection with the reader around your experience. Submissions cannot include list formats or "5 Ways to..." inspirational instructionals.

GUIDELINES:

  • Essays must meet our minimum 1,200 word count requirement.

  • Submissions should be submitted in proper manuscript format with your name, email address, and the story’s total word count on the first page. For our purposes, you do not need to include a mailing address or phone number. Click here for an example of proper manuscript format.

  • We offer $50 for Essays accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) or midnightandindigo.com.

  • We accept only previously unpublished work. Responses will be provided by March 31, 2021.

SUBMISSION FEE:

  • Standard Submission ($0)

  • Expedited Reading option ($25)

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit/172077/narrative-personal-essays-submission-deadline-january-10-2021

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Speculative Fiction/Horror

Midnight & Indigo

DEADLINE: January 10, 2021

INFO: We are looking for previously unpublished, character-driven, speculative short stories written by Black women writers.

Speculative fiction is a broad genre encompassing fiction with certain elements that do not exist in the real world, often in the context of supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative themes. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, fairytale fantasy, and supernatural fiction.  

  • Stories must meet our minimum 1,500 word count requirement.

  • Submissions should be submitted in proper short story manuscript format with your name, email address, and the story’s total word count on the first page. For our purposes, you do not need to include a mailing address or phone number. Click here for an example of proper short story manuscript format.

  • All submissions will be considered for publication on a rolling basis on midnightandidigo.com or in our annual Speculative fiction special issue (online and/or print - October 2021).

  • We offer $100 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our annual Speculative issue (eBook, print, and/or audiobook - October 2021) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on midnightandindigo.com.

  • We accept only previously unpublished work. Responses will be provided by February 23, 2021.

SUBMISSION FEE:

  • Standard Submission ($0)

  • Expedited Reading option ($25)

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit/170569/speculative-fiction-horror-only-submission-deadline-january-10-2021

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Full Bleed

DEADLINE: January 10, 2021

INFO: Full Bleed, an annual journal of art and design, seeks submissions for its fifth issue, forthcoming in May 2021. We publish criticism, belle lettres, artwork, design, illustration, fiction, poetry, and graphic essays. 

For Issue Five, we are especially interested in submissions on the theme of adaptation. In this time of accelerating change, we invite artists, designers, and writers to reflect on the various ways that ecological, technological, and social conditions have necessitated and will necessitate reinvention, hard resets, or new modes of coping, working, living, and thinking. How might art and design imagine, critique, or facilitate the adaptations that will surely be required of us--and of other creatures--in the years to come? How does this time compare to other periods of disruption? How do artists, designers, and creative people persevere? We welcome critical essays on art and artists concerned with ecological change, mass psychology, mental health, and personal, socio-economic, or political adaptations--those that have occurred in the past, and those yet to materialize. We also invite designers and educators to share socially inclusive innovations for the future, and ideas regarding the transmission of adaptation as a skill for coping with rapid change. Send us, too, your personal essays, poetry, and fiction about survival and somehow finding joy or comedy in the struggle to adapt to the changes afoot in our lives. 

In addition to essays and stories of up to 7000 words, Full Bleed publishes shorter, recurring columns of approximately 800 to 2000 words. These include "Close Looks", in which writers offer in-depth appreciations of individual artworks; "Design Futures", in which designers propose new ideas relevant to contemporary challenges facing their discipline; "Cities", which examines urban conditions, innovations, and tendencies; and “Studio Visit”, in which the writer visits with and interviews a contemporary artist or designer. 

Please submit previously unpublished work along with a brief biography and cover letter through this form. Keep in mind that we are an annual publication and will not be making final decisions about the content of issue 5 before February 2021. If your work is accepted elsewhere between now and then, please do let us know by writing to fullbleedjournal@gmail.com.

Published annually by the Maryland Institute College of Art, Full Bleed is committed to cultivating aesthetic experience and progressive design while furthering understanding of contemporary conditions. We favor criticism that emanates personality and experiments with form. We encourage contrarian argument and ambitious critical essays on cultural phenomena that are of active concern to living artists and designers. Issues One (Migration), Two (Crisis), Three (Machines), and Four (Archive) are available at www.full-bleed.org.

https://www.full-bleed.org/submit

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Kresge Artist Fellowships for Literary & visual artists

Kresge Arts in Detroit

DEADLINE: January 14, 2021

INFO: Kresge Artist Fellowships are $25,000 awards plus professional development support for emerging and established metro Detroit artists.

Fellowships recognize creative vision and commitment to excellence across a wide range of artistic disciplines, including artists who have been academically trained, self-taught artists, and artists whose art forms have been passed down through cultural heritage.

Gilda Awards are $5,000 prizes for emerging artists, named in honor of artist, CCS professor, and 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow Gilda Snowden (1954–2014). Fellowships and Gilda Awards are no strings attached awards, meaning artists may spend the money on any aspect of their creative practice or life (i.e. making new work, renting or purchasing studio space, travel, general living expenses, paying off debt, etc.).

Twenty fellowships and ten Gilda Awards

  • Literary Arts: 10 Kresge Artist Fellowships and 4-6* Gilda Awards

  • Visual Arts: 10 Kresge Artist Fellowships and 4-6* Gilda Awards

LITERARY ARTS DISCIPLINES:

  • Arts Criticism

  • Creative Nonfiction

  • Fiction

  • Graphic Novels

  • Playwriting

  • Poetry

  • Spoken Word

  • Zines

  • Interdisciplinary Work

http://www.kresgeartsindetroit.org/get-started

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Stellium

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: Stellium is a literary magazine centering Black queer and trans prose writers. We still accept work from other Black and QTPOC writers. We are a bimonthly (every two months) magazine seeking to create our first two digital issues.

We are currently curating pieces for our first and second issues. Here are the themes.

  • Issue One - Manifestation - What would you create if you could conjure? What do you create since you can conjure?  Who is clearly a master at this art? Is it tangible? Is it ethereal? Does it reach you and your community or is it symbolic? Are you fearful of the creation or begging for it?

  • Issue Two - Exposing - What has been brought to light recently? What has been lying underneath the surface that is generally unspoken? Was it hidden on purpose or just tossed to the side and forgotten? How was it revealed? What happens now that we "know"? Is it a shy or exhibitionist truth?

What are we looking for?

  • 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 three poems. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

  • 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 4k to 7k words. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

  • Nonfiction - We're seeking creative nonfiction submissions. We welcome memoir, social commentary, and new-journalism pieces among other works. Not academic papers. The sweet spot is around 2k to 4k words. This section is not theme-specific but you're encouraged to focus on it.

  • Art - We accept scans of any original, visual art. This section is theme-specific. We won't accept work that doesn't adhere to the theme of the issue.

  • Editors We're looking for editors for each section, social media, design, and the website! Please spread the word after you apply.


https://stelliumlit.submittable.com/submit?fbclid=IwAR3_quGZay_Yw24y1odkhh3WRGErVgEBrDai2sZ9xOCO0dbaBM5SyX_zEkQ

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BLACK WOMEN WRITERS

Chicken Soup for the Soul

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: I’m Speaking Now: Black Women Share Their Truth in 101 Stories of Love, Courage and Hope

Chicken Soup for the Soul is thrilled to announce a new title for Black women, publishing June 1, 2021. Award-winning novelist Breena Clarke will serve as a coauthor for this new Chicken Soup for the Soul book. You may remember her first novel—River, Cross My Heart—an Oprah’s Book Club pick.

It’s been 14 years since Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul came out, so let’s get the world up to date. Now, more than ever, the strong, independent, empowered voices of Black women are being heard loud and clear. Black women are speaking, for themselves and their families, and everyone is listening.

Share your dreams and your triumphs and failures. Write about your lives and community, which have unique challenges not well understood by others. This unique collection of stories will be for readers of all colors. Readers of color will recognize their struggles in these pages, and all readers will benefit from an inside view of Black life in America, Canada, and the diaspora. Don’t be afraid to get real and raw. Chicken Soup for the Soul is not just about heartwarming feel-good stories.

We’re looking for everything from the serious to the silly. There will be 101 stories, so we can go wide and deep, and we’d like to share stories from Black women of all ages, from late teens to women in their nineties.

Here are some suggested topics but we know you can think of many more:

• Black Lives Matter
• Raising Black children in a dangerous world
• Intersectionality
• Writing as a Black woman
• Traveling as a Black woman
• Children’s dolls and toys
• Television and films and how they affect you as a Black woman
• The strength of cultural roots and family
• Police brutality, fear
• Institutional racism, redlining, stereotypes
• Inequity and barriers, including voting
• Politics
• Role models and pioneers
• Sisterhood
• Dating and romance — the good, the bad, and the crazy
• Self-image and beauty
• Resilience and excellence
• Overcoming obstacles
• Humorous stories
• Entrepreneurship and making it as a woman
• Inter-racial marriages and relationships
• Stereotypes
• Physical health — how you are bettering yourself through physical activity.
• Mental health — taking care of your mental health just as much as your body
• Self-care — investing time into making yourself feel good, physically and mentally
• Managing finances — budgeting and investing for yourself
• Finding joy and happiness — how you have found JOY in your life.
• Life during the pandemic
• Life lessons — what storms have you been through that made you stronger?
• Sexual harassment/Abuse — how you fought back
• Confidence — coming forward and telling the truth, like it is, regardless of the consequences
• Self-esteem — understanding that you are terrific and can do anything
• Being brave enough to take educated risks
• Girls and women in sports — at school, college, professionally, Olympics
• Women in what used to be considered men's roles/jobs/occupations
• Thinking outside the box
• Becoming a role model or mentor for other women
• What role models helped you?
• Speaking up for your rights
• Balancing marriage, kids and your own independence
• Following your passion
• Volunteering and giving back

Write about your truth, your everyday and your milestones, and your feelings. As Breena says, "Come ahead with your story. Tell it straight, tell it slant, tell it loudly or softly. Speak up now."

https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics

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CALL FOR TEXTS

James Banner + Stephanie Lamprea Duo

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021, 10pm CET

INFO: Berlin-based composer and improviser James Banner is commissioning 6 people who work with words to create new pieces of writing for a new duo with Stephanie Lamprea. The words will form the basis of a new series of works for voice and double bass (plus guests) for a 2021 album release. Each commissioned writer will receive 200 euros and in addition, each piece will be published alongside its paired musical score as a limited edition printed book and in digital form.

You may be an author, poet, writer, blogger, journalist, or active in any other field that uses words, and at any level or stage in your career. There is no official requirement to be working professionally or established in any of these fields, however one aim of the project is to further the visibility of your work and develop your portfolio, to help stimulate future opportunities and the possibilities of further collaborations, therefore please consider if this is the right project for you before applying.

BRIEF: The brief is to create a new piece of writing that is limited to 1-2 A4 pages with no minimum or maximum word count. The content is totally up to the contributor and may also include other visual/graphic elements, but this is not a requirement – the focus is on the meaning of the words and representing a diverse range of voices and ideas in the resulting music.

You may consider yourself published, self-published, unpublished, ‘emerging’ etc. We recognise the variety of people who may feel included in one or more of these umbrella terms and no-one is excluded based on this.

For this project, James is especially seeking to include those who identify as LGBTQIA+, non-binary, gender fluid, BIPOC, QTPOC, Latinx, Asian, female, disabled and neurodivergent, as well as those who are or were first generation college/university students or come from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds.

To enter, please fill out the form below by 15th January 2021, 10pm CET – audio and/or video submissions are also encouraged alongside textual representations. 6 Shortlisted contributors will receive 50 euros, 6 final contributors will receive 200 euros. 

FULL DETAILS:

The call uses a three stage non-anonymous process: open call, shortlisting and final selection. The open call runs for one month during which contributors can send in existing work examples. At the shortlisting stage, 12 contributors will be asked to propose an idea or submit a draft for the final piece – the 6 not selected at this stage will still receive 50 euros for their draft/idea which will not be used in the project. The remaining 6 contributors will go on to submit a final work to be included in the project, and receive a 200 euro commission fee.

SCHEDULE:

  • Open call – submissions accepted until 15th January 2021, 10pm CET

  • 12 person shortlist notified – 17th January 2021, 10pm CET

  • Deadline to submit ideas and drafts for the final work – 27th January 2021, 10pm CET

  • Final 6 selected for the project notified – 31st January 2021, 10pm CET

  • Final works to be submitted – 14th February 2021, 10pm CET

  • Project realisation – summer/autumn 2021

APPLICATION:

  • Submissions will not be judged anonymously and a diverse range of voices will be represented – additionally, we will endeavour to actively reach out to the groups mentioned above during the open call process

  • Free to apply, no age limit, no location limit, no language or education requirements

  • Dates and deadlines are subject to change depending on applications and will be flexible to allow more time where necessary

PROJECT:

  • The 6 contributors agree to communicate with James in a timely manner via email and will aim to promote their participation in the project via personal websites and/or their social media presence (where available) – where email is not accessible or appropriate, an alternative mode of communication will be established

  • The design of the physical/downloadable editions will be made in collaboration between James and the contributor to ensure they feel their work is being visually represented fully and accurately – whilst we do want the finished work to be high quality and high resolution, no-one will be excluded based on access to hardware or software or abilities in design, and this is not part of the judgement in the open call or shortlisting stages

  • If a contributor misses a deadline without warning due to exceptional circumstances and no contact is made, James will attempt to contact them by email to check in – where the contributor does not respond within two weeks of the final deadline, James reserves the right to withdraw the offer of inclusion in the project and will ask someone from the shortlist to take their place

COPYRIGHT AND ACCREDITATION:

  • Every contributor retains copyright of their work and is permitted to publish their work elsewhere, wherever it does not impinge on the ability to continue to use the work for this project – a non-exclusive licence will be set up between the contributor and James that details the uses of the words for this project only

  • Contributors agree that their work can be freely interpreted, developed, performed, broadcast and recorded live, digitally, on radio and in any other format for this project only (in relation to audio/booklet purchases, also for profit) – full details will be provided in the contract

  • Upon completion of the musical works, contributors will be credited by James as ‘authors’ of the words through GEMA and any royalties through live/radio performance automatically distributed through that system if you are registered with a performing rights organisation such as PRS, GEMA, ASCAP etc. by doing this, contributors are able to receive both the one off payment for the new work and any continued royalties that may arise from performance or broadcast

  • Contributors will not receive any share of audio/physical/download sales or concert ticket sales relating to this project

  • With approval, all contributors from the open call and shortlist stages will be credited in the digital download edition of the final work alongside one link to their work/portfolio/website etc. – please select this option in the application form if you wish to be included

  • The final 6 contributors will receive appropriate credit in the album track listings, physical and digital download editions of the final work and agree to send one press photo with photographer credit and a biography that is available to use in this project without restriction

  • Every contributor from the first stage onwards will receive a free digital download of the project. Each of the final 6 contributors will receive a printed copy of the book (including postage up to 15 euros) plus a digital download

COMMISSION FEES AND FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY:

  • Each of the 6 final contributors selected from the shortlist will receive a commission fee of 100 euros from James plus a further 100 euros from the crowdfunding campaign – in the event that the crowdfunding campaign does not reach its target, the contributors will still receive the agreed amounts

  • The other 6 people from the 12 shortlisted will receive a fee of 50 euros from James for their time and contribution

  • This project is partly enabled by the support provided from the Berlin State scholarship ‘Kulturprojekte Berlin’, full details are available at https://stipendium.kulturprojekte.berlin/de/stipendien/

https://jamesbanner.com/callfortexts/

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2021 Kundiman Mentorship Lab

Kundiman

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: This program will support nine NYC–based emerging artists (3 writers in each genre of Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, & Poetry) for a six-month mentorship program from August 2021–January 2022. This lab will include mentorship support from established artists as well as writing workshops, craft classes, and a culminating reading open to the public. Kundiman has long been a source of community and support for Asian American writers, and we’re excited to offer this space of close collaboration and community guidance.

Mentorship Fellows receive a $1000 stipend, individual mentoring sessions with the Mentor in their genre, six Craft Classes, and six Workshops. To encourage learning and community across genres, the Craft Classes will include fellows from all three genres. The Workshops will be conducted within specific genres.

Due to current health concerns, the 2021 Mentorship Lab will take place remotely, with a possible in-person reading in February 2022. However, applicants must be residents of New York City in order to participate, due to the nature of our grant.

We are thrilled to have the following writers serving as Mentors this year:

  • Rajesh Parameswaran: Fiction

  • Larissa Pham: Creative Nonfiction

  • Arm Choi Wild: Poetry

ELIGIBILITY: The Mentorship Lab is open to emerging writers who self-identify as Asian American. Writers must not have published a full-length book by the conclusion of the Lab, and cannot be enrolled in a degree-granting program during the time of the Mentorship Lab. Writers must be residents of the five boroughs of New York City, and be living in NYC for the full period of the Mentorship Lab. 

Mentorship Lab will meet virtually on biweekly Wednesday evenings from 6:30–9:00 PM ET from August 2021–January 2022. Please make sure these times will work for you before applying. A full calendar will be sent out upon acceptance.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MENTORSHIP FELLOWS:

  • Meet with entire cohort for introductory meeting in August 2021, and closing meeting in January 2022

  • Participate in biweekly 30-minute check-ins with Mentors from August 2021–January 2022, via phone or Skype

  • Attend all 6 Craft Classes and 6 Writing Workshops on biweekly Wednesdays from August–January 2022

  • Participate in culminating public reading in February 2022

http://www.kundiman.org/mentorship-lab

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CALL FOR Submissions

Boom California

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: Boom California embraces work in many different formats, although we normally publish the short and long-form essays, which are refereed through a double-blind peer review process. We invite written, photographic, artistic, and multimedia submissions in all formats and lengths, with essays from 800 to approximately 8,000 words.

Topics of particular interest to Boom California include:

  • Immigration

  • Race

  • Inequality

  • Social Justice

  • Gender

  • Queer Studies

  • Labor

  • Latinx Population and Culture

  • Asian American Population and Culture

  • African American Population and Culture

  • Poverty

  • Social Movements

Within and across these topics, our goal is to highlight California within broader global contexts, exploring them through various underexplored cultural modalities, including but not limited to expressions in history, religion, food, the environment, crime, music, film, media, and elsewhere.

Boom California accepts the following types of content:

  • Scholarly essays – short form (800–2,000 words) and long form (5,000-10,000 words)

  • Reviews – critical engagement with significant books, media, exhibits, events, etc. (1,000–2,000 words)

  • Interviews – engaging leading figures in California culture or history

  • Portraits – portraits of contemporary and historical artists, writers, activists, and cultural producers (2,000 words)

  • Postcards – creative non-fiction stories grounded in a particular place (2,000 words)

  • Photo/art essays – generally between 8 and 12 images with an introduction, making a contribution to the distinct visual representation of California

If you would like to pitch an article or idea, please email boom@ucpress.edu with a short 100-word proposal. Articles that are under consideration by another publication or that have been published elsewhere will not be considered, although we will consider excerpts from recent and forthcoming books on California culture.

https://boomcalifornia.org/submissions/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SUMMERTIME ISSUE

Split Lip Magazine

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: Split Lip Magazine is publishing a special summertime-themed issue for Black Voices, edited by our very own Tyrese Coleman!

GUIDELINES:

  • Theme: Summertime

  • Issue launch: June 15, 2021

  • What we’re looking for: poetry, memoir, flash, fiction, art

  • Word limits: 1000 words for flash, 2000 words for memoir, 1000-3000 words for fiction

We will only accept work from Black authors/artists for this issue. If you are not Black, please do not submit your work to this submissions category; we will not publish it in this special Black Voices issue.

PAYMENT: Our standard rates apply ($50 per piece)

READERS: Jane Josée Link, Ashley Monique Lee, Cree Pettaway

https://splitlipthemag.com/call-for-submissions-summertime-issue

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Rising Writer Prize in Fiction

Autumn House

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: The Rising Writer Prize in Fiction is for a first full-length book of fiction by an author 36 years old or younger. Autumn House believes in supporting the work of younger, less-established writers who will become the voices of an emerging generation.

For the 2021 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Maryse Meijer. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $1,000.

  • Must be the author’s first full-length book

  • We accept short story collections, novels, and novellas

  • Authors must be 36 years old or younger in this calendar year

  • The winners will receive book publication, $500 advance against royalties, and a $500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book

  • All finalists will be considered for publication

  • Submissions should be approximately 150-250 pages (37,500-62,500 words)

  • The reading fee is $25 (We will waive the submission fee for anyone undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Please reach out, and we’ll step you through the submission process)

  • Please don’t include your name anywhere on the actual MS

  • Include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable

  • Feel free to include a TOC and acknowledgments page

  • Simultaneous submissions permitted.

https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/rising-writer-prize-in-fiction/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Variety Pack

DEADLINE: January 15, 2021

INFO: Variety Pack is OPEN for submissions until 01/15/21, for our ISSUE #04.

GUIDELINES: Please greet the editors! Our names or “Hey editors” is fine, include a word-count for all fiction and non-fiction in the email body, include a brief 3rd person bio including your pronouns and any social media handles you have (Instagram & twitter).

Please continue below to find more specific guidelines for each genre.

ALSO: In an effort to expand accessibility for all differently-abled folks we will be adding an audio option to all of those who we accept for publication. In this option, either we can have a voice over actor read your work or you can send us an mp3/wav. Include your preference in the body of the email.

Fiction – We want something short that kicks through the door and pushes against the literary grain. We crave gripping, haunting work that is hard to turn away from once we dig in. We accept both genre and literary work.

Flash Fiction – Up to 1,000. Flash fiction should be sent to varietypackflashfiction@gmail.com.

Short Fiction –  Between 1,001 and 9,000 words  should be sent to varietypackshortfiction@gmail.com.

Preferred format is Times New Roman, double spaced, 12-point font.

Non-Fiction – Send us your cultural criticisms, immersive journalism, memoirs, creative non-fiction (CNF), and essays.

Send up to 3 NF pieces, a maximum of 5,000 words to varietypacknonfiction@gmail.com. Please do not exceed 1,500 words per piece unless solicited by editor. Please include word count in the body of your email.

Preferred format is Times New Roman, double spaced, 12-point font.

Poetry – For poetry, like our love of narrative prose, the aesthetic we have has a broad and inclusive atlas. We are creatures of eclectic habit. We want poems that redefine the traditional forms of poetry. Feel free to send us haikus, ghazals, senryus, sestinas, sonnets, elegies, odes, among others, as long as they fit the spirit of what we’re about. If your style leans more on the experimental side of the pond, send us your confessions, erasures, dada, maybe visual poetry, or anything you think will work against the norms of literary canon entirely, feel free to send it our way.

Send up to 4 poems, to varietypackpoetry@gmail.com.

Preferred format is Times New Roman, single spaced, 12-point font.

Reviews/Interviews – We are taking in-depth reviews, review essays, and interviews. We do not believe in ranking a literary work or posing negative criticisms on the work of writers. We welcome music reviews (either albums or live shows), book reviews, film reviews, TV reviews, art reviews, theatre reviews. However, we aren’t looking for praises either, rather works that explain why a manuscript or a series is worthy of such.

ALSO this should be clarified, but due to the fact we only have one reviewer, at this time, we are not accepting works to review, but solely the reviews themselves, please keep this in mind when you submit, that WE WILL NO LONGER BE OPEN TO REVIEW UNSOLICITED WORK.

Please send us your most insightful reviews from 100 – 2,500 words (although aren’t sticklers for word count on these, depending on the content) for any review to varietypackreviews@gmail.com.

Preferred format is Times New Roman, single spaced, 12-point font.

Visual Arts – We are now taking visual arts submissions for future on-site features as well as our issues. Send us your finest collages, illustrations, comics, napkin sketches, photographs and/or anything else you want to submit. Whether it’s a more traditional style or an experimental take we welcome all styles to our forefront.

Please send us your latest masterpieces at varietypackart@gmail.com.

https://varietypack.net/submissions-2/

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Kim Wall Memorial Fund 2021

International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF)

DEADLINE: January 16, 2021, at 11:59pm EST

INFO: The IWMF's Kim Wall Memorial Fund will provide two $5,000 grants to journalists whose work embodies the spirit of Kim’s reporting. The grant will fund a woman reporter covering subculture, broadly defined, and what Kim liked to call “the undercurrents of rebellion.” Kim wanted more women to be out in the world, brushing up against life, and the Kim Wall Memorial Fund honors this legacy.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Affiliated or freelance women-identifying or non-binary journalists with three (3) or more years of professional experience working in news media from anywhere in the world. Internships do not count toward professional experience.

  • Non-native English speakers must have excellent written and verbal English skills in order to fully participate in and benefit from the program.

  • Applicant must be able to show proof of interest from an editor or have a proven track record of publication in prominent media outlets.

  • Grants will be awarded to cover reporting-related costs including travel (flights, ground transportation, drivers), logistics, insurance, visa fees, and payment for fixers/translators.

The IWMF believes that gender does not conform to one notion. We are inclusive of all journalists who identify as women, which includes trans women, and non-binary people.

The IWMF accepts applications once a year. Please keep this is mind when creating proposed project timelines. Due to the large influx of applications, the IWMF cannot answer questions by phone nor can we consider time-sensitive proposals. Please refer to the application closing date for each application cycle and expect grants to be disseminated 6 – 10 weeks following the application close.

https://iwmf.submittable.com/submit/a91f25da-c678-403d-a959-c860e97340a5/kim-wall-memorial-fund-2021

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SHORT STORY COMPETITION: Caribbean writers

Listwa Publishing

DEADLINE: January 17, 2021

INFO: Calling all Caribbean writers! Do you love to write? Ever wanted your work published? Have a passion for storytelling?

Here is your chance to put your into words how 2020 affected you and share it with the world. Listwa Publishing is accepting submissions for its short story competition. The theme: “2020 - The Year That Changed Everything.”

Submit your stories to: submissions.listwa@gmail.com

HOW TO ENTER:

Please attach the following information to your entry.

  • Name

  • Age

  • Telephone Number

  • Postal Address

  • Email Address

GUIDELINES:

  • Entry must be between 2,500 - 5,000 words

  • Must be 18-33 years to participate

  • Genre: Non Fiction, Creative Non Fiction

  • Must be a citizen of an English speaking Caribbean country

  • Email Subject: SUBMISSIONS 2020

https://twitter.com/ListwaP/status/1341178128262164480

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Open Call for Submissions: Issue 2

SALIMA Magazine

DEADLINE: January 17, 2021, at 11:59pm

INFO: SALIMA is now accepting submissions for Issue 002!

For it’s second issue, SALIMA is dedicating it’s pages to the thoughts, art and musings of BIPOC youth. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color and is an acronym that is often used to designate when certain spaces and opportunities prioritize the voices of those folx. SALIMA is deeply inspired by BIPOC youth and is excited that our second issue will highlight the amazing work being done by this world’s young people.

The theme for this youth-driven issue is UNPLUGGING.

Like past SALIMA themes, our hope is that folx will take this word in lots of different directions. From the literal to the metaphorical to the metaphysical – what does it mean to you to unplug?

As many of us know, there are definitions and meanings we make from words that don’t exist in dictionaries, but this is how the word “unplug” is defined: to disconnect an electrical device; remove an obstacle or blockage; to relax by disengaging from normal activities.

Maybe you have a story that falls into the literal category, forgetting to unplug a device before leaving for school and stressing about it during class. Maybe you’re more drawn to the metaphysical – how do we unplug from the things we can’t see or touch? Is it even possible to truly unplug in the world we all currently live in, and what did it mean to unplug 200 years ago?

This theme is merely a launching pad for your innovative imaginations.

We can’t wait to see where you take it! We are taking submissions for many sections, including Reviews, Visual Art, Writing, Recipes, Advice Queries, as well as song suggestions for an Unplugging inspired Playlist.

Tell your friends, and feel free to email salimamagazine@wccw.us with any questions.

https://airtable.com/shrA4P5eq0yLvuE5V

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Immigrant Creative Fellowship

Define American

DEADLINE: January 18, 2021

INFO: This fellowship supports immigrant creatives working in narrative art forms as they build their professional practice and network. Recognizing the unique hurdles that immigrant creatives in these fields may face, the six fellows selected for the Define American Creative Fellowship will participate in workshops and conversations around furthering their network and impact, be connected with additional resources, and supported in their community engagement efforts.

The Define American Creative Fellowship is open to creatives in narrative-oriented art forms (writing, filmmaking, visual storytelling, theater, illustration, spoken word, digital journalism, etc.) with at least some experience (professional or amateur) in their chosen medium. This program is uniquely suited to supporting artists who have a deep commitment to their local communities and further developing their creative practice as they shape narratives of American identity.

NOTE: In 2021, the fellowship will be all virtual.

Fellows will receive:

  • $5,000 stipend

  • Regular coaching check-ins with Define American staff

  • Professional development workshops and facilitated conversations

  • Tools to build community collaborations

  • Introductions to experienced creatives in their field

  • Opportunity to apply for additional project-based funding

Application process:

Who should apply?

  • Creatives in narrative-oriented art forms (writing, filmmaking, illustration, spoken word, etc.) with some amount of experience in their field.

  • Immigrant Americans, regardless of current immigration status — undocumented, DACAmented, naturalized citizens, green card holders, refugees, asylum seekers, etc

  • Creatives that can commit to participating in at least 6–8 90-minute workshops and facilitated conversations

  • Creatives with a commitment to their local communities

  • Creatives who will not be enrolled in a degree-seeking program during the length of this fellowship (March – September 2021)

  • Must be at least 18 years old at time of application

https://www.defineamerican.com/fellowship

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Wurlitzer Foundation RESIDENCY

Helene Wurlitzer Foundation

DEADLINE: January 18, 2021

INFO: The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico (HWF) is a private, 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational and charitable organization committed to supporting the arts. Founded in 1954, the HWF manages one of the oldest artist residency programs in the USA and is located on fifteen acres in the heart of Taos, New Mexico, a multicultural community renowned for its popularity with artists.

The Foundation offers three months of rent-free and utility-paid housing to people who specialize in the creative arts. Our eleven artist casitas, or guest houses, are fully furnished and provide residents with a peaceful setting in which to pursue their creative endeavors.

The Foundation accepts applications from painters, poets, sculptors, writers, playwrights, screenwriters, composers, photographers, and filmmakers of national and international origin.

Applications are reviewed by a selection committee consisting of professionals who specialize in the artistic discipline of the applicant. Numerous jurors serve on committees for each: visual arts, music composers, writers, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers. Jurors, who know nothing about the artist's demographics, score in five categories based purely on the merit of the applicant's creative work samples.

Artists in residence have no imposed expectations, quotas, or requirements during their stay on the HWF campus. The HWF’s residency program provides artists with the time and space to create, which in turn enriches the artistic community and culture locally and abroad.

GUIDELINES:

Literary artists may upload writing samples in .pdf format using the application form above. Alternatively, literary artists may choose to mail hard-copies. Include a cover sheet containing your contact info and table of contents, but please omit names and contact info on the writing samples themselves.
• Writers: samples should not exceed 35 double-spaced pages
• Poets: a maximum of six poems.
• Playwrights: include one complete play.
• Screenwriters: include one complete screenplay.

Digital work samples are accepted and encouraged for applications from visual artists and composers. Applicants should prepare to submit five work sample files when filling out the online application form. Acceptable file types for images include jpg, gif and png. Accepted types for audio files are mp3 and m4a.

Filmmakers must mail a DVD or USB-drive containing up to 30 minutes of video which represents no more than five different samples of your work.

APPLICATION FEE: $25

https://wurlitzerfoundation.org/apply

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Podcast Development Program 

Audible

DEADLINE: January 18, 2021

INFO: Share your inventive, immersive, and wholly original idea. We’re exclusively looking for podcasts with an episodic format and a narrative arc (i.e., a beginning, middle, and end…though not necessarily in that order). We’re seeking a diversity not only of genres — from scripted fiction and comedy, to drama, documentary, and investigative journalism — but of perspectives, cultures, regions, and identities. While we do enjoy conversational shows and hosted interviews, we’re currently accepting submissions for narrative podcasts only.

Whether you’re a debut talent with a personal story, a subject matter expert, or a seasoned producer, your unique point of view is everything. You should have a strong creative vision, a willingness to take risks, and a collaborative approach, as you’ll work closely with the Audible team to bring your creation to life. We’re especially keen on partnering with storytellers from a diverse array of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

If your project is selected and meets our eligibility criteria, Audible will:

  • Award you a $10K commissioning fee to develop your idea into a fully produced podcast pilot or program

  • Cover production costs

  • Provide editorial and script guidance, as well as production and casting expertise

  • Give you the use of our state-of-the-art production equipment and resources

  • Facilitate mentorship and peer networking opportunities

  • Release your podcast to millions of Audible listeners

https://www.audible.com/ep/podcast-development-program

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2021 Story Lab Workshop Application

NPR

DEADLINE: January 20, 2021, at 11:59pm PT

INFO: We are excited to announce that NPR’s Story Lab Workshop has opened for another round of applications. Over the last 5 years, the Story Lab Workshop has supported dozens of teams from across the country with direct mentorship, targeted training and partnership opportunities. NPR’s goal is to help teams create impactful audio projects, as part of NPR’s strategic plan to realize the power of our local/national network to meet the on-demand needs of our audience.

This year, we are accepting applications from NPR Member stations, independent producers and NPR staff. We are seeking submissions for ambitious podcasts, special series, and other long-form audio projects that exhibit high-impact journalism and creative storytelling.

In particular, Story Lab is looking to support NPR’s goal to attract new and diverse audiences. As NPR CEO John Lansing put it, “We embrace the responsibility and power we have to reflect the fullest truth of our diverse nation in our content, and to live up to the highest ideals of inclusion in our company.” Specifically, NPR is looking to grow Black and Latinx audiences with stories that serve listeners across the country.

Here’s the criteria that we’ll use to evaluate submissions:

  • In the spirit of public media, we’re looking for projects that expand our audiences and the communities we serve.

  • We will only consider new, original projects (not existing podcasts or second seasons).

  • We’re open to regional stories with national importance but also hyperlocal projects.

  • We’ll consider candidates’ prior experience, commitment to collaboration, and ability to participate. In particular, please let us know the resources you have so we can be sure the project is feasible.

  • Traditionally we’ve focused on narrative and investigative podcasts. Those still have preference but we are also open to news, comedy, arts and entertainment, and interview formats.

  • We will prioritize submissions that bring diverse voices and approaches to the process and are aligned with NPR’s strategic priority to grow Black and Latinx audiences.Again, we will prioritize submissions featuring racial/ethnic diversity.

A panel of NPR news managers, editors and producers, as well as representatives from AIR, will evaluate the submissions. If your team becomes a finalist, we will ask for a letter of support from your station or supervisor.

If your project is selected, participants can expect:

  • Mentorship: Your team will be paired with mentors at NPR who will be available to offer editorial guidance and connect you with resources at NPR. We thank our partners at AIR for agreeing to help mentor independent teams, if selected.

  • Online Workshop Sessions and Training: NPR will provide sessions via video conferencing on a range of topics from managing workflow to marketing and distribution.

  • Networking and Collaboration: The selected teams will meet each other and NPR staff virtually to share advice and best practices.

  • Partnership opportunities: The main purpose is providing training and support. While not guaranteed, previous partnership opportunities have included:

  • NPR partnership in producing and distributing a podcast (In 2020, we distributed Workshop podcasts Louder Than A Riot and No Compromise. In 2021, we will distribute KQED’s Unsealed (working title)).

  • Featuring a station podcast on an NPR podcast

  • Airing pieces from a podcast on NPR news magazines

To apply, sign in or create a submittable account below and the form will appear. We will let the selected teams know the week of February 15. The Workshop will take place over six months and starts in the spring.

https://nprstorylab.submittable.com/submit/180939/2021-story-lab-workshop-application

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Marías at Sampaguitas

DEADLINE: January 22, 2021

INFO: Marías at Sampaguitas — online lit mag uplifting f/pilipino/a/x folks — is currently open for general submissions. They seek poetry, flash fiction, essays, letters, prose, and or reviews.

GUIDELINES:

  • Poetry: Please send no more than three poems.

  • Letters & Prose / Flash Fiction: Please send no more than two pieces. Please do not let word count exceed 1,500 words.

  • Creative Non-Fiction / Essays / Reviews: Please send no more than one essay/review at a time. If you are interested in sending multiple reviews, please withhold from submitting the second essay/review until after you’ve received a response regarding the first review. Please do not let word count exceed 1,500 words. 

  • Interview Requests: Please send your email request to our Interview Editor, Nazli Karabıyıkoğlu at nazlikarabiyikoglu@gmail.com, and please copy mariasatsampaguitas@gmail.com. Nazli uses she/her pronouns. If you wish to use a prefix, please use Mx. or Ms. In the body, please introduce yourself and how an interview would benefit you. Please also describe your craft (e.g. fiction writer, poet, photographer, etc.) and provide either links to a portfolio/website or attached Word Docs/PDFs of your work. Please include any social media handles within the short, third-person author bio.

Accepted work will be published online on the Marías at Sampaguitas website. Please only submit original work, unpublished elsewhere. Simultaneous submissions are accepted; however, please let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere. Unfortunately, we are unable to pay contributors at this time.

https://mariasatsampaguitas.wixsite.com/marias/general-submissions

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Hurston/Wright College Awards

Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation

DEADLINE: January 29, 2021

INFO: The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation is proud to host the annual Hurston/Wright Awards for College Writers, which is the only award of its kind that recognizes Black college writers. The award is the foundation’s first program. It was initiated to support emerging Black artists in fiction and poetry enrolled full-time in an undergraduate or graduate school program anywhere in the United States.   
Submissions for the award open October 1, 2020 and close January 29, 2021. Submissions will be judged by distinguished published authors in fiction and poetry. Writers will be notified in March whether their submissions were accepted or not accepted. Awards, which include a cash prize, will be announced in May. Award winners will be invited to attend the Legacy Award ceremony that is hosted in October in Washington, DC.
Amistad, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers sponsors the award.

Requirements:

  • Black writers who are full-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs at a college or university in the United States are eligible to submit a work of fiction or poetry. They must be enrolled at the time of submission. Students in online-only courses are not eligible.

  • Writers who have published books, including poetry chapbooks or fiction narratives, through any publishing platform, are not eligible.

  • All work submitted must be original and unpublished at the time of submission. Hurston/Wright does not accept simultaneous submissions.

  • Author name and contact information should not appear on the submission.

  • Winning works may be published in whole or in part by Hurston/Wright online or print. Your submission gives the Hurston/Wright Foundation permission to publish an excerpt or the entire work. The author retains all rights.

  • Hurston/Wright maintains the right to decline any submission not deemed eligible.

Format Guidelines
The original creative work submitted should be formatted as follows:

Fiction:

  • No more than 20 pages of fiction, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and within 1-inch margins.

  • Put title of the work on each page of the submission.

  • Do not put the author’s name on the pages of the work. Provide a separate page with the title of the work, name and contact information of author, school and year of study.

 Poetry:

  • Maximum of 3 poems.

  • The submission must total at least 120 lines or more.

  • Do not include the author’s name on the pages of poetry. Provide a separate page with the title of the work, name and contact information of author, school and year of study.

SUBMISSION FEE: $25

https://hurstonwrightfoundation.submittable.com/submit/171743/hurston-wright-college-awards-submissions-2021

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2021 Writing Fellowships

A Public Space

DEADLINE: January 31, 2021

INFO: We are pleased to announce that applications will open on January 1, 2021, for the 2021 A Public Space Writing Fellowships. ​The aim of these fellowships is to seek out and support writers who embrace risk in their work and their own singular vision.

Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply.

Three fellowships will be awarded, which will include:

— six months of editorial support from A Public Space editors to prepare a piece for publication in the magazine;
— a $1,000 honorarium;
— the opportunity to meet virtually with members of the publishing community, including agents, editors, and published writers;
— the opportunity to participate in a public reading and conversation with A Public Space editors and contributors.

ELIGIBILITY: ​Only writers who have not yet published or been contracted to write a book-length work are eligible. International applicants are encouraged to apply, but we are only able to consider submissions in English. Only one submission per person is allowed. Please do not submit a piece you have previously submitted to A Public Space, either through the Fellowship category, the General Submissions category, or an Open Call. A Public Space reserves the right to invite submissions.

TIMELINE: Submittable will be open for Fellowship submissions from January 1 – January 31, 2021, only. Submissions for the Fellowships close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on January 31, 2021. Successful applicants will be informed no later than March 15, 2021 The fellowship period will be April 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021.

GUIDELINES: Only electronic submissions will be considered. Applications must be submitted through the Fellowship category in Submittable. 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, be it recently or long ago; 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. (One of the three selected fellows will be a New York City writer.)
— One previously unpublished prose piece. There is no word-count requirement. If selected, the piece submitted is the piece that will be published in the magazine.
—We accept simultaneous submissions, but please note that if your piece is accepted elsewhere, you will be required to withdraw your entire application; replacement submissions will not be accepted once the deadline has passed.

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.

APPLICATION FEE: $0

https://apublicspace.org/news/detail/the-2021-a-public-space-fellowships?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=660e5e2627-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_12_03_05_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6566a6ed1a-660e5e2627-68639565

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2021 Editorial Fellowships

A Public Space

DEADLINE: January 31, 2021

INFO: A Public Space is pleased to announce that applications for the 2021 Editorial Fellowship, a program for aspiring editors, will open on January 1. It is our hope to support the next generation of editors who will offer a more diverse publishing community—culturally, aesthetically, economically.

The Fellowship will offer a curriculum that integrates education, experience, mentorship, and the opportunity for innovation. The Fellow will receive training in all aspects of editing, from evaluating submissions through to publication of a piece. As part of the program, they will also learn about publishing history, including looking at examples of writer-editor interactions and the role of the editor in a changing landscape.

This is a nine-month program, from March 15 through December 15. A Public Space is based in New York City. The staff is expected to work virtually in 2021, but the Editorial Fellow must be a resident of New York City. They will participate in all aspects of our publishing programs, including evaluation, curation, editing, production, marketing, publicity, circulation, and distribution. They will work closely with the senior editorial staff on both the magazine and book imprint; and will have the opportunity to meet leading figures in the publishing community. Fellows will also curate a series of Master Classes with editors as part of A Public Space’s academy.

COMPENSATION: $10,000 stipend, to be paid bi-weekly

APPLICATION:

Eligibility: A strong interest in literary publishing and a commitment to promoting literature are the only prerequisites. Preference will be given to aspiring editors who have not worked extensively in literary publishing, and who may have limited access to career opportunities in the industry. Candidates outside of New York City are encouraged to apply, but A Public Space cannot fund relocation expenses. A Public Space reserves the right to invite candidates. Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to sponsor work visas.

Timeline: Submittable will be open for Editorial Fellowship submissions between January 1–January 31, 2021. Submissions for the Fellowships close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on January 31. Successful applicants will be informed no later than March 1, 2021. The Fellowship will begin March 15, 2021.

Procedure: Only electronic submissions will be considered. Applications must be submitted through the Editorial Fellowship category in Submittable. Please submit the following:

— A cover letter describing your interest in the Editorial Fellowship; how you envision the role of an editor; the influences and experience that you will bring to your work as an editor; and your goals for the fellowship and beyond the fellowship.
— A CV
— A short (one page or less) excerpt from a work by a non-establishment writer; and a brief statement telling us why this writer and passage appeals, and why you feel work such as this should be championed by editors.
— A short (one page or less) review of a book you read recently. Please include how you learned about the book—whether from a review, social media, a bookstore or library recommendation, a chance encounter.
— Please also include where you heard about the Editorial Fellowship.

Note that we only accept PDF or Word files (.doc and .docx). Please submit the cover letter, CV, excerpt, and review as one file. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

APPLICATION FEE: $0

https://apublicspace.org/news/detail/the-2021-a-public-space-editorial-fellowships?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=660e5e2627-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_12_03_05_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6566a6ed1a-660e5e2627-68639565

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WOMEN IN THE ARTS GRANTS

Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc.

DEADLINE: January 31, 2021

INFO: The Barbara Deming Memorial Fund offers small support grants ($500 - $1500) to individual feminist women in the arts who are citizens with primary residence in the US and Canada.

Applications from women artists and writers (cis and transgender) who:

  • Exhibit high quality and originality in their work.

  • Use feminism as their central interpretive lens.

  • Value both personal and political changes that stand against the limitations and controls exerted against women while aiming at optimum freedom and agency for women.

  • Validate differences that overlap with gender such as race, ethnicity, and class.

  • Express an inclusive vision of social justice while focusing on justice for women.

We are interested in funding projects which you have begun or are well underway, and for which you have substantial work to show. Please take time to carefully read the guidelines and application form on Submittable.

Basic Application:  

  1. Project description (max. 400 words)

  2. Budget

  3. Description explaining why you are applying to a feminist fund (max. 100 words)

  4. Resume (max. 2 pages)

  5. Project Samples

Project Samples by Category:

Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction - Submit 10-15 pages, using 12-point type. Please paginate and include your name and project title in the top right corner of each page. Double-space for fiction and nonfiction submissions.

 https://demingfund.org/apply-pd-11.php

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2021 BOOK PRIZE

Nervous Ghost Press

DEADLINE: January 31, 2021

INFO: Nervous Ghost Press — an independent publisher committed to publishing quality work regardless of race, age, gender, sexuality, or education — announces its 2021 Book Prize.

Prose Prize/ Guidelines: 

  • $1000 Cash

  • Publication by Nervous Ghost Press

  • 10 Author Copies

  • California Reading Tour (travel expenses paid for in full or in part by the cash prize)

  • Entry Fee: $24

  • Single author manuscript, original, previously unpublished writing between 50,000 and 100,000 words

*All genres considered except for work in translation

Poetry Prize/ Guidelines:

  • $1000 Cash

  • Publication by Nervous Ghost Press

  • 10 Author Copies

  • California Reading Tour (travel expenses paid for in full or in part by the cash prize)

  • Entry Fee: $24

  • Single author manuscript, original, previously unpublished writing between 48 and 128 pages​

*All genres considered except for work in translation

https://www.nervousghostpress.com/prize-submission-guidelines

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ‘EVERY MOTHER IS A FUTURIST’ ISSUE

Raising Mothers

DEADLINE: February 1, 2021

INFO: For our fourth issue, Raising Mothers is seeking poetry, short fiction, essays, art, multimedia, and hybrid work by Black, Indigenous, or POC and colonized people of color that speak to the layered intricacies of parenthood from the perspective of the parent or the (now adult) child.

Work should relate or respond to Indigenous/Afro/ Asian/ Latin futurisms, and/or imagining the de-colonial (future, present, or past). Speculative and non-speculative work are both welcome. Imagine the future, re-imagine the past or present. Let’s talk about what future we’re fighting for. What ways will we honor and raise our children, ourselves and our communities in this new world?

We want any genre, any approach that includes the above, or is not included.

http://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/call-for-work/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: LOVERS! ISSUE

perhappened mag

DEADLINE: February 1, 2021

INFO: we here at perhappened mag strive to publish your truth, whatever it looks like. tell us your story how only you know best. while we accept work from all, we especially seek pieces from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and/or otherwise marginalized contributors.

each monthly issue of perhappened mag follows a particular theme/prompt. the current prompt word or phrase is LOVERS! give us your unconventional love letters, your first kisses, your worst goodbyes, the hands you wish you'd held, the summer you'll always remember. send us your hurt, your yearning, and your joy in equal measure. make our hearts skip a beat. ♡

please submit only one (1) piece per email that fits the theme as closely or loosely as you'd like. there are no word limits!

FEES:

  • tip jar submissions ($3)

  • 24-hour expedited decisions ($5)

  • editorial feedback ($10/pg)

https://www.perhappened.com/submit.html

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NONFICTION ESSAYS / MEMOIR

Gay Mag

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: From writer, author and cultural critic Roxane Gay:

I am starting a new project, part of which will include publishing an emerging writer twice a month, starting in January 2021. I define emerging writer as someone with fewer than three article/essay/short story publications and no published books or book contracts.

Please submit your best nonfiction and nonfiction only. I am interested in literary essays and memoir. Please submit only one essay at a time. Essays should be between 1500 and 3000 words.

I am interested in thoughtful essays, beautiful, intelligent writing, deep explorations, timelessness, and challenging conventional thinking without being cheap and lazy. I am interested in provocative work but we are not interested in senseless provocation. You don't have to cannibalize yourself to tell a compelling story. The essays in Unruly Bodies might give you a sense of what I like but I am always open to being surprised. I am not looking to publish anew what I've already published.

Again, I am only interested in nonfiction, which is to say no poetry, fiction, or anything else that is not nonfiction. 

We respond to all submissions, generally within six weeks.

PAYMENT: All essays will be paid a flat fee of $2,000.

https://gay.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Chaotic Merge

DEADLINE: Rolling

INFO: Chaotic Merge is looking for submissions from all different forms of artist. We seek work that is adventurous and test the border of art and structure. Don't be afraid to mess with everything you have ever learned in your lives. We write to have fun!We encourage voice of people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community to submit their work.

We are open for submissions all year round.*We strongly suggest following all guidelines upon submitting. 

GUIDELINES:

  • Submit all work to ChaoticMergeMagazine@gmail.com

  • Title your email subject as follows: Full name_Genre_Title of work. Anything labelled otherwise will not be read.

  • Depending on your genre, please limit each submission to:

    • Up to 5 unpublished poems (a non-English work & its English translation count as one poem submission)

    • 2 unpublished short fiction piece (up to 5,000 words) 

    • Up to 5 unpublished art/photographs/ illustrations in pdf, png, and jpeg or

    • 2 unpublished Screenplay or Play (up to 10-15 pages) 

  • All work submitted should be accompanied by a short author bio between 50 and 100 words, a author/creator photo in jpg, and your pronouns.While we accept simultaneous submissions, do indicate in your email that this is a simultaneous submission, and write in to us immediately to withdraw your work once it has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Publication Rights: Chaotic Merge Magazine publishes only unpublished work, unless we ourselves request for them. By submitting your work, you affirm that you are the sole author and maintain all rights for your work. By submitting your work, you authorize Chaotic Merge Magazine to publish your work in both its e-journal and online platforms.

https://chaoticmergemagazine.com/submit/


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ONGOING

FELLOWSHIP FOR BIPOC EDITORS

Shenandoah

INFO: In order for structural change to happen in the predominantly white publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book publishers to literary magazines like ours. We recognize that if we want Black writers, Indigenous writers, and other writers of color to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core. With this in mind, we’re excited to announce a new initiative: The Shenandoah Fellowship for BIPOC Editors.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new BIPOC voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and forge connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Requirements and Eligibility

A single fellow will be selected for each issue of Shenandoah going forward, alternating genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics) as we see fit. Fellows will choose two–three pieces of prose, five–ten poems, or two–three comic artists for their issue; these authors will be paid at the same rates as other Shenandoah authors ($100 per poem; $50 per comic panel; $100 for every thousand words of prose—for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author). Each fellow will receive a $1000 honorarium for their work. We welcome writers and editors of all experience levels. No previous editorial experience is necessary, but we are looking for applicants who are passionate and informed about the literary community. We welcome candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The Application

  1. In 500 words or fewer, describe why this fellowship would be valuable to you, addressing what you think is the role and value of a literary magazine in the publishing ecosystem. Make sure to include your writing and editing experience and the genre you would be most excited to work in (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics).

  2. In 500 words or fewer, tell us about a favorite piece of writing you recently read in a literary magazine in your desired genre. Describe how you found it, who wrote it, its aesthetic attributes, and what you loved about it.

  3. In 500 words or fewer, compose a solicitation email to an emerging writer (who has published no more than one book) who you would love to work with. Include in your email what you admire about this writer’s work and why you would like to work with them.

  4. We'd love to know where you heard about this fellowship, if you don't mind sharing!

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis at https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit. Upload a single document that responds to these prompts separately.

https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit/175611/fellowship-for-bipoc-editors

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Fashion and Race Database

The Fashion and Race Database seeking contributors to publish original content, particularly essays or opinion pieces, and short profiles of Objects that Matter, or profiles of significant fashion figures. We also invite you to submit events and announcements. 

We are currently accepting submissions for publication in 2021:

  • Objects That Matter [500-800 words] - A short profile overview of an object in fashion: both its cultural origins and enumerated examples of its global reach/influence or even appropriation. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website.

    Rate: $295 CAD

  • Profiles [500-800 words] - A profile of select Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) who have shaped the history and business of fashion in the face of structural racism and adversity. Please see the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Essays & Op-Eds [1200-1500 words] - We are looking for essays or opinion pieces that amplify voices and writing of BIPOC scholars, students, artists, archivists, curators, business professionals and more. We are particularly seeking pieces that are timely and address issues or nuances related to fashion and race today. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $540 CAD

  • ‘Our Fashion History’ [500-800 words, 3-5 photos] - Based upon an activity that Founder Kim Jenkins would facilitate during fashion history class or during her ‘Fashion and Justice’ workshops, ‘Our Fashion History’ invites contributors to present an essay that describes 3-5 family/personal photos, ultimately bringing a diverse perspective to the narrative of fashion history. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Call for Research Assistant: Ongoing - The Research Assistant will research, gather, catalog and publish knowledge-rich content, working in tandem with a lead editor. The assistant will not only contribute to this groundbreaking academic and creative platform, they will also acquire advanced research and publishing skills.

    This position is paid and, depending upon the applicant’s circumstances, may be eligible for internship or course credits. Applicants not enrolled at an academic institution are also welcome. This is a remote position but you will be working with team members located in the EST and PST time zones. This is a part time position requiring 10 hours of work per week. Research Assistants are hired for a commitment of 13 weeks. Rate: $33 CAD per hour

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://fashionandrace.org/database/contributors/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Latin American Literature Today

INFO: Latin American Literature Today (LALT) welcomes throughout the year submissions of translated texts (Spanish-English, Brazilian Portuguese-English) of contemporary Latin American prose, verse, interviews, essays, and book reviews.

Furthermore, the journal is committed to foregrounding the work of translators, so we encourage and welcome contributions such as translator’s notes, essays on the art of translation, translation reviews, interviews to translators, as well as translation “previews” from forthcoming book publications.

All translation submissions and questions should be directed to Denise Kripper, our Translation Editor, to translation.lalt@gmail.com. Submissions will be reviewed by the entire LALT editorial committee.

LENGTH OF SUBMISSIONS:

  • Creative prose (fiction and non-fiction) should have a maximum length of 5000 words

  • Poems should be limited to 3 to 5 poems

  • Articles and interviews should have a maximum length of 2,000 to 2,200 words, unless otherwise directed by the editor;

  • Book reviews should have a maximum length of 1,200 words

DEADLINE: Rolling Submissions

http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/submission-guidelines-translators

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hyphen Magazine

INFO: Hyphen Magazine publishes literary fiction of all forms, including stories that blur "genre" lines (literary sci-fi, noir fiction with a strong voice, for example). We generally do not accept novel excerpts unless they stand alone. Asian American themes are not essential though certainly welcome; strong writing and unique voice are considered first and foremost.

  • Send only your best, previously unpublished work. Asian American themes are not essential. We are much more interested in work that incorporates identity than in work that is about identity.

  • Please use 1" margins, 12-pt Times New Roman font.

  • Short stories should be no longer than 5,000 words. A series of short shorts (flash fiction) totaling no more than 5,000 words will also be considered (though not all stories may be taken).

  • Simultaneous submissions (when you send the same submission to us and other publications) are okay as long as you let us know and notify us immediately when a piece has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Multiple submissions are not okay (when you send more than one submission to us in the same genre). If you send more than one story, only the first story will be considered; the others will not be read. Please wait to hear back before submitting again.

  • Submitting to more than one genre at a time is okay (but please send them separately).

Please note:

  • Fiction features alternate between original short stories and novel excerpts. Those looking to have their forthcoming novels excerpted should have their publicist contact the Fiction Editor.

  • Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, and is dependent upon space availability.

  • Reading period can be up to six months. If you have not heard back after six months, feel free to contact the editor.

  • We are able to pay writers $25 per piece upon publication.

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://hyphenmag.submittable.com/submit/77191/fiction-poetry

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

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MICRO/FLASH FAST RESPONSE FOR BIPOC WRITERS

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INTERVENXIONS

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

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SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

VIDA Review

INFO: The VIDA Review is an online literary magazine publishing original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews. 

We are exclusively interested in work by those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); cis and trans women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, nonbinary, and two-spirit people; LGBQIA people; people with disabilities; and people living at the intersections of these identities.

All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

Please send one submission at a time, and please submit only once every 6 months.

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you label them as such and promptly let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

Please note that all submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter and brief third-person biography statement, and that (unless otherwise stated) we ask for First North American Rights to publish writing. Following publication, all rights revert back to the writer; we only ask that you credit the VIDA Review as the place your work first appeared.

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Nonfiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Book Reviews

  • Must be a review for a full-length or chapbook of poetry or prose by a writer from a historically-marginalized community

  • Must be published by small or independent presses

  • Must have been published within the last five years

  • Do not send us a review of your own book

  • Include publisher, price, and page number, as well as the word count of the review at the top of your submission

  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know and withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • No self-published titles are accepted

  • Reviews should be double-spaced and be no more than 1,200 words

PAYMENT: Payment for those accepted will range between $15-$20. We recognize that this is a token amount of money but hope to increase this amount in the future. Payment will be made via PayPal within 2 months of publication.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://thevidareview.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

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SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- DECEMBER 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: A Notebook of Lullabies

Asian American Writers’ Workshop / The Transpacific Literary Project

INFO: In traditions around the world, the lullaby is a liminal space between waking and sleep, consciousness and dream, between the living world and the underworld. In this way, the lullaby is a kind of path that one journeys down when crossing between those worlds. It is the calming voice in your ear as you step closer into the void, the soothing hand that strokes your back as you float into some dark unknown. The lullaby bears this twoness: comfort and death.

In this time of Covid-19, when loss and mortality are daily fixtures of a global consciousness, the twoness of the lullaby feels especially poignant. 

The Transpacific Literary Project is calling for writing and translations that swirl around in lullabies. Possible projects might include translating a traditional lullaby into another form, creating a contemporary lullaby, or analyzing an existing lullaby. We are also interested in writing that embodies the liminal space of the lullaby, that offers comfort in the most morbid way, that sweetly sings of death’s door, that consoles as much as it disturbs.

Recordings and voices are highly encouraged as accompaniments to submissions.

All contributors, writers and translators, will be paid.

Submissions are accepted in any language spoken in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

The Transpacific Literary Project (TLP) is an arm of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) that holds a space for writing and translation from East and Southeast Asia, published on AAWW’s online magazine The Margins. Organized around themed collections of work called notebooks, the project draws connections between emerging and established voices across this expansive region in ways that may reorient reader relationships to languages and literatures, and bring out surprising discussions of representation and relationality, constraint and hierarchy, resistance and refusal to settle within established frames.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/176173/lullabies


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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AFRO-LATINX ANTHOLOGY

Alan Pelaez

INFO: Editor Alan Pelaez Lopez invites contributions to a multi-genre anthology (Title TBA) of contemporary queer and trans Afro-Latinx writers on memory, care, and futurity published by a notable University Press with a slated publication date of 2021.

This collection of writings will serve as a living archive of contemporary literature by queer and trans Afro-Latinx writers. By “Afro-Latinx,” we mean writers who are Black of Latin American and Caribbean descent. This anthology aims to push the boundaries of how we think, accept, deny, or play with the concept of “Latinx.” The final project will not be a survey of recent literature but a gesture towards an Afro-Latinx aesthetic informed by differently Black experiences. Latin America and the Caribbean, as landscapes, as imagined communities, and as diasporic analytics are continually shapeshifting. Black people in, of, and from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas are at the heart of this shapeshifting, but the literature of Afro-Latinx writers is— similarly to Black people across the continent— policed, surveilled, and organized by non-Black entities. This anthology seeks to open, nuance and challenge narratives made about us without us. The anthology is not an explanation of what it means to be a queer and/or trans Black person of Latin American and/or Caribbean descent, but a dialogue of how we work with, through, and against memory, care, and futures.

The anthology seeks to answer:

  • How do queer and/or trans Black writers from Latin America, the Caribbean and their diaspora(s) address memory? How do queer and trans embodiments help us understand and/or question the past, the present, and construct a Black queer and trans future?

  • How does Blackness remember geographies we are no longer inhabiting, those we never inhabited, and those we may never know?

  • What are the textures of caring, being cared for, and accepting care as Black queer and/or trans people?

  • What are the uses of care, love, intimacy, and kinship in queer and/or trans Black spaces?

  • And, how do our genders, sexualities, sexual performances, and rejections of all three serve as worldbuilding embodiments for the future?

Mediums:

  • Creative non-fiction (15 pages max)

  • Fiction (15 pages max)

  • Poetry (Send 3-5 poems, no more than 7 pages)

  • Comics (15 pages max—you can send text submission if it’s not inked yet, or send a full first draft)

  • Plays and choreopoems (15 pages max)

  • Performance essays / documentation (20 pages max including images—you must have permission to use all images submitted.)

What we are looking for from contributors:

We are looking for new work (or pieces that have not appeared in a full-length collection that you have retained the rights to) that address memory, care and futures. All work must be submitted in English and you must be open to working with an editor. Pieces that utilize other languages are welcome as long as the piece is primarily in English. This anthology will not publish work that considers Blackness as a monolithic experience. All published writings will receive a modest honorarium.

Submissions:

Please include your name, contact info, and a 50-word bio.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

http://www.alanpelaez.com/afro-latinx-anthology/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Honey Literary

INFO: Honey Literary’s first issue will debut in Winter 2020/2021. We publish two issues each year, one in winter, and one in summer. Our first reading period opens September 1st and closes December 1st. 

To share your work, please email the respective genre editor and upload your .docx/.pdf files. Include a brief bio with a few sentences about why your work is a good fit for us with our mission statement in mind. 

Please send us your work only once per submission period. Simultaneous submissions are cool as long as you promptly notify us if the work is accepted elsewhere.

Honey Literary accepts and encourages simultaneous submissions, but please let us know immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere. Submit no more than once per submissions period. We only accept unpublished work. Honey Literary retains first publication rights, and upon publication, rights revert back to the author. Please credit Honey Literary as the first publisher if the piece appears elsewhere after publication, which includes, but isn’t limited to other journals, anthologies, chapbooks, and full-length books.   

Poetry:  Send us three to five unpublished pieces at a time. We’ve got big appetites, so more is more. We want the poems that were too weird for workshop. Give us work that is eclectic and absurd and demands to be read aloud. Send us your jigsaw edges and remixes. 

  • Email submissions to Editor Rita Mookerjee: poetry@honeyliterary.com 

Sex, Kink, and the Erotic: Locker room talk is dead; Honey Literary is here for body-positive, kink-friendly content centered around respect and consent. Ideal submissions include but are not limited to confessions, toy/gear reviews, etiquette guides, dirty little secrets, burlesque show recommendations, odes to sideboob, fav strip club snacks, dating app wins (or fails), shibari shoots, erotic vignettes, recaps from the weekend, and that porno script you saved on your old desktop. Honey Literary loves and supports sex workers as well as their art/writing! Show us what’s inside your bedside drawer. 

  • Email submissions to Editor Rita Mookerjee: sex@honeyliterary.com 

Essays: Send us essays that use the personal to explore facets of our current world. From natural history, science, politics, international events, food, culture, and art, we want to see how the personal and public intersect in your work.We’re seeking essays that are elastic, capacious, experimental and exploratory. We welcome memoir, nonfiction, research, lyric meditations, and hybrid work about what stirs your curiosity, what raises your hackles. We especially invite emerging writers and student writers to submit their work.  

  • (750-1000 words) 

  • Email submissions to Editor Avni Vyas: essays@honeyliterary.com 

Hybrid: Do you have work that blurs, defies, or redefines genre? We welcome excerpts and stand alones that may include, but are not limited to: documentary poetics, notes, mappings, marginalia, lists, altars/shrines, collections, audiovisual pieces, prose poetry, letters, invented forms, collaborations, and scholarly projects that are slightly or largely out of touch with institutions. Send enough work to contextualize your project with respect for our time. For example: a bouquet–not the entire meadow.

  • Email submissions to Editor Claire Meuschke: hybrid@honeyliterary.com

Comics: We’re looking for eccentric, experimental, excessive, confessional, instructional, genre-nasty comics pieces (10 pages or less) in any form. Single-panel pieces, excerpts from zines, comics stories without words, comics without pictures, one-offs, doodles, interesting trash, and everything in between. We are particularly open to submissions from members of the LGBTQIAAP+ community.

  • Email submissions to Editor Jessica Q. Stark: comics@honeyliterary.com 

Animals: Kingdom: Animalia. Familiars. Daemons. Protectors. Companions. Predators. Prey. This is a space to submit art & writing about animals real or imagined, pre-historic or future, spineless or silky, friend or foe. Share the work you do with animals; show us the bioluminescent creatures in your lagoon; describe the dreams where your lost pets come to visit you. Highlight conservation work in your habitats. Profile the service animal of the year. Recount the folk tales that made you scared of drain serpents. Tell us about the anteater in the forest, the sandhill cranes in the parking lot, the carabao in the rice field, the angler in the deep. We want your venom, oily feathers, plush fur, mythical beasts, and whale songs.

  • Please submit a maximum of 3 artworks, 3-5 pages for poems, and 10-15 pages for longer pieces.

  • Email submissions to Editor Christina Giarrusso: animals@honeyliterary.com 

Interviews: Honey Literary seeks to conduct interviews that showcase the boundlessness of art and innovation, tapping into the creative’s soul and teasing out the hows and whys of their passions. We want to facilitate interviews that go beyond the typical, robotic back and forth between two parties, but rather a natural, gradual unfurling between people who cherish expression and creation. Whether you’re a singer, writer, visual artist, or culinary chef, Honey Literary wants to know what moves you, what keeps you up at night, who’s in your artistic lineage, and of course, all about your craft. 

  • Email submissions to Editor Zakiya Cowan: interviews@honeyliterary.com

Reviews: Honey Literary is seeking reviews on recently released books, along with art mediums that aren’t typically at the forefront of conversations. From novels, novellas, short story collections, and poetry collections, to graphic novels filled with queer and magical themes (think non-binary werewolves and time travel) and hybrid books, we want to engage with all forms and genres. We’re also seeking a wide variety of reviews, so think about that fashion line that makes their clothing from plastic bottles, or that brand of panties whose goal is to eliminate product waste among people who have periods. Or maybe you want to engage with films and tv shows from independent studios, directed, written, and/or starring BIPOC, queer, and disabled individuals. Or what about restaurants that feature traditional recipes from across an ocean? Reviews are boundless, and whether it’s an in-depth analysis or short and sweet praise, we want to hear it all! 

  • Email submissions to Editor Trinity Jones: reviews@honeyliterary.com

Valentines: Tell us about that one friend you didn’t know you were in love with until you came out. Share the sticky note love letters you’ll never end up giving your roommate’s girlfriend. Or what about those love songs you wrote to your favorite artists? Honey Literary wants your Valentines: your phone notes, email drafts, letters in a box, corner-of-the-page-too-distracted-by-lust-to-pay-attention doodles, and descriptions of the outfits you love but will never wear. Or what about your thoughts on the perfect perfume for that special someone, your late-night car conversations, your platonic epics, your [self-insert] fanfiction, your realizations of being pursued or secretly admired, your sheets of loose leaf stuffed into drawers, your quarantine love stories, or your Tinder conversations with strangers that you’ll never speak to again? Think about those missed connections: the person you ran into three times at the grocery store whose name you didn’t catch. Is your valentine a top 10 list? Is it taped on a bus stop, in the refrain of a pop song, at the bottom of a bowl, or framed at an altar? Give us your cutesy, your sexy, your sultry, and your badass expressions of love and life.

  • Email submissions to Editor Maria Clara Melo: valentines@honeyliterary.com

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://honeyliterary.com/submit/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Composite Dreams” ISSUE

Oyster River Pages

INFO: Oyster River Pages publishes fine fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and visual art online. . Please see the general guidelines below for each genre. (Work that is unfinished, unproofed, or noncompliant with the guidelines gives our editors existential angst.) Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please contact us immediately if your work is picked up elsewhere. We request first serial rights, after which all rights revert to the author or artist. For this special issue only, we will accept previously published work, provided you have the rights to republish it and you provide the original publication in which it appeared.

“Composite Dreams” is the first of an ongoing series of Oyster River Pages’ efforts into implementing inclusion and diversity deeper into our mission as a magazine. The intention of this collection is to publish Black voices only, to be a space exclusively for and filled by Black writers and artists. We kindly ask that if you do not fit this category, to wait until our annual issue to submit your work. Please include a 60-word bio with your submission. To stay in touch with the latest happenings at ORP, subscribe to our mailing list below.

  • Fiction: Please submit one story up to 4,000 words in .docx format. All work should be double-spaced, and at least font size eleven.

  • Creative Non-Fiction: Please submit creative nonfiction pieces that are no longer than 4,000 words in .docx format. All work should be double-spaced and at least font size eleven.

  • Poetry: Please submit up to three poems in .docx format. Each poem should start on its own page. Otherwise, the spacing of the submission will remain as is in publication to preserve the integrity of the poem.

  • Visual Art: Please submit photography or other visual arts that are saved at 300 dpi or greater. We reserve the right to crop or edit submissions in order to fit in print or on our webpage.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://www.oysterriverpages.com/submit

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2021 Citizen Literary Fellowship

Graywolf Press

INFO: Graywolf Press seeks to increase access to publishing by offering a paid, ten-month Citizen Literary Fellowship.

The Citizen Literary Fellowship is a paid, comprehensive ten-month fellowship designed to support a person who is interested in learning more about the publishing industry through an introductory, hands-on experience. Through substantial project-based work in the editorial and marketing/publicity departments, the fellow will gain a broad base in publishing and be prepared to launch or further a career in the field. We are flexible regarding the educational background of the candidate, but this position is not intended for those attending school full time.

This fellowship is grounded in our belief that while diversity in the books and authors we publish is vital, it is equally important that the people publishing these books reflect that diversity. As a result, the Fellowship is intended to attract candidates who otherwise would not have access to publishing, and to therefore increase the diversity and inclusivity of the industry. Throughout the year, the fellow will receive active coaching and encouragement from the whole Graywolf team. Our hope is that this fellowship will serve as a doorway to a successful career in publishing or a related literary field.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fellowship, which has been traditionally based in our Minneapolis office, will now be a remote opportunity. This is a part-time (24 hours per week), non-exempt ten-month position with a start date in February 2020. Compensation includes $25,000 (paid twice monthly as regular wages), paid time off, and health and dental insurance.

Key Responsibilities

The fellow will work closely with senior staff in both the editorial and the marketing/publicity departments as they follow new and forthcoming books through every stage of the publication cycle. In addition to attending virtual events and participating in remote meetings as a member of the staff, the fellow will also have an active role in Graywolf’s outreach efforts. When appropriate, we will tailor activities to align with a fellow’s particular interests and skills.

Key editorial responsibilities may include:

  • Reading and writing reports on manuscripts under consideration.

  • Working with our editors to provide feedback to authors on manuscripts that are in development.

  • Soliciting endorsements and drafting catalog copy for forthcoming books.

  • Reading print and online magazines to discover emerging writers.

  • Researching other publishers’ titles to find market comparisons for Graywolf books.

  • Attending literary events and reporting on new and interesting writers.

Key marketing responsibilities may include:

  • Researching and contacting new sales, media, and advertising outlets, including those that reach diverse communities.

  • Assisting with author events and tour publicity/promotion.

  • Assisting with the development of backlist marketing.

  • Assisting with creation, production, and distribution of seasonal Graywolf catalogs.

  • Assisting with the Graywolf website, as needed.

Preferred Attributes and Experience

We are looking for a motivated, creative, and enthusiastic candidate with the following attributes:

  • Strong interest in book publishing, contemporary literature, and the literary community.

  • A commitment to increasing diversity in and access to literature, and experience working with diverse and minority communities.

  • Prior experience that will help the candidate participate in the publishing process. Relevant experience is not exclusive to publishing or academia.

  • Strong writing skills.

  • Ability to work both independently and cooperatively with a small staff.

  • Ability to take the initiative in proposing and identifying additional tasks and projects.

  • Tell us if you have any special—non-required—additional skills, such as design experience or familiarity with databases and/or web sites.

DEADLINE: December 4, 2020

https://graywolfpress.submittable.com/submit/178571/2021-citizen-literary-fellowship?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-graywolfpress&utm_content=later-12326271&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: "Somewhere We Are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings"

Migrant Anthology

INFO: "Somewhere We Are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings", edited by award winning author of The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande, and acclaimed poet and author of Nostalgia & Borders, Sonia Guiñansaca. We are seeking bold personal non-fiction essays and poems from migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people with experience in the United States. We are especially interested in essays and poems from those in the midwest and Border towns. We are centering and giving priority to essays and poems from Indigenous migrants, Black migrants, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Arab communities.

During this time of political unrest, how do we shift the nation’s collective imagination about migrants towards one rooted in humanity and justice? What stories about ourselves and communities need to be told during these times of border militarization, mass detention, and draconian anti-immigrant legislation?

The anthology will be published by HarperCollins in English and Spanish. Contributors will be compensated (a min. of $800)

GUIDELINES:

  • All attachments should be saved as a Microsoft Word document (.docx)

  • For Non-Fiction Essays no more than 2,000 words

  • Poems should be no more than 6 pages in length (1-3 poems)

  • Written work should be finished pieces (no drafts)

  • Essays and poems should primarily be written in English.

  • All submissions should be unpublished pieces

  • Please number your pages in the order it should be read

  • One anthology submission per person

Short cover letter describing your interest in participating in this anthology (2-3 paragraphs)

A cover letter, short bio, and written work must be included in order to be considered

Please make no inquiries about the status of your submission. Only those selected will be contacted through email by the end of December

Guiding Questions:
We are seeking bold personal essays, and poems from migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and those deported from across the United States. These are just guiding questions and themes. We understand the topic of migration is broad so we are looking for pieces that touch upon these but not limited to these. There is no monolithic migrant story, we want to hear YOUR STORY, and YOUR EXPERIENCE.

We believe that we existed before the migration. That we had childhoods, and memories of our loved ones and a place we may have called “home”. Tell us those stories. What are stories before migration that you wished were written about.

We believe that our migration story is complicated, nuanced, layered, and intersectional. Scholars and politicians skip over the hard decision and journey of migrating or that many of us were displaced from our home country because of climate change, political turmoil, war, economic inequity-leaving us with no other choice but to “migrate”. Mainstream stories often leave out how some of our family members are detained in the process of coming to the U.S. They fast forward to us as “hard workers” and “taxpayers” and take away our childhoods, teenage years, and coming of age moments. Tell us those stories of our growing up in the United States. As a teenager what was it like to grow up in a mixed status family? What was dating like? If you are queer, how did you understand your queerness in relationship to your migration? What was it like before DACA? What are some stories of growing up undocumented that you wished you could have read? If you came to the U.S later on (after your formative years), what did you learn about yourself? What did you wish people knew about growing up in the South? Tell us these stories. Stories that disrupt the mainstream tokenizing, stories outside the “good” vs “bad immigrant”. Essays and poems that decenter whiteness, and assimilation.

We believe that our migrant communities deserve justice and a world without borders and detention centers. We believe that joy, healing, and freedom of expression is crucial to our existence. We want to read poems and essays touching on this. We want to read about where you are now in life? Tell us about the world you envision. What are some things you have reflected on about your migrant story? What are you un-learning? What is some advice and words you wished you were given about being migrant when you were younger? What are the messages you want recently “arrived” migrants to hear? What do you want to tell yourself 20 years from now? For artists, how has your art played a role in your healing and growth?

PLEASE NOTE: We are not looking for scholarly/academic papers. We will not consider submissions by non-migrant people. We are looking for contributors that are undocumented or formerly undocumented.

DEADLINE: December 5, 2020 at 11pm PT

https://www.migrantanthology.com/

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Literature ResidencY

Cove Park

INFO: In 2021 Cove Park will award a minimum of four funded Literature Residencies of between two to six weeks each to take place during its summer programme (seven residencies were awarded in the equivalent programme in 2020).

Cove Park’s summer residency programme provides artists with the time and support required to focus exclusively upon their own practice. The emphasis is upon research, experimentation and the development of new work. The writers will be part of a changing group of national and international residents specialising in a wide variety of art forms. All of the artists are invited to take part in a series of informal studio presentations, readings, talks, screenings and dinners organised by Cove Park throughout the summer programme. After completion of their residency, writers may also have the opportunity to return to Cove Park to contribute to HandsOn, a public programme of educational and participatory workshops and events.

We invite applications in three categories:

  • UK-based writers of any genre, who have published at least one book-length publication (or the equivalent thereof, e.g. spoken word or drama).

  • Emerging writers of any genre based in Scotland. Emerging writers need not have published a book-length publication but must demonstrate exceptional promise.

  • Literary translator of any language into English, based in the UK. Translators need not have published a book-length translation but demonstrate their work and commitment to literary translation.

The above residencies will take place during May to September 2021. Within this period, residency dates are negotiable.

FEES: These residencies are funded and each artist participating in this programme will receive a fee of £425 per week.*

DEADLINE: December 7, 2020

https://covepark.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/LITERATURE-Guidelines-2021.pdf

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: JANUARY ISSUE

Liminal Transit Review

INFO: We accept work about themes including but not limited to immigration, diaspora, displacement, decolonization, borders, as well as the intersections of these themes with literature, movement, and transit– interpreted as broadly as possible! We want your work about geography, about place and identity, about the connections between literature and identity and place. We want your work about transit and movement– and how that exists in and shapes how we see borders and diaspora and displacement. We love experimental work, and abstract work, and theoretical work. If you have any questions about whether your work fits our themes, go ahead and send it to us, and we’ll let you know. 

We accept fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and cross genre work in English. Send us up to five poems or 3000 words of prose (multiple pieces of prose totaling this word count is allowed), or up to ten pages of cross genre work. We also accept flash fiction and flash creative nonfiction. Poetry has no formatting guidelines except font (Garamond or Comic Sans, please!), but please double space your prose in 12-point Garamond or Comic Sans. Cross genre work has no formatting guidelines. All submissions must be submitted as PDF files or Word documents. Please include trigger warnings and content warnings as and when required. Please only submit once per issue unless specifically requested, in only one genre. We do not accept works in translation at the moment.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed but please email us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

DEADLINE: December 10, 2020

https://liminaltransitreview.com/submit/

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Brooklyn Nonfiction Prize

Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival

INFO: The Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival is pleased to announce the call for submissions for the 2020 Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize. 

The Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize, a cash award of $500, will be awarded to the best Brooklyn-focused non-fiction essay which is set in Brooklyn and is about Brooklyn and/or Brooklyn people/characters.

We are seeking compelling Brooklyn stories from writers with a broad range of backgrounds and ages who can render Brooklyn's rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer's actual experiences in Brooklyn.

From the collection of selected Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize submissions, five authors will be selected to read from their work and discuss their Brooklyn stories with the audience at our December 2020 event.

The exact date/time and venue will be announced later.

These stories and several other submitted stories will be published on the Brooklyn Film and Arts Festival website and made available to the public.

ENTRY FEE: $0

DEADLINE: December 10, 2020

http://filmbrooklyn.org/

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Scholastic Ages 0-8 Open Submission Call

Scholastic

INFO: Are you a BIPOC kidlit creator? Scholastic’s 0-8 group wants to hear from you!

Scholastic recognizes the critical need for more stories by creators who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as people of color. It is important for our readers to be able to see themselves reflected in the stories they read. Just as important is that readers feel represented by the creators behind those books. Though we accept submissions primarily from literary agents, in the interest of making a greater effort to reach underrepresented voices we are now accepting unagented submissions that meet the criteria stated below. We would love to receive submissions or sample work from unagented authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators who identify as BIPOC.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applicants must identify as one or more of the following:

  1. Person of color

  2. Indigenous / Native American / Pacific Islander

Please note: The applicant themselves must identify as one (or more) of the above. Being married to, a parent of, or a sibling of a BIPOC person, or being someone who has grown up with BIPOC people, will not qualify an otherwise ineligible applicant.

Applicants must be 18 years or older in order to submit.

WHO WE ARE / WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

The Scholastic 0-8 team consists of the following illustrated formats and imprints:

Cartwheel Books (Board / Novelty Books)

Aimed at readers from birth to age 5, our Cartwheel imprint consists of cloth, board, and novelty stories. At Cartwheel, our motto is to sing, read, and play everyday through books! Recent Cartwheel titles include: Teeny Tiny Ghost by Rachel Matson and Joey Chou, Hello, Friend / Hola, Amigo by 123 Andrés and Sara Palacios, Future Engineer by Lori Alexander and Allison Black, Dream Big by Joyce Wan, and Mama Loves Her Little Llama by Sandra Magsamen.

A typical board/novelty book is about 5 to 16 spreads or 10 to 32 pages and averages around 250 words or less. Topics we like to publish include but are not limited to: love, social and emotional growth, wonder, family, community, early childhood milestone moments, early science topics, curiosity, new skills, humor, rhythm & repetition, twists on classic songs and rhymes, identity, and getting along.

Orchard Books/Scholastic Press (Picture Books)

Our Orchard Books and Scholastic Press picture book imprints publish picture book stories for readers ages 3 - 8. Recent Orchard titles include All Because You Matter by Tami Charles and Bryan Collier, No Fuzzball! by Isabella Kung, and Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds. Recent Scholastic Press picture book titles include Binny’s Diwali by Thrity Umrigar and Nidhi Chanani, Eric by Shaun Tan, and Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day by Carmen Agra Deedy and Pete Oswald.

A typical picture book is usually 32 or 40 pages and typically 750 words or less, excluding backmatter. We are actively looking for fiction and nonfiction picture book narratives that cover the full range of a picture book reader’s interests.

Acorn (Early Readers)

Acorn early reader books are all parts of series, but each book contains multiple, self-contained stories rather than one long story line. The short story format gives kids the sense of accomplishment they need to build their reading confidence! There are two page-counts to choose from -- a 48p format (600 words max) and a 64p format (1,000 words max). All Acorn books have a Grade 1 Reading Level (spanning Guided Reading Levels E-K). This line is aimed at 4- to 7-year olds, and it is the step before our Branches early chapter book line. All Acorn books have full-color interiors. For examples in the marketplace, check out the 48p Hello, Hedgehog! series and the 64p Mister Shivers series.

We're open to all genres, but we encourage you to visit scholastic.com/kids/books/acorn to see which genres we have covered. For instance, we are not looking to add another unicorn-themed series to our line-up since we already have a series called Unicorn and Yeti.

Please include the following materials in your submission: a brief series overview, a manuscript (3-5 short stories), brief synopses for 2 additional books in the series, one color art sample of the main characters. (Note: Please only include artwork if you are an illustrator as well as an author.)

Branches (Early Chapter Books)

Branches early chapter books are all parts of series. They are aimed at 5- to 8-year olds and have a Grade 2 Reading Level (spanning Guided Reading Levels L-O). There are two formats -- 80p full-color series (2,500 words max); 96p black-and-white series (6,000 words max). Chapters all have cliff-hanger endings, and plots are engaging & move at a fast pace. For examples in the marketplace, check out the 80p Owl Diaries series and the 96p New York Times-bestselling series Dragon Masters.

We're open to all genres, but we encourage you to visit scholastic.com/branches to see which genres we have covered. For instance, we are not looking to add another dragon-themed fantasy-adventure series to our 96p line-up since we already have a 96p series called Dragon Masters.  

Please include the following materials in your submission: a brief series overview, a manuscript (or at least 3 sample chapters), brief synopses for 3 additional books in the series, one color art sample of the main characters. (Notes: Please only include artwork if you are an illustrator as well as an author. Please send one black-and-white sample in addition to your color sample if you're pitching the 96p Branches format).

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTlexHcDPActIoiJhwmBqNEOUXvnUR4CbmAIj1gfU6QS04wFfmyJ2-KgUD9XG35M-YDi0ZsUGEKIrVf/pub?fbclid=IwAR3qF2jFQOjJFqzSyA6IPrvTgt1qzHhkiqKZwKJyo5oQFkhr6-q9_Xw37g8

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DALIT WRITERS

Bombay Review

INFO: Bombay Review seeks to support new Dalit writing in English via a fully funded and paid special issue of the magazine.

They are looking to publish the following:

  • Fiction (Min 2,500 words)

  • Essays (Min 2,000 words)

  • Poetry (Min 3)

  • Reviews (Open)

  • Art (for cover, illustration)

PAYMENT: $10 – $15 per contributor (Conditions Apply)

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

https://thebombayreview.com/new-dalit-writing/

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Periplus Mentorship Program

Periplus

INFO: We’re happy you’ve found us. For this one-year mentorship program, we’re looking for mentees who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color, are in the United States, and are at least 18 years old, and whose writing shows great promise. To apply, you’ll need to submit five to twenty pages’ worth of writing, a short bio, and a basic description of your goals as a writer for the year ahead, along with answering some basic questions about yourself and what you’re looking for in a mentor. If you’ve got a writing sample ready, filling out the application shouldn’t take much time.

In choosing mentees, we will look at formal credentials such as academic background, awards, and publishing histories, which you can tell us about in your bio. But we also know that some writers might not have access to these traditional credentials, and in assessing your application, we’ll be much more interested in the quality of your writing sample and the promise we see in it, and in your writing goals for the year ahead and your explanation of how a mentor would help you reach them.

The first year of this project will take place over the course of 2021, with mentor-mentee matches announced in mid-January. Each mentor will take on one mentee. We’ll talk with our mentees for a half hour every other month, over the course of the year, about topics that might include, for example, building writing into a daily routine, making money as a writer, considering craft concerns like structuring a book or magazine article, and approaching career-related problems like finding an agent, pitching magazines, or applying to graduate school. Some of us, though not all, can also read and give feedback on mentees’ work—within certain limits, which mentors can specify.

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0SRWxJqx4oNbWVmbq4j9JE5INhisz76--U63UbtncM/mobilebasic

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Black Lives Matter” ISSUE

Philadelphia Stories

INFO: Philadelphia Stories is accepting submissions for our winter issue: Black Lives Matter. Like much of the country, our team has been horrified witnessing the debilitating effects the coronavirus is having on the Black community and the police killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and 160 more this year. We hate to admit these tragic circumstances have forced us to reflect on our culpability and to recognize we have not done all we could to support Black writers and visual artists. We’ve been listening to our Black editors and staff, following conversations in the lit community, and paying attention to the response from other publications. Now is our time to act. Today, we renew our commitment and take the first step in a long journey of, not only amplifying, but also supporting and nurturing Black writers and artists. 

Please send us your submissions, now and in the future. We want to share your stories of Black life. Tell us how you may be dealing with the pandemic, how the protests have impacted you OR tell us a story about how your community continues to thrive, continues to love. All subjects are welcome. We accept fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, and hybrid work.

STIPEND: We pay a small stipend, $50, for accepted literary work. We know this is not enough. As an all-volunteer organization, we will continue to strengthen our fundraising efforts. Hopefully, we will be able to pay our writers more soon. We know Black labor is not free, so we will continue to push for fair compensation.

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

https://philadelphiastories.org/philadelphia-stories-black-lives-matter/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Hybrid Identities”

Harpy Hybrid Review 

INFO: Harpy Hybrid Review exists to celebrate and showcase hybrid works in all their varied forms: poetry, songs, translations, flash/micro fiction, creative nonfiction, videos, collaborations, erasures/found poetry, and visual arts including comics and broadsides. We seek submissions from published and unpublished writers and artists. Our current themed call is on “Hybrid Identities.” All contributions will be fully archived.

We publish original works, and we will also consider materials previously published (from printed journals only; please let us know where so we can give proper acknowledgment). We accept simultaneously submitted materials, but notify us as soon as possible if your work is accepted elsewhere.

We seek to publish a variety of new and established voices. We encourage submissions from underrepresented voices including, but not limited to, women, artists and writers of color, LGBTQ+, those living with poverty, survivors of trauma, and incarcerated poets and writers.

WHAT IS A HYBRID WORK?

Historically, poetry and drama were connected. Lyrical poems were sung or accompanied by music in ancient Greece. In some languages, story and poem share a common word.

In contemporary America and its production of literary journals, genres are often separated, delineated, and categorized for publication according to markets that have little to do with the art itself. This easy ordering of art limits its potential as well as ours—the use of our many talents and possibilities of our work.

Hybrid pieces are pieces that challenge contemporary genre limitations, utilizing any and all of the artist’s/artists’ capabilities as well as encouraging collaboration. This is the work we need in our nuanced, not easily labeled world. A hybrid piece pushes and challenges easy labels. It finds itself not easily categorized. It pushes back on the limitations imposed by definitions or publishing standards. Hybridity allows us, the artists, the freedom to express an idea as it presents itself—in its potentially many varied forms, without fear or restriction. It allows us to embrace our art, shedding expectations and therefore allowing it to become what it was meant to be.

Examples of hybridity in literature include, but are not limited to: prose poetry, lyric essays, ekphrastic poems, songs, broadsides, found poetry, digital literature, comics, and any combination of the expectations of the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art.

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

http://www.harpyhybridreview.org/submissions/

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Authentic Voices Program

Women’s National Book Association (WNBA)

INFO: The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) in collaboration with Women of Color Writers Podcast is excited to launch the WNBA Authentic Voices program, an initiative that highlights diversity in publishing by bringing authentic voices to the table in an educational, immersive, and equity-building program. This new program will be piloted out of the WNBA’s Los Angeles chapter.

Study after study has shown the lack of BIPOC authors in the book world. In order to build equity in publishing, we must provide BIPOC communities the foundation and tools needed to understand and compete in the publishing world.

The WNBA Authentic Voices program does just that in an immersive four-month course that provides BIPOC writers and aspiring writers a fast track to writing, querying, marketing, and publishing. The program is taught in four phases by different instructors, all noted professionals in publishing seeking to make an impact in representation in the literary landscape.

COMPENSATION: Participants will receive a stipend and be published in an anthology once the program has been completed.

GUIDELINES:

To apply for the WNBA Authentic Voices program, please provide the following:

  • Bio (500 words or less)

    • It should describe you, your background, what community (city, town, etc.) you are from, and why you are interested in the program.

  • Writing Sample

    • It doesn’t have to be perfect! We want to get a feel for your voice.

    • The sample can be something that you want to work on while participating in the program.

    • Please make sure the submission is no longer than 2,500 words.

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

https://www.wnba-la.org/authentic-voices-initiative/

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MDOCS Storytellers’ Institute Visiting Fellow

MDOCS Storytellers’ Institute

INFO: This hybrid artistic-academic experience combines the freedom and space to work on independent projects with the fulfillment of mentoring the next generation of practitioners in the beautiful setting of Saratoga Springs. The institute brings together professional artists, storytellers and documentarians (Visiting Fellows) with Skidmore College students, faculty, and staff members (Skidmore Fellows) in a month-long community organized around an annual theme. More than a residency, time is dedicated to independent work and Institute activities –– seminars, critique sessions, opportunities to share work with the public, networking events, skill-building workshops, and group outings ––– all related to the theme. We are multi-disciplinary and encourage non-fiction practitioners working in all mediums –– sound, painting, photography, sculpture, film, video, word, performance, installation, etc. –– to apply. 

One of the highlights of the Institute is MDOCS Forum, a weekend-long conference combining festival presentations of artistic work with symposium-style conversations around the annual theme. Visiting Fellows will have the opportunity to present their work at Forum alongside an international group of makers, scholars, activists and students. 

This year our theme is Co-Creation: Delights, Discontents & Dislocations –– This is a call to all collaborators, collectives and co-creators of knowledge! To those coming from activism, community organizing, and collective power building. To those willing to transgress artistic boundaries and academic disciplines in the urgent name of shared agency and more inclusive institutions!

The Institute runs from June 1 – July 2, 2021 on the Skidmore College campus in Saratoga Springs, NY. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2021 Storytellers’ Institute may happen virtually. If you choose to apply, please be prepared for either a virtual or in-person Institute experience. 

Requirements: 

  • Applicants must have a non-fiction-based practice and propose a non-fiction-based project.

  • Because of this year’s theme, applicants must be members of collaborative teams that span artistic or academic mediums/disciplines, or single applicants who propose projects that are collaborations with other artists, communities or institutions.

  • Applicants must have an interest in teaching and learning.

  • Accepted Fellows are expected to fully engage with Institute events and be in residence for its duration (except for non-Forum weekends). If a Fellow is not in residence for the full Institute, their stipend will be reduced. Please take a look at the schedule from a past Storytellers’ Institute here and expect that the 2021 Institute will follow a similar schedule.

What you need to apply:

  • A completed application, which includes a work sample that demonstrates your experience in non-fiction creative work. This can be written word, video, photography, audio, performance, etc.

  • One letter of recommendation sent to storytellersinstitute@skidmore.edu before the deadline or your application will not be considered.

Fellowship includes:   

  • Community and feedback from a renowned group of multidisciplinary artists/storytellers/documentarians

  • $2500 honorarium

  • Travel stipend of up to $500 (only if in person)

  • Public presentation/exhibition opportunities

  • Access to production equipment

  • Room and board for the duration of the Institute (only if in person)

  • Workspace access to Skidmore facilities (only if in person)

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

http://mdocs.skidmore.edu/storytellers/storytellers-institute/visitingfellowsapplication/?utm_source=Words+of+Mouth&utm_campaign=d2fbfc3142-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_22_06_24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d4310f52d6-d2fbfc3142-242929430

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2020 Columbia Journal Winter Contest

Columbia Journal 

INFO: The editors of Columbia Journal are delighted to officially announce that the 2020 Winter Contest is now open for submissions in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Our judges this year will be Viet Thanh Nguyen (fiction), Jia Tolentino (nonfiction), Roger Reeves (poetry), and Sawako Nakayasu (translation).

AWARD: The four 1st place winners of the Winter Contest will be published in print in Columbia Journal Issue 59 in Spring 2020, and will receive a $500 cash prize. At least two additional runner-ups will be selected and announced for each genre.

JUDGES:

  • Viet Thanh Nguyen (fiction judge) is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Refugees, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, The Sympathizer, and its forthcoming sequel, The Committed (March 2021)

  • Jia Tolentino (nonfiction judge) is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror.

  • Roger Reeves’ (poetry judge) work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, Ploughshares, Tin House, among other publications. Reeves is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize as well as a Whiting Award in Poetry. His first book is King Me, published in 2013, and his second collection of poetry is forthcoming from W.W. Norton.

  • Sawako Nakayasu (translation judge) is an artist who works with language, translation, and performance. She is the author of /The Ants/, /Mouth: Eats Color/, and /Costume en Face/. Her most recent book, /Some Girls Walk Into the Country They Are From/, was published in October, 2020.

SUBMISSION FEE: $15 for each submission

DEADLINE: December 15, 2020

http://columbiajournal.org/2020-winter-contest-submission-guidelines/

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cALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

As Loud As It’s Kept Magazine

INFO: As Loud As It’s Kept — a magazine for artists of color — is calling all creatives (visual artists, writers, photographers, and creators who are looking for the opportunity to showcase their craft) to submit work on the theme of “Anniversary!”

GUIDELINES:

  • Who Can Participate: Writers, Photographers, Visual Artists, Poets and Graphic Designers, (if you have something that you would like to submit and you aren’t sure if we will accept it, please email us!)

  • Theme: This issue’s theme is Anniversary! We are looking for submissions with this theme integrally in its story (not just briefly mentioned or as an afterthought). It can be conveyed through Plot, Setting, Dialogue, etc. Anniversaries are usually seen as celebratory, but this isn’t needed to be considered for this issue! An anniversary is a day that recalls a particular event, so let your mind run free

  • Word Limit: OPEN FOR REVIEW

  • Submissions will be accepted on a first-come basis, however, if your submission is not chosen to be in this issue, please reply in your email stating that you would like for your piece to be included in the next issue. A new Issue will be published quarterly. There will be a confirmation email sent to those who submit their submissions promptly

  • ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE EDITED!!

DEADLINE: December 20, 2020

https://www.alaikmag.com/submission-guidelines

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Howling Press

INFO: Howling Press is an online magazine publishing company based in the UK that is dedicated to publishing Postmodern, experimental, Political, and Avant-Garde Poetry from around the globe. They are currently accepting digital art, poetry and short prose.

GUIDELINES:

  • Send a maximum of five poems to be considered for an issue.

  • Short Prose– no more than 2 pieces, 1,000 words maximum (per piece)

  • Digital Artwork & Photos – 5 to 8 works at a time, high resolution (300dpi)

  • Only send unpublished work

  • Send one submission at a time

  • We do not consider simultaneous submissions, i.e. work that is being considered elsewhere

  • Poems and pros should be typed

  • Please provide your full name, theme, genre, and your Instagram handle with your submission

  • Please send in your work in docs/JPEG format

DEADLINE: December 21, 2020

https://www.howlingpress.com/press-1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AWAKE

Lucky Jefferson

INFO: Lucky Jefferson's digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black writers in American society. 

The second issue of our digital zine will explore Black culture through cuisine. Send us your most savory and decadent poems, essays, flash fiction, and art on foods that inspired your identity and exude blackness.

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.

When submitting:

  • Send no more than three poems in a submission. Poems should be separated by titles or page breaks.

  • If sharing an essay, include an essay with no more than 1500 words. 

  • Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the Black experience is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).

  • Include a cover page highlighting 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.

DEADLINE: DEcember 31, 2020

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/167135/lucky-jefferson-awake-zine-submission

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS

FlowerSong Press

INFO: FlowerSong Press nurtures essential verse from, about, and through the borderlands. The voices of those from Latin America the United States, and all over the world. We are Literary, Lyrical, Boundless, and we welcome allies that understand and join in the voice of people of color and our struggle, truth, and hope.

We will publish novice, emerging, and established writers of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and children´s books. We are open to submissions all year long and will make it a goal to have a rapid response to every submission.

FlowerSong Press is now accepting manuscript submissions for poetry, prose, short stories, and more for 2021-2022

Juventud Press is now accepting submissions for Children’s books, teen, and YA books for 2021-2022

Categories: Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Drama
File types: .doc, .pdf, File-Sharing
Number of Pieces: 40 to 200
Single File: Required. All pieces must be submitted in a single file.

Anonymous submissions are not required.
Simultaneous submissions are not allowed.
Reprints are not allowed.
Multiple entries are allowed.

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020 at 11:59 PM UTC

https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/form.aspx?id=tnCQeJ4-0hNxg-eyieAcW

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FREE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR BLACK WRITERS

Split Lip Magazine

INFO: Split Lip Magazine is a voice-driven literary journal with a pop culture twist. We publish online monthly and in print annually. We accept fiction (flash and short stories), memoir, poetry, art, and photography. Please read our guidelines and submit accordingly. We appreciate you taking time to check us out and look forward to reading your work!

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

  • Please double space and use either Times New Roman or Garamond.

  • We favor interesting, literary narratives with a modern, pop culture appeal.

  • We consider stories in the 1,000-3,000 word range.

  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please contact us or withdraw if the piece is picked up elsewhere.

  • Please provide a short cover letter and contact information.

Flash Fiction

  • We are looking for your best fiction under 1000 words.  

  • Please read at least one piece from our archives to help discern if we're right for you

  • Please double your line spacing and use a serif font.

  • We favor interesting, literary narratives with a modern, pop culture appeal. Voice-driven prose gets us fired up.

  • Please submit only one piece a at time.

  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please contact us or withdraw if the piece is picked up elsewhere.

Memoir

Please double your line spacing.

  • We favor interesting, literary narratives with a modern, pop culture appeal.

  • We take up to 2000 words for memoir.

  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please contact us or withdraw if the piece is picked up elsewhere.

  • In the body of the message box, please provide a short cover letter, brief bio and contact information.

COMPENSATION: Contributors to web issues will receive $50 (paid via PayPal). Print issue contributor payment is $5 per printed page, minimum of $20, plus 2 contributor copies.

SUBMISSION FEE: In an effort to promote Black voices, free submissions will be open for Black writers and artists in all genres for the rest of the year.

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://splitlip.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NYT’S MODERN LOVE COLUMN

The New York Times

INFO: Although Modern Love has evolved into a podcast, a book, a TV show and Tiny Love Stories in its 16 years, the column’s central mission remains the same: to publish honest personal essays about contemporary relationships.

We seek true stories on finding lovelosing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoptionpolyamorytechnologyrace and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.

The best way to see the range of styles and subjects we publish is to read the column and listen to the podcast. There’s a Google doc of tips from the editor that someone culled from the Modern Love Facebook page (some details are out of date, but nearly all of the advice is still generally applicable).

Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely and be informed by factors including race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture. We especially encourage Black and Indigenous people and other people of color to submit, as well as writers outside of the United States and those who identify as members of L.G.B.T.Q communities.

How do I submit?

  • Send submissions to: modernlove@nytimes.com. Please put the subject of your essay or a possible title in the email subject line.

  • Limit your essay to 1,500-1,700 words.

  • Attach your essay as a Microsoft Word-compatible doc and paste the text into the body of the email. If your first submission is incomplete, please resubmit one complete entry; do not submit just the missing pieces in additional emails.

  • Essays must be entirely true. Do not use pseudonyms (including for yourself), composite characters or invented situations or scenes. There are no exceptions to this rule.

  • Essays must be previously unpublished. Work that has appeared online — on another news website, a personal blog, Medium or elsewhere — is considered previously published.

  • Essays will be edited in consultation with writers, and writers will be compensated for work that is published.

We attempt to respond to every submission within three or four months, though response times may vary because of the high volume of submissions. There is no need to follow up.

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-submit-a-modern-love-essay.htm

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DIASPORIC RHYTHMS: INTERROGATING THE PAST IMAGINING A FUTURE

 The Caribbean Writer

INFO: The Caribbean Writer (TCW) renews its call for submissions for Volume 35 under the 2020 theme: Diasporic Rhythms: Interrogating the Past, Imagining a Future.” And as The Caribbean Writer (TCW), a refereed, international journal published by the University of the Virgin Islands, continues to mourn the passing of its esteemed founding editorial board member, Barbadian Poet and Author Kamau Brathwaite, TCW Editor Alscess Lewis-Brown, remarked that the theme — even though it was announced before we experienced this great loss — captures the essence of the Kamau Brathwaite literary aesthetic and, therefore, is fitting that volume 35 is dedicated to this giant advocate for Caribbean literary expressions.

“Brathwaite’s imaginative and innovative use of language and the scope of his work capture the essence and spirit of Caribbean expressivity. His support and insight helped to shape and guide The Caribbean Writer’s path over the past thirty plus years.  For this, we are grateful.”

Contributors are invited to submit works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays or one act plays which explore the ideas resonating within the region and its diaspora. The Caribbean Writer is an international literary refereed journal with a Caribbean focus. So, the Caribbean should be central to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage, experience or perspective.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Individuals may submit poems (5 maximum), short stories and personal essays on general topics as well as on the theme. The maximum length (for short stories and personal essays) is 3500 words or 10 pages. 

Only previously unpublished work will be considered. The term “previously published” covers print and electronic publication —including on social media platforms, and self-published items. The Caribbean Writer does not accept simultaneous submissions.

In addition to contact information (mailing address, phone number), provide brief biographical information (such as appears under the “Contributors” section of the journal). Submit Word files only (no PDFs) at www.thecaribbeanwriter.org or email to thecaribbeanwriter@uvi.edu. Note that TCW no longer accepts hardcopy/mailed-in poems. stories, essays, plays, etc. 

This celebrated journal also seeks black and white art (line drawings, sketches, block prints, etc.) for use inside the publication and colorful, eye-catching, Caribbean artwork for the cover. Artists who want their artwork to be considered should submit electronic files in vertical format as TIF or JPEG files with a resolution of 300 dpi or greater.

Submit Word files at www.thecaribbeanwriter.org or email to thecaribbeanwriter@uvi.edu.

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://www.thecaribbeanwriter.org/2020/03/22/accepting-submissions-for-volume-35/

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WINTER WRITERS RESIDENCY 

Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens

INFO: The Hortus Residency is open to established and emerging fiction and non-fiction writers and poets exploring the themes of nature and/or the human connection with nature. 

Hortus Arboretum & Botanical Garden is an accredited botanical garden and arboretum located in the lower Hudson Valley. 

It was established by two artists turned gardeners.This residency was formed to provide opportunities for writers whose work focuses on nature. The Winter residency will allow writers to have access to the botanical garden if they would like to have that as part of their residency experience. 

For the Submission: Writers should submit 40 pages of a novel, or 5 poems. Please include a cover letter with how the residency would help you.

Housing: The Barnette is a small  house situated in the hamlet of Stone Ridge located in the lower Catskill mountains of New York state. The Barnette is situated in a rural region on the edge of the Hortus gardens, surrounded by woods and overlooking NY state protected wetlands. The Barnett is a GREEN HOUSE with solar panels, heat on demand, a woodstove, 1-large bedroom, modern bathroom, air conditioning, and an outside deck. It has easy access to the Hortus Arboretum & Botanical Garden.  The Barnette has Hi-Speed Internet. Smoking is not permitted on the property. 

Meals: Residents make and provide their own meals. The Barnette has a fully stocked kitchen. 

There are several local places to eat as well several good food markets within 10 minutes drive from the property.

Travel: The residency participant is responsible for all travel expenses. A car is necessary due to the rural location. 

Stipend: At this time, Hortus does not offer any stipends but does provide comfortable accommodations and unlimited access to the gardens during the residency. 

Duration: One week

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://www.hortusgardens.org/opportunities.php

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

A Public Space

INFO: A Public Space welcomes submissions of fiction, essays, poetry, as well as graphic and hybrid work. For additional information, please see an interview with the editors on our Duotrope page; an overview of A Public Space by the Whiting Literary Magazine Prize [insert link]; and an archive of the magazine's previous issues.

GUIDELINES:

  • Fiction: Please submit only one (​1) story at a time. Additional submissions will be returned unread. Only previously unpublished work will be considered. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but if your piece is accepted elsewhere we ask that you please withdraw it from our system. Novellas and novel excerpts are always welcome. Translations are welcome, but it is the translator's responsibility to secure rights to the work before it is submitted. Reading an issue or two of the magazine before submitting is strongly recommended.

  • Nonfiction: Please submit only one (​1) essay at a time. Additional submissions will be returned unread. Only previously unpublished work will be considered. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but if your piece is accepted elsewhere we ask that you please withdraw it from our system. Memoir excerpts or excerpts from longer nonfiction works are always welcome. Translations are welcome, but it is the translator's responsibility to secure rights to the work before it is submitted. Reading an issue or two of the magazine before submitting is strongly recommended.

Please note we cannot accept revisions to pieces once they've been submitted.

We will make every effort to respond to your submissions within four months, though at times it may be longer. If it has been more than four months and you have not yet received a response, we will be happy to reply to a query regarding the status of your submission.

Writers whose work is published in the magazine will receive an honorarium.

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://apublicspacedemo.submittable.com/submit?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=be874f855f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_20_05_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6566a6ed1a-be874f855f-68639565

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Black and Indigenous Writers

The Soul In Space

INFO: The Soul In Space is open for submissions from Black and Indigenous Creators. They are open to Essays, CNF, Fiction, Poetry, Music, and Visual Art.

GUIDELINES:

  • It’s asked that all written submissions are in the form of words or pages.

  • Any font is fine as long as its readable and the size is at least 11pt.

  • Poetry submissions are asked to be no more than 3 poems.

  • Prose submissions are asked to be no more than 8 pages, double spaced.

  • Visual Arts can include video, drawing, painting or digital art submissions.

  • All work is to be emailed to info@soulin.space

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://www.facebook.com/TheSoulinSpace/posts/137130981502807

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Creative Nonfiction Award

CRAFT

INFO: Welcome to our inaugural award for unpublished creative nonfiction up to 6,000 words! Joy Castro will select three winning pieces for publication. Each will be awarded $1,000 and a complete set of Graywolf Press's The Art Of series. More awards and details below.

GUIDELINES:

  • CRAFT submissions are open to all writers

  • International submissions are allowed

  • Creative nonfiction only! (please no academic work or fiction)

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 6,000 word count maximum

  • We review literary nonfiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles including memoir, lyric essays, personal essays, narrative nonfiction, and experimental prose—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft

  • Previously unpublished work only—we do not review reprints, including self-published work, for contests

  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your entry if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • We allow multiple submissions—each entry should be accompanied by a reading fee

  • All entries will also be considered for publication in CRAFT

  • All entrants will receive an exclusive digital compilation next summer that includes: the winning pieces with Joy Castro's introductions and the winners' craft essays; the editors' choice winners; excerpts from finalist pieces; and more

  • Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable)

  • We do not require anonymous submissions

  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less fees)

SUBMISSION FEE: $20 per entry allows ONE creative nonfiction piece from 1,001 to 6,000 words OR up to TWO flash creative nonfiction pieces of 1,000 words or fewer each—if submitting two flash pieces (2,000 words maximum combined/1,000 words maximum each), please put them both in a SINGLE document

AWARDS:

The writers of the three winning essays will receive:

  • $1,000 each

  • A complete set of fourteen titles of Graywolf’s The Art Of series

  • Publication in CRAFT, each with an introduction by Joy Castro

  • Publication of an Author's Note (craft essay) to accompany the piece

The $600 editors' choice round:

  • Publication and a cash prize to a piece or pieces we just can't let go

  • A complete set of fourteen titles of Graywolf’s The Art Of series


THE FINE PRINT: Friends, family, and associates of the judge are not eligible for consideration for the award

DEADLINE: December 31, 2020

https://www.craftliterary.com/craft-cnf-award/

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Black Radical Imagination Essay Contest

Charlene A. Carruthers

INFO: The 1st Annual Black Radical Imagination Essay Contest invites essays exploring Black life in response to books written by Charlene A. Carruthers and Darnell L. Moore.

AWARDS

  • First Prize: $500

  • Second Prize: $300

  • Third Prize: $200

GUIDELINES:

We invite Black folks to submit essays following the guidelines below.

Your essay must discuss what Black Radical Imagination means to you using examples from Charlene's book, Darnell's book or both books. You should address any or all of the questions below:

  1. What did you learn about Black life?

  2. What did you learn about Black radical imaginations?

  3. How will you apply what you've learned to your own Black life?

Length: Your essay should be no more than 1,000 words (we won't read past 1,000 words)

Format:

  • 12 pt. font

  • Double spaced

  • Each page should be numbered

  • Please include a title page listing your name, gender pronouns, age, link to Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter profile(s) and geographic location

  • Please omit your name and any personal details from the body of your essay

DEADLINE: January 1, 2021

https://www.charlenecarruthers.com/essaycontest

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Non-Fiction: Essays, Interviews, etc.

Circumference

INFO: Circumference was founded in 2003 by Jennifer Kronovet and Stefania Heim as a journal for poetry in translation. We believe translation continues to be a vital part of public and artistic discourse.

We’re interested in new translations of poetry and drama, particularly (but not exclusively) from contemporary authors. We’re expanding to include interviews and dialogues between artists and thinkers of all stripes: conversations where disagreement tends to enrich debate, rather than suspend it. We’re on the hunt for profiles and long-form writing that sheds light on literary and artistic praxis around the world.

We publish all poems in their original languages alongside their translations. We pay you for your work.

GUIDELINES: Please upload your pitch with the subject “Non-fiction: [Genre, focus of your piece].” Please include links to your writing, and feel free to include 1–2 pages of the piece, if available. 

We only accept work that has not been previously published in English. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please do let us know if your work will appear elsewhere. We’ll do our best to get back to you within four months. 

DEADLINE: January 2, 2021

https://circumferencemag.submittable.com/submit?utm_source=Words+of+Mouth&utm_campaign=9575a9f2ea-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_29_05_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d4310f52d6-9575a9f2ea-242929430

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Literary Portfolio Submissions

P+B In Print

INFO: P+B Publications is an independent publisher, seeking the best new work by women and non-binary authors. In the spirit of Pen + Brush, we believe fervently that our publishing program exists to act as forceful means of dispelling the misconception that too few women produce consistently high-level literary fiction and poetry.

We publish with the following goals:

  1. All work we publish is of a high quality

  2. We never pre-filter submissions based on publishing experience, education, or background

We are looking to work with strong new voices and we are committed to publishing them.

Pen + Brush publishes poetry and short and long literary fiction. We publish short stories and poems in our literary magazine Pen + Brush In Print, which is distributed in print and electronically.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: P+B In Print No. 5 

We are currently accepting submissions for our P+B In Print, No. 5 literary magazine, to be released in 2021. This issue will feature a guest editor, Novella Ford, whose theme is inspired by the recent  HBO series created by Misha Green, Lovecraft Country episode “I Am.”  We are seeking submissions that explore a question Hippolyta, a mother of a gifted artist, a science nerd and a widowed business owner, asks after unexpected travel through space and time; each experience revealing herself to herself, in order to name herself. At the end of the journey, she joyously proclaimed “How can I fit everything that I am now, into this place?” A clarion call for anyone who has experienced a shift in their persona, creative practice, principles, and/or actions.

For some, the quarantine due to COVID 19 has provided a time to sit with oneself and operate in solitude. For others, quarantine, global uprisings against police brutality, a protracted U.S. election season, and more, gave way to a dizzying cocktail of financial insecurity, anxiety, and stretching to meet the needs of many. You may not have made it completely to the other side, but you know more about what you are capable of than when the year 2020 started. What happens in the aftermath when we awaken to ourselves; when we cannot unknow what has been revealed? How do we make room for our glorious revelations in seemingly fixed spaces? 

For P+B In Print, No. 5, we are looking for a variety of work led by the imagination, that is also revelatory and worthy of the journey. How the theme is approached is up to you. We are excited by different writing styles, genres, and subgenres. 

Aligned with P+B’s vision to provide a platform to showcase the work of female and non-binary artists and writers to a broader audience with the ultimate goal of effecting real change within the marketplace, we are pleased to offer an honorarium ($150 - $500) for all submissions accepted for publication.  *Please note these honorariums are made possible by generous grants and donations received during this publication period, amounts may vary for subsequent publications.  

We are only accepting previously unpublished work.

Fiction/Non Fiction (under 3500 words) - up to $500

We are accepting one submission per author. Excerpts from book-length projects are fine, but we will be looking for the excerpt to stand strong on its own. Short stories, essays, autobiographical/memoir, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction are all welcomed. Humor, satire, and the political also have a place here.

Poetry (under 2 pages typed) - $150 for two published poems

We are accepting up to four submissions per author. 

Each submission should include a short bio, not to exceed 75 words. This will not impact the assessment of the work. We want to know a little bit about you!

About Guest Curator, Novella Ford:  

Novella Ford is the Associate Director of Public Programs and Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research division of The New York Public Library. She created the inaugural Schomburg Center Literary Festival in 2019 and has organized hundreds of public programs at the intersection of scholarship and popular culture.  She connects diverse audiences to the archives and engages history through dialogue, performance, literature, and visual arts.

DEADLINE: January 4, 2021

http://www.penandbrush.org/explore/literary

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The Fashion and Race Database

The Fashion and Race Database seeking contributors to publish original content, particularly essays or opinion pieces, and short profiles of Objects that Matter, or profiles of significant fashion figures. We also invite you to submit events and announcements. 

We are currently accepting submissions for publication in 2021:

  • Objects That Matter [500-800 words] - A short profile overview of an object in fashion: both its cultural origins and enumerated examples of its global reach/influence or even appropriation. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website.

    Rate: $295 CAD

  • Profiles [500-800 words] - A profile of select Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) who have shaped the history and business of fashion in the face of structural racism and adversity. Please see the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Essays & Op-Eds [1200-1500 words] - We are looking for essays or opinion pieces that amplify voices and writing of BIPOC scholars, students, artists, archivists, curators, business professionals and more. We are particularly seeking pieces that are timely and address issues or nuances related to fashion and race today. Please see this example for an idea of length and the full description for this section of the website. Rate: $540 CAD

  • ‘Our Fashion History’ [500-800 words, 3-5 photos] - Based upon an activity that Founder Kim Jenkins would facilitate during fashion history class or during her ‘Fashion and Justice’ workshops, ‘Our Fashion History’ invites contributors to present an essay that describes 3-5 family/personal photos, ultimately bringing a diverse perspective to the narrative of fashion history. Rate: $295 CAD

  • Call for Research Assistant: Ongoing - The Research Assistant will research, gather, catalog and publish knowledge-rich content, working in tandem with a lead editor. The assistant will not only contribute to this groundbreaking academic and creative platform, they will also acquire advanced research and publishing skills.

    This position is paid and, depending upon the applicant’s circumstances, may be eligible for internship or course credits. Applicants not enrolled at an academic institution are also welcome. This is a remote position but you will be working with team members located in the EST and PST time zones. This is a part time position requiring 10 hours of work per week. Research Assistants are hired for a commitment of 13 weeks. Rate: $33 CAD per hour

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://fashionandrace.org/database/contributors/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Latin American Literature Today

INFO: Latin American Literature Today (LALT) welcomes throughout the year submissions of translated texts (Spanish-English, Brazilian Portuguese-English) of contemporary Latin American prose, verse, interviews, essays, and book reviews.

Furthermore, the journal is committed to foregrounding the work of translators, so we encourage and welcome contributions such as translator’s notes, essays on the art of translation, translation reviews, interviews to translators, as well as translation “previews” from forthcoming book publications.

All translation submissions and questions should be directed to Denise Kripper, our Translation Editor, to translation.lalt@gmail.com. Submissions will be reviewed by the entire LALT editorial committee.

LENGTH OF SUBMISSIONS:

  • Creative prose (fiction and non-fiction) should have a maximum length of 5000 words

  • Poems should be limited to 3 to 5 poems

  • Articles and interviews should have a maximum length of 2,000 to 2,200 words, unless otherwise directed by the editor;

  • Book reviews should have a maximum length of 1,200 words

DEADLINE: Rolling Submissions

http://www.latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/en/submission-guidelines-translators

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hyphen Magazine

INFO: Hyphen Magazine publishes literary fiction of all forms, including stories that blur "genre" lines (literary sci-fi, noir fiction with a strong voice, for example). We generally do not accept novel excerpts unless they stand alone. Asian American themes are not essential though certainly welcome; strong writing and unique voice are considered first and foremost.

  • Send only your best, previously unpublished work. Asian American themes are not essential. We are much more interested in work that incorporates identity than in work that is about identity.

  • Please use 1" margins, 12-pt Times New Roman font.

  • Short stories should be no longer than 5,000 words. A series of short shorts (flash fiction) totaling no more than 5,000 words will also be considered (though not all stories may be taken).

  • Simultaneous submissions (when you send the same submission to us and other publications) are okay as long as you let us know and notify us immediately when a piece has been accepted elsewhere.

  • Multiple submissions are not okay (when you send more than one submission to us in the same genre). If you send more than one story, only the first story will be considered; the others will not be read. Please wait to hear back before submitting again.

  • Submitting to more than one genre at a time is okay (but please send them separately).

Please note:

  • Fiction features alternate between original short stories and novel excerpts. Those looking to have their forthcoming novels excerpted should have their publicist contact the Fiction Editor.

  • Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, and is dependent upon space availability.

  • Reading period can be up to six months. If you have not heard back after six months, feel free to contact the editor.

  • We are able to pay writers $25 per piece upon publication.

DEADLINE: Rolling

https://hyphenmag.submittable.com/submit/77191/fiction-poetry


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ONGOING

Fellowship for BIPOC Editors

Shenandoah

INFO: In order for structural change to happen in the predominantly white publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book publishers to literary magazines like ours. We recognize that if we want Black writers, Indigenous writers, and other writers of color to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core. With this in mind, we’re excited to announce a new initiative: The Shenandoah Fellowship for BIPOC Editors.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new BIPOC voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and forge connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Requirements and Eligibility

A single fellow will be selected for each issue of Shenandoah going forward, alternating genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics) as we see fit. Fellows will choose two–three pieces of prose, five–ten poems, or two–three comic artists for their issue; these authors will be paid at the same rates as other Shenandoah authors ($100 per poem; $50 per comic panel; $100 for every thousand words of prose—for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author). Each fellow will receive a $1000 honorarium for their work. We welcome writers and editors of all experience levels. No previous editorial experience is necessary, but we are looking for applicants who are passionate and informed about the literary community. We welcome candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The Application

  1. In 500 words or fewer, describe why this fellowship would be valuable to you, addressing what you think is the role and value of a literary magazine in the publishing ecosystem. Make sure to include your writing and editing experience and the genre you would be most excited to work in (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics).

  2. In 500 words or fewer, tell us about a favorite piece of writing you recently read in a literary magazine in your desired genre. Describe how you found it, who wrote it, its aesthetic attributes, and what you loved about it.

  3. In 500 words or fewer, compose a solicitation email to an emerging writer (who has published no more than one book) who you would love to work with. Include in your email what you admire about this writer’s work and why you would like to work with them.

  4. We'd love to know where you heard about this fellowship, if you don't mind sharing!

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning November 1, 2020 at https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit. Upload a single document that responds to these prompts separately.

https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit/175611/fellowship-for-bipoc-editors

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

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MICRO/FLASH FAST RESPONSE FOR BIPOC WRITERS

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INTERVENXIONS

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

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SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

VIDA Review

INFO: The VIDA Review is an online literary magazine publishing original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews. 

We are exclusively interested in work by those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); cis and trans women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, nonbinary, and two-spirit people; LGBQIA people; people with disabilities; and people living at the intersections of these identities.

All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

Please send one submission at a time, and please submit only once every 6 months.

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you label them as such and promptly let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

Please note that all submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter and brief third-person biography statement, and that (unless otherwise stated) we ask for First North American Rights to publish writing. Following publication, all rights revert back to the writer; we only ask that you credit the VIDA Review as the place your work first appeared.

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Nonfiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Book Reviews

  • Must be a review for a full-length or chapbook of poetry or prose by a writer from a historically-marginalized community

  • Must be published by small or independent presses

  • Must have been published within the last five years

  • Do not send us a review of your own book

  • Include publisher, price, and page number, as well as the word count of the review at the top of your submission

  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know and withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • No self-published titles are accepted

  • Reviews should be double-spaced and be no more than 1,200 words

PAYMENT: Payment for those accepted will range between $15-$20. We recognize that this is a token amount of money but hope to increase this amount in the future. Payment will be made via PayPal within 2 months of publication.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://thevidareview.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

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SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- NOVEMBER 2020

SHORT STORY SUBMISSION: CALL FOR BLACK MALE & BLACK NONBINARY WRITERS 

Kwame Mbalia

INFO: For too long the stories of Black boys have been written for us and our joy has been omitted. No longer. I want to present, read, and tell stories that center the joy of Black boyhood. 

I am putting together and editing a to-be-announced Middle Grade anthology (i.e. targeted towards readers age 8-12) that will center the joy of Black boyhood. A stellar group of authors have agreed to come with me on this journey, and a fantastic publisher is committed to publishing these stories.

Something that is near and dear to my heart is the idea of mentoring and providing space for up-and-coming writers. To that end, I am launching a call for submissions with the hope of finding two writers to be published in this anthology. I did not get to where I am by myself. Other authors reached back, boosted, lifted, and helped me climb, and I want to do the same.

ELIGIBILITY

  • A Black male/non-binary author as specified above

  • Unagented and non-traditionally published  (if you’ve previously published novellas or short stories, that’s fine!)

  • Must be 18 years old or older in order to submit a story

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Stories should be typed in a manuscript format and emailed as an attachment to BlackBoyStories@gmail.com

  • In addition to the short story, all submissions must include a 150 words or less bio that tells me about you.

  • Due to the volume of submissions, submissions will not be returned and comments will not be provided. (It’s just me, y’all.)

  • If selected, then you agree upon request to cooperate with the editor (me) and the publisher and in the editing and publishing process. You further understand that you will be asked to sign a contributor agreement in a standard form acceptable to the editor (me) and the publisher, and your submission may not be published if you elect not to sign.  You further agree that the submission may be edited for length, format or otherwise by the editor (me) and the publisher.

  • If selected, you will be paid $2,000 on delivery and acceptance, and you will receive credit upon publishing.

SHORT STORY REQUIREMENTS

  • Short stories must be written for a Middle Grade audience, i.e. for readers age 8 to 12 years old. Stories can be of any genre, i.e. contemporary, science-fiction, fantasy, etc.

  • Stories must be no more than 3000 words in length.

  • Stories should not have been previously commercially published and you must  be the sole author of the story you submit.

  • Stories should center joy (which doesn’t mean excluding other experiences) and feature and center Black boys (which doesn’t mean excluding other characters. Say it with me: Centering doesn’t mean excluding.)

  • All short story submissions must be typed in a manuscript format.

  • The submission must not contain any material that violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including without limitation any copyright, trademark or right of privacy or publicity, or that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to any applicable law or regulation, or the use of which as described in this call for submissions by the editor would require a license or permission from or payment to any third party; and the submission must not contain any material that is defamatory.

  • By submitting, the applicant represents and warrants that the applicant owns the copyright in the submission, has complied with all of the requirements and has obtained all permissions, licenses and consents that are necessary for the submitting of the submission and to the use of the submission by the anthology editor and publisher and their licensees. The anthology editor reserves the right in the editor’s sole discretion to disqualify any submission that the editor determines does not comply with these requirements, or to require the applicant to make such changes to any submission as are necessary to make it compliant.

DEADLINE: November 1, 2020

https://kwamembalia.com/a-call-for-joy/

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START A RIOT! CHAPBOOK PRIZE

Foglifter

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 are pleased to announce Start a Riot! - a chapbook series for local emerging queer and trans Black writers, Indigenous writers, and writers of color.

AWARD: Each year, the prize will honor one author with:

  • chapbook publication

  • a $1,000 prize

  • promotion

  • a spot on the Sister Spit Tour

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Submitter is a QTBIPOC+ literary artist

  • Submitter is a current resident of the larger San Francisco Bay Area

  • Submitter does not have a previous full-length publication in their submission genre

MANUSCRIPT DETAILS:

  • Open to all genres, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid, graphic novels

  • 25 pages (maximum)

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Deadline: November 1, 2020

  • Results Announced: Spring 2021

  • Chapbook Release: Fall 2021

https://foglifterjournal.com/submit-to-start-a-riot/

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2020 CRAFT FLASH FICTION CONTEST

Craft Literary

INFO: Welcome back to our annual flash fiction contest for unpublished stories up to 1,000 words!

Leesa Cross-Smith will select three winning stories

AWARD: $1,000

GUIDELINES:

  • Open September 1 to November 1

  • CRAFT submissions are open to all writers

  • International submissions are allowed

  • Fiction only!

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 1,000 word count maximum—flash fiction only

  • We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft

  • Previously unpublished work only—we do not review reprints, including self-published work, for contests

  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your entry if your work is picked up elsewhere

  • We allow multiple submissions—please submit each set of two flash stories as a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee

  • All entrants will receive an exclusive digital compilation next year that includes: the winning pieces with Leesa Cross-Smith’s introductions and the winners’ craft essays; the editors’ choice winners; excerpts from finalist pieces; and more

  • Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable)

  • We do not require blind submissions

  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less fees)

READING FEE: $20

DEADLINE: November 1, 2020

https://www.craftliterary.com/craft-flash-fiction-contest/

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THE COMMONWEALTH SHORT STORY PRIZE

Commonwealth Writers

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.

DEADLINE: November 1, 2020

http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/our-projects/the-short-story/

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JACK STRAW WRITERS PROGRAM

Jack Straw Cultural Center

INFO: Jack Straw Cultural Center is now accepting applications for the 25th year of the Jack Straw Writers Program. To date, the program has included more than 275 writers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond who represent a diverse range of literary genres. Each year, an invited curator selects 12 participants.

The purpose of the Jack Straw Writers Program is to introduce writers to the medium of recorded audio; to develop their presentation skills for both live and recorded readings; to encourage the creation of new literary work; to present the writers and their work in live readings, in an anthology, on the web, and on the radio; and to build community among writers. Participating writers are presented in live readings, in the printed Jack Straw Writers Anthology; and on the web and radio. Each year an invited curator selects the participating writers from a large pool of applicants based foremost on artistic excellence. Among past curators are program co-founder Rebecca Brown, Anastacia- Renée, Donna Miscolta, Matt Briggs, Stephanie Kallos, Shawn Wong, and Jourdan Imani Keith. Writers receive training in vocal presentation, performance, and microphone technique to prepare them for public readings, interviews, and studio recording. Their recorded readings and interviews with the curator are then used to produce programs for SoundPages, our literary podcast, and for selected radio broadcast.

The Writers Program requires participants to be on-site at Jack Straw Cultural Center for a number of activities, such as an introductory orientation, workshops for microphone/voice technique and live performance, in-studio interview session with the program curator, and live readings. (See Covid-19 advisory for more on this.) Most of these activities take place between January and June. Additional Writers Program readings will take place around the community throughout the year, including a final reading with all of the writers in November. Work appearing in the Jack Straw Writers Anthology may not be previously published material, and any subsequent publication of this work must acknowledge the Jack Straw Writers Program.

The 2021 Writers Program Curator is E. J. Koh.  E. J., a 2016 Jack Straw Writers Program fellow, is the author of the memoir The Magical Language of Others (Tin House Books, 2020) and poetry collection A Lesser Love (Louisiana State University Press, 2017)winner of the Pleiades Editors Prize for Poetry. Her poems, translations, and stories have appeared in Academy of American PoetsBoston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, PEN America, Slate, and World Literature Today. Koh is the recipient of The Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing from Prairie Schooner and has received fellowships from the American Literary Translators Association, Kundiman, MacDowell Colony, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and Vermont Studio Center. She is the editor for Pleiades: Poetry by Korean American Women and has appeared in anthologies: Bettering American Poetry Vol. 3, Privacy Policy: The Anthology of Surveillance Poetics, Political Punch: Contemporary Poems on Politics of Identity, and The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit. Koh earned her MFA at Columbia University in New York for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. She is completing her PhD at the University of Washington in English Language and Literature.

Selection Process

Writers Program applications are evaluated and awarded by an invited curator. The curators change each year. All applicants will be notified of the results in writing. Please allow at least eight weeks after deadline dates for the review and notification process to be completed. The first Writers Program mandatory meeting will take place in January 2021.

Selection Criteria

The Writers Program receives more than a hundred applicants, from which 12 writers are selected. Curator selections will be based upon the excellence of the work represented in the support materials provided by the applicant.

Covid-19 Advisory

We will almost certainly need to adapt the 2021 Writers Program to fit the safety requirements of the current situation, as we have been doing for the 2020 Writers. Some elements – such as workshops, readings, and meetings – will be moved online, and some will be adjusted to minimize the number of people sharing space. 

It is impossible to know exactly what the situation will look like in January, when this program is set to begin, so we are requesting your patience, flexibility, and adaptability in advance. Know that we will do whatever we can to help you get the most out of this program and find community with your cohort and curator. 

DEADLINE: November 3, 2020

https://jackstraw.submittable.com/submit/90532/jack-straw-writers-program

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AWAKE

Lucky Jefferson

INFO: Lucky Jefferson's digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black writers in American society. 

The second issue of our digital zine will explore Black culture through cuisine. Send us your most savory and decadent poems, essays, flash fiction, and art on foods that inspired your identity and exude blackness.

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.

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. Poems should be separated by titles or page breaks.

- If sharing an essay, include an essay with no more than 1500 words. 

- Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the Black experience is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).

- Include a cover page highlighting 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.

DEADLINE: November 6, 2020

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/167135/lucky-jefferson-awake-zine-submission?fbclid=IwAR1hJFhLJJ_-0xSWLX-I2yvncdA40aTlf4i8ElGNgGkudxgncwmu1D031xw

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ADINA TALVE-GOODMAN FELLOWSHIP

One Story

INFO: Together with the Talve-Goodman Family, One Story is happy to open submissions for the 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) and Arvin Ramgoolam (2020).

The fellow will receive:

  • Free tuition for all One Story online classes and programming offered in 2021.

  • Travel stipend ($2,000) and tuition to attend One Story’s July 2021 week-long summer writers’ conference in Brooklyn, which includes craft lectures, an in-person intensive fiction workshop, and panels with literary agents and publishers.

  • A full manuscript review & 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 2021 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, 2021. For complete eligibility details, please visit our FAQ.

CHECKLIST: To apply to this fellowship you will need:

  • A fiction writing sample (3,000 - 8,000 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.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

DEADLINES:

  • Extended to November 6, 2020 11:59pm ET.

  • The winner of the 2021 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship will be publicly announced in January 2021.

https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=fellowship

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THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURE 2021

INFO: The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature is an annual award for literary books by Caribbean writers, first presented in 2011. Books are judged in three categories: poetry; fiction — both novels and collections of short stories; and literary non-fiction — including books of essays, biography and autobiography, history, current affairs, travel, and other genres, which demonstrate literary qualities and use literary techniques, regardless of subject matter. (Note: textbooks, technical books, coffee-table books, specialist publications and reference works are not eligible.)

There will be a panel of three judges for each category, who will determine category shortlists and winners.

The three category winners will then be judged by a panel of four judges — consisting of the chairs of the category panels and the prize chair — who will determine the overall winner.

AWARD: The author of the book judged overall winner will receive an award of US$10,000. The other category winners will receive US$3,000.

To be eligible for entry for the 2021 prize, a book must:

  1. Have been first published in the calendar year 2020 (1 January to 31 December);

  2. Have been written by a single author who either holds Caribbean citizenship or was born in the Caribbean (this must be verified by the publisher), regardless of current place of residence; 

  3. Have been written by an author who is living on 31 December, 2020;

  4. Have been written and first published in English originally (i.e. translations are not eligible);

  5. Be a new work, previously unpublished in book form (though collections including poems, stories, essays, or other short pieces that have individually appeared in print in periodicals or anthologies are eligible).

The OCM Bocas Prize is requesting both digital and print copies of each entry for 2021:  a PDF file of the book must be uploaded with the entry form below, and five copies of the book must be mailed via reliable courier to The Bocas Lit Fest.

DEADLINE: November 9, 2020

https://www.bocaslitfest.com/2021/awards/ocm-bocas-prize-entry/

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Call for entries: young black writers competition

The Guardian / gal-dem

INFO: Calling all young black women and black non-binary writers aged 16-21. The Guardian is once again collaborating on a special issue of Weekend magazine with gal-dem, an online and print publication committed to sharing perspectives from women and non-binary people of colour. This time we want to feature your work. Today, we are launching a memoir writing competition on the theme of ‘conversations’. The winner and two runners-up will be published at theguardian.com and in the next Weekend x gal-dem issue in December 2020.

How to enter

All you have to do is submit a 700-word journalistic personal essay that shows off your talents – on the theme of conversations. We’re particularly interested in essays that take a creative approach to the theme. Did you have an unforgettable conversation with your grandmother about her youth that changed how you viewed her? Do you find having certain conversations really hard, and if so, why? Is there a conversation you regret, or one you regret you never had? We’re keen to hear about your personal experiences.

All entries must be sent to weekend@theguardian.com with the subject line ‘Guardian Weekend x gal-dem memoir writing competition entry’ by midnight on Monday 9 November. You must include your name and contact telephone number. If you are aged 16-17, you must have sought permission from your parent or guardian. Your personal data will be used only in relation to this competition in line with the terms below and our privacy policy. It will be deleted 100 working days after the winning entries are published. If you have any questions about the competition, send them to the same email address.

The Judges

gal-dem CEO Liv Little, together with writer and bestselling author of Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams and gal-dem’s editorial team, supported by editors from Guardian Weekend.

The Prize

There will be one winner and two runners-up. These top three essays will be published in Guardian Weekend magazine as well as on theguardian.com. You will have a video call with gal-dem and Guardian editors as part of the editing process before publication, and you will be paid £250 for your published essay. The overall winner will receive three months of mentoring from a member of the gal-dem editorial team and a 1-1 workshop with a Guardian journalist (via video).

DEADLINE: November 9, 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/oct/22/call-for-entries-young-black-writers-competition

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OPEN CITY 2021 FELLOWSHIP

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

INFO: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is now accepting applications for the 2021 Open City Fellowship. The fellowship is a nine-month program and will run from January through September.

STIPEND: $2,500 for the duration of the nine-month grant period;

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES: We will publish two long-form pieces and two short ones, or three long-form stories, you’ve written over the nine-month period on our online magazine, The Margins. We want these pieces to be special and we hope you will too.

OPEN CITY WORKSHOP SERIES: We have created a special workshop series just for Open City Fellows. We’ll launch with a special orientation that will feature professional writers and former fellows. Future sessions in the workshop series may deal with interviewing, the craft of writing, photography, multimedia storytelling, and data research;

GUIDANCE AND MENTORSHIP: You’ll receive mentorship and editorial guidance from Senior Editor Noel Pangilinan and will have access to potential resources from the CUNY Journalism School;

AAWW PERKS: You’ll receive free membership to the AAWW, discounts, free access to general programs;

WRITING WORKSHOP: One free writing workshop organized through AAWW ($200 value).

Previous fellows have gone on to write and report for GrantaAl Jazeera America, the New Yorker, among other outlets. Their work during our fellowship has been picked up by NPR, CityLab, and the New York Times.  

Open City Fellows will be required to:

— meet with the Open City editor every two weeks.

— attend six writing workshop sessions, which may include feedback from the Open City editor;

— attend occasional get-togethers with all fellows; and

— attend an initial all-day orientation at the start of the nine-month term.

APPLICATION:

SUBMITTABLE APPLICATION FORM: In this form, we ask you to specify which neighborhoods you are uniquely qualified to cover for Open City;

PROJECT PROPOSAL: Identify two to three story ideas tied up by a common theme in your chosen neighborhood (900 words max)

CV: Upload a 1-3 page resume or CV that also includes publication history

WRITING SAMPLES: 2 or 3 writing samples that best illustrate the kinds of articles you would like to write for Open City. Samples should not be more than three pages each and must be uploaded to the application form as PDFs or MS Word documents. They should be double-spaced, in 12-point font size, and should not include publication information.

REQUIREMENTS:

During the fellowship term, fellows must live in one of New York City’s five boroughs: Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, or Queens. 

Asian American and Asian diasporic writers are eligible to apply. “Asian American” is defined broadly to include not just, say, Chinese and Indian Americans, but also Asian American adoptee and multiracial writers, Indo-Caribbean writers, and West Asians, such as Iranians and Arab Americans.

SELECTION PROCESS:

The Open City Fellows are chosen based on the following criteria:

— Relevance, quality, and cohesiveness of project proposal;

— Merit of past work, based on submitted work sample;

— Demonstrated ability to cover the proposed neighborhoods;

— Career record, as described in the resume;

— Demonstrated willingness to take the most advantage of the Fellowship: e.g., to attend ALL trainings and workshops, and take advantage of publishing opportunities.

Applicants will be assessed based on a multi-round selection process, in which the applicant pool grows smaller in each round. The assessment process will involve Programs Manager Lily Philpott, and Senior Editor Noel Pangilinan, as well as an outside jury comprised of literary and journalism professionals. Finalist applicants will be interviewed in person or online, depending on the pandemic situation.

DEADLINE: Extended to November 9, 2020 by 11:59pm ET

https://aaww.org/fellowships/open-city/?utm_source=AAWW+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b48d254d91-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_28_09_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_33f8ecedf2-b48d254d91-72498805&mc_cid=b48d254d91&mc_eid=d450635ba2&fbclid=IwAR1s9zPzYE85CUheDaBZ8xweKZlbyMnPN2VSRfR8duS89dwFqiCQWz8gTSQ

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE STEM ISSUE

Overachiever Magazine

INFO: Overachiever Magazine, an online platform for Asian women, is now accepting submissions for the STEM Issue!

Suggested topics include:

  • Why you chose to go into STEM.

  • Why you chose *not* to go into STEM.

  • Your experiences with harassment and discrimination as an Asian woman in STEM.

  • Any other thoughts you have on the issue.

Submit your pieces to overachievermagazing@gmail.com

DEADLINE: November 11, 2020

https://twitter.com/OverachieverM/status/1323399535205535744

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QUEERIBBEAN STORIES: THE HOLIDAYS

Rebel Women Lit

INFO: The December holiday period can be a period of extremes for many queer folks, especially here in the Caribbean where we pair every season with rituals around food, outfits, and of course family gatherings.

It can be particularly difficult for LGBTQ+ folk who may not be able to bring their full selves home, or who may have been rejected by their biological family for attempting to do just that.

It can also be season can be a source of immense joy for queer people who have been accepted and loved by their biological family, or decide to spend time with their chosen family.

We want to hear your Queeribbean Christmas/December Holiday stories. This includes fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry and visual art.

We want it all. Happy, sad, angry, reflective, comedic. If your holidays feel like a Hallmark rom-com, a retelling of the Grinch or something as sad as burnt-up fruit cake tell us! Let's write, share, and archive our own stories.

DEADLINE: November 15, 2020

https://www.rebelwomenlit.com/queeribbean

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Octavia E. Butler Fellowship 

The Huntington Library

INFO: The Huntington is the repository of the literary archive of Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006), the first science fiction writer to receive a prestigious MacArthur "genius" Fellowship and the first African American woman to win widespread recognition writing in that genre. Applicants may be working from a variety of disciplinary perspectives on the ideas and issues explored by Butler in her published works, ranging from speculative fiction through Afrofuturism to environmental studies and biotechnology, but preference may be given to candidates who intend to make extensive use of the Butler archive during their residency.

Tenure of fellowship: Between nine and twelve months.

AWARD: $50,000

TIMING: Applicants must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. by no later than Nov. 16, 2020. 

https://www.huntington.org/available-fellowships


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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Aaduna

INFO: aaduna seeks to uncover new and emerging creative visionaries, especially people of color, in the realm of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and the visual arts.

DEADLINE: November 16, 2020

https://www.aaduna.org/submission-process/

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LITERATURE GRANT

Café Royal Cultural Foundation

INFO: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a publishing grant to authors of fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. 

GRANT: Up to $10,000.00  

ELIGIBILITY: Authors in fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. The applicant must be the originator of the written material.

Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted.

Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying.

The processing time of application can take up to three months. Please make sure to submit your application with ample time before the start date of your project. 

Application Requirements: 

  • Up to and no more than a 30 page PDF of the work, for the Café Royal Cultural Foundation executive committee to download and read.

  • A letter of intent from the publisher with a date of planned publication, if no publisher is assigned, Café Royal Cultural Foundation may work with writer to help find a publisher.

  • A short description of the project.

  • A short author biography of the person(s) involved.

  • List of costs that the grant money be used for - must not exceed the amount of $10,000.00

Click on the apply button below to download the application. Once completed, please e-mail application to publishinggrant@caferoyalculturalfoundation.org.

We accept applications all year round. Applications will only be received by e-mail. The processing time of application can take up to three months. Please make sure to submit your application with ample time before the start date of your project and please refrain from inquiries in the meantime.

DEADLINE: November 16, 2020 at 9am

https://caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/literature-page

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african american creatives grant

Pippin Properties, Inc.

INFO: Pippin Properties, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of its first annual African American Creatives Grant—an award of $6,000 to an aspiring creative who has an interest in young people’s literature. For 2020, the inaugural year of the grant, Pippin is accepting applications for African American Artists only.

We believe Black Lives Matter, and we all must do our part to dismantle racism in our country and within publishing. In an effort to assist in deconstructing unjust disparities experienced by African American people in the United States, Pippin Properties is pledging to do its part by offering the African American Creatives Grant, in addition to other initiatives that aim to support, amplify, and elevate underrepresented creatives in the field.

African American artists, at any point in their careers, may apply and use the award towards the development of their careers. The creator is under no obligation to submit their work to Pippin Properties for representation. In the event that the recipient decides to do so, we would make it a priority to review the work with dispatch. Please note that Pippin is under no obligation to offer representation.

If you are interested in applying, please review the following guidelines listed below.

Submission Guidelines

Applicants are invited to submit their application for consideration to the Pippin team via info@pippinproperties.com.

The judging process will be composed of two parts. During the initial round of assessment, a committee composed of Ashley Valentine, Art Manager; Cameron Chase, Subsidiary Rights Manager; and Rakeem Nelson, Agency Assistant will review and select 10 final applicants. Next, a committee of senior Pippin staff composed of Holly McGhee, Company President; Elena Giovinazzo, Vice President; and Sara Crowe, Senior Agent, will select the awardee from these top ten. 110 West 40th Street, Suite 1704 / New York, NY 10018 / Phone: 212-338-9310 / info@pippinproperties.com / www.pippinproperties.com PIPPIN PROPERTIES, INC.

The following are required for consideration during the application process:

  • Please submit a cover letter, sharing a brief summary of the nature of your work and how this grant would help you in your creative pursuits, a maximum of one page, double spaced. Please be sure to include your contact information, list your full name, address, email address, and phone number.

  • Please submit 10 samples of artwork, scanned and submitted as PDF.

Please note that we are accepting digital submissions only.

Formatting

  • All of the above must be submitted as a single PDF document. The maximum file size should not exceed over 25MB. Feel free to share via email or WeTransfer. Original art will not be considered.

  • The applicant’s name must be included in the header on each page, as well as page numbers in the footer. •The author’s first and last name must be included in the name of the PDF file.

  • Any submission received that does not meet these requirements will not be reviewed.

Eligibility

  • African American artists at any point in their careers may apply

  • 2020 applicants must be aspiring, unpublished visual artists

  • Applicant must be at least 18 years of age and have a Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to participate.

  • Applicant must have an interest in young people’s literature and intend to incorporate this genre into their work. Note: This $6,000 grant will be awarded pre-tax and the winner will receive a federal income tax 1099 form. We will require a W-9 prior to assigning the award, and it will be distributed in one lump sum.

DEADLINE: Our submission window will remain open until we’ve received 100 applications OR until November 16th, 2020, whichever comes first. If the latter, we require all applications be in by 11:59pm EST on November 16th. In the case that we reach our maximum first, we will announce our closing to applications via our website and all social channels. We are accepting applications on a first come, first serve basis.

https://indd.adobe.com/view/218f0a58-eab4-414e-a1f6-f58db4356107?fbclid=IwAR2uI55jLTGNeGI8rvgA3waI-bc2aFfn5ZUzdaHQkmVlzjf2F_ZwNYzicV4

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33rd Lambda Literary Awards

INFO: Lambda Literary Award submissions are judged principally on literary merit and content relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lives. Specific guidelines must be met for each award category.

A book may be submitted to only one category. Because of this, it is very important that you read through these guidelines carefully to ensure that your book is eligible for consideration and that you are submitting it to the proper category.

New This Year

  • Due to COVID-19, we have implemented an entirely digital submission process using Submittable. Please do not send physical copies of your books.

  • Given the significant increase in the volume of LGBTQ books for younger readers, we have split the LGBTQ Children’s/YA category into two categories: LGBTQ Children’s/Middle Grade and LGBTQ Young Adult.

  • We have expanded the mystery category to include bi, trans, and queer books by creating a single LGBTQ Mystery category as opposed to separate lesbian and gay mystery categories.

General Eligibility

  • Lambda Literary Award submissions are judged principally on literary merit and content relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lives.

  • Submitted books must be published between January 1 and December 31, 2020. The book must also be distributed (i.e., available in bookstores or online) in the United States during 2020. (See the LGBTQ Drama criteria for exceptions regarding plays.)

  • Lambda Literary Awards are open to all authors regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity except in the case of the special awards that mark specific stages of an individual LGBTQ writer’s career.

  • Books must be published in English. Translations from other languages are eligible.

  • Self-published books are eligible.

  • Books available only in ebook format are not eligible.

  • First print editions of books previously published online or in ebook format are eligible.

  • Reprints of books that were published in the US in previous years are not eligible. This includes second (or later) editions, books that have been republished by a different publisher, and books that are modified versions of previously published works.

  • First US editions of books published outside the US before 2020 are eligible if the original edition was not submitted for Lammy consideration in a previous year.

Specific Categories

A book may be submitted to only one category. If a category receives fewer than ten (10) submissions, the category will not be active in this awards cycle. The submitted books may then be reassigned to another category, if appropriate. If the book cannot compete in another category, the submission fee will be refunded.

I - LESBIAN & GAY CATEGORIES

Books eligible for lesbian categories feature a prominent lesbian character or contain content of strong significance to lesbian lives.

Books eligible for gay categories feature a prominent gay male character or contain content of strong significance to gay male lives.

Lesbian Fiction or Gay Fiction: Literary fiction that does not fit more precisely into a specific genre category such as Erotica, Romance, Speculative Fiction, or Mystery. Novels, novellas, and short story collections by a single author are eligible; anthologies are not.

Lesbian Memoir/Biography or Gay Memoir/Biography: Biographies, memoirs, autobiographies, and works of creative nonfiction by or about lesbians and gay men or with content of strong significance to gay and lesbian lives. Posthumously published works and/or those with co-authors are eligible; anthologies are not.

Lesbian Poetry or Gay Poetry : Single volumes and collected poems are eligible; chapbooks are not. Updated editions of previously published works are not eligible unless at least 50% of the poetry (not the supplemental text) is new.

Lesbian Romance or Gay Romance: Novels, novellas, and short story collections by a single author that focus on a central love relationship between two or more characters are eligible; anthologies are not. Category includes a broad range of subgenres including traditional, historical, gothic, Regency, and paranormal romance.

II - BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER CATEGORIES

These categories are non-gender-specific works containing material of strong significance to members of the bi and trans communities.

Bisexual Fiction or Transgender Fiction: Novels, novellas, short story collections, and anthologies with prominent bi/trans characters and/or content of strong significance to the bi/trans communities. May include historical novels, comics, cross-genre works of fiction, humor, and other styles of fiction.

Bisexual Nonfiction or Transgender Nonfiction: Nonfiction works with content of strong significance to members of the bi/trans communities. Includes a wide range of subjects for the general or academic reader (e.g., history, memoirs, cultural studies, public policy, law, politics, community organizations, humor, spirituality, gender studies, parenting, religion, spirituality, relationships, psychology, travel).

Bisexual Poetry or Transgender Poetry: Single volumes and collected poems are eligible; chapbooks are not. Updated editions of previously published works are not eligible unless at least 50% of the poetry (not the supplemental text) is new.

III - LGBTQ CATEGORIES

These categories are non-gender-specific works containing material of strong significance to members of the LGBTQ community.

LGBTQ Anthology: Collections of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry are eligible.

LGBTQ Children’s/Middle Grade: Individual works and collections of fiction, nonfiction, picture books, and poetry whose intended audience is young readers are all eligible; anthologies are not.

LGBTQ Young Adult: Individual works and collections of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry whose intended audience is young adult readers are all eligible; anthologies are not.

LGBTQ Comics: Book-length works of fiction or non-fiction that use a combination of words and sequential art to convey a narrative are eligible, including novels, graphic memoirs and short story or comics collections by the same author/team. Individual comic books, periodicals, anthologies, and web-only content are not eligible.

LGBTQ Drama: Plays and other theatrical works and performance pieces that have been published in book or script form during 2020. Collections from a single author are eligible; anthologies featuring multiple authors are not. Unpublished play manuscripts are eligible, as long as the play has received a full production with at least 8 consecutive shows in 2020.

Because of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on theater, we will also allow entries for the following this year in the LGBTQ Drama category:

  • Plays that were scheduled to be produced in theaters in 2020 but which were postponed or cancelled because of the pandemic

  • Plays that were produced and performed outside traditional theatrical venues in 2020 because of the pandemic (such as online venues, etc.)

LGBTQ Erotica: Anthologies, novels, novellas, graphic novels, memoirs, and short story collections whose content is principally of an erotic nature.

LGBTQ Mystery: Novels, novellas, and short story collections in which a crime or series of crimes is an integral part of the story are all eligible; anthologies are not. Category includes a wide range of crime fiction subgenres including police procedurals, political/legal/medical thrillers, cozies, and hard-boiled detective stories.

LGBTQ Nonfiction: LGBTQ-themed works for general readers, as opposed to those targeted primarily to scholarly audiences (e.g., LGBT/Queer/Gender Studies programs). Includes but is not limited to law, history, politics, spirituality, humor, parenting, relationships, psychology, travel, and photography. Anthologies (edited collections of separately authored work) are not eligible in the LGBTQ Nonfiction category and should be submitted to LGBTQ Anthology. (Please see the LGBTQ Studies category below for comparison and contact Lambda’s awards manager at awards@lambdaliterary.org if you have questions about where to submit your work.)

LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror: Includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and related genres. Novels, novellas, and short story collections are eligible; anthologies are not.

LGBTQ Studies: Scholarly work focusing on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, and oriented toward academia, libraries, cultural professionals, and the more academic reader. Generally, but not exclusively, published by university presses. Anthologies (edited collections of separately authored work) are not eligible in the LGBTQ Studies category and should be submitted to LGBTQ Anthology. (Please see the LGBTQ Nonfiction category above for comparison and contact the Lambda’s awards manager at awards@lambdaliterary.org if you have questions about where to submit your work.).

DEADLINE: November 16, 2020

https://www.lambdaliterary.org/guidelines-categories/

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30 BELOW CONTEST—2020

Narrative Magazine

INFO: Narrative invites all writers, poets, visual artists, photographers, performers, and filmmakers between eighteen and thirty years old to send us their best work. We’re looking for the traditional and the innovative, the true and the imaginary. We’re looking to encourage and promote the best young authors and artists working today.

AWARDS:

  • First Prize - $1,500

  • Second Prize - $750

  • Third Prize - $300 

  • Ten finalists will receive $100 each

  • The prizewinners and finalists will be announced in Narrative

  • All entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2021 and for acceptance as a Story of the Week or Poem of the Week.

We accept submissions in the following media:

Written: Works of prose and of poetry, including short stories, all poetic forms, novel excerpts, essays, memoirs, and excerpts from book-length nonfiction. Prose submissions must not exceed 15,000 words. Each poetry submission may contain up to five poems. The poems should all be contained in a single file. All submissions should be double-spaced (excluding poetry, which should be single-spaced), with 12-point type, at least one-inch margins, and sequentially numbered pages. Please provide your name, address, telephone number, and email address at the top of the first page. Submit your document as a .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf file. You may enter as many times as you wish, but we encourage you to be selective and to send your best work. All entries will be considered for publication.

Drawn: Graphic stories, graphic-novel excerpts, and comics of no more than thirty pages, in .pdf format.

Photographed: Photo essays of between five and twenty images, previously unpublished (including on sites like Instagram, your personal website, stock photography sites, etc.). Images should be submitted together in low-resolution .pdf format; however, upon acceptance, images will need to be provided that have a resolution of at least 300 dpi, in a .tif, .jpg, or raw format that can be reproduced at 2,048 pixels wide. Captions or text should be included, either with the file containing the images or as a separate document in a .doc or .pdf format, with numbered captions corresponding to the similarly numbered photographs. Please provide your name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page.

Spoken: Original works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in audio theater, including performance, radio journalism, and stories and poems read aloud. Submissions may run up to ten minutes, in .mp3 format, with a bit rate of at least 128 kbit/s.

Filmed: Short films and documentaries of up to fifteen minutes. Submissions must be in .mp4 or .mov format.

Judging: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by December 18, 2020. All entrants will be notified by email of the judges’ decisions, which will be final. The judges reserve the option to declare ties and to designate and award only as many winners and/or finalists as are appropriate to the quality of contest entries and of work represented in the magazine.

Entries must be previously unpublished, though we do accept works that have appeared in college publications. Entries cannot have been the winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. We accept online entries only. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but if your entry is accepted elsewhere, please let us know as soon as possible (and accept our congratulations!).

ENTRY FEE: $26 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

DEADLINE: November 19, 2020, at midnight, PST

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/30-below-2020?uid=103566&m=dfa081af7070171afb5f383d9533fa80&d=1600269761

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250-word Microfiction Challenge

NYC Midnight

INFO: The 250-word Microfiction Challenge is a competition that challenges writers around the world to create very short stories (250 words max.) based on genre, action, and word assignments in 24 hours. In the 1st Round (November 20-21, 2020), writers are placed randomly in groups and are assigned a genre, action, and word assignment.  Writers have 24 hours to craft an original 250-word story (maximum) in their assigned genre, with the assigned action taking place, and incorporating the assigned word. 

The judges choose a top 10 in each group to advance to the 2nd Round (January 15-16, 2021) where writers receive new assignments and again have 24 hours to craft original stories.  Judges select the top 5 writers in each group from the 2nd Round to advance to the Final Round of the competition taking place February 19-20, 2021 where writers will receive their final assignment of the competition.  Feedback from the judges is provided for every submission and there are thousands in cash and prizes for the winners.  Sound like fun?  Join the competition below and get ready for November 20th!

It's easy to register. First, download and read the Official Rules & Participation Agreement. Once you've read through everything, you are ready to register by clicking the button below.

ENTRY FEE: $29

DEADLINE: November 19, 2020

http://www.nycmidnight.com/Competitions/MFC/250/Challenge.htm

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The One Teen Story Teen Writing Contest

One Story 

INFO: We’re excited to announce our newest One Teen Story Contest! We’re asking writers ages 13-19 to enter their original, unpublished fiction. We are interested in great short stories of any genre about the teen experience—literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, horror, etc. What’s in a great short story? Interesting teen characters, strong writing, and a beginning, middle, and end.

PRIZE: The winning stories will be published in forthcoming issues of One Teen Story, which will reach over ten thousand readers. The contest winners will receive $500 upon publication and 25 copies of the magazine featuring their work. The contest winners will also have the opportunity to work with a One Teen Story editor prior to publication. Honorable mentions will be chosen in three age categories: 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19, and each will be announced on our website, by email announcement, and on social media.

GUIDELINES:

  • To enter, you must be between the ages of 13-19 as of November 20th, 2020.

  • Short stories should be between 2,000 to 4,500 words and be the writer’s own original, previously unpublished work.

  • Previously published stories and stories forthcoming at other publications cannot be considered. This includes stories that have been self-published online on personal websites or other publishing platforms, including blogs.

  • By submitting your work, you are acknowledging that it is your own creation, that it has not been borrowed from any other person’s work (including film and video content), and that the characters and situations are of your own invention.

  • Stories should have teens as their main characters and be about the teen experience.

  • No entry fee is required.

  • Only one submission per person.

  • One Teen Story reserves the right to approve all final, edited content.

  • A parent or legal guardian must sign a consent form for One Teen Story to publish the names of winners who are under the age of 18 on our website and social media platforms.

  • A parent must sign a consent form for One Teen Story to publish the names of the winners and honorable mentions on our website.

  • You must submit through our online Submission Manager.

  • Proof of age must be provided by all winners and finalists.

How to Submit:

We have an automated system for you to send us your work. It will securely send our editors your story and email you a confirmation that it has been received. To use the automated system, you’ll need to log in to your One Teen Story account. If you don’t have one, you will be able to create one on our Submission Manager when you submit your piece. Using this account, you will be able to check the status of your submission at any time by going to our login page. When you are ready to submit, please visit our Submission Manager. In the Genre drop-down menu, be sure to select your correct age group. IMPORTANT: Please note that we only accept work by writers ages 13-19. If your story is being considered for publication, we will ask that you provide us with proof of your age.

DEADLINE: November 20, 2020 11:59pm ET

https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=submit&pubcode=ots

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BIPOC Writers Fellowship: Adapting Books for the Screen

The Writers Room 5050

INFO: The Writers Room 5050 and Level 4 Press Present: The BIPOC Writers Fellowship, "Adapting Books for the Screen," beginning March 2021. In this 12-week fellowship, fellows will adapt a book into a feature film screenplay, receive mentorship from industry leaders, a stipend for participating, and more. 

The fellowship will focus on adapting a book into a screenplay, the release of fictional feature films for theatrical, streaming, and television movies-of-the-week (MOWs). In the process, BIPOC writers will learn the highest industry standards for developing, writing, financing and producing an adapted feature film project. Each fellow will adapt one Level 4 Press book into a feature film screenplay.

The Writers Room 5050 and Level 4 Press are currently working with top executives, writers, representatives and guest speakers to provide mentorship, feedback, and firsthand industry knowledge. 

The BIPOC Writers Fellowship includes but is not limited to:

  • A 12-week lab taking you from book-to-screenplay

  • Mentorship on creating and crafting your script

  • A $750 Writer Stipend to all participants and accepted writers

  • Expert development notes and assessments by industry professionals

  • A 'table read' with professional actors

  • Script Sales and Career Strategy instruction

  • Pitch deck and high-end marketing collateral created for the project

  • Live Industry Event to pitch your new script and meet high-end industry decision-makers

  • For those scripts optioned, setup or sold, there will be financial participation 

REQUIREMENTS:

  • BIPOC Writer: Applicants must be of BIPOC heritage/ethnicity (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color)

  • Script Submission: Writers must submit a completed screenplay (90 to 120 pages) for consideration

  • Application Fee: An Early, Regular or Late application processing fee will apply.

SUBMISSION FEES:

  • Early - $40.00

  • Regular - $50.00

  • Late - $60.00 

Payment Methods: PayPal, Venmo, Zelle

Announcements:

  • Semi-Finalists: January 22, 2021

  • Finalists: February 5, 2021

  • Fellows Announced: February 19, 2021

  • Fellows Begins: Week of March 8, 2021

Fellowship Schedule:

  • Dates: Wednesdays, March 10th to May 26th, 2021

  • Time: 6pm to 9pm PST - (1 class per week, 3 hours per class)

  • Venue: Zoom

DEADLINES:

  • Early: November 20, 2020

  • Regular: December 18, 2020

  • Late: January 8, 2021 

https://www.writersroom5050.com/fellowship-details

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force / fields anthology submissions

Perennial Press

INFO: Perennial Press is publishing a new anthology in 2021 with the theme: "FORCE / FIELDS"

in speculative fiction, a force field is a barrier that protects someone or something from attacks or intrusions. what are the force fields you hold up? what are the force fields you fight against? we also want your interpretations of the separate themes of "force" and "fields." what the forces that move you forward? what are the forces holding you back? fields refers to places of open land and natural environments. what are the fields of your dreams? the fields of your nightmares? tell us about flora & fauna & fantastical field creatures.

we are open to submissions of fiction, poetry, and all forms of 2D visual art. hit us with the eco-poetics, the cli-fi, sci-fi, chick fic, apocalypse photography, protest art, all of it! interpret the theme, misinterpret the theme, just send us your best.

please submit 1-3 prose pieces (word limit: 3000 per piece), 2-5 poems, or up to 5 visual art works. all works must be in their final form. please proofread before submitting. we also strongly suggest having another person proofread your work.

our goal as a press is to publish the speculative & the environmental. give us your work that speaks to one or the other, or a combination of both of those. wide interpretations welcome. accepted pieces will be featured in our 2021 print anthology.

ELIGIBILITY: anyone who writes or makes art. any country. any age. if you are under 18 years of age, please note that in your submission in case we need to get parental permission.

COMPENSATION: accepted artists will be paid a percentage of the profits from the anthology, or a $20 stipend up front. you can choose upon acceptance. all contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the anthology. shipping may not be available to all countries, so in that case we will provide a pdf version.

DEADLINE: November 21, 2020

https://airtable.com/shrmhapHbLghyRb3s

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Essay Contest Submission

Pidgeon Pages

INFO: Judged by Morgan Jerkins, author of Wandering In Strange Lands and This Will Be My Undoing

PRIZE:

  • The winner will receive $250 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

  • Honorable mentions will be receive $50 and publication.

GUIDELINES:

  • Previously unpublished creative nonfiction pieces of 3,000 words or less are eligible for this contest.

  • There is a $10 fee to submit.

  • We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if the submitted piece is accepted elsewhere.

  • Please do not include personal information on your piece, as submissions will be read blind.

  • All submissions will be considered for publication in the general journal.

ENTRY FEE: $10

DEADLINE: November 22, 2020

https://pigeonpagesnyc.submittable.com/submit/126088/essay-contest-submission

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CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: HEARD/WORD

Galleyway

INFO: HEARD/WORD is Galleyway's new audio series highlighting compelling voices in poetry and prose. We invite you to share recordings of original poems and short fiction. Selected work will be showcased on our blog and social media platforms. Submissions should include:

  • MP3 recording of you reading your poetry (no longer than 3 minutes) or short fiction (no longer than 5 minutes)

  • Text version of the piece

  • A headshot 

  • A brief bio

  • Social media handles and link to website

Please send submissions to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

https://galleyway.com/blog/2020/3/31/call-for-audio-submissions

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Vestal Review

INFO: Vestal Review, the longest running flash fiction magazine in the world, is looking for submissions from Black and brown and non-binary writers. We'd love to hear from you. We are prioritizing underrepresented writers, so please specify that in your bio.

FEES AND PAYMENT: We charge a $3 reading fee for general submissions. Your payment goes directly towards production of the journal, technology fees, and payment for our authors.

Contributors receive $50, sent via PayPal.

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

www.vestalreview.net

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: MUNDANE WORKERS

Raising Mothers

INFO: Raising Mothers seeks submissions that speak to the layered intricacies for parenthood from the perspective of the parent or the child by writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinix or POC. In the December issue, we seek an entrance into the intimate mothering spaces when some aspect of daily life still manages to foster a kind of wonder in the moment.

Whether it is in a first giggle on a changing table (after a poop explosion) or nestling with your child while watching Coco together for family movie night or something else, we are eager to read your joys and frustrations; they teach us about love and resilience and relational discovery. We deserve all of that and the bounty of more.

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

http://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/call-for-work/

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ENOUGH

Rumpus

INFO: ENOUGH is a Rumpus series devoted to creating a dedicated space for work by women and non-binary people that engages with rape culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence. We believe that while this subject matter is especially timely now, it also timeless. We want to make sure that this conversation doesn’t stop—not until our laws and societal norms reflect real change.

ENOUGH is open to women and non-binary people. Women of color and non-binary people of color are especially welcome to submit.

We will consider personal essays, critical essays, poetry, comics, and hybrid work. We are especially interested in work that considers who has access to healthcare and to therapy, who has been taught to speak up and who has been taught to be silent, and the ways in which these inequalities make vulnerable populations even more vulnerable. While we support the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, ENOUGH is its own series and we ask that you avoid using these hashtags in your titles and essays unless you are writing a piece that centers around or investigates the campaigns themselves.

Essays should be between 1000–2500 words. You can share three poems or five pages of poetry in a submission. We can only consider work that has not been previously published (this includes personal blogs and social media). All work should have a title.

If you haven't received a response within three months, you may query marisa@therumpus.net to check on the status of your submission.

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

https://therumpus.submittable.com/submit/111183/enough

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Fall 2020 Story Contest

Narrative Magazine

INFO: The Fall Story Contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, 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.

Narrative winners and finalists have gone on to win Whiting Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the Atlantic prize, and have appeared in collections such as The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and many others. View the recent awards won by Narrative authors.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

AWARDS: 

  • First Prize - $2,500

  • Second Prize - $1,000

  • Third Prize - $500

  • Up to ten finalists will receive $100 each

  • All entries will be considered for publication

SUBMISSION FEE:  $27 fee for each entry. With your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020, at midnight, PST

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/fall-2020-story-contest?uid=103566&m=55d4ca250eb50e5f85d86ac1a643f466&d=1599058800

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Illuminating Black Lives: A Writer's Fellowship

Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow

INFO: This fellowship invites writers to explore the African-American experience. The work may be in any literary genre: fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, or a combination. It may take place now or in the past. It may draw upon the life of the author or probe other lives. There is no expectation of a certain attitude or type of experience. Rather, the successful application will demonstrate insight, honesty, literary merit, and the likelihood of publication.

The fellowship winner will receive a two-week residency to allow the recipient to focus completely on their work. Each writer’s suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space, and wireless internet. We provide uninterrupted writing time, a European-style gourmet dinner prepared five nights a week and served in our community dining room, the camaraderie of other professional writers when you want it, and a community kitchen stocked with the basics for breakfast and lunch.

APPLICATION FEE: $35

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

https://www.writerscolony.org/fellowships

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Latino Book Review

INFO: Latino Book Review is proud to announce the call for submissions for our print magazine 2021 issue. Our latest issue is set to be published in Spring 2021 and will include some of the best work by Latinx writers and artists in the U.S. and around the world.

We are currently seeking to publish original work by authors and artists in the following areas:

Poetry (3 poems per submission)
Fiction (Around 2000 words)
Nonfiction (Around 2000 words)
Visual arts (6 piece portfolio)
Essays (Related to culture, literature or arts Around 2000 words)
Research (Related to culture, literature or arts 2000-3000 words)

Works can be submitted to info@latinobookreview.com with an email titled "magazine submission." Written works should be attached in a Word document along with a 100-word bio, and a separate file with a high-resolution image of the author or visual artist. Visual works of art should be attached in a high-resolution PDF or JPEG format.

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

https://www.latinobookreview.com/latino-book-review-magazine-8203call-for-submissions-2021--latino-book-review.html?fbclid=IwAR0UO-FS3BBjyNny5GReBQ-MjA6fWhK4joOBPLbX_5sTT2eeSuM1UIQ83zQ

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CALL FOR SUBMISSION

Liminal Transit Review

INFO: We accept work about themes including but not limited to immigration, diaspora, displacement, decolonization, borders, as well as the intersections of these themes with literature, movement, and transit– interpreted as broadly as possible! We want your work about geography, about place and identity, about the connections between literature and identity and place. We want your work about transit and movement– and how that exists in and shapes how we see borders and diaspora and displacement. We love experimental work, and abstract work, and theoretical work. If you have any questions about whether your work fits our themes, go ahead and send it to us, and we’ll let you know. 

We accept fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and cross genre work in English. Send us up to five poems or 3000 words of prose (multiple pieces of prose totaling this word count is allowed), or up to ten pages of cross genre work. We also accept flash fiction and flash creative nonfiction. Poetry has no formatting guidelines except font (Garamond or Comic Sans, please!), but please double space your prose in 12-point Garamond or Comic Sans. Cross genre work has no formatting guidelines. All submissions must be submitted as PDF files or Word documents. Please include trigger warnings and content warnings as and when required. Please only submit once per issue unless specifically requested, in only one genre. We do not accept works in translation at the moment.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed but please email us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

DEADLINE: November 30, 2020

https://liminaltransitreview.com/submit/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSION: A Notebook of Lullabies

Asian American Writers’ Workshop / The Transpacific Literary Project

INFO: In traditions around the world, the lullaby is a liminal space between waking and sleep, consciousness and dream, between the living world and the underworld. In this way, the lullaby is a kind of path that one journeys down when crossing between those worlds. It is the calming voice in your ear as you step closer into the void, the soothing hand that strokes your back as you float into some dark unknown. The lullaby bears this twoness: comfort and death.

In this time of Covid-19, when loss and mortality are daily fixtures of a global consciousness, the twoness of the lullaby feels especially poignant. 

The Transpacific Literary Project is calling for writing and translations that swirl around in lullabies. Possible projects might include translating a traditional lullaby into another form, creating a contemporary lullaby, or analyzing an existing lullaby. We are also interested in writing that embodies the liminal space of the lullaby, that offers comfort in the most morbid way, that sweetly sings of death’s door, that consoles as much as it disturbs.

Recordings and voices are highly encouraged as accompaniments to submissions.

All contributors, writers and translators, will be paid.

Submissions are accepted in any language spoken in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

The Transpacific Literary Project (TLP) is an arm of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) that holds a space for writing and translation from East and Southeast Asia, published on AAWW’s online magazine The Margins. Organized around themed collections of work called notebooks, the project draws connections between emerging and established voices across this expansive region in ways that may reorient reader relationships to languages and literatures, and bring out surprising discussions of representation and relationality, constraint and hierarchy, resistance and refusal to settle within established frames.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/176173/lullabies

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The Kenyon Review Fellowships

INFO: These fellowships represent a significant fulfillment of one aspect of The Kenyon Review’s continuing mission: to recognize, publish, and support extraordinary authors in the early stages of their careers. We believe that after two years, these KR Fellows will be more mature and sophisticated writers, teachers, and editors. As a result, they will be extremely attractive candidates for academic positions as well as for significant publishing opportunities.

This post-graduate residential fellowship at Kenyon College offers qualified individuals time to develop as writers, teachers, and editors. Fellows will receive a $36,572 stipend, plus health benefits. Fellows are expected to:

  • Undertake a significant writing project.

  • Teach one class per semester in the English Department of Kenyon College, contingent upon departmental needs.

  • Assist with creative and editorial projects for the Kenyon Review and KROnline.

  • Participate in the cultural life of Kenyon College by regularly attending readings, lectures, presentations, and other college activities.

Eligibility:

  • An MFA or PhD in creative writing, English literature, or comparative literature completed before December 1, 2020 but no earlier than January 1, 2015.

  • Teaching experience in creative writing and/or literature at the undergraduate level.

Application Information:

  • A one-page cover letter

  • A curriculum vitae

  • An 8-10 page writing sample

  • A one-page course proposal for an undergraduate introductory-level multi-genre creative writing class

  • An unofficial transcript

  • Two letters of recommendation, one of which should directly address the applicant’s teaching ability

APPLICATION FEE: $0

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://kenyonreview.org/programs/fellowship/



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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AFRO-LATINX ANTHOLOGY

Alan Pelaez

INFO: Editor Alan Pelaez Lopez invites contributions to a multi-genre anthology (Title TBA) of contemporary queer and trans Afro-Latinx writers on memory, care, and futurity published by a notable University Press with a slated publication date of 2021.

This collection of writings will serve as a living archive of contemporary literature by queer and trans Afro-Latinx writers. By “Afro-Latinx,” we mean writers who are Black of Latin American and Caribbean descent. This anthology aims to push the boundaries of how we think, accept, deny, or play with the concept of “Latinx.” The final project will not be a survey of recent literature but a gesture towards an Afro-Latinx aesthetic informed by differently Black experiences. Latin America and the Caribbean, as landscapes, as imagined communities, and as diasporic analytics are continually shapeshifting. Black people in, of, and from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas are at the heart of this shapeshifting, but the literature of Afro-Latinx writers is— similarly to Black people across the continent— policed, surveilled, and organized by non-Black entities. This anthology seeks to open, nuance and challenge narratives made about us without us. The anthology is not an explanation of what it means to be a queer and/or trans Black person of Latin American and/or Caribbean descent, but a dialogue of how we work with, through, and against memory, care, and futures.

The anthology seeks to answer:

  • How do queer and/or trans Black writers from Latin America, the Caribbean and their diaspora(s) address memory? How do queer and trans embodiments help us understand and/or question the past, the present, and construct a Black queer and trans future?

  • How does Blackness remember geographies we are no longer inhabiting, those we never inhabited, and those we may never know?

  • What are the textures of caring, being cared for, and accepting care as Black queer and/or trans people?

  • What are the uses of care, love, intimacy, and kinship in queer and/or trans Black spaces?

  • And, how do our genders, sexualities, sexual performances, and rejections of all three serve as worldbuilding embodiments for the future?

Mediums:

  • Creative non-fiction (15 pages max)

  • Fiction (15 pages max)

  • Poetry (Send 3-5 poems, no more than 7 pages)

  • Comics (15 pages max—you can send text submission if it’s not inked yet, or send a full first draft)

  • Plays and choreopoems (15 pages max)

  • Performance essays / documentation (20 pages max including images—you must have permission to use all images submitted.)

What we are looking for from contributors:

We are looking for new work (or pieces that have not appeared in a full-length collection that you have retained the rights to) that address memory, care and futures. All work must be submitted in English and you must be open to working with an editor. Pieces that utilize other languages are welcome as long as the piece is primarily in English. This anthology will not publish work that considers Blackness as a monolithic experience. All published writings will receive a modest honorarium.

Submissions:

Please include your name, contact info, and a 50-word bio.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

http://www.alanpelaez.com/afro-latinx-anthology/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Honey Literary

INFO: Honey Literary’s first issue will debut in Winter 2020/2021. We publish two issues each year, one in winter, and one in summer. Our first reading period opens September 1st and closes December 1st. 

To share your work, please email the respective genre editor and upload your .docx/.pdf files. Include a brief bio with a few sentences about why your work is a good fit for us with our mission statement in mind. 

Please send us your work only once per submission period. Simultaneous submissions are cool as long as you promptly notify us if the work is accepted elsewhere.

Honey Literary accepts and encourages simultaneous submissions, but please let us know immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere. Submit no more than once per submissions period. We only accept unpublished work. Honey Literary retains first publication rights, and upon publication, rights revert back to the author. Please credit Honey Literary as the first publisher if the piece appears elsewhere after publication, which includes, but isn’t limited to other journals, anthologies, chapbooks, and full-length books.   

Poetry:  Send us three to five unpublished pieces at a time. We’ve got big appetites, so more is more. We want the poems that were too weird for workshop. Give us work that is eclectic and absurd and demands to be read aloud. Send us your jigsaw edges and remixes. 

  • Email submissions to Editor Rita Mookerjee: poetry@honeyliterary.com 

Sex, Kink, and the Erotic: Locker room talk is dead; Honey Literary is here for body-positive, kink-friendly content centered around respect and consent. Ideal submissions include but are not limited to confessions, toy/gear reviews, etiquette guides, dirty little secrets, burlesque show recommendations, odes to sideboob, fav strip club snacks, dating app wins (or fails), shibari shoots, erotic vignettes, recaps from the weekend, and that porno script you saved on your old desktop. Honey Literary loves and supports sex workers as well as their art/writing! Show us what’s inside your bedside drawer. 

  • Email submissions to Editor Rita Mookerjee: sex@honeyliterary.com 

Essays: Send us essays that use the personal to explore facets of our current world. From natural history, science, politics, international events, food, culture, and art, we want to see how the personal and public intersect in your work.We’re seeking essays that are elastic, capacious, experimental and exploratory. We welcome memoir, nonfiction, research, lyric meditations, and hybrid work about what stirs your curiosity, what raises your hackles. We especially invite emerging writers and student writers to submit their work.  

  • (750-1000 words) 

  • Email submissions to Editor Avni Vyas: essays@honeyliterary.com 

Hybrid: Do you have work that blurs, defies, or redefines genre? We welcome excerpts and stand alones that may include, but are not limited to: documentary poetics, notes, mappings, marginalia, lists, altars/shrines, collections, audiovisual pieces, prose poetry, letters, invented forms, collaborations, and scholarly projects that are slightly or largely out of touch with institutions. Send enough work to contextualize your project with respect for our time. For example: a bouquet–not the entire meadow.

  • Email submissions to Editor Claire Meuschke: hybrid@honeyliterary.com

Comics: We’re looking for eccentric, experimental, excessive, confessional, instructional, genre-nasty comics pieces (10 pages or less) in any form. Single-panel pieces, excerpts from zines, comics stories without words, comics without pictures, one-offs, doodles, interesting trash, and everything in between. We are particularly open to submissions from members of the LGBTQIAAP+ community.

  • Email submissions to Editor Jessica Q. Stark: comics@honeyliterary.com 

Animals: Kingdom: Animalia. Familiars. Daemons. Protectors. Companions. Predators. Prey. This is a space to submit art & writing about animals real or imagined, pre-historic or future, spineless or silky, friend or foe. Share the work you do with animals; show us the bioluminescent creatures in your lagoon; describe the dreams where your lost pets come to visit you. Highlight conservation work in your habitats. Profile the service animal of the year. Recount the folk tales that made you scared of drain serpents. Tell us about the anteater in the forest, the sandhill cranes in the parking lot, the carabao in the rice field, the angler in the deep. We want your venom, oily feathers, plush fur, mythical beasts, and whale songs.

  • Please submit a maximum of 3 artworks, 3-5 pages for poems, and 10-15 pages for longer pieces.

  • Email submissions to Editor Christina Giarrusso: animals@honeyliterary.com 

Interviews: Honey Literary seeks to conduct interviews that showcase the boundlessness of art and innovation, tapping into the creative’s soul and teasing out the hows and whys of their passions. We want to facilitate interviews that go beyond the typical, robotic back and forth between two parties, but rather a natural, gradual unfurling between people who cherish expression and creation. Whether you’re a singer, writer, visual artist, or culinary chef, Honey Literary wants to know what moves you, what keeps you up at night, who’s in your artistic lineage, and of course, all about your craft. 

  • Email submissions to Editor Zakiya Cowan: interviews@honeyliterary.com

Reviews: Honey Literary is seeking reviews on recently released books, along with art mediums that aren’t typically at the forefront of conversations. From novels, novellas, short story collections, and poetry collections, to graphic novels filled with queer and magical themes (think non-binary werewolves and time travel) and hybrid books, we want to engage with all forms and genres. We’re also seeking a wide variety of reviews, so think about that fashion line that makes their clothing from plastic bottles, or that brand of panties whose goal is to eliminate product waste among people who have periods. Or maybe you want to engage with films and tv shows from independent studios, directed, written, and/or starring BIPOC, queer, and disabled individuals. Or what about restaurants that feature traditional recipes from across an ocean? Reviews are boundless, and whether it’s an in-depth analysis or short and sweet praise, we want to hear it all! 

  • Email submissions to Editor Trinity Jones: reviews@honeyliterary.com

Valentines: Tell us about that one friend you didn’t know you were in love with until you came out. Share the sticky note love letters you’ll never end up giving your roommate’s girlfriend. Or what about those love songs you wrote to your favorite artists? Honey Literary wants your Valentines: your phone notes, email drafts, letters in a box, corner-of-the-page-too-distracted-by-lust-to-pay-attention doodles, and descriptions of the outfits you love but will never wear. Or what about your thoughts on the perfect perfume for that special someone, your late-night car conversations, your platonic epics, your [self-insert] fanfiction, your realizations of being pursued or secretly admired, your sheets of loose leaf stuffed into drawers, your quarantine love stories, or your Tinder conversations with strangers that you’ll never speak to again? Think about those missed connections: the person you ran into three times at the grocery store whose name you didn’t catch. Is your valentine a top 10 list? Is it taped on a bus stop, in the refrain of a pop song, at the bottom of a bowl, or framed at an altar? Give us your cutesy, your sexy, your sultry, and your badass expressions of love and life.

  • Email submissions to Editor Maria Clara Melo: valentines@honeyliterary.com

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://honeyliterary.com/submit/

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Composite Dreams” ISSUE

Oyster River Pages

INFO: Oyster River Pages publishes fine fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and visual art online. . Please see the general guidelines below for each genre. (Work that is unfinished, unproofed, or noncompliant with the guidelines gives our editors existential angst.) Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please contact us immediately if your work is picked up elsewhere. We request first serial rights, after which all rights revert to the author or artist. For this special issue only, we will accept previously published work, provided you have the rights to republish it and you provide the original publication in which it appeared.

“Composite Dreams” is the first of an ongoing series of Oyster River Pages’ efforts into implementing inclusion and diversity deeper into our mission as a magazine. The intention of this collection is to publish Black voices only, to be a space exclusively for and filled by Black writers and artists. We kindly ask that if you do not fit this category, to wait until our annual issue to submit your work. Please include a 60-word bio with your submission. To stay in touch with the latest happenings at ORP, subscribe to our mailing list below.

  • Fiction: Please submit one story up to 4,000 words in .docx format. All work should be double-spaced, and at least font size eleven.

  • Creative Non-Fiction: Please submit creative nonfiction pieces that are no longer than 4,000 words in .docx format. All work should be double-spaced and at least font size eleven.

  • Poetry: Please submit up to three poems in .docx format. Each poem should start on its own page. Otherwise, the spacing of the submission will remain as is in publication to preserve the integrity of the poem.

  • Visual Art: Please submit photography or other visual arts that are saved at 300 dpi or greater. We reserve the right to crop or edit submissions in order to fit in print or on our webpage.

DEADLINE: December 1, 2020

https://www.oysterriverpages.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: "Somewhere We Are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings"

Migrant Anthology

INFO: "Somewhere We Are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings", edited by award winning author of The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande, and acclaimed poet and author of Nostalgia & Borders, Sonia Guiñansaca. We are seeking bold personal non-fiction essays and poems from migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people with experience in the United States. We are especially interested in essays and poems from those in the midwest and Border towns. We are centering and giving priority to essays and poems from Indigenous migrants, Black migrants, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Arab communities.

During this time of political unrest, how do we shift the nation’s collective imagination about migrants towards one rooted in humanity and justice? What stories about ourselves and communities need to be told during these times of border militarization, mass detention, and draconian anti-immigrant legislation?

The anthology will be published by HarperCollins in English and Spanish. Contributors will be compensated (a min. of $800)

GUIDELINES:

  • All attachments should be saved as a Microsoft Word document (.docx)

  • For Non-Fiction Essays no more than 2,000 words

  • Poems should be no more than 6 pages in length (1-3 poems)

  • Written work should be finished pieces (no drafts)

  • Essays and poems should primarily be written in English.

  • All submissions should be unpublished pieces

  • Please number your pages in the order it should be read

  • One anthology submission per person

Short cover letter describing your interest in participating in this anthology (2-3 paragraphs)

A cover letter, short bio, and written work must be included in order to be considered

Please make no inquiries about the status of your submission. Only those selected will be contacted through email by the end of December

Guiding Questions:
We are seeking bold personal essays, and poems from migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and those deported from across the United States. These are just guiding questions and themes. We understand the topic of migration is broad so we are looking for pieces that touch upon these but not limited to these. There is no monolithic migrant story, we want to hear YOUR STORY, and YOUR EXPERIENCE.

We believe that we existed before the migration. That we had childhoods, and memories of our loved ones and a place we may have called “home”. Tell us those stories. What are stories before migration that you wished were written about.

We believe that our migration story is complicated, nuanced, layered, and intersectional. Scholars and politicians skip over the hard decision and journey of migrating or that many of us were displaced from our home country because of climate change, political turmoil, war, economic inequity-leaving us with no other choice but to “migrate”. Mainstream stories often leave out how some of our family members are detained in the process of coming to the U.S. They fast forward to us as “hard workers” and “taxpayers” and take away our childhoods, teenage years, and coming of age moments. Tell us those stories of our growing up in the United States. As a teenager what was it like to grow up in a mixed status family? What was dating like? If you are queer, how did you understand your queerness in relationship to your migration? What was it like before DACA? What are some stories of growing up undocumented that you wished you could have read? If you came to the U.S later on (after your formative years), what did you learn about yourself? What did you wish people knew about growing up in the South? Tell us these stories. Stories that disrupt the mainstream tokenizing, stories outside the “good” vs “bad immigrant”. Essays and poems that decenter whiteness, and assimilation.

We believe that our migrant communities deserve justice and a world without borders and detention centers. We believe that joy, healing, and freedom of expression is crucial to our existence. We want to read poems and essays touching on this. We want to read about where you are now in life? Tell us about the world you envision. What are some things you have reflected on about your migrant story? What are you un-learning? What is some advice and words you wished you were given about being migrant when you were younger? What are the messages you want recently “arrived” migrants to hear? What do you want to tell yourself 20 years from now? For artists, how has your art played a role in your healing and growth?

PLEASE NOTE: We are not looking for scholarly/academic papers. We will not consider submissions by non-migrant people. We are looking for contributors that are undocumented or formerly undocumented.

DEADLINE: December 5, 2020 at 11pm PT

https://www.migrantanthology.com/

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ONGOING

Fellowship for BIPOC Editors

Shenandoah

INFO: In order for structural change to happen in the predominantly white publishing industry, innovation must happen at all levels, from the big five book publishers to literary magazines like ours. We recognize that if we want Black writers, Indigenous writers, and other writers of color to feel at home in Shenandoah, and for the literature we publish to be full of varied and passionate perspectives that enliven, empower, and engage all of us, we need to have representation at our core. With this in mind, we’re excited to announce a new initiative: The Shenandoah Fellowship for BIPOC Editors.

Through this editorial fellowship, we’re committed to expanding the roster of people we work with and to discovering new BIPOC voices to amplify and empower. Selected fellows will receive a $1000 honorarium and will curate a selection of published work in a genre of their choosing for a single issue of Shenandoah, working with the Shenandoah staff to guide the work to publication. This opportunity will give fellows the chance to learn about all aspects of a small literary publisher and forge connections with peers and potential future employers in the industry and in academia.

Requirements and Eligibility

A single fellow will be selected for each issue of Shenandoah going forward, alternating genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics) as we see fit. Fellows will choose two–three pieces of prose, five–ten poems, or two–three comic artists for their issue; these authors will be paid at the same rates as other Shenandoah authors ($100 per poem; $50 per comic panel; $100 for every thousand words of prose—for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author). Each fellow will receive a $1000 honorarium for their work. We welcome writers and editors of all experience levels. No previous editorial experience is necessary, but we are looking for applicants who are passionate and informed about the literary community. We welcome candidates who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The Application

  1. In 500 words or fewer, describe why this fellowship would be valuable to you, addressing what you think is the role and value of a literary magazine in the publishing ecosystem. Make sure to include your writing and editing experience and the genre you would be most excited to work in (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics).

  2. In 500 words or fewer, tell us about a favorite piece of writing you recently read in a literary magazine in your desired genre. Describe how you found it, who wrote it, its aesthetic attributes, and what you loved about it.

  3. In 500 words or fewer, compose a solicitation email to an emerging writer (who has published no more than one book) who you would love to work with. Include in your email what you admire about this writer’s work and why you would like to work with them.

  4. We'd love to know where you heard about this fellowship, if you don't mind sharing!

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning November 1, 2020 at https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit. Upload a single document that responds to these prompts separately.

https://shenandoah.submittable.com/submit/175611/fellowship-for-bipoc-editors

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

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MICRO/FLASH FAST RESPONSE FOR BIPOC WRITERS

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INTERVENXIONS

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

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SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

VIDA Review

INFO: The VIDA Review is an online literary magazine publishing original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, and interviews. 

We are exclusively interested in work by those often marginalized in literary spaces, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); cis and trans women, agender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, nonbinary, and two-spirit people; LGBQIA people; people with disabilities; and people living at the intersections of these identities.

All pieces should be original, and previously unpublished in any format in English.

Please send one submission at a time, and please submit only once every 6 months.

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you label them as such and promptly let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. 

Please note that all submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter and brief third-person biography statement, and that (unless otherwise stated) we ask for First North American Rights to publish writing. Following publication, all rights revert back to the writer; we only ask that you credit the VIDA Review as the place your work first appeared.

GUIDELINES:

Fiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Nonfiction

Up to 3,000 words (but if your work is a bit longer, feel free to send it)

  • Double-spaced

  • Include contact information on first page of submission

  • Include word count at top of first page

  • Provide a cover letter in the "Cover Letter" section and a brief third-person biography

Book Reviews

  • Must be a review for a full-length or chapbook of poetry or prose by a writer from a historically-marginalized community

  • Must be published by small or independent presses

  • Must have been published within the last five years

  • Do not send us a review of your own book

  • Include publisher, price, and page number, as well as the word count of the review at the top of your submission

  • Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but please let us know and withdraw your submission if your work is accepted elsewhere

  • No self-published titles are accepted

  • Reviews should be double-spaced and be no more than 1,200 words

PAYMENT: Payment for those accepted will range between $15-$20. We recognize that this is a token amount of money but hope to increase this amount in the future. Payment will be made via PayPal within 2 months of publication.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://thevidareview.submittable.com/submit

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

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SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- OCTOBER 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION

Catapult Magazine

INFO: Catapult is an innovative publisher that celebrates extraordinary storytelling. We promote American and international fiction and narrative nonfiction that is insightful, stirring, and surprising by way of unique voices—whether emerging or established—that honor the craft of writing. 

We welcome short stories, novel excerpts that stand on their own, and translated fiction. We pay for all pieces that we publish. While we publish pieces that are anywhere from 500 to 6000 words long, a typical piece has around 2500 words. 

We are particularly interested in flash fiction (about  1000 words or less). If you’d like a few examples, we’re proud to have published Elizabeth Crane's "The Longest Trial", Anya DeNiro's "Take Pills and Wait for Hips", Jess Zimmerman’s “Never Quiet Again”,  Nao-cola Yamazaki’s “A False Genealogy,” and Rion Amilcar Scott’s “Boxing Day.”

For both fiction and nonfiction  submissions, please include word count and your email address in the document. Please submit only one piece at a time, and please include a cover letter along with your piece. Writers will receive compensation for accepted magazine pieces. We aim to respond to submissions within six months, hopefully earlier. We accept all file formats. 

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://catapult.submittable.com/submit

RESIDENCY

Vermont Studio Center

INFO: Each month, VSC welcomes over 50 artists and writers from across the country around the world to our historic campus in northern Vermont.

All of our residencies include:

  • A private room in modest, shared housing

  • 24-hour access to a private studio space in one of our 6 medium-specific studio buildings

  • 3 communal meals per day (plus fresh fruit, coffee/tea/cold beverages, and cereal available around the clock) 

Most residents stay with us for 1 month, so our sessions adhere to a 4-week calendar; however, residencies can be scheduled in 2-week increments ranging from 2 to 12 weeks if a shorter or longer stay better suits your needs.

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

vermontstudiocenter.org/residencies

WRITERS & ARTIST RESIDENCY

Millay Colony for the Arts

INFO: Each year Millay Colony for the Arts invites up to 62 individuals (including writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and visual artists) for residencies through the colony's application process.  

Residency sessions are held each month from April through November, usually lasting around 3 1/2 weeks, with 2 twelve-day sessions also available in June & September. In each discipline, decisions are made by juries of artists, critics and academics.

Your work is presented anonymously to the jury and is considered solely on the merit of your artist statement and work sample. Please keep these factors in mind as you prepare your application. It is very important that you do not include your name anywhere on your artist statement or work samples as you may be disqualified if they are within the body of work shown to the jurors.  Your application will instead be assigned a number by the administration.

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://millaycolony.submittable.com/submit

GOOD COP/BAD COP: AN ANTHOLOGY

Flowersong Press

INFO: In 2010 police killed over a thousand people in the U.S. Black people are 3x more likely to be killed by  police than white people. 99% of killings by police from 2013 – 2019 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime.*The names of the murdered will not be forgotten. We call on poets, writers, and artists to submit work for an anthology that addresses the continuing problem of police violence in this country and around the world.

Our focus is on the people who are affected by this uncontrolled problem—the victims, the victims’ families, people of color, and a society that lives in fear of being shot and killed by those who are supposed to protect it.

We are looking for art, photography, essays, poetry, and other creative works to explore the racism, injustices and soul-killing aspects of this problem. We want artists to cry out in this anthology and demand justice. The anthology will be published by FlowerSong Press, an independent press dedicated to supporting writers of color and their allies.

Projected publication date: 2021. To submit, please send no more than 10 pages of creative work to info@flowersongpress.com with the subject line: Bad Cop/Good Copy Anthology 

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://www.flowersongpress.com/call-for-submissions?fbclid=IwAR0zKYFTtN-d1zOuVeQECIKBx4bl6hz-jHyo4BUF6h5nwYBhk4X5zDoAMvQ

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Adroit Journal

INFO: Since inception, the journal has been listed for extended periods among Duotrope.com's 25 Fastest & Most Challenging Poetry and Fiction Markets, and has been the #1 Poetry Market with the Most Submission Responses Reported for the past two years.

We are currently OPEN to submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art.

- Prose - up to 3 pieces at a time, 9,000 words maximum (across pieces).
- Poetry - up to 6 poems at a time, no length limits.
- Art - up to 6 pieces at a time, both black/white & color accepted.

*Please include a third-person bio in your cover letter for submission.* 

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://adroit.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Lost Balloon

INFO: Lost Balloon publishes flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and prose poetry (all 1,000 words or less). We publish one new piece every Wednesday. There are no theme or genre restrictions, but we want your best. Give us work that entertains and challenges, that pushes boundaries and breaks hearts.

Please send only one piece at a time and wait to hear back before sending another submission. We do not accept reprints, so your piece must be original and unpublished. Do not submit in more than one genre at a time. If your submission is rejected, please wait at least 1-2 month(s) after hearing back before you submit again. We will specifically ask for more work if we would like to see something else from you right away. If we accept and publish your piece, please wait one year from your publication date before submitting again.

Simultaneous submissions are great—please withdraw your piece right away if it’s accepted elsewhere.

We cannot currently pay our authors. We do promise to promote your piece on social media. We also nominate work for anthologies.

You can usually expect to hear back in about 60-90 days. If it has been at least 120 days, and you have not received a response, feel free to send a query about your submission status to lostballoonmag at gmail dot com. If you query before 120 days, your email will not be answered.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

DEADLINE: October 7, 2020

https://lost-balloon.com/submit/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Tricks and Treats Issue

No Contact

INFO: We are now OPEN for submissions to our No Contact: Tricks and Treats Issues! 

We are reading for your best Halloween work! Please send us all things horrific, gothic, dreadful, dark and dreary and particularly spooky. We’ll publish the best of what we find in one of our two October Tricks and Treats Issues. 

As always, we consider art, fiction, creative non-fiction, humor, poetry, and any fusion therein — so long as the work pays homage to this most ghastly of holidays. Please take a look at our guidelines, and click the link below to submit! 

DEADLINE: October 8, 2020

https://www.nocontactmag.com/submissions

Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship

Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.

INFO: The program is intended to prepare and support a journalist of color for a solid career in investigative reporting. The program also provides an opportunity for the fellow’s news outlets to benefit from the fellow’s investigative skill-building. The goal of the program is to increase the range of backgrounds, experiences and interests within the field of investigative journalism, where diverse perspectives are critically important. 

The fellowship is made possible by the generosity of IRE donors, ABC News, CNN, ESPN, Gray TV and the Hearst Foundations.

What materials are needed for the application?

  • An investigative reporting project idea that benefits his/her community

  • Links to three work samples

  • Link to LinkedIn page or resume

  • Link to letter of support from supervisor/management stating the newsroom/management will allow the fellow time to work on the project and time to attend all required IRE trainings included in the fellowship. In addition, the letter should serve as a recommendation letter. For independent journalists, the letter should serve as a recommendation letter.

Who is eligible?

  • U.S. journalists of color who want to improve their investigative skills. 

  • Applicants should have at least three years of post-college work experience.

  • Applicants should be currently working with a supportive news organization or working as an independent journalist. 

  • Applicants who can propose a well-developed project who would benefit from the training and mentoring.

  • Students are not eligible.

What would the fellow do?

The fellow would:

  • Obtain employer support

  • Develop an investigative reporting project that benefits his/her community

  • Attend an IRE data journalism bootcamp (dates are TBD)

  • Attend the NICAR conference (March 4-7, 2021)

  • Attend the IRE conference (June 17-20, 2021)

  • Utilize IRE data services 

  • Receive a one-year IRE membership

  • Set up monthly video calls with his/her mentor network for one year, or until the project is complete, whichever comes first, to discuss the project’s progress

The fellow would be encouraged to do the following after the fellowship concludes:

  • Serve as part of a mentor network

  • Serve on fellowship selection committee 

  • Renew IRE membership

What does the fellowship provide?

  • Complimentary one-year IRE membership/renewal

  • Complimentary 2021 data journalism bootcamp registration and support

  • Complimentary NICAR 2021 conference registration and support

  • Complimentary IRE 2021 conference registration and support

  • Complimentary IRE Data Services

  • Modest reporting fund

DEADLINE: October 12, 2020

https://www.ire.org/events-and-training/fellowships-and-scholarships/journalist-of-color-investigative-reporting-fellowship

WRITING BLACK JOY: TRUE STORIES FROM REAL PEOPLE

Grub Street

INFO: During a time when the news is mostly dispiriting, we want to read true stories about joy – specifically Black joy: moments, scenes, memories, that celebrate Black families, relationships, culture, and history. We are looking for a vivid story that is transporting and meaningful – maybe funny, maybe poignant, but always with joy at its center.

Submissions must be true stories between 500 and 1000 words. Submissions can be in any genre: prose, poetry, or cross-genre.

AWARD: The winner will receive $1000, 2nd place $750, and 3rd place $500. This contest is in partnership with MBK Boston and the Black Joy Project by Thaddeus Miles.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to any resident over the age of 18 in New England (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine) and New York state.

DEADLINE: October 12, 2020 by 11:59pm EST

https://grubstreet.org/get-involved/writing-black-joy/

SAC Community Support Fellowship Grant for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Individual Artists

Somerville Arts Council

INFO:The Somerville Arts Council (SAC) in Massachusetts has launched a new grant program to support the local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community with a special emphasis on serving the Black community and celebrating Black culture. This grant program is designed to serve individual BIPOC artists, as well as build organizational capacity to provide leadership in arts presenting, programming and instruction that predominantly serves BIPOC culture. Priority may be given to artists and projects that convey strong need due to the impacts of COVID-19.

This BIPOC grant program will support two types of grants:

1. Fellowship grants to individual artists in Somerville’s BIPOC community. 

2. Project grants to help cultural organizations and culturally-oriented businesses to 
create initiatives, programs, and series in Somerville that support local BIPOC artists and the traditions of the BIPOC community. We are especially interested in projects and initiatives that lead to systemic shifts that empower BIPOC artists and culture.

FUNDING: This new BIPOC Support grant program, and SAC’s new COVID Relief grant program, have a total of $120,000 to distribute. We anticipate providing one-time fellowships of up to $4,000 and program grants of between $3,000 and $15,000 each. All grants will be reimbursement grants. For Fellowship grantees to be reimbursed, you will need to have conducted a community benefit (see below). For Project grantees you may request reimbursement as you go. If, for example, you spend money on materials to begin your project you can immediately submit those receipts to SAC to be reimbursed. You will receive payment in about six weeks. If you hire someone to help you, you can submit their W9 and invoice and SAC will pay them directly.

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible for a Fellowship grant you must be a BIPOC artist who currently lives, or has a studio, in Somerville. Grants are meant to support your development and exploration as an artist through ongoing or new work, such as working on a novel, continuing to develop a series of paintings, choreographing a new dance, etc. If funded, you will be expected to perform a small community benefit project at the end of your grant period. While you do not have to develop your community benefit project now: If you are awarded a grant, SAC will direct you on how to propose a project later and be available to help you develop your proposal.

You may request a Fellowship grant of up to $4,000. You may receive this amount or less depending on the community's overall response and demonstrated need.

DEADLINE: Oct. 12, 2020 by 11:59 pm

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRAPDtAsRpYN3qrkNCRehsbZAz7eU32PSjNazH_b-aCtPf6A/viewform

South Asian Experience in the American South

South to South / Khem Aryal

INFO: Accepting submissions of short stories and essays by writers of South Asian heritage from the American South.

Works (and questions, if you have any) can be emailed to khemaryal@gmail.com

DEADLINE: October 15, 2020

https://twitter.com/KhemAryal6/status/1297925435670634499

call for proposals: sexuality and creativity

AltSex NYC Conference

INFO The CFP for the 6th annual AltSex NYC Conference (which will be held on Friday, May 14, 2021) is now open!    

Please note that this year’s theme is Sexuality and Creativity. Our goal as always is to provide an open forum to explore topics on the far reaches of sexuality. We are open-minded and open to suggestion on all new, intriguing, and thought-provoking presentations on alternative sexualities, but this year we would especially like to hear proposals on ways in which sexuality can be used to allow us to tap into our creative selves, and imaginatively explore ourselves and our relationship to others.

Be creative! Topics can be relevant to the current moment, for example: how sexuality helps us cope in the time of covid; future thinking, such as the intersection of sexuality and technology; or timeless, such as the interplay of sexuality and psychedelics.

We request that speakers frame their presentations in an accessible manner, and format clinical information and/or research results in a way that can readily be distributed and consumed by lay audience and media. Selected speakers will receive free entry to the conference. 

DEADLINE: October 15, 2020

https://altsexnycconference.org/call-for-proposals/

Writers Mentorship Program

Latinx in Publishing

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 MENTEE

  • Must identify as Latinx (does not include individuals of Spanish origin)

  • Must be unagented and/or unpublished

  • Must have an active interest in writing books

  • Must be located in the U.S. and at least 18 years of age

  • Must be available to dedicate one hour per month for a minimum of ten months

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 one hour per month for a minimum of ten months

ABOUT THE WRITING MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

  • The next cycle of the program runs from February 1, 2021 through October 31, 2021.

  • 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 15, 2021.

  • Mentors and mentees will connect for one hour per month over a minimum of ten months.

  • The program closes on October 31, 2021, 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.

DEADLINE: October 15, 2020 at 11:59pm ET

https://latinxinpublishing.com/mentorship

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Rigorous

INFO: Rigorous is an online journal highlighting the works of authors, artists, critics, and educators of color. We take our name from an accusation commonly leveled at authors of color—that our works are not as rigorous as works created by white authors. We add our voices; we continue to prove otherwise.

We publish fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, visual art, sound art, audiovisual art and movies, cartoons, and any other artistic creations by people of color. We accept all genres, and have a particular affinity for science fiction, superheroes, and other “geek” genres. We enjoy work geared toward the Young Adult market, but we note that Rigorous will sometimes have content that is “Not Safe For Work.”

We seek essays on the personal experiences of people of color and interviews with interesting people of color. We seek critical analysis of art by people of color. We are especially interested in stories about and by educators of color, and the experience of teaching the works of people of color.

Rigorous is edited by Rosalyn Spencer and Kenyatta JP Garcia. Its next issue will be released around the end of October. If you’d like to submit, please do so through Submittable. If you are a white ally working on these issues, please consider our friends at Unlikely Stories and horse less press.

All submissions are handled through Submittable. Please submit up to 10 files, with a maximum of 3000 words.

Please include a cover letter with a brief bio (up to 100 words).

DEADLINE: Extended to October 15, 2020

https://rigorous.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Apogee Journal

INFO: We consider submissions as they come in during the month-long reading period. We aim to choose pieces for publication by November, to finish editing pieces by mid-January, and to send rejections by the end of January. We share this tentative timeline to help manage any anxiety that comes with the submissions process. 

Apogee is a journal of literature and art that engages with identity politics, including but not limited to: race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and intersectional identities. We are a biannual print publication featuring fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Our goals are twofold: to publish fresh work that interrogates the status quo, and to provide a platform for underrepresented voices, prioritizing artists and writers of color.

Working toward these goals, our fiction team is piloting several initiatives. Go here to 1. read what the team looks for (and other FAQ) and 2. complete a Submitter Form. Then submit your work at the Apogee Journal Submission Manager. You must complete the Submitter Form and submit your manuscript for us to consider your fiction. Please note, these steps apply only for fiction submissions. For guidelines on how to share poetry and nonfiction, please see below.

We often receive work from over-represented perspectives whose primary goal is to interrogate its privilege or come to terms with the “other.” Please note: this is not the work we seek to elevate at Apogee. We look for work that centers the experience of marginalized perspectives. We want to foster work that addresses the politics of identity, such as migration, diaspora, multiculturalism, privilege, hierarchy, oppression, though these themes are not a requirement for publication. We believe the exploration of perspectives and voices that are mostly unheard and ignored is a political act itself. To read our mission statement, please visit this page.

  • All work must be previously unpublished.

  • Cover letters are optional.

  • Please include a current bio.

  • We accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

  • For prose submissions, please send a maximum of 5,000 words, in either .doc or .docx format.

  • Please send only one piece per reading period.

  • Please send a maximum of five poems in the same document, either .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.

DEADLINE: October 15, 2020

https://apogeejournal.org/submit/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION

Pangyrus

INFO: Pangyrus publishes well-crafted, thought-provoking writing in every genre: fiction, poetry, journalism, essays and memoirs, reviews and criticism, comics and visual arts. We publish two print editions a year, and continuously online.

We are looking for well-crafted, thought-provoking fiction in all forms. The tastes of our editorial team are far-ranging from work with a very sharp wit and a critical social eye to that which crosses genre and other boundaries, writing that tackles race, gender, and sexuality head on to immigrant and international writing. First and foremost, we seek writing that displays that rare gift of storytelling, that pulls our readers into the narrative and holds them there until the end. 

Our specific categories of Zest!,  Politics, Environment, and SocietyIn Sickness and In Health, Field Notes, and Schooled are always open to compelling fiction as well. Please see the nonfiction section for full descriptions.

Word count: submissions should be a maximum of 3,800 words. Because our volume of submissions is high, we ask that you send only one submission per reading period.

SUBMISSION FEE: $3

DEADLINE: October 15, 2020

https://pangyrus.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NONFICTION

Pangyrus

INFO: Pangyrus publishes well-crafted, thought-provoking writing in every genre: fiction, poetry, journalism, essays and memoirs, reviews and criticism, comics and visual arts. We publish two print editions a year, and continuously online.

We are looking for high-quality nonfiction writing that connects exciting ideas, tells a compelling story, and offers a fresh perspective. 

We favor two kinds of submissions: short, focused essays between 600 and 1500 words, and longer, more reported features of up to 3,500 words. Please send only one selection at a time.

The following are specific categories for Pangyrus. If you submit in one of these categories:

Essays & Memoir

Any subject, any form: essays, memoir, reviews, cultural and political commentaries, travel, love, and living. If you think it would be entertaining or thought provoking for our readers, send it our way!

Craft and Career

As a journal deeply committed to finding new voices and developing new talent, we love insight into word work. Send us your essays on the creative process, on making a life as a writer and artist, and on overlooked essentials of craft.

Zest! (Food Writing) 

We want writing that’s not only in good taste, we want writing that tastes good. Wow us with memories of that perfect dish—or the perfect disaster. Tell the story of a region, a history, a family, a love, a war, through meals shared and soufflés ruined. 

Politics, Environment, and Society 

Give us an unexpected and expansive view into the forces and faces shaping the world we live in now—and into the resistance to them. Tell us stories based on personal experience, reporting, analysis and commentary, or research, whether focused hyperlocally or globally. We want stories that make unexpected connections and raise our awareness of problems—and solutions. 

In Sickness and In Health: Life in the Pandemic and Beyond 

Give us perspective on the way we live now, drawing on anything from personal narrative to reporting to the science (and art) of public health. Be political, be personal, be whatever you need to be to stay authentic to your lived experiences and observations. This is a time we need shared voices. 

Field Notes (Science)

We’re looking for innovative perspectives from researchers, professors, engineers, clinicians, and onlookers who can shine a light on science in the modern world. Our goal is to bring your voice and recent findings from the bench to our readers’ living rooms.  At the moment, we are especially interested in women in science, engineering, environment and ecology, and in science affected by today’s political climate. 

Schooled (Education)

We’re looking for stories and perspectives from all levels of education, personal stories from teachers, students, and parents. Take us deeper into theory, practice and policy. Tell us about life in and out of the classroom and on (and off) campus in the pandemic, about transformative moments, and about the state of democracy as reflected in our schools. 

Lightning Submissions

This is for nonfiction pieces tied to occasions that have immediate relevance or that are coming up soon. If you have a piece that reacts to something that has just happened in our world, submit it.  Lightning submissions are presumed to be for our online publication and may or may not be right for the print edition. Word limit: 600 - 3,500. 

SUBMISSION FEE: $3

DEADLINE: October 15, 2020

https://pangyrus.submittable.com/submit

2021 KWELI JOURNAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

INFO: Building on Kweli's successful history of mentoring emerging authors, 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 POC, Native, 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: Successful applicants will be informed no later than December 15, 2020. The fellowship period will be January 2, 2021 – December 2, 2021.

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.

DEADLINE: October 19, 2020 at 11:59pm EST

http://www.kwelijournal.org/kweli-fellowship-program

National Teen Storyteller Writing Contest

The Center for Fiction

INFO: Terrify and surprise twist your way into a chance to win up to $100 to our bookstore, and online publication with us and our contest partner, the Decameron Project! We’re calling on young writers, aged 14 to 18, to submit chilling tales that lead us through the haunted corridors of their imaginations. But we can’t stay long. The horror-themed thrill rides have to be completed within 300-1,000 words.

RULES & ELIGIBILITY:

  • One submission per storyteller

  • Storytellers must be between the ages of 14 and 18 at the time of submission

  • Stories must be between 300 and 1,000 words (the title is not included in word count)

  • At this time we can only consider stories written in English

PRIZES:

The three winning stories will be published on the Center for Fiction and Decameron Project’s websites.

  • First-place winner will receive a Center for Fiction tote bag and a $100 bookstore gift certificate

  • Second-place winner will receive a Center for Fiction tote bag and a $50 bookstore gift certificate

  • Third-place winner will receive a Center for Fiction tote bag and $25 bookstore gift certificate 

Final decisions regarding winners and finalists will be made by the Center for Fiction staff. The Center for Fiction reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entries that do not follow the contest rules or contain lewd, obscene, defamatory, or hateful content.

About Our Contest Partner: We are thrilled to bring back Decameron Project as our contest partner. The student-run NYC-based nonprofit aims to empower students to express themselves creatively and share their stories amidst school closures and other hardships posed by COVID-19.

SUBMNISSION FEE: $0

DEADLINE: October 25, 2020

https://centerforfiction.org/event/national-teen-storyteller-writing-contest-october-2020/

Call for Papers: “I Can’t Breathe:” Addressing the Impact of Racism and Social Injustice on the Psychosocial and Psychodynamic Functioning of Black and Hispanic Populations

Clinical Social Work Journal

INFO: Clinical Social Work Journal seeks submissions for a Special Issue on the impact of racism and social injustice on the psychosocial and psychodynamic functioning of Black and Hispanic populations. Psychotherapeutic interventions with Black and Hispanic people require clinicians to evaluate their psychosocial problems through the prism of their lived familial, cultural, ethnic and racial experiences—while recognizing that the effects of living in a hostile and unjust environment negatively alters individual development, induces terror, psychological pain and chronic or toxic stress. This view of clinical social work practice provides the impetus for developing a special issue centering on the nexus among racism and injustice and the psychosocial and psychodynamic functioning of Blacks and Hispanics. Racism and injustice are often manifested via unfair and violent policing in Black and Hispanic communities, systemic racism, white supremacy, and the unmet mental health needs of these two groups.

Relevant manuscripts may consist of theoretical or conceptual papers, case studies, completed research studies or clinically and theoretically-informed commentaries. All submissions should have clear clinical practice implications that are informed by contemporary psychosocial, psychodynamic and developmental theories—and must be related to the impact of racism or social injustice on Black or Hispanic populations. Manuscripts that address one or more of the following topics are welcome:

  • Systemic racism and the psychosocial developmental trajectory of Black and Hispanic individuals

  • Psychotherapy and/or clinical practice approaches that mitigate (or address) the negative effects of racism, inequality and/or social injustice

  • Police brutality/police-induced violence and its psychodynamic implications

  • White supremacy and its impact on the mental health outcomes of Black and Hispanic individuals

  • Race-related stress and its implications for psychosocial and psychodynamic functioning among Blacks and/or Hispanics

  • Discrimination and social and racial injustice (and its toxic psychosocial effects)

Guest Editors
Samuel R. Aymer, PhD, Hunter College, City University of New York, Silberman School of Social Work

Manny John González, PhD, Florida Atlantic University, Phyllis and Harvey Sandler School of Social Work

DEADLINE: Prospective authors need to submit an abstract of 800 words by October 26, 2020

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NjK9puEGgdEqSIUpnYuZfT5Q_4thza77/view

Open City 2021 Fellowship

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

INFO: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is now accepting applications for the 2021 Open City Fellowship. The fellowship is a nine-month program and will run from January through September.

STIPEND: $2,500 for the duration of the nine-month grant period;

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES: We will publish two long-form pieces and two short ones, or three long-form stories, you’ve written over the nine-month period on our online magazine, The Margins. We want these pieces to be special and we hope you will too.

OPEN CITY WORKSHOP SERIES: We have created a special workshop series just for Open City Fellows. We’ll launch with a special orientation that will feature professional writers and former fellows. Future sessions in the workshop series may deal with interviewing, the craft of writing, photography, multimedia storytelling, and data research;

GUIDANCE AND MENTORSHIP: You’ll receive mentorship and editorial guidance from Senior Editor Noel Pangilinan and will have access to potential resources from the CUNY Journalism School;

AAWW PERKS: You’ll receive free membership to the AAWW, discounts, free access to general programs;

WRITING WORKSHOP: One free writing workshop organized through AAWW ($200 value).

Previous fellows have gone on to write and report for GrantaAl Jazeera America, the New Yorker, among other outlets. Their work during our fellowship has been picked up by NPR, CityLab, and the New York Times.  

Open City Fellows will be required to:

— meet with the Open City editor every two weeks.

— attend six writing workshop sessions, which may include feedback from the Open City editor;

— attend occasional get-togethers with all fellows; and

— attend an initial all-day orientation at the start of the nine-month term.

APPLICATION:

SUBMITTABLE APPLICATION FORM: In this form, we ask you to specify which neighborhoods you are uniquely qualified to cover for Open City;

PROJECT PROPOSAL: Identify two to three story ideas tied up by a common theme in your chosen neighborhood (900 words max)

CV: Upload a 1-3 page resume or CV that also includes publication history

WRITING SAMPLES: 2 or 3 writing samples that best illustrate the kinds of articles you would like to write for Open City. Samples should not be more than three pages each and must be uploaded to the application form as PDFs or MS Word documents. They should be double-spaced, in 12-point font size, and should not include publication information.

REQUIREMENTS:

During the fellowship term, fellows must live in one of New York City’s five boroughs: Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, or Queens. 

Asian American and Asian diasporic writers are eligible to apply. “Asian American” is defined broadly to include not just, say, Chinese and Indian Americans, but also Asian American adoptee and multiracial writers, Indo-Caribbean writers, and West Asians, such as Iranians and Arab Americans.

SELECTION PROCESS:

The Open City Fellows are chosen based on the following criteria:

— Relevance, quality, and cohesiveness of project proposal;

— Merit of past work, based on submitted work sample;

— Demonstrated ability to cover the proposed neighborhoods;

— Career record, as described in the resume;

— Demonstrated willingness to take the most advantage of the Fellowship: e.g., to attend ALL trainings and workshops, and take advantage of publishing opportunities.

Applicants will be assessed based on a multi-round selection process, in which the applicant pool grows smaller in each round. The assessment process will involve Programs Manager Lily Philpott, and Senior Editor Noel Pangilinan, as well as an outside jury comprised of literary and journalism professionals. Finalist applicants will be interviewed in person or online, depending on the pandemic situation.

DEADLINE: October 29, 2020 by 11:59pm ET

https://aaww.org/fellowships/open-city/?utm_source=AAWW+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b48d254d91-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_28_09_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_33f8ecedf2-b48d254d91-72498805&mc_cid=b48d254d91&mc_eid=d450635ba2&fbclid=IwAR1s9zPzYE85CUheDaBZ8xweKZlbyMnPN2VSRfR8duS89dwFqiCQWz8gTSQ

Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship

One Story

INFO: Together with the Talve-Goodman Family, One Story is happy to open submissions for the 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) and Arvin Ramgoolam (2020).

The fellow will receive:

  • Free tuition for all One Story online classes and programming offered in 2021.

  • Travel stipend ($2,000) and tuition to attend One Story’s July 2021 week-long summer writers’ conference in Brooklyn, which includes craft lectures, an in-person intensive fiction workshop, and panels with literary agents and publishers.

  • A full manuscript review & 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 2021 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, 2021. For complete eligibility details, please visit our FAQ.

CHECKLIST: To apply to this fellowship you will need:

  • A fiction writing sample (3,000 - 8,000 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.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

DEADLINES:

  • Applications are open until October 30, 2020 11:59pm ET.

  • The winner of the 2021 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship will be publicly announced in January 2021.

https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=fellowship

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: PARENTING DURING A PANDEMIC


Raising Mothers

INFO: Raising Mothers seeks submissions that speak to the layered intricacies for parenthood from the perspective of the parent or the child by writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or POC. We're currently accepting submissions for our next issue, Parenting During a Pandemic.

We want to hear the stories that aren't being told. What it means, as a parent, when parenting also means homeschooling also means controlling screen time also means navigating your own emotions as well as that of your children also means the spoons spent to keep you and your parents and your children safe, all at the same time. And how are these multiple, incremental navigations complicated by issues of race, gender, and/or sexual identities? We want any genre, any approach that includes the above, or is not included. Let's share our stories in this time of isolation, and perhaps feel a little less distant from one another where distance is adamant.

DEADLINE: October 31, 2020

http://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/

CALL FOR BLACK WRITERS

Knights Library Magazine

INFO: The Knights Library Magazine is looking for Black writers to fill our inbox for our special December issue. If you are a Black poet, playwright, fiction writer, nonfiction writer, etc., please send us your work.

All work submitted must be original material and previously unpublished.

Super secret special guest judges to be announced soon, so keep your eyes peeled on Twitter!

GUIDELINES:

  • One poem or prose piece can be submitted. No longer than 3 pages (poetry) and 8 pages (prose).

  • Work must be submitted as a separate Word document where your name does not appear in the document.

  • You must be a Black writer.

  • Please submit to BlackWriters@KnightsLibraryMagazine.co

DEADLINE: October 31, 2020

https://www.knightslibrarymagazine.com/?fbclid=IwAR24ZMLuPbpXlxcssHSoDJHtISZcVl3JRHQn3SQrQTmkX_M6Y062rKhw5As

Quill (Queer) Prose Award

Red Hen Press

INFO: Founded in 2015 by Tobi Harper of Red Hen Press, Quill seeks to publish quality literature by queer writers. 

The Quill Prose Award is for a work of previously unpublished prose with a minimum of 150 pages, by a queer writer.

The awarded manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.

The final judge for 2020 will be Amber Flame.

Title on cover sheet only, with a 150 page minimum. 

AWARD: $1000 and publication of awarded manuscript by Red Hen Press.

GUIDELINES:

The award is open to all writers with the following exceptions:

A) Authors who have had a full length work published by Red Hen Press, or a full length work currently under consideration by Red Hen Press;

B) Employees, interns, or contractors of Red Hen Press;

C) Relatives of employees or members of the executive board of directors;

D) Relatives or individuals having a personal or professional relationship with any of the final judges where they have taken any part whatsoever in shaping the manuscript, or where, for whatever reason, selecting a particular manuscript might have the appearance of impropriety.

ENTRY FEE: $10

DEADLINE: October 31, 2020

https://redhenpress.submittable.com/submit/59201/quill-queer-prose-award

Short Fiction Fast Response: Free for Black Writers

CRAFT

INFO: While our submissions for short and flash fiction are always free and always open, this summer we are offering fast response for free to Black writers. This form is for short fiction (short stories and standalone excerpts) between 1,000 and 6,000 words. 

We will respond to your piece within three weeks of submission. If we decline your work, we'll offer a few lines of actionable feedback. 

We pay $200 for accepted short stories. To serve our aim of exploring the art of fiction, each published story includes an editor’s introduction as well as a craft essay (author’s note) by the writer. This essay will be requested upon acceptance.

Other opportunities:

  • If you are a Black writer looking for free fast response for flash fiction (fewer than 1,000 words), please use this form.

  • If you are not a Black writer and wish to send short fiction for a fast response, please use this form for fast response in exchange for proof of donation to an organization in support of Black lives.

  • If you are not a Black writer and wish to send flash fiction (fewer than 1,000 words) for a fast response, please use this form for fast response in exchange for proof of donation to an organization in support of Black lives.

DEADLINE: N/A

https://craft.submittable.com/submit/168970/short-fiction-fast-response-free-for-black-writers

SHORT STORY SUBMISSION: CALL FOR BLACK MALE & BLACK NONBINARY WRITERS 

Kwame Mbalia

INFO: For too long the stories of Black boys have been written for us and our joy has been omitted. No longer. I want to present, read, and tell stories that center the joy of Black boyhood. 

I am putting together and editing a to-be-announced Middle Grade anthology (i.e. targeted towards readers age 8-12) that will center the joy of Black boyhood. A stellar group of authors have agreed to come with me on this journey, and a fantastic publisher is committed to publishing these stories.

Something that is near and dear to my heart is the idea of mentoring and providing space for up-and-coming writers. To that end, I am launching a call for submissions with the hope of finding two writers to be published in this anthology. I did not get to where I am by myself. Other authors reached back, boosted, lifted, and helped me climb, and I want to do the same.

ELIGIBILITY

  • A Black male/non-binary author as specified above

  • Unagented and non-traditionally published  (if you’ve previously published novellas or short stories, that’s fine!)

  • Must be 18 years old or older in order to submit a story

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Stories should be typed in a manuscript format and emailed as an attachment to BlackBoyStories@gmail.com

  • In addition to the short story, all submissions must include a 150 words or less bio that tells me about you.

  • Due to the volume of submissions, submissions will not be returned and comments will not be provided. (It’s just me, y’all.)

  • If selected, then you agree upon request to cooperate with the editor (me) and the publisher and in the editing and publishing process. You further understand that you will be asked to sign a contributor agreement in a standard form acceptable to the editor (me) and the publisher, and your submission may not be published if you elect not to sign.  You further agree that the submission may be edited for length, format or otherwise by the editor (me) and the publisher.

  • If selected, you will be paid $2,000 on delivery and acceptance, and you will receive credit upon publishing.

SHORT STORY REQUIREMENTS

  • Short stories must be written for a Middle Grade audience, i.e. for readers age 8 to 12 years old. Stories can be of any genre, i.e. contemporary, science-fiction, fantasy, etc.

  • Stories must be no more than 3000 words in length.

  • Stories should not have been previously commercially published and you must  be the sole author of the story you submit.

  • Stories should center joy (which doesn’t mean excluding other experiences) and feature and center Black boys (which doesn’t mean excluding other characters. Say it with me: Centering doesn’t mean excluding.)

  • All short story submissions must be typed in a manuscript format.

  • The submission must not contain any material that violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including without limitation any copyright, trademark or right of privacy or publicity, or that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to any applicable law or regulation, or the use of which as described in this call for submissions by the editor would require a license or permission from or payment to any third party; and the submission must not contain any material that is defamatory.

  • By submitting, the applicant represents and warrants that the applicant owns the copyright in the submission, has complied with all of the requirements and has obtained all permissions, licenses and consents that are necessary for the submitting of the submission and to the use of the submission by the anthology editor and publisher and their licensees. The anthology editor reserves the right in the editor’s sole discretion to disqualify any submission that the editor determines does not comply with these requirements, or to require the applicant to make such changes to any submission as are necessary to make it compliant.

DEADLINE: November 1, 2020

https://kwamembalia.com/a-call-for-joy/

Start A Riot! Chapbook Prize

Foglifter

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 are pleased to announce Start a Riot! - a chapbook series for local emerging queer and trans Black writers, Indigenous writers, and writers of color.

AWARD: Each year, the prize will honor one author with:

  • chapbook publication

  • a $1,000 prize

  • promotion

  • a spot on the Sister Spit Tour

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Submitter is a QTBIPOC+ literary artist

  • Submitter is a current resident of the larger San Francisco Bay Area

  • Submitter does not have a previous full-length publication in their submission genre

MANUSCRIPT DETAILS:

  • Open to all genres, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid, graphic novels

  • 25 pages (maximum)

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Deadline: November 1, 2020

  • Results Announced: Spring 2021

  • Chapbook Release: Fall 2021

https://foglifterjournal.com/submit-to-start-a-riot/

2020 CRAFT Flash Fiction Contest

Craft Literary

INFO: Welcome back to our annual flash fiction contest for unpublished stories up to 1,000 words!

Leesa Cross-Smith will select three winning stories

AWARD: $1,000

GUIDELINES:

  • Open September 1 to November 1

  • CRAFT submissions are open to all writers

  • International submissions are allowed

  • Fiction only!

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 1,000 word count maximum—flash fiction only

  • We review literary fiction, but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft

  • Previously unpublished work only—we do not review reprints, including self-published work, for contests

  • We allow simultaneous submissions—writers please notify us and withdraw your entry if your work is picked up elsewhere

  • We allow multiple submissions—please submit each set of two flash stories as a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee

  • All entrants will receive an exclusive digital compilation next year that includes: the winning pieces with Leesa Cross-Smith’s introductions and the winners’ craft essays; the editors’ choice winners; excerpts from finalist pieces; and more

  • Please, please, double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font

  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable)

  • We do not require blind submissions

  • We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason

  • Additionally, we do not tolerate discrimination in the writing we consider for publication: work we find discriminatory on any of the bases stated here will be declined without complete review (you will be refunded, less fees)

READING FEE: $20

DEADLINE: November 1, 2020

https://www.craftliterary.com/craft-flash-fiction-contest/

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Commonwealth Writers

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.

DEADLINE: November 1, 2020

http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/our-projects/the-short-story/

JACK STRAW WRITERS PROGRAM

Jack Straw Cultural Center

INFO: Jack Straw Cultural Center is now accepting applications for the 25th year of the Jack Straw Writers Program. To date, the program has included more than 275 writers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond who represent a diverse range of literary genres. Each year, an invited curator selects 12 participants.

The purpose of the Jack Straw Writers Program is to introduce writers to the medium of recorded audio; to develop their presentation skills for both live and recorded readings; to encourage the creation of new literary work; to present the writers and their work in live readings, in an anthology, on the web, and on the radio; and to build community among writers. Participating writers are presented in live readings, in the printed Jack Straw Writers Anthology; and on the web and radio. Each year an invited curator selects the participating writers from a large pool of applicants based foremost on artistic excellence. Among past curators are program co-founder Rebecca Brown, Anastacia- Renée, Donna Miscolta, Matt Briggs, Stephanie Kallos, Shawn Wong, and Jourdan Imani Keith. Writers receive training in vocal presentation, performance, and microphone technique to prepare them for public readings, interviews, and studio recording. Their recorded readings and interviews with the curator are then used to produce programs for SoundPages, our literary podcast, and for selected radio broadcast.

The Writers Program requires participants to be on-site at Jack Straw Cultural Center for a number of activities, such as an introductory orientation, workshops for microphone/voice technique and live performance, in-studio interview session with the program curator, and live readings. (See Covid-19 advisory for more on this.) Most of these activities take place between January and June. Additional Writers Program readings will take place around the community throughout the year, including a final reading with all of the writers in November. Work appearing in the Jack Straw Writers Anthology may not be previously published material, and any subsequent publication of this work must acknowledge the Jack Straw Writers Program.

The 2021 Writers Program Curator is E. J. Koh.  E. J., a 2016 Jack Straw Writers Program fellow, is the author of the memoir The Magical Language of Others (Tin House Books, 2020) and poetry collection A Lesser Love (Louisiana State University Press, 2017)winner of the Pleiades Editors Prize for Poetry. Her poems, translations, and stories have appeared in Academy of American PoetsBoston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, PEN America, Slate, and World Literature Today. Koh is the recipient of The Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing from Prairie Schooner and has received fellowships from the American Literary Translators Association, Kundiman, MacDowell Colony, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and Vermont Studio Center. She is the editor for Pleiades: Poetry by Korean American Women and has appeared in anthologies: Bettering American Poetry Vol. 3, Privacy Policy: The Anthology of Surveillance Poetics, Political Punch: Contemporary Poems on Politics of Identity, and The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit. Koh earned her MFA at Columbia University in New York for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. She is completing her PhD at the University of Washington in English Language and Literature.

Selection Process

Writers Program applications are evaluated and awarded by an invited curator. The curators change each year. All applicants will be notified of the results in writing. Please allow at least eight weeks after deadline dates for the review and notification process to be completed. The first Writers Program mandatory meeting will take place in January 2021.

Selection Criteria

The Writers Program receives more than a hundred applicants, from which 12 writers are selected. Curator selections will be based upon the excellence of the work represented in the support materials provided by the applicant.

Covid-19 Advisory

We will almost certainly need to adapt the 2021 Writers Program to fit the safety requirements of the current situation, as we have been doing for the 2020 Writers. Some elements – such as workshops, readings, and meetings – will be moved online, and some will be adjusted to minimize the number of people sharing space. 

It is impossible to know exactly what the situation will look like in January, when this program is set to begin, so we are requesting your patience, flexibility, and adaptability in advance. Know that we will do whatever we can to help you get the most out of this program and find community with your cohort and curator. 

DEADLINE: November 3, 2020

https://jackstraw.submittable.com/submit/90532/jack-straw-writers-program

THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURE 2021

INFO: The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature is an annual award for literary books by Caribbean writers, first presented in 2011. Books are judged in three categories: poetry; fiction — both novels and collections of short stories; and literary non-fiction — including books of essays, biography and autobiography, history, current affairs, travel, and other genres, which demonstrate literary qualities and use literary techniques, regardless of subject matter. (Note: textbooks, technical books, coffee-table books, specialist publications and reference works are not eligible.)

There will be a panel of three judges for each category, who will determine category shortlists and winners.

The three category winners will then be judged by a panel of four judges — consisting of the chairs of the category panels and the prize chair — who will determine the overall winner.

AWARD: The author of the book judged overall winner will receive an award of US$10,000. The other category winners will receive US$3,000.

To be eligible for entry for the 2021 prize, a book must:

  1. Have been first published in the calendar year 2020 (1 January to 31 December);

  2. Have been written by a single author who either holds Caribbean citizenship or was born in the Caribbean (this must be verified by the publisher), regardless of current place of residence; 

  3. Have been written by an author who is living on 31 December, 2020;

  4. Have been written and first published in English originally (i.e. translations are not eligible);

  5. Be a new work, previously unpublished in book form (though collections including poems, stories, essays, or other short pieces that have individually appeared in print in periodicals or anthologies are eligible).

The OCM Bocas Prize is requesting both digital and print copies of each entry for 2021:  a PDF file of the book must be uploaded with the entry form below, and five copies of the book must be mailed via reliable courier to The Bocas Lit Fest.

DEADLINE: November 9, 2020

https://www.bocaslitfest.com/2021/awards/ocm-bocas-prize-entry/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NYT’S MODERN LOVE COLUMN

The New York Times

INFO: Although Modern Love has evolved into a podcast, a book, a TV show and Tiny Love Stories in its 16 years, the column’s central mission remains the same: to publish honest personal essays about contemporary relationships.

We seek true stories on finding lovelosing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoptionpolyamorytechnologyrace and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.

The best way to see the range of styles and subjects we publish is to read the column and listen to the podcast. There’s a Google doc of tips from the editor that someone culled from the Modern Love Facebook page (some details are out of date, but nearly all of the advice is still generally applicable).

Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely and be informed by factors including race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture. We especially encourage Black and Indigenous people and other people of color to submit, as well as writers outside of the United States and those who identify as members of L.G.B.T.Qcommunities.

How do I submit?

  • Send submissions to: modernlove@nytimes.com. Please put the subject of your essay or a possible title in the email subject line.

  • Limit your essay to 1,500-1,700 words.

  • Attach your essay as a Microsoft Word-compatible doc and paste the text into the body of the email. If your first submission is incomplete, please resubmit one complete entry; do not submit just the missing pieces in additional emails.

  • Essays must be entirely true. Do not use pseudonyms (including for yourself), composite characters or invented situations or scenes. There are no exceptions to this rule.

  • Essays must be previously unpublished. Work that has appeared online — on another news website, a personal blog, Medium or elsewhere — is considered previously published.

  • Essays will be edited in consultation with writers, and writers will be compensated for work that is published.

We attempt to respond to every submission within three or four months, though response times may vary because of the high volume of submissions. There is no need to follow up.

DEADLINE: Modern Love has two submission periods, September through December and March through June. We do not accept submissions in July, August, January or February. Submissions made during those months will be deleted unread. Please submit again when the inbox reopens.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-submit-a-modern-love-essay.htm

CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: HEARD/WORD

Galleyway

INFO: HEARD/WORD is Galleyway's new audio series highlighting compelling voices in poetry and prose. We invite you to share recordings of original poems and short fiction. Selected work will be showcased on our blog and social media platforms. Submissions should include:

  • MP3 recording of you reading your poetry (no longer than 3 minutes) or short fiction (no longer than 5 minutes)

  • Text version of the piece

  • A headshot 

  • A brief bio

  • Social media handles and link to website

Please send submissions to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://galleyway.com/blog/2020/3/31/call-for-audio-submissions

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BIPOC WRITERS

Bad Mouth

INFO: Bad Mouth is an Albuquerque-based reading and music series that—in regular non-pandemic times—was a quarterly curated reading series featuring writers across genres, along with live music. Since the pandemic shut-down, we’ve been featuring weekly videos of one writer reading, with bio, links, and other information to highlight and promote that writer’s work. We post the videos on the Bad Mouth Facebook Page, the Bad Mouth website, and send to the Bad Mouth email list.

We’re currently open to submissions from writers of any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction). At this time, we are asking for submissions from BIPOC writers.

If you’d like to participate, please send a note and brief bio to badmouth@plumeforwriters.org.

Thanks for considering, and we look forward to hearing from you!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://badmouthreadingseries.wordpress.com/about/

Micro/Flash Fast Response for BIPOC Writers

Fractured Lit

INFO: Fractured Lit  is committed to providing a platform to diverse, emerging voices. We are now offering an expedited reading category explicitly for marginalized or underrepresented writers. Submissions to this category will receive a response in two weeks or fewer. 

All submissions are considered for publication at the payment rates below based on the appropriate word counts. Please see the guidelines below, or contact us at contact [at] fracturedlit.com with any questions. This form is for marginalized or underrepresented writers only. 

Fractured Lit publishes micro and flash fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere. We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.

Micro fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.

Flash fiction is 401-1,000 words.

We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.

Writers may submit up to two stories in the same document. Please wait 1 month after our initial reply before submitting again.

Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement.

We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.

Fractured Lit holds first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://fracturedlit.submittable.com/submit/175793/micro-flash-fast-response-for-bipoc-writers

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Intervenxions

The Latinx Project

INFO: Intervenxions is an online publication of The Latinx Project that features original writings, criticism, and interviews exploring contemporary Latinx Art, Politics, & Culture.

  • Pitches no longer than 100 words are accepted on a rolling basis. No completed drafts or manuscripts.

  • Please inquire about Spanish-language and bilingual submissions.

  • Include a brief bio (250 words or less) with your pitch.

  • For image requirements, see Squarespace guidelines on sizing and format. Please do not send images without verifying copyright restrictions and permissions.

  • Article length is roughly 1,200 to 2,000 words, with occasional exceptions for longer pieces.

  • Please hyperlink sources, no reference lists.

  • For interviews, please have audio or transcript available upon request. *Please note: interview questions do not need to be submitted beforehand.

  • Avoid redundancy, such as the same word or phrase used twice in a sentence.

  • Drafts should prioritize clear and concise language, as well as strike a balance between a casual, yet informed tone.

  • For additional guidance, please review past contributions. 

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/submission-guidelines

SEEKING BOOKS FOR REVIEW

BIPOC Book Critic's Collective

INFO: BIPOC Book Critic's Collective is a networking platform for book critics writing personalized, creative book reviews and author interviews that will bring a spotlight to women writers of color.

To ensure equity and accessibility to the public, we review books written within the decade, outside of the cisgender, patriarchal standards of traditional publishing. Allowing writers, agents, and publishers to submit manuscripts that align with our mission to promote BIPOC books. Our focus is on women and non-binary writers.

MISSION: To write personal, thoughtful reviews of self-published, queer, non-conforming and super strange books while also acknowledging writers who are published within traditional companies. We cover those who identify as women. We also cover those who don't. We don’t follow “rules” of convention, we make our own. And that's ok.

We will be going live soon. If you are interested in sharing your book for review on our website or in being a guest on our Podcast, please see the guidelines below.

GUIDELINES:

- We accept self-published and traditionally published titles
- We accept digital AND print galleys/arcs (email editors@bipoccriticscollective.com for physical address)
- You can complete this form without a digital arc/galley
- We are only accepting submissions from authors of color.
- Doc. or PDF formats ONLY.
- We do not accept ZIP folders.
- If you have promotional photos, author photos or blurbs, you can submit up to five files. Please, be sure that all author/promo pictures belong to you or you must provide the information of the photographer that they belong to so that we may reach out for permissions.

***Submitting your manuscript for review does not guarantee that your book will be reviewed by the Bad Book Biddies. We will give all submissions equal consideration. We have three other platforms outside of the Medium Publication which we can also use to highlight your unique contribution to the literary community. It is easier for us to review if you provide us with a copy, but some of us will have no problem purchasing your book to review.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXI1ZjuPBTyiH8XDqjIu8QYC18ZKQ0lXd8kmmiYcKLJYthuA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3SsS3lfb2vHBrcIWQLvBc7yU84vyrI7JLAe-ukkl-QOYo_-qRwEZ3hWnw&pli=1

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

It’s Real

INFO: It’s Real - a publication devoted to exploring mental health in Asian American communities - is open for submissions.

There are no submission guidelines for your work - they need only be related to mental health, the Asian American community, and our monthly theme. 

Please complete the following two-part submission form. If you are unable to submit through the submission form, please email us your submission as an attachment. 

We are open to simultaneous submissions, so long as you classify them as such on the Submissions Form and promptly notify us by email if they are accepted elsewhere. Please note that (unless otherwise stated) we accept both First North American Rights or Nonexclusive Reprint Rights. Following publication, all rights revert to the writer; under the condition of accepting First North American Rights, we ask that you credit It's Real Magazine as the place your work first appeared.

Please note that because of the recent increase of submissions to It's Real, publication in the magazine is selective. We will be evaluating submissions on a basis of skill and a unique artistic voice. We respond to submissions within 2 weeks.

Questions? Email us at itsreal.magazine@gmail.com or contact us through our socials!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/submit.html

SUBMISSIONS CALL FOR WRITERS OF COLOUR

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- SEPTEMBER 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION / NON-FICTION

NELLE

INFO: NELLE proudly publishes the best, most exciting, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and hybird forms written by individuals identifying as women.

  • Fiction: Submit one longer story of up to 6,000 words or up to three flash or short-short pieces at a time. All submissions should include a cover letter with a brief biographical statement.

  • Non-Fiction: Submit one essay (6,000 word limit) or up to three shorter essays (totaling up to 6,000 words) at a time. We enjoy traditional as well as more experimental lyric essays. Note that All submissions should include a cover letter with a brief biographical statement.

All submissions will be automatically considered for our Three  Sisters Awards. A prize of $500.00 will awarded in each category of  poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

SUBMISSION FEE: $3

DEADLINE: September 2, 2020

https://nelle.submittable.com/submit

Black Lives Matter Zine

Brushfire Literature & Arts Journal

INFO: This issue of the Brushfire Loose Leaf Zine is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the black artists and writers who wish to share their experiences, their stories, and their work with the Reno Nevada arts community. All and any forms of creative expression that can be published in either a printed or audio-recorded format are welcome. 

For those contributing spoken word poetry or music, please provide a written version of your poems or lyrics. We aim to share both a printed version of your work in the zine, alongside the actual audio recording you submit with it, which will be featured in an audiobook we edit together for the Zine at the end of the project.

Our goal is to make sure the voices of black writers and artists are being heard and prioritized in our community, as well as to help circulate those voices by widely sharing their stories and creative projects with families, local artists, students, and businesses. The BLM Zine and its accompanying audiobook will also be published digitally on the Brushfire website for all to access in the future. 

DEADLINE: September 5, 2020

https://brushfire.submittable.com/submit/170292/black-lives-matter-zine

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: "Finding A Way"

Ayaskala

INFO: Ayaksala — an indian literary magazine and press passionately creating and curating art around mental health and its multi facets — is accepting submissions for its September issue. Theme is “Finding a way.”

Think about houseplants, your indoor greens. They grow in their own way, albeit less exposed to the outside world. Sometimes, they take over your walls, your desks, the lonely corners of your house. They find a way to bend towards any speck of light they can find. It doesn't matter that they don't have the same liberty as other plants outside, they still find a way to exist and thrive. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to make the best out of what you had? Ever had to find a way through unfamiliar circumstances? Tell us your stories of conquering unknown territories, overcoming predicaments, and triumphing over your demons.

Tell us about how you found a way.

  • Poetry - under 500 words (per piece) / up to 3 poems per monthly submission cycle

  • Prose - under 1000 words (per piece) / up to 1 prose per monthly submission cycle

  • Creative Non-Fiction - under 1000 words (per piece) / up to 1 CNF piece per monthly submission cycle

  • Fiction - under 1000 words (per piece)/ up to 1 fiction piece per monthly submission cycle

  • Letter - under 1000 words (per piece)/ up to 1 letter per monthly submission cycle

DEADLINE: September 6, 2020

http://ayaskala.com/magazineguideline

NO CONTEST

No Contact

INFO: We are looking for your finest prose (fiction/nonfiction) under 1200 words. Previously unpublished stories only. Yes, this includes publication in small-circulation journals as well as personal blogs.

We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Only one entry per person, please!

Authors who currently have a work under consideration (from general submissions) may still submit to NO CONTEST with a different piece.

No identifying information on your story—we read contest submissions blind!

International submissions in English are allowed and encouraged.

All stories are considered for publication.

We are fortunate to receive many submissions, which means we are fortunate to know what we receive too much of! Please don’t send us: shallow virus tales, day-X-of-isolation-tales, or this-is-my-quarantine-space tales. Complicate the story! Make us deeply, deeply interested.

PRIZE: Winner receives $250, first-slot publication in Issue Thirteen, and an interview to be featured in The Artist’s Bubble. Two runners-up receive $50 and publication in Issue Thirteen.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0, but require the use of a (free-to-register) Duotrope account.

DEADLINE: September 7, 2020

https://www.nocontactmag.com/submissions

The Margins Fellowship

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

INFO: Through the Margins Fellowship, the AAWW offers emerging writers resources that they can take advantage of, such as access to workshops and trainings, publication opportunities, and programming opportunities in our event space. We also want to give artists a chance to develop as curators, armed with the resources of a literary arts institution.

The Margins Fellowship is a year-long program. The 2021 fellowship year will run from January 11 to December 17.

STIPEND: $5,000 honoraria, distributed in three parts over the fellowship year. Fellowship payment will require the completion of an IRS W-9 or W-8BEN form;

RESIDENCY: Fellows are awarded residency time at The Millay Colony—an innovative seven-acre artists retreat space at the former house and gardens of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, NY;

WRITING SPACE: 24/7 access to AAWW’s space, when the space reopens. Given that time and space to write are rare in New York, the Margins Fellows will be given keys to the AAWW Reading Room and workspace;

PUBLICATION: Fellows are invited to publish work on our online magazine, The Margins;

MENTORSHIP: In the second half of the fellowship term, fellows are paired with an established writer who will meet with fellows either in-person or virtually at minimum four times during and after the fellowship year. Previous mentors include Hua Hsu, Tina Chang, Monica Youn, Alexander Chee, Meera Nair, and Kaitlyn Greenidge;

CAREER BUILDING: Fellows are offered access to private career meet-ups and meetings with editors, agents, and fellow writers;

AAWW MEMBERSHIP: Free membership to AAWW includes discounts on book sales and free access to general programs;

WRITING WORKSHOP: One free writing workshop organized through AAWW ($200);

GUIDANCE: AAWW Programs Manager will meet with you periodically throughout the fellowship year to discuss your career goals and how AAWW can help you meet them;

FINAL READING: Fellows will take to the stage with their mentors for a final celebratory reading at the culmination of the fellowship year;

HEADSHOTS: We invite a photographer to take professional headshots of our fellows that they can use going forward.

DEADLINE: September 7, 2020

https://aaww.org/fellowships/margins/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Graydon House Books

INFO: Graydon House — a select hardcover and trade paperback imprint dedicated to publishing book club-worthy women’s fiction with strong commercial appeal — is accepting unagented submissions from Black writers. We publish high-concept book club fiction and upmarket women’s fiction, including—but not limited to!—historical, suspense, family dramas, friendship stories, and more.

Send your query letter + first 30 pages to GHSubmissions@harpercollins.com. You’ll receive personalized editorial feedback within 90 days. If we decide to make an offer, we can recommend agents for you to contact.

DEADLINE: September 8, 2020

https://twitter.com/laverybrittany/status/1270700109156753408

“Manuscript-to-Market” Fellowship

Gotham Writers

INFO: The Gotham “Manuscript-to-Market” Fellowship is open to people of color who have completed a book manuscript (or nonfiction book proposal) and are ready to go to market with their book. Three fellowships will be offered every year. 

Each fellowship includes: 

The next Gotham Writers Conference happens October 16-18, 2020 on Zoom. Fellowship winners may attend this year’s conference, but if their project is not ready for this, they may attend the following year. 

Acceptance is open to all people of color and based solely on the merit of your book project. At least one spot will be awarded to a Black applicant. 

Once accepted, Gotham will do a consultation to determine the timing and arrangement of your fellowship. 

DEADLINE: September 8, 2020

https://gothamwriters.submittable.com/submit/169720/gotham-writers-manuscript-to-market-fellowship

SAAG WRITING PRIZE 2020

Southern Alberta Art Gallery

INFO: The Southern Alberta Art Gallery is pleased to announce the 9th annual SAAG Writing Prize. This writing competition encourages and recognizes the work of emerging arts writers in Alberta and BIPOC+ writers within Canada.

This year, we are honored to introduce the Aruna D’Souza Arts Writing Prize [BIPOC+ Arts Writing]. The award is named after Aruna D'Souza who will also be a guest juror. D'Souza writes about race in modern and contemporary art, intersectional feminisms, and how museums shape our views of each other and the world. Her most recent book, Whitewalling: Art, Race, and Protest in 3 Acts (Badlands Unlimited), was named one of the best art books of 2018 by the New York Times. She is currently editing two forthcoming volumes, Making It Modern: A Linda Nochlin Reader, and Lorraine O’Grady: Writing in Space 1973-2018, and is co-curator of the upcoming retrospective of Lorraine O’Grady’s work, Both/And, which will open in March 2021 at the Brooklyn Museum.

Applicants are invited to submit to the following categories:

SAAG Arts Writing Prize [Arts Writing]

  • Long form text, critical essay, and exhibition review.

  • Alberta-based arts writers are eligible for this category.

SAAG Arts Writing Prize [Poetry & Prose]

  • Long form text, fiction, non-fiction. poetry, and experimental writing.

  • Alberta-based arts writers are eligible for this category.

Aruna D’Souza Arts Writing Prize [BIPOC+ Arts Writing]

  • Open format category of arts writing in any style, long or short form awarded to an author who self-identifies as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Colour.

  • Canadian (citizen or resident) arts writers are eligible for this category.

PRIZES: The prizes for each writing prize category are:

  • SAAG Arts Writing Prize [Arts Writing]: $250 prize & writing published online in Galleries West

  • SAAG Arts Writing Prize [Poetry & Prose]: $250 prize & Gushul Writers Cottage residency for a Southern Alberta arts writer for the month of November, 2020

  • Aruna D’Souza Arts Writing Prize [BIPOC+ Arts Writing]: $1000 prize & writing published online with Canadian Art

  • All submissions will be included in our SAAG Arts Writing Prize Reader 2020, printed in-house at SAAG in our Publication Studio.

  • All participants are invited to our Writing Prize Reception | Thursday, October 1, 2020 | 6-8 PM

ELIGIBILITY: At the time of entry, writers must be at least 18 years of age and have fewer than five pieces of writing published in a nationally distributed magazine.. Submissions to [Poetry & Prose] and [Arts Writing] must be from Alberta to be eligible. The Aruna D’Souza Arts Writing Prize [BIPOC+ Arts Writing] is open to all of Canada. Students and emerging writers are encouraged to participate. All applicants are encouraged to include a current CV and short biography. Writing submissions must not have been previously published elsewhere.

DEADLINE: September 13, 2020 

https://www.saag.ca/public-engagement-adults/saag-writing-prize-2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE 6

Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal

INFO: Mysti S. Milwee, Editor/Publisher of Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal is accepting submissions for Issue 6. Seeking Poetry, Prose, Art (Paintings), Ekphrastic Collaborations, Collaborations, Micro Flash Fiction and Art Photography, & Photography.

If you would like your poetry translated into her Native language (Sequoyah Cherokee Syllabus) please let her know. There is a fee of $0.08 cents per word. (she accepta PayPal or Money Order only).

All accepted poetry that is translated will be published in the journal.

Please submit work relating to:
Nature, water, sky, animals, Native American folk, tales or stories.

Send your work(s) up to 5 poems or artworks and bio via email to:
mystiart21@gmail.com

In the subject line please state:
Your name, # of works, and Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal

DEADLINE: September 13, 2020

https://sequoyahcherokeeriverjournal.wordpress.com/

Hodder Fellowship

Princeton University

INFO: The Lewis Center is designed to put the creative and performing arts at the heart of the Princeton experience. This mission is based on the conviction that exposure to the arts helps each of us to make sense of our lives and the lives of our neighbors. We pursue this mission by bringing together a vibrantly diverse community of people with different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, skills and talents.

The Hodder Fellowship will be given to artists of exceptional promise to pursue independent projects at Princeton University during the 2021-2022 academic year. Potential Hodder Fellows are composers, choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers or other kinds of artists or humanists who are selected more "for promise than for performance" and have "much more than ordinary intellectual and literary gifts" as traditionally defined. Given the strength of the applicant pool, most successful Fellows have published a first book or have similar achievements in their own fields; the Hodder is designed to provide Fellows with the "studious leisure" to undertake significant new work.

Hodder Fellows spend an academic year at Princeton, but no formal teaching is involved. An $84,000 stipend is provided for this 10-month appointment as a Visiting Fellow. Fellowships are not intended to fund work leading to an advanced degree. One need not be a U.S. citizen to apply. The Lewis Center is committed to fostering an academic environment that acknowledges and encourages diversity and differences. The successful candidate will pursue academic excellence in diverse, multicultural, and inclusive settings.

GUIDELINES: Writers please submit a resume, a 3,000-word writing sample of recent work, and a project proposal of 500 words.

DEADLINE: September 15, 2020 at 5pm EST

https://www.princeton.edu/acad-positions/position/16421.

GMR Vol. 31.2: Black Voices

Green Mountains Review

INFO: 2020 has been tough. We are wading through the grief and difficulty wrought by a pandemic and the long history of racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, able-ism, and many other -isms symptomatic of a profoundly unjust society. Recent protests build upon decades of movement building and offer Americans an honest, if uncomfortable, reckoning with our past and a radical way forward that values the sanctity of Black lives of all kinds.

We know that the work of writers and artists is always crucial at these turning points in history. In his posthumous New York Times Op-Ed, Congressman Lewis wrote to us, “You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society.” And the late, legendary Toni Morrison wrote, “Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.” 

So, let us read and write and speak our way forward. Black folks, send us your writings. Send us your tomorrows. Send us your yesterdays. Offer us your accounts of this moment and of the past and your speculations about what the future might hold. 

GMR Volume 31.2 will feature Black voices and be edited by Tara Betts, Naomi Jackson, and Keith S. Wilson. The content is yours. The form is open.

GUIDELINES: Please submit a cover letter and include up to 5 poems or up to 25 pages of prose.

DEADLINE: September 15, 2020

https://greenmountainsreview.submittable.com/submit/170216/gmr-vol-31-2-black-voices

Emerging Writer Awards

Key West Literary Seminar

INFO: The Cecelia Joyce Johnson AwardScotti Merrill Award, and Marianne Russo Award recognize and support writers who possess exceptional talent and demonstrate potential for lasting literary careers.

Each award is tailored to a particular literary form. The Merrill Award recognizes a poet, while fiction writers may apply for either the Johnson Award (for a short story) or the Russo Award (for a novel-in-progress).

Due to the postponement of the 2021 Seminar, winners will receive full tuition support for our January 2022 Seminar and Writers’ Workshop Program, round-trip airfare, lodging, a $500 honorarium, and the opportunity to appear on stage during the Seminar.

Please review the criteria, complete the application form, and upload the required documents via Submittable. 

APPLICATION FEE: $12

DEADLINE: September 15, 2020

https://www.kwls.org/awards/emerging-writer-awards/?fbclid=IwAR2sbzA7TGvbTiwrP3Co60vW2XzPXIdiu1NoAQUjCO7xZpldzqt-H_3P9j8

Winter/Spring 2021 Residency

Monson Arts

INFO: Monson Arts’ residency program supports emerging and established artists and writers by providing them time and space to devote to their creative practices. During each of our 2-week and 4-week programs throughout the year, a cohort of roughly 5 artists and 5 writers are invited to immerse themselves in small town life at the edge of Maine’s North Woods and focus intensely on their work within a creative and inspiring environment. 

We are currently accepting applications for residency sessions scheduled to take place during the winter and spring of 2021. Residents receive studio space, housing, all meals, and $1,000 stipend ($500 for 2-week residencies). Application for this program is open to anyone at any stage of their career, working in visual arts, writing, and related fields (i.e. audio, video, photography).

Applicants can choose from two options of 4-week long sessions or a 2-week long session in late March/ early April for their residency. Specific dates for these are:

  • January 31 - February 26, 2021

  • February 28 - March 26, 2021

  • March 28 - April 9, 2021 (2-week session)

Due to safety protocols in place to continue residencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, program dates may change by one or two days. We will also be placing fewer residents in each session to ensure the safest accommodations possible. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding.

Notifications will go out 3-5 weeks after the deadline.

SUBMISSION FEE: $25

DEADLINE: September 15, 2020 at 11:59pm EST

https://monsonarts.org/residencies/

THE TONI BEAUCHAMP PRIZE IN CRITICAL ART WRITING

Gulf Coast Magazine

INFO: Surveying the scope of critical art writing today, the board, advisory board, and editors of Gulf Coast recognize the significant lack of venues and support for young and mid-career writers working across the United States. The Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing seeks to address this lacuna by bringing exposure to writers who are dealing with the spirit of the age and unafraid to ask difficult questions. 

The 2020 Beauchamp Prize will be judged by Franklin Sirmans, curator, writer, editor and director of PAMM.

Grounded in both scholarship and journalism, critical art writing occupies a specific niche. The best examples appeal to a diverse readership through an accessible approach and maintain a unique voice and literary excellence. The Beauchamp Prize will consider submissions of work that have been written (or published) within the last year. A variety of creative approaches and formats to writing on the visual arts are encouraged, and can include thematic essays, exhibition reviews, and scholarly essays.

Gulf Coast differs from many other literary journals in its commitment to exploring visual art and critical art writing. The journal has always featured portfolios by visual artists, along with short introductions from critics familiar with their work. In 2013, Gulf Coast merged with the art journal Art Lies, a quarterly publication based in Texas with a respected history of putting artists, curators, scholars, and critics in dialogue with their colleagues around the world. This partnership has driven the journal to significantly expand its contemporary art coverage and reach. Currently, Gulf Coast features sixteen full-color pages of visual art features and twenty-four pages of critical art writing in each issue.

Entries for the Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing should be a single piece of prose, written in English, not exceeding 1,500 words. We will accept submissions both via Submittable and via postal mail.

AWARD: There will be one first place prize of $3,000 dollars, and two runners up, awarded $1,000 each. The winning essay will be featured in CG's printed journal, and the two runners-up will have the option of publication as GC Online Exclusives. For previous winners, see the sidebar.

DEADLINE: September 15, 2020

https://gulfcoastmag.org/contests/the-beauchamp-prize-2/?fbclid=PAAabtAwrh00k38-rY7Em4Y89M3fBXhpLrZZTNkkdDOK-W6LCmsC0d_vU-Ezk

Fall 2020 Call for Submission

A Gathering Together

INFO: A Gathering Together is a literary journal that resists the easy and often unsophisticated attempt to say profound things in the moment, without deep contemplation, or in the heat of discursive battle.

We primarily select works that speak to Mekhet--the Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) term for resonating across time and space. This term is reserved for works that simultaneously transcend and address the moment they speak from, works that will last beyond the creator's last breath and still be relevant, or works that put the writer and reader in conversation with the intellectual thought of Ancestors of all kinds.

Our writers are primarily descendants of Africa and her Diaspora. All writers whose works resonate with the human experience, and thus the Diasporic African experience, are considered. Our back issues are all available online and serve as a good model for the variety of writers and works we've featured.

We welcome submissions of previously unpublished essays, short stories, poetry, reviews, visual art, and film for our Fall 2020 issue. We have extended the current deadline for our fall issue to September 15th.

Artists who want to be featured in our upcoming issues are invited to send us a letter of interest, brief bio, and a sample portfolio. Writers who want to conduct artist interviews are welcome to send us pitches letting us know how the interview and artist would be a good fit for our journal. Features are generally published January-March or July-September.

A Gathering Together is unable to compensate writers at this time.

DEADLINE: Extended to September 15, 2020

https://www.agatheringtogether.com/how-to-submit/

Winter 2020 ISSUE: Caribbean Music and Musicians

Interviewing the Caribbean

INFO: Seeking poems, stories, articles that explore and examine all aspects of Caribbean music - mento, calypso, reggae, dancehall, bachata, merenque, palo, mombo, denbo, baithak gana, bouyon, cadence-lypso, chutney, soca, compas, jing ping, parang, pichakaree, punta, ragga, reggaeton, salsa, and zouk; interviews of Caribbean Musicians at home and throughout the Diaspora. Send work that break boundaries, climb trees and dive deep to the bottom on the ocean floor.

Please include a 5-line bio (NO MORE), and a photo of contributor (TIF/300 resolution).

Send work as an MS Word document or images as a TIF, 300 dpi (or higher) resolution to: interviewingthecaribbean@gmail.com

DEADLINE: September 18, 2020

https://www.uwipress.com/journals/interviewing-the-caribbean/

Morland African Writing Scholarships 2020

Miles Morland Foundation

INFO: The Miles Morland Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2020 Morland Writing Scholarships for African writers will open for entries on Wednesday 1st July. The deadline for submissions is Friday 18th September. For all information on how to apply, please see the page marked ‘Entry Requirements and FAQs’ on our website (www.milesmorlandfoundation.com ).

Last year we received seven hundred submissions for four Scholarships, the highest number ever. We were blown away by the quality of writing and the unprecedented variety of the proposals. We look forward to seeing a similar spread of talent this year. We’ll be announcing our new winners in November.

This year we will be rotating the judges’ panel, so Otosirieze Obi-Young whose first-hand knowledge of African writing was so helpful last year will be dropping off to be replaced by Chuma Nwokolo, the Nigerian writer and publisher. Muthoni Garland, as chair, and Bibi Bakare-Yusuf return to complete the panel.

We would be grateful if you would help us by passing this information on to anyone you think might be interested, as well as announcing the opening dates on Facebook and Twitter using the link below. Thank you.

DEADLINE: September 18, 2020

https://milesmorlandfoundation.com/morland-african-writing-scholarships-2020/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Points of Contact Anthology

Philippine Collegian

INFO: Contributions are now welcome for the latest literary anthology of the Philippine Collegian, Points of Contact.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hollowed out nearly all communal spaces. Most of us spend our waking hours at home, deprived of intimacy and companionship. The few times we venture outside are now governed by rules of social interaction and calculated navigation that, if violated, could lead to more dangerous consequences than at almost any other time. So, we retreat into isolation and, at the same time, brave bouts of dread and despair over woes that relentlessly fray our nerves and collective bonds.

The pandemic has indeed exacted a toll, both personal and political, with far-reaching repercussions which the Philippine Collegian continues to take stock of in our coronavirus coverage. Still, there remains so much unsaid about the situation that we wish to capture and acknowledge in a way that is not strictly reportorial. We believe that a literary anthology would, to some small measure, contribute to making sense of the one thing everyone has been struggling with amid lockdowns and roiling crises—distance.

This literary anthology hopes to be an examination as it is a challenge. We are interested in works that rethink distance from various perspectives. Distance, in this case, may reference proximity, geography, time, emotion, or the gaps we bridge and the spaces we map out to open up new trajectories.

Possibilities abound for what the future has in store. But it is yet hard to find a patch of firm ground at this moment of crisis, when, by our lonesome, we cannot act together with others and mobilize to the degree that we could have before the pandemic. Our distance from one another provides a fertile ground for inaction. Such is precisely the crack that we can see has been exploited to railroad policies, like the Anti-Terrorism Law, that are bound to shrink our spaces for dissent and fracture our communities even more rapidly than has so far been done already.

Now may not be a good time as any to problematize our circumstances as a literary project. But such is the task that writers and artists, in our rather privileged positions, must inevitably confront. We thus very much welcome contributions that do not shy away from rhetoric and polemics, the summons of ideology, the defiance of formal structures. We are on the lookout for pieces that provoke and unsettle.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

1. The call for contributions is open to all Filipino writers and artists with works, in either Filipino or English, under any of the four categories: (a) short fiction, (b) poetry, (c) essay, and (d) graphic literature. Collaborative works are welcome, and so are pieces that blend together or experiment with genres, transgressing their normative boundaries.

2. All original and unpublished contributions to the literary anthology of the Collegian must be sent to phkule@gmail.com, cc: sheilaannabarra@gmail.com and rccornelio@up.edu.ph. The deadline is 20 September 2020, 11:59 p.m.; late entries will not be considered.

3. Only one submission per category will be accepted. But one may submit an entry in at most two categories. Simultaneous submissions are also allowed, but the Collegian must be notified immediately if the piece is slated for publication elsewhere.

4. For the subject heading of the email and the filename of the submission, kindly follow this format: <Kule Lit Antho 2020 surname_genre>, e.g., Kule Lit Antho 2020 Perez_Poetry. Email your submission as an attachment of the .docx file. Should one wish to keep typography or page design intact, as with some poetry or graphic literature pieces, a PNG and/or PDF file of the work must be submitted instead.

5. Entries for the prose categories must be single-spaced, typeface Segoe UI or Roboto, font size 11. Each submission must follow a 1,000-5,000-word count limit.

6. Entries for the poetry category may either be a standalone poem or a suite consisting of at most five (5) poems, in which case a collective title must be provided.

7. For graphic literature:

a. Entries for comics must be in portrait, and within a 6” x 8” size. It must be at least one (1) but not more than four (4) pages long.

b. Entries for photo essays may be up to 15 photos. There will be no limit imposed for aspect ratio, but the file size for each photo must not be beyond 5 mb, and the text must follow a 1,000-word count limit. The raw and edited file must be uploaded in a Google Drive folder. Collaboration of up to three people is allowed.

c. Entries for illustrations may either be in landscape or portrait, and should not be more than 6” x 8” in size. Important elements should be away from the 0.125-inch bleed.

8. Please do not include any author’s name or metadata within the pages of the file attachment. Instead, as an in-line text in the email, include a brief bionote of not more than 250 words, indicating institutional affiliation and professional email address.

9. In submitting an entry, one shall retain ownership of copyright of their work. But the Collegian shall have the right, upon consultation with the author, to edit portions of the work to suit the demands of publication.

10. An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent within a week of the submission. Please give the issue editors a response time of at least three months before inquiring about the status of one’s submission. The final table of contents of the anthology will have been released by the next couple of weeks.

If you have any questions, you may contact us through our email address: phkule@gmail.com, or message us through our social media accounts @phkule.

DEADLINE: September 20, 2020

https://www.facebook.com/phkule/posts/3130951613652431?__tn__=K-R

Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers

New York Public Library

INFO: The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers offers Fellowships to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the research collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Renowned for the extraordinary comprehensiveness of its collections, the Library is one of the world’s preeminent resources for study in anthropology, art, geography, history, languages and literature, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, religion, sociology, sports, and urban studies.

The Cullman Center’s Selection Committee awards fifteen Fellowships a year to outstanding scholars and writers—academics, independent scholars, journalists, creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets), translators, and visual artists. Foreign nationals conversant in English are welcome to apply. Candidates for the Fellowship will need to work primarily at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building rather than at other divisions of the Library. People seeking funding for research leading directly to a degree are not eligible. 

The Cullman Center looks for top-quality writing. It aims to promote dynamic communication about literature and scholarship at the very highest level—within the Center, in public forums throughout the Library, and in the Fellows’ published work.

A Cullman Center Fellow receives a stipend of up to $75,000, the use of an office with a computer, and full access to the Library’s physical and electronic resources. Fellows work at the Center for the duration of the Fellowship term, which runs from September through May. Each Fellow gives a talk over lunch on his or her current work-in-progress to the other Fellows and to a wide range of invited guests, and may be asked to take part in other programs at The New York Public Library.

DEADLINE: September 25, 2020

https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/fellowships-institutes/center-for-scholars-and-writers/fellowships-at-the-cullman-center

Project Grants for BIPOC Writers in Detroit, Houston, and New Orleans

Poets & Writers Magazine

INFO: Writers who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) and reside in Detroit, Houston, or New Orleans may apply for grants.

The purpose of these grants is to support BIPOC writers in presenting virtual events that will engage communities in these cities as part of our ongoing initiative.

Please read all of the following carefully before applying. If you have any questions, please email the appropriate office: rw-west@pw.org for Houston, rw-east@pw.org for Detroit and New Orleans.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible, applicants must:

  • Identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC)

  • Be a resident of Detroit, Houston, or New Orleans, including surrounding metro areas of each city.

  • Be a published writer of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction, or have performing credits as a spoken word artist.

PROJECTS

  • Projects may include readings, workshops, or community conversations (such as panels, discussions, town halls, or Q&As) in the genres of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction.

  • Projects must take place between October 16 and December 31, 2020.

  • For the time being, we are only funding virtual projects occurring in real-time.

  • We do not offer funding for previously recorded projects.

  • Virtual readings and community conversations should be live-streamed through an audio/video platform which is open to the public.

  • Virtual writing workshops should include real-time online instruction of workshop attendees by a live facilitator, and can be open or closed to the public, dependent on workshop needs.

  • We encourage recording virtual projects and archiving them through a publicly-accessible platform, such as YouTube or Vimeo.

GRANTS

  • Project grant amounts are determined by the number of sessions (reading, workshop, or community conversation).

  • We are offering grants of:

    • $250 for a one-session project

    • $500 for a two-session project

    • $750 for a three-session project

  • Project grants may be used to cover any costs associated with the project, including writers fees (for the applicant and/or other writers taking part in the project), marketing and publicity, project documentation, or other production costs required to make the project a success.

  • Grantees are paid as independent contractors and are not employees of Poets & Writers. (Note that grants generally are considered taxable income.)

EXPECTATIONS

Grantees are expected to:

  • List their events on our online Literary Events Calendar

  • Use the appropriate credit lines and logos in all publicity

  • Tag P&W as requested in all related social media posts

  • Submit a final report within 30 days of the project’s conclusion.

TIMELINE

  • Application Deadline: September 30, 2020

  • Grantees Notified: October 15, 2020

  • Projects Take Place: October 16-December 31, 2020

https://www.pw.org/content/usw_project_grants

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: (Re)Formation Issue

Yellow Arrow Journal

INFO: Yellow Arrow Journal is a biannual publication of creative nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, and cover art by writers/artists that identify as women.

Interested in submitting to this issue? Do you have creative nonfiction, poetry, a book review, or cover art you would like to share? See below for Submissions Guidelines and sign-up to our newsletter to receive updates about the Journal and Yellow Arrow Publishing.

If selected, you will receive $10.00USD and a PDF of the journal issue.

We receive many wonderful submissions but have limited room in each issue. Please do not be discouraged if your submission is not accepted or you miss the deadline—there will be more opportunities available to you in the future.

SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES

  • Accepted submissions include creative nonfiction and poetry by authors that identify as women (book review and cover art guidelines follow below).

  • Submissions must relate to the theme of (Re)Formation, as interpreted by the author, using the following guiding questions (these will change for each theme):

    • What does it take to shape or form something? Ourselves? How do we sustain what we form? Why is it meaningful?

    • How do we know when reformation is necessary? Why is it necessary sometimes? What can we gain through such a transformation?

    • Can a personal (re)formation become a community act? How? Why might this be necessary at times?

    Formation – an act of giving form or shape to something

    Reformation – an act or process of reforming something

  • Creative nonfiction (1 submission per author per issue) must be between 500 and 5,000 words (if interested in submitting full-length manuscripts, please visit Publish With Us for further information).

  • Poetry (up to 2 poems per author per issue, grouped into a single document) may be any length (if interested in submitting chapbooks, please visit Publish With Us for further information).

  • Submissions do not need to be in English but must include an English translation (note that it may not be possible to accept foreign nonfiction submissions due to editing concerns).

  • No previously published work will be accepted at this time—this includes all printed and online material; if a submission is published elsewhere in the interim, email submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com immediately.

DEADLINE: September 30, 2020

https://www.yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions

An Open Submission Call for BIPOC Voices

HarperCollins Canada

INFO: All young people in Canada deserve to see themselves represented in the books they read, and to be represented by authors from their own communities. It is in this spirit that HarperCollins Canada will be opening up our submissions inbox and accepting unagented, unpublished middle-grade manuscripts from BIPOC creators.

This initiative will give underrepresented writers residing in Canada direct contact with HarperCollins and feedback from a HarperCollins Canada’s Children’s Editor. Submissions will be read by an Editorial Committee, comprised of kidlit-loving members of our editorial, sales, marketing and publicity departments.

Any exceptional projects will be considered for possible acquisition.

The current open submission call will be for original, unpublished middle-grade projects only (ages 8 – 12), across all genres and formats. A typical middle-grade novel is 30,000 – 75,000 words in length.

Your submission package should include:

  • A query letter including your contact information, a summary of the project, and a short biography.

  • Your complete manuscript, in Word document format.

Each creator may submit only one manuscript for consideration, including titles that are part of a series.

Send your submission to HCCSubmissions@harpercollins.com.

DEADLINE: September 30, 2020

https://www.harpercollins.ca/read-better/open-inbox/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Meliora

Lucky Jefferson

INFO: After four enthralling issues, we are turning a new leaf and ending our first arc of collective poems and flash fiction with our upcoming fifth issue, Meliora! Submissions for this winter 2020 issue should bend the rules and challenge form; submissions should speak to the raw, healing nature of owning one’s truth, new beginnings, or the concept of ever better.

What does Meliora mean to you?

For this celebratory issue, we are interested in unpublished experimentalvisual/concrete, and hybrid poetry; we tend to adore shorter poems (less than 18 lines in length).

DEADLINES / SUBMISSION FEES:

  • Early Bird Submissions (free): August 1 – September 30

  • Last Call Submissions ($3): October 1 – October 25

https://luckyjefferson.com/submit/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: CITIZENSHIP AND ITS DISCONTENTS

Anomaly

INFO: When we talk about immigrants, we tend to focus on those who come here seeking greater opportunity, higher education, and the American Dream. But, what about those for whom America was not their first choice, who ended up here because of war, persecution, colonization, adoption, migration, and displacement? If you have ever felt excluded, unwanted, or like you didn’t belong, if your Americanness has ever been challenged or denied, if you don’t fit neatly into a box on the Census… we want to hear from you.

Refugees, Dreamers, transnational adoptees, third culture kids, parachute kids, deportees, citizens of US territories overseas, descendants of enslaved people: Tell us your stories for a special folio of Anomaly. 

Send up to 4,000 words of essay, memoir, creative nonfiction, poetry, or hybrid narrative, to citizenshipfolio@gmail.com.

Guest editor: Grace Loh Prasad
Email: citizenshipfolio@gmail.com
Twitter: @GraceLP

DEADLINE: September 30, 2020

http://anmly.org/call-for-submissions-citizenship-and-its-discontents/?fbclid=IwAR0CMnn8AuZbF00e-02BbPq-esN8k3Qhjqc9QCgHK9yZ614GkcuH4jCNvqA

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Chopsticks Alley Pinoy

INFO: Chopsticks Alley Pinoy, in the spirit of kapwa (roughly translated as “being together”), is seeking submissions from our fellow Filipinx Americans.

In particular, we are interested in the notion of identity. What does it mean to be Filipinx American? You might or might not call the islands home. You might easily or uneasily call the United States home. We want to know what it feels, looks, and means to be Pin@y in the States. We want to know the layers of identity and how they intersect with our connection to the Philippines. We want to share the nuances of being in-between and the conflicts of choosing what is lost and losing what you don’t even know. Bring us your stories, long or short, prose or poetry.

A few guiding questions:
-How do you accept, perform, and/or deny your Filipinx identity?
-How does being Filipinx juxtapose your other identities and roles, e.g. LGBTQ+, being a mother, first/second/third generation?
-What does the Philippines stand for to you?
-How has (de)colonization changed your identity and/or understandings of self?
-Are there ways that stereotypes affect your life?

We are seeking fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions to share with our readers. Send submissions or questions/comments/inquiries to pinoychopsticksalley@gmail.com.

We cannot offer compensation but will provide feedback on all pieces submitted. Our co-Editor, Asela Lee Kemper, has a background in editing and reviewing poetry at various literary magazines including Marías at Sampaguitas with a BFA in Creative Writing. Co-Editor, Giannina Ong, brings previous experience with reviewing and editing nonfiction at her university literary magazine as well as a B.A. in English.

DEADLINE: September 30, 2020

.https://www.facebook.com/1665138136879538/posts/calling-all-writers-we-have-exciting-news-chopsticks-alley-pinoy-in-the-spirit-o/3176128019113868/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Power Clash

INFO: Power Clash is a digital publication dedicated to writing about the issues facing emerging artists and creative professionals today: intersectionality, representation, politics, and the personal side of making. We write for the people who are still finding their place, still grinding every day, and always imagining what’s next.

We look particularly favorably upon submissions that present unique perspectives on art and art-adjacent topics, pieces that are cross-disciplinary, and pieces that do not shy away from making politically-charged statements, discussing identity politics, or drawing connections between art topics and the current state of our world. We are actively seeking pieces that cover our blindspots, and we are prioritizing uplifting the works of BIPOC, womxn, non-binary, trans, & LGBTQIA+ writers and creators.

We are currently accepting writing submissions for the following categories:
Curatorial, Exhibition Reviews, Media Reviews, Editorial, Interviews, and Longform Essays.

Have an idea that fits one of these categories? Perfect! Keep reading. (We do not accept submissions for the Featured Artists and Pub Crawl sections of Power Clash.)

Have an idea that doesn’t quite fit any of these categories? Don’t worry! Keep reading to find out how to send us a pitch.

Transparency is important to us. Here are some important notes about how we review submissions.

1. We reserve the right to edit accepted submissions prior to publication.This means: we will edit for grammar and spelling, and fact check where applicable. We will never alter the style of your writing. Your voice is yours!

2. Cite your sources. If you include any quoted material, thoughts, or information that is not original to you, you need to cite your sources! We will not publish any writing that does not adhere to this rule. Plagiarism isn’t cute!

3. We will not publish any writing that is deemed to be exclusionary or offensive in any way. Period.

4. Please allow up to 2+ weeks for us to review your pitch. We assure you, reading your work is important to us! But, this is not our full time job. Thanks for your patience!

5. Adhering to submission guidelines does not guarantee publication. If we like your submission/pitch, we will reach out!

6. We cannot offer compensation to contributors at the current time. We hope for this to change in the future.

7. We cannot provide feedback for work we do not publish. We’re sorry!

Still here? Excellent! Click below to submit to us.

Pitches: If you have a unique idea for content that doesn’t really fit any of the existing categories (or maybe it does, but you haven’t written it yet), send us a pitch!

Pitches should be between 150-500 words. You’ll also be required to submit a writing sample of between 350-700 words, so we can gauge your writing style.

DEADLINE: September 30, 2020

https://powerclashart.com/write-for-us/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Womxn Writers of Colour Collection

INFO: Womxn Writers of Colour Collection, a new quarterly journal featuring the works of womxn of colour, seeks submissions for their premier issue (coming Fall 2020). Email your creative fiction, essays, poetry, screenplay excerpts, and art to submit@wwocc.com

DEADLINE: Extended to September 30, 2020

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEk6nsMASct/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION

Catapult Magazine

INFO: Catapult is an innovative publisher that celebrates extraordinary storytelling. We promote American and international fiction and narrative nonfiction that is insightful, stirring, and surprising by way of unique voices—whether emerging or established—that honor the craft of writing. 

We welcome short stories, novel excerpts that stand on their own, and translated fiction. We pay for all pieces that we publish. While we publish pieces that are anywhere from 500 to 6000 words long, a typical piece has around 2500 words. 

We are particularly interested in flash fiction (about  1000 words or less). If you’d like a few examples, we’re proud to have published Elizabeth Crane's "The Longest Trial", Anya DeNiro's "Take Pills and Wait for Hips", Jess Zimmerman’s “Never Quiet Again”,  Nao-cola Yamazaki’s “A False Genealogy,” and Rion Amilcar Scott’s “Boxing Day.”

For both fiction and nonfiction  submissions, please include word count and your email address in the document. Please submit only one piece at a time, and please include a cover letter along with your piece. Writers will receive compensation for accepted magazine pieces. We aim to respond to submissions within six months, hopefully earlier. We accept all file formats. 

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://catapult.submittable.com/submit

RESIDENCY

Vermont Studio Center

INFO: Each month, VSC welcomes over 50 artists and writers from across the country around the world to our historic campus in northern Vermont.

All of our residencies include:

  • A private room in modest, shared housing

  • 24-hour access to a private studio space in one of our 6 medium-specific studio buildings

  • 3 communal meals per day (plus fresh fruit, coffee/tea/cold beverages, and cereal available around the clock) 

Most residents stay with us for 1 month, so our sessions adhere to a 4-week calendar; however, residencies can be scheduled in 2-week increments ranging from 2 to 12 weeks if a shorter or longer stay better suits your needs.

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

vermontstudiocenter.org/residencies

WRITERS & ARTIST RESIDENCY

Millay Colony for the Arts

INFO: Each year Millay Colony for the Arts invites up to 62 individuals (including writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and visual artists) for residencies through the colony's application process.  

Residency sessions are held each month from April through November, usually lasting around 3 1/2 weeks, with 2 twelve-day sessions also available in June & September. In each discipline, decisions are made by juries of artists, critics and academics.

Your work is presented anonymously to the jury and is considered solely on the merit of your artist statement and work sample. Please keep these factors in mind as you prepare your application. It is very important that you do not include your name anywhere on your artist statement or work samples as you may be disqualified if they are within the body of work shown to the jurors.  Your application will instead be assigned a number by the administration.

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://millaycolony.submittable.com/submit

Good Cop/Bad Cop: An Anthology

Flowersong Press

INFO: In 2010 police killed over a thousand people in the U.S. Black people are 3x more likely to be killed by  police than white people. 99% of killings by police from 2013 – 2019 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime.*The names of the murdered will not be forgotten. We call on poets, writers, and artists to submit work for an anthology that addresses the continuing problem of police violence in this country and around the world.

Our focus is on the people who are affected by this uncontrolled problem—the victims, the victims’ families, people of color, and a society that lives in fear of being shot and killed by those who are supposed to protect it.

We are looking for art, photography, essays, poetry, and other creative works to explore the racism, injustices and soul-killing aspects of this problem. We want artists to cry out in this anthology and demand justice. The anthology will be published by FlowerSong Press, an independent press dedicated to supporting writers of color and their allies.

Projected publication date: 2021. To submit, please send no more than 10 pages of creative work to info@flowersongpress.com with the subject line: Bad Cop/Good Copy Anthology 

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://www.flowersongpress.com/call-for-submissions?fbclid=IwAR0zKYFTtN-d1zOuVeQECIKBx4bl6hz-jHyo4BUF6h5nwYBhk4X5zDoAMvQ

LOGAN NONFICTION PROGRAM

INFO: The Logan Nonfiction Program offers two fellowship classes per year—one in the fall (October-December) and one in the spring (February-April). We welcome between 10-20 nonfiction writers, documentary filmmakers, photojournalists, podcasters and multimedia creators per class. Fellows are provided lodging, meals, workspace, professional guidance and community. Fellowships range between 5-10 weeks and take place on the Carey Institute for Global Good’s historic 100-acre campus in upstate New York.

The Logan Nonfiction Program accepts applications from:

  • Nonfiction writers

  • Photojournalists

  • Documentary filmmakers

  • Podcasters and radio reporters

  • Multimedia creators

Applicants must be at work on a long-form project in order to apply (e.g.: an article, book, film, collection,
podcast, etc.).

We do accept applications from academics and non-professional journalists, as long as the intended audience of the project is the general public.

We are particularly interested in supporting projects that examine the most pressing issues of the day, including but not limited to: conflict and security; democracy and governance; education; environment and climate change; food security; gender, race, sexual orientation, disability and intersectionality; globalization; health; inequality and exclusion; media and journalism; social justice; and sustainability and resilience.

Fellows are selected for the program based on the quality, relevance, professional experience and promise of the applicant’s work.

The Logan Nonfiction Program is committed to building a diverse and inclusive class of fellows. The Carey Institute does not discriminate in its programs and activities against anyone on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, physical ability or disability, HIV status or veteran status.

The building that houses our residents is wheelchair accessible. Handrails are in all resident bathrooms. The terrain is hilly and many of our buildings were built in the 1800s; we encourage applicants to reach out to the program manager with any questions or concerns.

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://logannonfiction.org/fellowship/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Adroit Journal

INFO: Since inception, the journal has been listed for extended periods among Duotrope.com's 25 Fastest & Most Challenging Poetry and Fiction Markets, and has been the #1 Poetry Market with the Most Submission Responses Reported for the past two years.

We are currently OPEN to submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art.

- Prose - up to 3 pieces at a time, 9,000 words maximum (across pieces).
- Poetry - up to 6 poems at a time, no length limits.
- Art - up to 6 pieces at a time, both black/white & color accepted.

*Please include a third-person bio in your cover letter for submission.* 

DEADLINE: October 1, 2020

https://adroit.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Rigorous

INFO: Rigorous is an online journal highlighting the works of authors, artists, critics, and educators of color. We take our name from an accusation commonly leveled at authors of color—that our works are not as rigorous as works created by white authors. We add our voices; we continue to prove otherwise.

We publish fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, visual art, sound art, audiovisual art and movies, cartoons, and any other artistic creations by people of color. We accept all genres, and have a particular affinity for science fiction, superheroes, and other “geek” genres. We enjoy work geared toward the Young Adult market, but we note that Rigorous will sometimes have content that is “Not Safe For Work.”

We seek essays on the personal experiences of people of color and interviews with interesting people of color. We seek critical analysis of art by people of color. We are especially interested in stories about and by educators of color, and the experience of teaching the works of people of color.

Rigorous is edited by Rosalyn Spencer and Kenyatta JP Garcia. Its next issue will be released around the end of October. If you’d like to submit, please do so through Submittable. If you are a white ally working on these issues, please consider our friends at Unlikely Stories and horse less press.

All submissions are handled through Submittable. Please submit up to 10 files, with a maximum of 3000 words.

Please include a cover letter with a brief bio (up to 100 words).

DEADLINE: October 5, 2020

https://rigorous.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NYT’s MODERN LOVE COLUMN

The New York Times

INFO: Although Modern Love has evolved into a podcast, a book, a TV show and Tiny Love Stories in its 16 years, the column’s central mission remains the same: to publish honest personal essays about contemporary relationships.

We seek true stories on finding lovelosing love and trying to keep love alive. We welcome essays that explore subjects such as adoptionpolyamorytechnologyrace and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading “Modern Love.” Ideally, essays should spring from some central dilemma you have faced. It is helpful, but not essential, for the situation to reflect what is happening in the world now.

The best way to see the range of styles and subjects we publish is to read the column and listen to the podcast. There’s a Google doc of tips from the editor that someone culled from the Modern Love Facebook page (some details are out of date, but nearly all of the advice is still generally applicable).

Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely and be informed by factors including race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture. We especially encourage Black and Indigenous people and other people of color to submit, as well as writers outside of the United States and those who identify as members of L.G.B.T.Qcommunities.

How do I submit?

  • Send submissions to: modernlove@nytimes.com. Please put the subject of your essay or a possible title in the email subject line.

  • Limit your essay to 1,500-1,700 words.

  • Attach your essay as a Microsoft Word-compatible doc and paste the text into the body of the email. If your first submission is incomplete, please resubmit one complete entry; do not submit just the missing pieces in additional emails.

  • Essays must be entirely true. Do not use pseudonyms (including for yourself), composite characters or invented situations or scenes. There are no exceptions to this rule.

  • Essays must be previously unpublished. Work that has appeared online — on another news website, a personal blog, Medium or elsewhere — is considered previously published.

  • Essays will be edited in consultation with writers, and writers will be compensated for work that is published.

We attempt to respond to every submission within three or four months, though response times may vary because of the high volume of submissions. There is no need to follow up.

DEADLINE: Modern Love has two submission periods, September through December and March through June. We do not accept submissions in July, August, January or February. Submissions made during those months will be deleted unread. Please submit again when the inbox reopens.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-submit-a-modern-love-essay.htm

Submissions Call for Writers of Colour

Sapere Books

INFO: Sapere Books is always open for submissions, and we especially encourage writers of colour to send us their work. We recognise that writers of colour are underrepresented in genre fiction publishing, and we believe that it is important to take steps to address this.

We are an eBook-focused publisher; physical copies of books are made available on a print-on-demand basis.

We are looking for both new submissions and out-of-print titles in the following genres:

  • Crime Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

  • Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

  • Historical Fiction (including Sagas, Mysteries, Thrillers and Romance)

  • Action and Adventure (Military, Aviation and Naval Fiction)

  • History and Historical Biography

If you are a writer of colour with a finished manuscript or an out-of-print book, please see our submissions guidelines and get in touch with our editorial director, Amy Durant: amy@saperebooks.com.

If you have further questions about the submissions process, or what Sapere Books is looking for, feel free to email them directly to Amy and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please click here to find out more about what we can offer authors.

We look forward to reading your work!

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://saperebooks.com/blog/submissions-call-for-writers-of-colour/

CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: HEARD/WORD

Galleyway

INFO: HEARD/WORD is Galleyway's new audio series highlighting compelling voices in poetry and prose. We invite you to share recordings of original poems and short fiction. Selected work will be showcased on our blog and social media platforms. Submissions should include:

  • MP3 recording of you reading your poetry (no longer than 3 minutes) or short fiction (no longer than 5 minutes)

  • Text version of the piece

  • A headshot 

  • A brief bio

  • Social media handles and link to website

Please send submissions to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://galleyway.com/blog/2020/3/31/call-for-audio-submissions

FICTION / NON FICTION -- AUGUST 2020

PEN/JEAN STEIN GRANT FOR LITERARY ORAL HISTORY

PEN America

INFO: The PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History recognizes a literary work of nonfiction that uses oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. The winner receives a $10,000 grant meant to help maintain or complete their ongoing project. Past winners include Loida Maritza Pérez, Nyssa Chow, and Aleksandar Hemon. 

The grant is made possible by a substantial contribution from American author and editor Jean Stein, whose groundbreaking work helped popularize literary oral history. Her books include American Journey: The Times of Robert Kennedy (1970), Edie: An American Biography (1982), and West of Eden: An American Place (2016).

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://pen.org/jean-stein-oral-history-grant/?mc_cid=2843f611d3&mc_eid=d562c31e56

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists

PEN America

INFO: The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists is offered annually to an author of children’s or young adult fiction for a novel-in-progress. Previously called the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, the award was developed to help writers whose work is of high literary caliber and assist a writer at a crucial moment in their career to complete their novel. The author of the winning manuscript, selected blindly by judges unaware of nominees’ names, will receive an award of $5,000.

The Grant is made possible by a substantial contribution from PEN America Member Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the prolific author of more than 140 books, including Now I’ll Tell You Everything, the 28th and final book in the acclaimed Alice series, as well as Faith, Hope, and Ivy June and Shiloh, the first novel in a quartet, which won the 1992 Newbery Medal.

On establishing the grant, Mrs. Naylor said: “We truly work ‘blind,’ with no assurance whatsoever that anyone will be interested in our final product. It takes enormous stamina and resolve and optimism to live with our characters for a year or more—and it’s my hope that the grant, modest as it is, will let the author know that an expert panel of PEN judges has faith in the writer, admires his work, and trusts that he will be able to bring to paper what he sees in his head.”

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020 

https://pen.org/pen-phyllis-naylor-grant/?mc_cid=2843f611d3&mc_eid=d562c31e56

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: CARIBBEAN FEMINIST STORIES

Intersect

INFO: Intersect, a Caribbean feminist organization committed to decolonial & intersectional knowledge production through storytelling in Antigua and Barbuda is seeking fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art exploring Caribbean feminism. Themes are "Colourism" and "Growing Up Queer" in the Caribbean.

We need more grassroots feminist scholarship that allows us to hear and listen to diverse voices of people and their experiences with and perspectives on colourism and queerness in Antigua and Barbuda and throughout the Caribbean region. The word "queer" is also often deployed in a way that obscures people's unique experiences as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or gender non-conforming. Do you embrace this term? What does it mean to you? What have you learned about being a lesbian or a gay man and/or non-binary person from the Caribbean? The descriptions under each theme are writing prompts to help you get started. We're really hoping to receive submissions on these topics!

Fiction and non fiction: 500-1,000 words.

Poetry: less than 1,000 words.

Submit your pieces to intersect.anu@gmail.com.

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA0IX-IjgL2/

FLASH CONTEST

Pidgeon Pages

INFO: Pigeon Pages is a literary space where emerging and established writers from all backgrounds are encouraged to nest together. We seek to champion voices that are not always allowed to sing loudly.

The Flash Contest is judged by Kiley Reid, bestselling author of Such a Fun Age

The winning author will receive $250 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

Two honorable mentions will receive $50 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

All submissions will be considered for publication.

ENTRY FEE: $15

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://pigeonpagesnyc.submittable.com/submit/116787/flash-contest-up-to-three-entries

RED HEN PRESS NOVELLA AWARD

INFO: Established in 2018, the Novella Award is for a previously unpublished, original work of fiction. Awarded manuscript is selected through an annual competition which is open to all writers.

Award is $1000 and publication by Red Hen Press.

15,000 word minimum, 30,000 word maximum.

This year's final judge will be Donna Hemans.

SUBMISSION FEE: $25

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://redhenpress.submittable.com/submit/119231/red-hen-press-novella-award

CCR SUMMER PRIZES IN FICTION AND POETRY – 2020

Cream City Review

INFO: You may submit multiple times if there is a payment for each entry. All submitted work must be previously unpublished. The winner will receive $700, publication, and an online feature on our website. The runner-up will receive $300, publication, and an online feature on our website as well.

The editors at CCR will read each submission, and 7-10 finalists will be forwarded to the judges for final decision.

*Current students, faculty, and staff of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin System are not eligible to enter the contest. If you have been affiliated with the university in the past, please wait three years after the affiliation to submit to the CCR Summer Prizes.

*CCR Contributors, please wait at least 2 years from date of publication before submitting.

*Previous winners and runner-ups may not submit to the prize.

*Please read the following guidelines before submitting.

Poetry Contest Guidelines:

  • You may send up to four poems in a single document. (.doc, .docx, & .pdf are acceptable)

  • Please do not include your name anywhere in the submission

  • You may include a brief, 3rd person bio in the appropriate box in Submittable

  • Each entrant will receive a one-year subscription to CCR, beginning with the issue featuring the contest winners

Judge: EJ Koh

Author of The Magical Language of Others (Tin House Books, 2020) and A Lesser Love (Pleiades Press, 2017)winner of the Pleiades Editors Prize for Poetry. Her poems, translations, stories have appeared in Academy of American PoetsBoston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, PEN America, Slate, and World Literature Today.  She has accepted fellowships from the American Literary Translators Association, Jack Straw Writers Program, Kundiman, MacDowell Colony, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and Vermont Studio Center. Koh earned her MFA at Columbia University in New York for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. She is completing her PhD at the University of Washington in English Language and Literature.

Fiction Contest Guidelines:

  • Please send us one short story of up to 9,000 words in a single document (.doc, .docx, & .pdf are acceptable)

  • Please do not include your name anywhere in the submission

  • You may include a brief, 3rd person bio in the appropriate box in Submittable

  • Each entrant will receive a one-year subscription to CCR, beginning with the issue featuring the contest winners

Judge: Lucy Tan

Lucy Tan is author of the novel What We Were Promised, which was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and named a Best Book of 2018 by The Washington Post, Refinery 29, and Amazon. Her short fiction has been published in journals such as PloughsharesAsia Literary Review, and McSweeney’s. A recipient of fellowships from Kundiman and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, Lucy is originally from New Jersey and currently lives in Seattle.

ENTRY FEE: It is $15 to submit one entry. One entry fee includes a one-year subscription to our journal, which is normally $22. If you submit more than one entry, we’ll extend your subscription by one year. 

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://uwm.edu/creamcityreview/contests/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SHORT STORIES

minight & indigo

INFO: We are looking for previously unpublished, CHARACTER-DRIVEN fictional short stories written by Black women writers. All genres are welcome. Subject matter and plots can run the gamut, but we want emotion, grit, soul, and writing that forges an immediate connection with the reader.

DEADLINE: August 2, 2020

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit/165994/short-stories-submission-deadline-august-2nd

Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

Prairie Schooner

INFO: The Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest is open to all types of creative nonfiction essays up to 5,000 words. We’re interested in reading imaginative essays of general interest. Manuscripts should be double-spaced and use a standard font, and, again, the submitter's name and contact info should not appear within the manuscript itself.

Guest judge, Sarah M. Broom will name a winner and finalist.

AWARD: The winner will receive $500 and publication in our Spring 2021 issue.

ENTRY FEE: $20, which includes a copy of the Spring 2021 issue of Prairie Schooner, in which the winning essay will appear.

DEADLINE: August 2, 2020

https://prairieschooner.submittable.com/submit/12826/creative-nonfiction-essay-contest

Literary Arts Emergency Fund

CLMP / Academy of American Poets / National Book Foundation 

INFO: CLMP has joined the Academy of American Poets and the National Book Foundation to establish the Literary Arts Emergency Fund, which will provide $3.5 million to the literary arts, a field that has been disastrously impacted by COVID-19. Regrants from this fund, made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will be distributed by September 15, 2020.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Literary arts organizations and publishers (magazines and presses)* AND

  • Incorporated nonprofits with 501(c)3 status OR a fiscal agent

*Because recent financial losses experienced by literary nonprofit organizations and publishers have been substantial and emergency relief is limited, libraries, museums, book arts organizations, literacy organizations, humanities councils, centers for the book, residencies, playwriting organizations, author’s homes, and organizations devoted to championing the legacy of an individual writer are ineligible.

Additional Information

The Literary Arts Emergency Fund will award one-time, unrestricted grants from $5,000 to $50,000.

The determination of grant amounts will include financial need and projected loss due to COVID-19; diversity, equity, and inclusion in regards to an organization’s staff and board, poets and writers contracted, and audiences served; budget size; and an organization’s demonstrated ability to offer continued programming.

This Literary Arts Emergency Fund is managed by the Academy of American Poets, Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, and National Book Foundation, which will respectively be making grants to:

  • Poetry organizations;

  • Publishers (literary magazines and presses);

  • Literary or writers’ centers, book festivals, Writers in the Schools programs, and literary presenting organizations.

Decisions about the eligibility of applications as determined by these three organizations are final.

These three organizations assume no responsibility for applications not received due to user error. Applicant organizations will receive an email confirming receipt of their application and may verify receipt of their application by logging into Submittable.

Applications will be reviewed by independent panelists. Panel ratings will form the basis for funding recommendations.

Award decisions will be approved and finalized by members of the Board of Directors of the three organizations.

DEADLINE: August 7, 2020, at 11:59pm ET

All applicant organizations will be notified whether or not they received funding by email by September 15, 2020.

https://www.clmp.org/literary-arts-emergency-fund/

Call For BIPOC Writers

Pine Hills Review

INFO: As acts of police brutality and anti-Black racism  continue to come to light, we recognize that every institution plays a part in creating an anti-racist society. Pine Hills Review condemns and opposes all forms of racism and recognizes the barriers to publication for BIPOC writers. We believe writing has the power to change our thinking and change the world; we endeavor to decolonize the literary canon and stand in solidarity with those working towards an end to systemic racism.

This is why we are opening up our submissions—to BIPOC writers exclusively. After this special reading period, BIPOC are more than welcome to submit their work during our regular reading period as well, as we push to promote quality BIPOC work on any topic. Solidarity is more than a one-off action. It is continually creating spaces for BIPOC to have their voices heard. Our submission guidelines follow. 

DEADLINE: August 12, 2020

https://pinehillsreview.com/submit/?fbclid=IwAR0D0xPALFbEGsbdpIP1rkEwQqIG75jchxBobn2z2ByyUkqbi9Vfk1SB2bA

Oak Spring Garden Foundation Residency

INFO: In 2021 the Oak Spring Garden Foundation will host five separate five-week interdisciplinary residencies. Each session is designed to support eight artists, conservation practitioners, researchers, scholars, scientists or writers who are pursuing work inspired by plants, gardens and landscapes. The goal of this residency program is to provide individuals with the time and space to pursue their own creative projects alongside other residents who may be examining the natural world from different perspectives. By living and working side-by-side in a supportive environment with individuals of varying backgrounds and interests, we hope our residents experience interdisciplinary inspiration and interaction.

Who We Support: Individuals devoted to creative expression and innovative thinking that leads to new objects, movements, or ideas.  This includes, but is not limited to, artists, dancers, filmmakers and musicians of all kinds, as well as writers of both fiction and non-fiction. Visual artists creating book art, drawings, fiber art, graphics, illustrations, paintings, photography, prints, sculpture or other objects have been especially prominent in Oak Spring residencies so far, but we are keen to support all forms of artistic expression.

What We Provide: Residents will attend a series of events during the first week to become familiarized with the site, our staff, and the other residents in their cohort. These events will include tours of the formal garden, landscape and library, as well as an informal “meet-and-greet” with Oak Spring staff. After this introduction residents are free to work independently on their projects, explore our 700-acre sustainably managed landscape, and make appointments to visit the library during office hours (Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm).

Because OSGF believes in the importance of good, sustainably grown and locally sourced food, we will provide a chef who will prepare multiple communal dinners and prepare some “grab-and-go” lunches using produce from the on-site Biocultural Conservation Farm. Residents will be expected to attend dinners prepared by the chef in order to promote interactions, facilitate interdisciplinary conversations and contribute to developing a stronger sense of community. Oak Spring will also provide a residency facilitator who will live on-site to provide day-to-day support to residents and arrange field trips and other social events.

The only requirement placed on residents after the initial introductory events is that they participate in a Residency Showcase during the final week of the residency. The Residency Showcase is a fun, informal opportunity for staff and a small number of guests to visit with the participants, see the visual artist’s studios, and learn about what residents have worked on during their time at Oak Spring.

Award: Applicants selected for this award will receive a $2,000 individual grant.  Residents should arrange transportation to Dulles International Airport . We will then arrange transport to the Oak Spring estate in Upperville, VA. Residents who complete this program will be able to apply to our annual Alumni Residency.

Eligibility: Residents will be exceptional practitioners who desire time and space to work on their creative projects. Awards will be granted based on excellence and merit, the applicant’s interest in joining an interdisciplinary cohort of artists-practitioners-researchers-scientists, and their work’s relationship to OSGF’s mission. Awardees cannot be currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program and must reside on-site for the entire duration of the program. We do not allow pets or overnight visitors during the residency.

Dates:

  • Session I: February 2, 2021 - March 9, 2021;

  • Session II: May 16, 2021 - June 18, 2021;

  • Session III: July 5, 2021 - August 7, 2021;

  • Session IV: August 22, 2021 - September 25, 2021;

  • Session V: October 10, 2021 - November 12, 2021

Selection Process: Preliminary vetting will be done by OSGF staff. Applicants who meet the necessary requirements will be reviewed by an external panel of established and relevant professionals working in their field. The selection committee or committees will meet in-person to discuss applicants and select awardees.

DEADLINE: August 12, 2020

https://www.osgf.org/residencies/interdisciplinary-residency

Writer to Writer Mentorship Program

AWP

INFO: AWP's mentorship program, Writer to Writer, matches emerging writers and published authors for a three-month series of modules on topics such as craft, revision, publishing, and the writing life. Mentors volunteer their time and receive a free one-year AWP membership. Writer to Writer is free of charge to mentees.

Should you be chosen to participate, your mentor will review your writing, listen to your concerns, and help you problem solve. You will have opportunities to interact with others taking part in that session, and AWP's membership team will be there with you every step of the way.

Our Fall session begins each September and consists of six modules over a three-month period, concluding mid-December.

Our Spring session begins each February and consists of six modules over a three-month period, concluding mid-May.

There is no charge to apply, and there is no fee for this program. Is your mentor waiting for you this season?

DEADLINE: August 12, 2020

https://www.awpwriter.org/community_calendar/mentorship_program_overview

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Remnant Archive

INFO: The Remnant Archive is committed in welcoming new voices and delightfully accepts submissions from everyone, especially women and non-binary individuals, members of the LGBTQIA community, and BIPOC.

Prose: For prose, please make sure that your piece(s) has a stronger, deeper meaning involved. We want soft, lucid prose that builds up imagery. Make sure that your work is a product of fiction. Send us a maximum of 2 fiction prose.​

Reviews: These are surreal and unprecedented times. Send us your reviews of books, essays and art that helped you be yourself and find relevance. Tell us what makes it special for you, how it moved you, made you a different person. Don’t be afraid of experimenting. Draw comparisons from the novel into real life. How does our society work? What is the essence of living? Be innovative, write about your favourite character, how would they react in these times?

We hold a special place for the reviews corresponding to renaissance and indigenous art.

Send us a maximum of 2 reviews combined in one document.

PAY: Please keep in mind that TRA is not a paying market right now, although we hope to monetarily appreciate our contributors in the future.

DEADLINE: August 15, 2020

https://www.theremnantarchive.com/submission

2021 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction ($25,000)

PEN America

INFO: The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction is a career-founding prize, which promotes fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. Established by Barbara Kingsolver in 2000 and funded entirely by her, it is awarded biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel-in-progress of high literary caliber that exemplifies the prize’s founding principles. 

The winning novel-in-progress is chosen by a panel of three judges: Barbara Kingsolver, one editor representing Algonquin Books, and one distinguished literary author. Entries are judged blindly, to avoid any form of bias, and the identities of the authors of the submissions are not known by the judging panel until after the decision is finalized. 

The author of the winning manuscript is awarded a prize of $25,000 and a publishing contract with Algonquin Books, as well as an additional publishing advance. The winning author can expect to work closely with an editor from Algonquin prior to publication, and will receive promotional support from PEN America and Algonquin. Winners for this award are eligible to receive PEN America’s official winner seal.

Defining Socially Engaged Fiction:

Socially engaged fiction may describe categorical human transgressions in a way that compels readers to examine their own prejudices. It may invoke the necessity for economic and social justice for a particular ethnic or social group, or it may explicitly examine movements that have brought positive social change. Or, it may advocate the preservation of nature by describing and defining accountable relationships between people and their environment. 

The mere description of an injustice, or of the personal predicament of an exploited person, without any clear position of social analysis invoked by the writer, does not in itself constitute socially engaged literature. “Social engagement” describes a moral obligation of individuals to engage with their communities in ways that promote a more respectful coexistence, to question and confront, to work towards betterment.

Politically engaged literary fiction has influenced readers and social currents of every age, from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” – —which invigorated the American movement to abolish slavery— – through 20th-c Century classics such as “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” More contemporary contributors to this tradition include Margaret Atwood, Jesmyn Ward, Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Tommy Orange, Richard Powers, Valeria Luiselli, Rion Amilcar Scott, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and others.

Because of its inherent challenges and discomforts brought to a reader, socially engaged fiction is often undervalued in American letters, while its role and recognition in American culture is only growing. Historically, its advocacy has not fallen within the stated goals of major North American publishers, endowments, or other prizes for the arts. The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction was conceived to address these deficiencies, with the hope of enlisting more U.S. writers, publishers, and readers to share in this crucial endeavor.

Who is Eligible:

  • An unpublished novel manuscript by a writer who has not sold more than 10,000 copies of a previously published book. 

  • The submission must be an original, previously unpublished novel, written by one person in English, and at least 80,000 words in length.

  • The applicant’s submission may not be under consideration by any publisher during the judging period, and the work should not be submitted elsewhere during the review period for this prize.

  • Authors must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. 

  • Authors will have published at least three pieces of short fiction, poetry, or nonfiction in a literary journal, cultural website, or media outlet, which has undergone editorial review. 

  • Individuals who were previously finalists for the PEN/Bellwether Prize cannot submit the same work again for any future offerings of this award, unless the manuscript has undergone significant revisions.

Timeline:

  • Applicants will be notified in early fall if their manuscript is a finalist or is no longer under consideration, at which time they should feel free to submit the work elsewhere for consideration.

  • Approximately ten finalists for the award will be notified in early fall, and are asked to continue to keep their manuscript under exclusive consideration of the judges until the winner announcement.

  • The winner announcement will be made in early 2021. 

SUBMISSION FEE: $40.00 USD

DEADLINE: August 15, 2020

https://pen.submittable.com/submit/168332/2021-pen-bellwether-prize-for-socially-engaged-fiction-25-000

Call for Papers: 8th Annual Black Doctoral Network Conference: “Leveraging The Power of Black Excellence”

Black Doctoral Network Conference

INFO: The Black Doctoral Network Conference Committee is inviting abstract submissions for the 2020 conference (October 29-31, 2020) themed “Leveraging the Power of Black Excellence.” This year’s conference showcases the collective impact of Black excellence in every aspect of society. Black scholars, researchers, practitioners, and activists are invited to showcase their individual and collective achievements in their respective disciplines. The theme of the annual meeting asks: What is your contribution to Black excellence? How individuals and groups tap into personal and collective power to overcome oppression and bias? How do individuals and communities mobilize to support Black excellence? What is the future of Black excellence locally, nationally, or globally? How do we support Black excellence so that it is visible and sustainable? How do we work across disciplinary silos to meaningfully address the complex challenges that affect Black people and our communities? Three conference tracks will guide our time together: Research and Scholarship; Personal and Professional Success; Black Activism. 

Research and Scholarship

Research and scholarship are the heart of knowledge creation and the generation of new and novel approaches to complex issues. This track invites submissions that showcase the broad tapestry of Black excellence in research and scholarship. Researchers and scholars in STEM, humanities, communications, human services, healthcare, and education are invited to share their work in their respective disciplines. 

Personal and Professional Success

Black excellence is not achieved in a vacuum. Hard work and dedication are often considered the “bare minimum” for achieving success. This track invites papers showcasing strategies for leveraging personal power, overcoming/addressing oppression and bias to achieve success. 

Black Activism

In these turbulent times, Black activism is a necessary and proper approach to tearing down barriers and creating opportunities for Black excellence now and in the future. This track invites papers that offer collective solutions to addressing systemic social, economic, and political issues. 

We invite broad engagement between activists, scholar-practitioners and academics that address the conference theme. Papers that will reflect on this theme are especially encouraged, but we accept submissions on any topic. 

SUBMISSION INFORMATION:
Submission of abstracts from graduate and doctoral students, recent Ph.D. graduates and academic professionals across disciplines are welcome. We accept abstracts from (1) individuals who wish to present on a panel and from (2) groups who want to create their own panel. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words typed, double spaced, using a 12pt font. Submissions should be anonymous – please do not include your name or the name of your institution on the document. Include the title of your abstract and note whether it is an individual or a group submission. All group submissions require at least three presenters. 

Priority Deadline Submissions: Submitting author will receive a confirmation message upon submitting the abstract. Acceptance announcements will be sent via email in mid-May to the submitting author. Accepted presenters and co-presenters must register for the conference and confirm their acceptance by June 30, 2020. Failure to register and confirm acceptance by June 30th will result in rescinding acceptance.

Rolling Deadline Submissions: Acceptance announcements will be sent via email starting late-June and all throughout July and August depending on space availability. Accepted presenters and co-presenters must register for the conference and confirm their acceptance within 21 days from their acceptance notification. Failure to register and confirm acceptance will result in rescinding acceptance.

PRESENTATION DETAILS:
Your presentation should describe the purpose, methods and conclusions of your research. Individual presenters will be assigned to a panel and will have 15 minutes to deliver their presentations. Group presentations will be given 45 minutes to deliver their presentations and require at least 3 presenters. You may not submit or take part in more than one panel presentation; presenters may give one and only one paper at the conference. However, you are welcome to make a workshop submission when the Call For Workshops open in late-June.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:
The Conference will be an interdisciplinary event that brings together academics and professionals from the social sciences, STEM, and humanities to address how we can positively impact and inform each other’s work and engage with our communities. In addition to interdisciplinary panel presentations, this conference will have interactive roundtables and small group forum discussions. Professors and corporate professionals from various fields will converse and give insight on the need for interconnectedness throughout the academy and community. Workshops on handling job talks, grant writing and proposals, balancing relationships, and stress and time management will also be addressed. To learn more about our conference visit: https://blackphdnetwork.org/conference

DEADLINE: August 15, 2020 at 11:59pm EST

https://blackphdnetwork.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Doek! 

INFO: Doek! — a literary magazine from Namibia — seeks nuanced, exciting, challenging, disturbing, and transformative work from the following categories of eligible writers and poets:

  • Namibians, or those of Namibian descent, residing in Namibia;

  • Namibians, or those of Namibian descent, in the diaspora; and

  • Foreign nationals residing in Namibia who have a direct connection with Namibia (through the work they produce).

Unsolicited submissions from other foreign nationals are not presently accepted.

ACCEPTED SUBMISSIONS

  • Narrative-driven short fiction hotter than a city pavement, sizzling like kapana, and more filling than a porsie chips met spice en asyn (bread roll and butter sold separately).

  • Nonfiction with a point that haunts beyond the last full stop.

  • Poetry that takes the reader to the edge of their senses and beyond.

Only original work will be considered. Previously published work (in any medium, including social media or personal blogs) is not accepted.

Novel or manuscript excerpts are not eligible for consideration.

Submissions must be written in English. Writers may use words or phrases from any of Namibia’s indigenous languages provided their meaning can be understood within the text.

Submissions may not exceed 3000 words. There is no minimum word count.

Submissions must be typed: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 2.0 line spacing. The document should only contain the title and the body text of the submission. No identifying details (name, contact number, or email address) may be used in the filename or be placed anywhere in the submission document.

Only one submission per person per submission window period. Eligible writers may not submit to more than one category.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted and should be retracted when accepted for publication elsewhere.

Writers and poets must be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.

Past contributors must wait one year from the date of their publication before submitting to Doek! again.

Submissions which do not adhere to the provided guidelines will not be considered.

DEADLINE: August 15, 2020

https://doeklitmag.com/submissions/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=doek-has-grown

CALL FOR ENTRIES: THE LIT EXHIBIT 2020: ARCHIVES

The Lit Exhibit

INFO: This year we are inviting creatives to reflect on the Archive, and to send us poetry, micro fiction, installation art, and experimental writing that speaks to this premise.

We would also like to deepen the conversation on archiving through a public forum / webinar. The archive has value: it is a means of preservation, tradition, knowledge. How do we protect memory?

These conversations are not irrelevant in these times: the means of archiving information provides accountability & often healing. We are interested in collaborating with other archivists who might be interested in co-facilitating a workshop with us! We hope to inspire people to create their own archives & to possibly share with us for our upcoming exhibition.

DEADLINE: Extended to August 15, 2020

https://www.thelitexhibit.nyc/apply

2021–2021 LGBTQ+ Bay Area Emerging Writer Fellowships—Youth / Elders

Foglifter

INFO: Foglifter will award two LGBTQ+ Bay Area Emerging Writer Fellowships that will run from September 2020 through June of 2021. The first will be awarded to an LGBTQ+ transitional-age youth (18–25 years old). The second will be awarded to an LGBTQ+ writer aged 50+ years-old.

These fellowships will amplify LGBTQ+ transitional youth and elders’ marginalized voices and provide them access to a larger literary community. The fellowship stipend ($1,500 each, paid in two disbursements of $750 [October & May]) will reward, encourage, and empower the fellows' writing. Foglifter will nurture and support their continued writing and publishing, offering them publicity and welcoming them into our literary community with open arms. As fellows, they will also learn publishing and event curation skills, enabling them to further their expertise in the publishing and literary arts world.

Each fellow will have the opportunity to participate in the production cycle of a literary journal issue from start to finish. They can select the part of the process they would like to concentrate on—reading and voting on poetry, prose, or hybrid submissions, community engagement, production, or editing. Additionally, Foglifter will feature the fellows' writing in Volume 6, Issue 1, to be released in April of 2021. The fellows will read at the release party reading at Strut, alongside five other LGBTQ+ writers published in the issue. Finally, in the spring of 2021, both fellows will collaborate to artistically curate and produce an intergenerational Foglifter reading featuring six LGBTQ+ writers (18–25 or 50+) of their choosing.

With this fellowship, Foglifter hopes to foster intergenerational collaboration and artistic vision-sharing across ages. We aim to strengthen the range of voices heard in the literary and queer community, and to disseminate those new voices to the larger public. We will also uplift the talents of emerging LGBTQ+ writers, providing these emerging artists mentorship to learn new skills in the publishing industry.

Youth Fellowship Criteria:

  • LGBTQ+

  • 18–25

  • Prose, poetry, or hybrid writer

  • not currently enrolled as a full-time student

  • has not published a book

  • has no more than 10 publication credits

  • interested in publishing

  • interested in intergenerational conversations

  • POC, people with disabilities encouraged to apply.

 Edler Fellowship Criteria:

  • LGBTQ+

  • 50+ years old 

  • Prose, poetry, or hybrid writer

  • not currently enrolled as a full-time student

  • has not published a book

  • has no more than 10 publication credits

  • interested in publishing

  • interested in intergenerational conversations

  • POC, people with disabilities encouraged to apply

DEADLINE: August 16, 2020

https://foglifter.submittable.com/submit

Seeking Diverse Writers for Children's Books

Heinemann Publishing

INFO: Heinemann Publishing, a leading publisher of leveled books, is looking for freelance writers to write engaging fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for children in grades 2 to 6. 

We are eager to find voices that are as diverse as our students. Writers who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), LGBTQIA+, or disabled are encouraged to apply. We are especially interested in Native/Indigenous writers.

The ideal candidates will have a highly engaging writing style and can pitch ideas that are compelling to kids. We prefer candidates who have some experience writing for children but encourage all to apply. The assignments will be work for hire.

Please submit a resume and unedited writing samples. 

DEADLINE: August 17, 2020

https://heinemannpublishing.submittable.com/submit/170038/seeking-diverse-writers-for-childrens-books


Emerging Reporters Program

ProPublica

INFO: People of color are underrepresented in our nation’s newsrooms. ProPublica's Emerging Reporters Program is specifically designed for those who might find investigative journalism inaccessible. All students who will be juniors or seniors in college this academic year are eligible to apply, and African Americans, Latinos and other people of color are especially encouraged to do so. Participants are expected to take a full course load during the 2020-21 school year. Applicants must also demonstrate financial need. The purpose of the stipends is to make college journalism acc

The program provides a $9,000 stipend, along with mentoring and trips to the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting conference and our New York office (or, this year, virtual programming!), for five students each year who work or want to work at college journalism outlets: newspapers, websites, radio stations or TV stations.

DEADLINE: August 20, 2020

https://propublica.forms.fm/emerging-reporters-2020-…/…/8149

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: COMEDY WRITING

Riot Act

INFO: RIOT ACT is an online journal for comedy writing – fiction, articles, poetry and more! We love all things funny and thought provoking and believe in the power of comedy as catharsis – taking power from the things that are difficult to talk about and laughing about them instead.

We’re particularly interested in work by women and non-binary writers, LGBTQ+ writers and writers of colour, but everyone is welcome. If you’re not sure if your piece fits with our objectives, please submit anyway! We will be happy to read and provide feedback.

We’re based in Glasgow, Scotland and love UK comedy – but we’d love to hear from you no matter where in the world you are!

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

Our goal isn’t to make fun of anything, but to showcase how comedy writing can make all sorts of subjects accessible. We want to hear your story – what makes you angry, what upsets you, what brings you joy, what makes you laugh.

We’re happy to accept short fiction, poetry, non-fiction, articles… anything! If your style is a little bit more experimental and you’re not sure if you fit into those categories, go ahead and send it in anyway. We will read and provide feedback to all.

We will NOT accept any pieces that perpetuate sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, or any other sort of -ism or -phobia you can think of. We will happily read about your experience of these things, but pieces that discriminate against others will be rejected.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Fiction, non-fiction and articles limit – 1,000 words
Poetry limit – 3 pages (up to 3 poems)

Please include a short (50 words max) third person bio to be included with your work, and any social media handles you would like to be included. You can also include a headshot if you like!

Feel free to include any artwork you would like to accompany your piece (incl. photography) but please make sure you have the rights to use it!

Please send all submissions in .docx format, size 12, single spaced to riotactmag@gmail.com.

‘We’ are a one-woman team, so please allow up to 14 days for a reply, and feel free to query if you have not heard back after this time.

We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your piece has been published elsewhere and withdraw your submission by emailing riotactmag@gmail.com. Please do not publish any pieces you have submitted to Riot Act on social media or other publications before their publication in Riot Act.

Your work will always be yours, first and foremost. You can re-submit pieces to Riot Act that have been published elsewhere, but please make sure you tell us so we can credit the initial publication. Similarly, if you re-submit a piece published by Riot Act first, we kindly ask that you request Riot Act to be credited as its initial publication.

If Riot Act would like to republish your work in future as part of an anthology, we will let you know so that you have an opportunity to decline if you so wish.

We do not currently charge reading fees and so are unable to pay upon publication – we hope this is something we can reconsider in future! However, we will promote you across our social media on Twitter and Instagram, in email campaign updates and in our issues.

DEADLINE: August 20, 2020

https://riotactmag.com/submit/

Because You Can: Single Parents Writer Prize

Reclaim the Warrior

INFO: Reclaim the Warrior and Helen Knott are opening a call of submissions for single parents only, single dads & single mamas & single parents who are non binary/LGTBQ2S (in Canada only). Yes, you have to be the primary caregiver holding most of the weight.

Up to 2000 words in a genre of your choice. This doesn’t have to be single parent related but can be if you want. It can be fantasy, poetry, critical narrative etc. (don’t feel like you have to hit 2000 it can be 2 poems if that’s your vibe)

Send submissions to: helen@fiercewithheart.com

PRIZES: $1500 each and a one on one consult session with me on whatever you are working on (if you are a writer) or general writing advice.*

DEADLINE: August 22, 2020

Winner will be announced the following week- if there is a high volume of submissions the winner will be announced in early September.

https://reclaimthewarrior.com/2020/07/24/because-you-can-single-parents-writer-prize/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Mixed Mag

INFO: Mixed Mag is a multimedia publication dedicated to promoting multiethnic/multicultural voices.

We are always accepting submissions covering politics, TV/film, theatre, creative writing, health/sex/wellness, food & visuals/photography. Send us your stories, poems, articles, personal essays, recipes & more! 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES​

  • Written Submissions such as articles, think pieces, short stories, reviews and essays must be between 1500-3000 words (sections include FICTION/CNF, POLITICS, TV/FILM/THEATER, MUSIC, FOOD, HEALTH AND WELLNESS)

  • POETRY: Submit up to three poems

  • TV/FILM/THEATER: Monologues must be 5 pages max. Plays/screenplays must be between 10-15 page max (this includes plays, films and web series). Short films or web series episodes must be no longer than 15 minutes.

  • ART: Photo/visual submissions should be 10 photos/videos max 

  • Please include what section you are submitting to in the email subject line.

send to submissions@mixedmag.co

DEADLINE: August 25, 2020

https://twitter.com/MixedMag/status/1276631534586429441

The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

INFO: The Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence honors Louisiana’s revered storyteller, Ernest J. Gaines, and serves to inspire and recognize rising African-American fiction writers of excellence at a national level. The book award, initiated by donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, is now in its 14th year and has become nationally recognized in its role of enhancing visibility of emerging African-American fiction writers while also expanding the audience for this literature.

AWARD: The annual award of a $15,000 cash prize is to support the writer and help enable her/him to focus on her/his art of writing.

The 2020 panel of judges are themselves renowned contributors to the literary world. They are Anthony Grooms, Edward P. Jones, Elizabeth Nunez, Francine Prose and Patricia Towers.

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation sponsors the winner’s travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to receive the prize at a ceremony, where the author reads an excerpt from the selected work of fiction. A reception follows. The evening is free, open to the public and attracts a diverse audience.

The literary award winner also participates in educational activities at selected area schools and after-school programs in keeping with the Gaines Award's interest in emphasizing the role of literature and arts in education. Through small creative writing workshops with the winning author, students are encouraged to pursue reading, delve into their own creativity, and to consider becoming an author.

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

http://ernestjgainesaward.org/

MAGIC: a special issue of the margins

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

INFO: For a new series on The Margins, we’re looking for work in a variety of forms on the topic of magic. The magic you write about could be a daily ritual (meditation), appear increasingly in popular culture (tarot readings), take the form of voices and visions that are commonly misunderstood (hallucinations), an experience of magical gatherings (such as healing circles), or be a family myth. It can be visionary fiction, a radical alternate reality where damage is both acknowledged and repaired, where justice is restorative and not punitive. The approach you take could be a fusion of poetry and prose, a collage, a spell, a ghost story, a divination, a response to a historical event, or something else entirely. We’re especially interested in writing that experiments and plays with form. 

Please format the title of your submission as follows: “LAST NAME – Magic – TITLE OF PIECE.” Be sure to include a short biography (maximum 60 words) and tell us a little bit about why you chose your particular interpretation of magic in your cover letter.

Please limit prose submissions to approximately 3,500 words (though you may write as short as you like). Feel free to submit shorter pieces if that calls to you. You may send us up to five poems per submission. Submissions may stay true to their original formatting. Please attach your submission as Rich Text Format, MS Word, or PDF. For images, please submit with enough detail that we can read the text in JPG, GIF, PNG, or PDF format. Please do not include your name on the attachments of your submissions. We accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. Writers whose pieces are accepted for the issue will receive compensation.

AAWW is an organization that believes in the power of art to advocate for and center the voices and ideas on the margins. Our award-winning digital magazine The Margins publishes work by Asian, Asian American and Asian diasporic writers (including but not limited to East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, MENA [Middle Eastern and North African], Indo-Caribbean, Central Asian, Arab, and Arabophone, Pacific Islander, and Iranian writers) as well as multiracial writers. The Margins publishes Black, Latinx, and Indigenous writers. We welcome work from LGBTQIA, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming writers. Our work exists within the intersections of these identities and offers a new countercultural space in which to imagine a more just future. 

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/171567/magic-a-special-issue-of-the-margins

LAND: A Special issue of The Margins

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

INFO: For a new series on The Margins, we are looking for essays, poetry, short fiction, and graphic work that challenge those assumptions. What is being hidden or lost when discussions of Asian identity are limited to food and language? How can things like food be used to expose and subvert those expectations? What can be unlocked when complicated legacies of land are included in those discussions? We are interested in work that investigates and interrogates Asian relationships with land—whether that land is in Asia or elsewhere. We’re looking for work that explores indigeneity, ownership, and identity. This work will inevitably reckon with colonialism and imperialism, which are at the root of those initial assumptions. Your submissions might explore the ways that land can be a record of colonialism and violence, investigate the legacy of Asian imperialism, connect Asian relationships with indigeneity to immigrant identity and natural life, or filter the value of land and homeland through lenses of colonialism and climate crises. For nonfiction submissions, we are excited to see work that incorporates personal reckoning, cultural criticism, historical inquiry, or some combination. We are especially interested in work that questions what it means to be a settler as well as work by writers with both Asian and Indigenous identities.

Please format the title of your submission as follows: “LAST NAME – Land – TITLE OF PIECE.” Be sure to include a short biography (maximum 60 words) in your cover letter and tell us a little bit about why your work speaks to the questions raised in this call for submissions.

Please double-space all prose submissions and limit them to approximately 3,500 words (though you may write as short as you like). You may send us up to five poems per submission. Please attach your submission as Rich Text Format, MS Word, or PDF. For graphic work, please submit with enough detail that we can read the text in JPG, GIF, PNG, or PDF format. Please do not include your name on the attachments of your submissions. We accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. Writers whose pieces are accepted for the issue will receive compensation.

AAWW is an organization that believes in the power of art to advocate for and center the voices and ideas on the margins. Our award-winning digital magazine The Margins publishes work by Asian, Asian American and Asian diasporic writers (including but not limited to East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, MENA [Middle Eastern and North African], Indo-Caribbean, Central Asian, Arab, and Arabophone, Pacific Islander, and Iranian writers) as well as multiracial writers. The Margins publishes Black, Latinx, and Indigenous writers. We welcome work from LGBTQIA, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming writers. Our work exists within the intersections of these identities and offers a new countercultural space in which to imagine a more just future. 

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/171559/land-a-special-issue-of-the-margins

 

Emerging Voices Fellowship

The Emerging Voices Fellowship is a literary mentorship based in Los Angeles that has been providing underrepresented, marginalized writers with the tools they need to launch a professional literary career, since 1996. Examples of these communities include, but are not limited to, women, immigrants, people of color, older people, and those who are members of the LGBTQI+ communities. Through curated one-on-one mentorship, and introductions to editors, agents, and publishers, in addition to editing, marketing, and web development workshops, the fellowship nurtures creative community, provides a professional skillset, and demystifies the path to publication, with the ultimate goal of diversifying the publishing and media industries.

By the end of the Emerging Voices Fellowship, a writer will leave with:

  • Seven months of guidance from a professional mentor and written notes on their current writing project.

  • A professional headshot and bio.

  • A logline—the short summation of the project in progress.

  • A clear action plan for finishing this project.

  • Writing life, and craft tips, from notable visiting authors.

  • An editing guide from a professional copy editor.

  • Insider knowledge of publishing from agents, publishers, and editors.

  • An individualized submission guide for literary journals, agents, residencies, and fellowships.

  • Improved reading technique from a professional voice coach.

  • Public reading experience for a variety of audiences.

  • An understanding of how to be an effective workshop participant.

  • Lifetime membership in PEN America.

  • Valuable connections to the literary community, discounted access to residencies and MFA programs, the ability to bypass the slushpile for select literary magazines and agents, and more.

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

https://pen.org/emerging-voices-fellowship/?mc_cid=2843f611d3&mc_eid=d562c31e56

Wallace Stegner Grant for the Arts

The Wallace Stegner House

INFO: This Grant consists of $500 and one month free residency in the Wallace Stegner House in Eastend, Saskatchewan. The winner will select which month.

Applicants must be published Canadian writers. Conditions of the grant require the winning writer to give a public reading and provide 2 workshops/readings in Eastend’s K-12 School, while in residency.

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

https://www.stegnerhouse.ca/grantinfo.html

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: LOS ANGELES-BASED WRITERS

Craig Carpenter / Afrophonics

INFO: 2020 has lived up to the hype as a tension filled year. The upcoming presidential election serves as a referendum on our leadership, and reflects growing divides in the country. The tidal wave of events that started the year with impeachment hearings rolled into spring with the pandemic induced lockdown. Perhaps without surprise, late spring became protest season with another string of videotaped racism and killings of unarmed people of color by law enforcement or an act of vigilantism. The Black Lives Matter movement, long seen with suspicion, was suddenly joined by throngs of Americans across the spectrum, blanketing the country with voices of anger, impatience and, finally, support. 

This is an especially uncertain time. Capturing this moment, before we see the longer term results unfold, can prove instructive for later generations. Those of you familiar with my work have seen my concert and street portrait photography. The lockdown had me, like everyone else, antsy and impatient at being indoors during a beautiful springtime. The protests were a call to action, both civically and politically, but also creatively. I attended several protests in Los Angeles, leaving, not only with a good amount of photos, but also a heartened feeling - that this time might be different. That this time might bring real change, and not just hope. And I decided to make it into a book project, tentatively titled, TRUTH IS NOT THE WHOLE QUESTION: Los Angeles in Lockdown and Protest.

SEEKING ESSAYS and POEMS to be included as part of an art book collection of photography captured during the lockdown and protests in Los Angeles this late Spring. 300 - 1500 words. All Los Angeles based voices welcomed. Honorarium provided for selected and included submissions. Contact with inquiries. 

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

https://www.afrophonics.net/7442634-truth-is-not-the-whole-question?fbclid=IwAR0mT4ZC8JV5obAesqnUSOWuPq8_K7XfEJYER708m3MFrJA129dqEiRUNFM

LITERARURE GRANT

Café Royal Cultural Foundation

INFO: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a publishing grant to authors of fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. 

Amounts: Up to $10,000.00  

Eligibility: Authors in fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. The applicant must be the originator of the written material.

Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted.

Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying.

The processing time of application can take up to three months. Please make sure to submit your application with ample time before the start date of your project. 

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020 at 9am EST

https://caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/literature-page

2020 African American Voices in Children's Literature Writing Contest

Strive Publishing / Free Spirit Publishing

INFO: The contest is open to authors of African American heritage who are residents of Minnesota and at the time of entry are at least 18 years of age and residing in Minnesota.
 
Categories
Eligible entries will include original fiction or nonfiction manuscripts for ages 0–4 (50–125 words) or ages 4–8 (300–800 words) featuring contemporary African American characters and culture and focusing on one or more of the following topics: character development, self-esteem, diversity, getting along with others, engaging with family and community, or other topics related to positive childhood development.

Eligibility
To enter you must be:
- of African American heritage
- a resident of Minnesota
- at least 18 years of age

Guidelines
All entries must be your original work, unpublished, and not accepted for publication anywhere at the time they are entered in the contest. Please include the following items in your entry: 

  • Picture book text along with illustration ideas

  • A letter briefly describing your book, specifying the intended audience (including age range), and telling why you decided to write it

  • A brief biography and current email address 

Awards & Cash Prizes
- First Place: $1,000 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, a tote bag from Free Spirit, and a meeting with Mary Taris, founder of Strive, and an editor from Free Spirit to discuss the winner’s project. The winning submission will be seriously considered for publication by Free Spirit, cobranded with Strive; however, publication is not guaranteed.
- Second Place: $500 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, and a tote bag from Free Spirit
- Third Place: $250 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, and a tote bag from Free Spirit
 
Judging Criteria

  • Cultural relevance and authentic voice

  • Presentation (follows submission guidelines, neatness, legibility)

  • Suitability (fits publishing category; targeted age group and length are appropriate for children’s manuscripts)

  • Content (tightness, clarity, structure, strength of lead/beginning, transitions, impact, satisfactory close)

  • Alignment with the spirit of the Contest

  • For nonfiction proposals: logical flow, accuracy of information, sound advice

Winner Notification
Winners will be notified by email on or around October 31, 2020.  All potential winners are subject to verification. Each prizewinner may be required to sign and return to Sponsor, within ten (10) days of the date notice is sent, an affidavit of eligibility/liability and publicity release (except where prohibited) in order to claim their prize if applicable. If a potential winner of any prize cannot be contacted, fails to sign or return the affidavit of eligibility/liability and publicity release within the required time period, the prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, or the potential winner is deemed ineligible, the potential winner forfeits prize, and Sponsor will award the applicable prize to an alternative winner selected from all remaining eligible entries. Upon confirmation of eligibility, prizes will be awarded no later than December 31, 2020. Prizes will be awarded in accordance with these Official Rules. Sponsor’s determination of eligibility and selection of winners is binding on all participants.

The total number of prizes is three (3). The total prize value for all three (3) prizes is $1,750 in cash plus merchandise listed in the prize descriptions. All prizes will be awarded in connection with this Contest in accordance with the Official Rules. Within approximately thirty (30) days after confirmation of the winners, Sponsor will provide the winners with their prizes (e.g., check, gift certificate, or other document giving winner unconditional right to receive the respective prize). All prizes are nontransferable and nonassignable, and non-cash prizes cannot be redeemed for cash. All costs, fees, expenses, and taxes (including, without limitation, federal, state, and local taxes) associated with any element of a prize are the sole responsibility of the winners.

Everyone who enters the contest has the chance at publication.

Winners List
A Winners List will be posted at freespirit.com/contest and strivepublishing.com after winners have been notified.  

DEADLINE: August 31, 2020

https://freespiritpublishing.submittable.com/submit/160402/2020-african-american-voices-in-childrens-literature-writing-contest

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Autumn 2020

Macro Magazine

INFO: We are currently accepting submissions for Macro Autumn 2020 on the Black Lives Matter movement.

We accept varying types of written submissions.

  • Short form: approximately 50 word observations on the topic of the magazine. We ask for these in both English and the native language of the country from which you are submitting - if you speak it

  • Medium form: approximately 500-600 word essays on the topic of the magazine

  • Long form feature essays: approximately 800-1,000 word essays and not more than 1,500 words on the topic of the magazine

  • Poetry of varying lengths

  • Fiction: approximately 500-600 words based on the topic of the magazine

In addition to written submissions we also accept artwork, photography, or other forms of artistic expression. Unfortunately, we are not able to accept these pieces through this form. If you would like to submit artwork, please make a note in the submission section and we will get in touch with you via email.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Deadline: August 31, 2020 / Notification: By September 14, 2020

https://macro-mag.com/contribute/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION / NON-FICTION

NELLE

INFO: NELLE proudly publishes the best, most exciting, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and hybird forms written by individuals identifying as women.

  • Fiction: Submit one longer story of up to 6,000 words or up to three flash or short-short pieces at a time. All submissions should include a cover letter with a brief biographical statement.

  • Non-Fiction: Submit one essay (6,000 word limit) or up to three shorter essays (totaling up to 6,000 words) at a time. We enjoy traditional as well as more experimental lyric essays. Note that All submissions should include a cover letter with a brief biographical statement.

All submissions will be automatically considered for our Three  Sisters Awards. A prize of $500.00 will awarded in each category of  poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

SUBMISSION FEE: $3

DEADLINE: September 2, 2020

https://nelle.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: HEARD/WORD

Galleyway

INFO: HEARD/WORD is Galleyway's new audio series highlighting compelling voices in poetry and prose. We invite you to share recordings of original poems and short fiction. Selected work will be showcased on our blog and social media platforms. Submissions should include:

  • MP3 recording of you reading your poetry (no longer than 3 minutes) or short fiction (no longer than 5 minutes)

  • Text version of the piece

  • A headshot 

  • A brief bio

  • Social media handles and link to website

Please send submissions to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://galleyway.com/blog/2020/3/31/call-for-audio-submissions

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

NNỌKỌ

INFO: Just like the name, NNỌKỌ is a gathering of African Literature and Art. We are always on the lookout for fresh literature and art from African Writers and Writers of Colour. If you write or create art, we would love to hear from you.

What Are We Looking For?

Our sole purpose is promoting the creativity that the African continent possesses by publishing pen wielders for readers around the globe and appreciators of art, because, what’s art without exposure?
We are looking for stories that have not often been told but should be — through voices that have not yet been heard — but should. We are interested in providing a home for stories that push the limits. Stories only you can write. Stories that give us a glimpse of just how colourful the pages of your imagination can be.

Compensation

Unfortunately, Nnoko is unable to pay contributors at this time. However, we are working hard to reach a position where contributors can receive compensation for their work.

What We Publish

  • Short Stories

  • Series

  • Poetry

  • Non-Fiction

  • Plays

  • Essays

We usually respond within 10–14 days of submission. If unfortunately your piece is rejected, then fret not! You can still send us something else from your arsenal. What we ask is that you kindly wait for another 14 days before sending in another work for consideration.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.nnoko.org/submissions/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Litehouse

INFO: Litehouse welcomes all ardent second-language English writers and poets to unfold their creativity, forge new words, and explore their linguistic self in an emotional and personally meaningful way.

– All submissions should be in English and include titlenamenationality, and a small bio (1-2 sentences) or your social media.
– For fiction/non-fiction, stories shouldn’t exceed 2000 words.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://tothelitehouse.com/submit/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DEAR LONELINESS

EX/POST Magazine

INFO: Dear Loneliness is an interactive art project. We are writing the longest letter in the world to fight loneliness.

STEP ONE: Write a letter—a real one, on paper—about loneliness. 

Or draw a portrait, compose a symphony, anything you feel best expresses your point. It can be just 50 words, though any length is fine, as long as we can transfer it to an A4-sized sheet of paper.

 Got writer's block? Us too. Here are a few things to think about: your mood, your high school, your strongest childhood memory, your relationship with your mother, your relationship with technology, your lack of relationships, what you like to do when home alone...

STEP TWO: Take a photo/scan and send us your letter—you can email, tag or DM us on social media, or upload to our secure form.

We want to stress that we do not record last names or any other identifying information. If you wish, you can sign up for our email list and hear about our research survey later in the year (along with other cool updates!), but this is completely optional.

STEP THREE: Follow our journey on social media and subscribe to our mailing list!

We will be updating the gallery with letters that have author approval to share, as well as posting updates on our social media and mailing list.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.dearloneliness.com/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: WRITE FOR CRWNMAG!

CRWN

INFO: We're on a mission to be the most beautiful and honest representation of Black women in the history of modern print. To that end, we're working with the best writers in the world to tell OUR story. If you're an exceptional writer with style and a point of view, we want to hear from you!

Please review our writing guidelines below before submitting your pitch HERE.

GUIDELINES

We are currently accepting pitches (200-250 words) for our digital platform in the following categories:

Watch: Film, TV, Internet 

Listen: Podcasts, Music, Playlists 

Art: Exhibits, Museums, Interviews

Business: Roundups, Features, Advice

Beauty: Product Reviews, Beauty News, Roundups, How-Tos, Photo Essays

Hair: How-Tos, Roundups, Product News, Photo Essays

Style: Street Style, Fashion Editorials

Travel: City Guides, Photo Essays

Books: Book Reviews, Roundups, Author Features/Interviews

Food: Recipes, Restaurant Reviews

Thought: “Hot Takes,” Personal Essays, Op-Eds

Family: Marriage, Relationships, Sex, Babies 

Health: Wellness, Fitness, Spirituality

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.crwnmag.com/blog/write

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee

INFO: The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee is launching Shalom/Salaam Publishing, and looking for written work (short stories, poetry, etc) and imagery (paintings, photos, illustrations, collage, etc) that transcends boundaries, brings people together, and inspires faith in humanity.

The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee (MJSC) is a grassroots organization guided by the Muslim and Jewish values of Peace שָׁלוֹם سلام, Learning علم‎‎ יֶדַע, and Charity زكاة‎‎ צדקה, to build meaningful relationships between all faiths, and to stand against hate through shared values and social action

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdku-rxQnpN8yB6vqnoRuDwKPnsxeOlThH6aWjts1f31Wabew/viewform

'AWAKE' ZINE SUBMISSION

Lucky Jefferson

INFO: Lucky Jefferson's new digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black and African American writers in American society. This digital zine will highlight poems, essays, and art from writers of color and the different opportunities and challenges of cultural assimilation in America, establishing identity and preserving culture, and the concept of double-consciousness. 

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.

GUIDELINES:

- Send no more than three poems in a submission. Poems should be submitted in a single file, with poems separated by titles or page breaks.

- If sharing an essay, include an essay with no more than 1500 words. 

- Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the Black experience is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).

- Include a cover page highlighting the poet’s name, email address, biography, and mailing address. Biographical statements should be two to three sentences or 50-75 words.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/167135/lucky-jefferson-awake-zine-submission

FICTION / NONFICTION -- JULY 2020

ELIZABETH NUNEZ AWARD FOR WRITERS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

INFO: The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean will be awarded to the best fictive short story by a writer from the Caribbean.

Stories must be original fiction. Word count: 1,200 words or less.

PRIZES AND PUBLICATION:

  • A $500 US cash prize

  • BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean

  • Winning writer will receive an official profile on the BCLF website

  • The winning story will be published in the leading e-newspaper for Caribbean culture and affairs, New York Carib News

  • Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/eligibility-submission-guidelines-caribbean-nationals

ELIZABETH NUNEZ CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN WRITER'S PRIZE

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

INFO: This prize will be given to the best short story by an unpublished writer of Caribbean heritage or of Caribbean descent in the North American diaspora. Writers’ fiction must not have appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more.

Stories must be original fiction. Word count: 1,200 words or less.

PRIZES AND PUBLICATION:

  • A $500 US cash prize

  • The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers Award

  • Winning writer will receive official profile on the BCLF website

  • The winning story will be published in the leading e-newspaper for Caribbean culture and affairs, New York Carib News

  • Annual Membership to the The Center for Fiction

  • Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/eligibility-submission-guidelines-3

LATINX LIT CELEBRATION GUEST EDITED BY RUBEN QUESADA

[PANK]

INFO: We will be publishing poetry, prose, non/traditional, and media by Latinx writers to raise awareness of the breadth of their experiences and talents. If you identify as Latinx and would like your work to be considered for publication, please submit by July 1 using the following guidelines:

For poetry:

  • Up to 3 poems

  • Include all poems in a single file

  • Begin each new poem on a new page

For prose:

  • Up to 3,000 words of fiction or non-fiction

For Non/Traditional or Media:

  • Use MP3 or MP4 only, with a file size under 60MB.

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://pankmagazine.submittable.com/submit/166847/latinx-lit-celebration-guest-edited-by-ruben-quesada

CALL FOR WORK: TO SPEAK AS A FLOWER: A FOLIO OF PERFORMANCE WRITING

Anomaly

INFO: Anomaly invites previously unpublished submissions of poems, prose, playwriting, video, art, and hybrid genres of work that might fall under a broad rubric of performance writing. We embrace this term’s wide scope, encompassing everything from Don Mee Choi’s turn to playwriting conventions in “Hardly Opera” (from which we draw our title) and jayy dodd’s scene in Anomaly‘s issue 26 folio Radical : Avant Garde Poets of Color, to Tatsumi Hijikata’s dance notations and Duriel Harris’ musical scores as poems.

We are interested in work that uses performance as one of its tools, work which is made possible by a relationship to performance — even if that performance never happens, or imagines impossible commitments. What forms might such composition take if it followed Etel Adnan’s provocation that “memory and theatre work in similar ways,” or if it pursued a stage “more open to different ways of moving” (as Hilton Als has characterized Adrienne Kennedy’s work)? We are committed to promoting the work of marginalized and underrepresented artists, including by Black, Indigenous, and other artists of color, as well as, disabled, neurodivergent, women, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming artists — and we wonder whether this form might be especially useful for these artists!

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://medium.com/anomalyblog/call-for-work-to-speak-as-a-flower-a-folio-of-performance-writing-63d1b9193564

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: PEOPLE OF COLOR DESTROY LOVECRAFT 

The Were-Traveler

INFO: Lovecraft wrote some hella scary monsters, on that most horror scholars agree, but he was terribly racist. I would like to see for this issue, POC characters that turn Lovecraft's racism and monsters on his/their heads. My preference for this issue is to have the majority of stories written by writers of color, if not all. Queer writers of color are especially encouraged to submit. 

Flash/shorts (750-1500 words. No more, no less) for $10 per piece original, previously unpublished. Microfics (350-749 words) will pay at a $5 per story rate for original, previously unpublished stories.  

Reprints will be accepted on this one. BUT will pay at a $5 rate for flash/shorts (750-1500 words) and $3 for microfics (350-749 words). You must identify your story as a reprint on the cover page of the manuscript and provide the market and date (mo/yr) where it was last published. 

Please follow instructions on the Guidelines page and include your name, PayPal email, and word count (total, not approximate) on the first page of your story document. 

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://the-were-traveler.weebly.com/submissions-call.html

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Raising Mothers

INFO: Raising Mothers — a free online literary magazine that centers BIWOC and QTNB parents of color — seeks submissions that speaks to the layered intricacies of parenthood from the perspective of the parent or the child.

There are currently THREE calls for work:

  • Black Joy – We want to read all expressions of unadulterated Black joy. Black joy in parenting. Black joy in being alive. Black joy as resistance. Black joy as medicine.

  • Revolutionary Parenting – Tell us how you are parenting yourself, your children, your community in a time of palpable uprising.

  • First-time Parenting – Becoming a parent for the first time during a pandemic. Becoming a parent again during a pandemic. Show us what it is like and how you are coping.

DEADLINE: July 3, 2020

http://www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/call-for-work/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Issue 3: Octavia Butler, Shirley Jackson, and Women's Work

The Second Shelf

INFO: The Second Shelf: Rare Books and Words by Women is now accepting pitches and submissions for Issue Three of our magazine. 

The Issue will have a portfolio of work focused on Octavia Butler, Shirley Jackson, Susan Sontag, and a section focused on the idea of the comforts and conundrums of home and what is considered women's work. We are looking for pieces that ruminate on favorite writings on "women's work," and its various definitions and stereotypes, from housework and home economics to cookery and the domestic arts such as sewing and embroidery, careers and working inside and outside of the home, and of course, motherhood. Pieces might be on a specific book or writer or take a broader view of a subject. 

DEADLINE: July 3, 2020

https://thesecondshelf.submittable.com/submit/167108/issue-3-octavia-butler-shirley-jackson-and-womens-work?step=submission

Book Artist-in-Residence

Center for Book Arts

INFO: The Book Artist-in-Residence awards 3 to 4 residencies per year to artists who have demonstrated a commitment to the book arts as a key component of their artistic practice. Successful applications should show a demonstrated knowledge of the book arts, and include a brief discussion of what you hope to gain from access to the Center’s facilities. Residents will create a finished project over the course of the year, but should also focus on their ongoing exploration of artist's books and book arts as a way to expand their artistic practice. 

The purpose of the Book Artist Residency is to fortify the practice of early career artists in the book arts, to provide access to professional equipment, opportunities and space to work, and to strengthen and diversify the community of book artists working within the New York area. This year long residency includes a cash stipend, materials budget, tuition waiver for all courses offered at CBA during the residency period, and 24-hour access to CBA printing and binding studios in Manhattan. Book Artists-in-Residence are expected to actively utilize the studios and to complete an artist project by the end of the residency period to be included in a group exhibition. Additionally, residents are expected to regularly attend public programs at the Center and to participate in quarterly BookTalks. Residents are often provided with opportunities to speak publicly about their work, to collaborate with other artists and poets, and to hold studio visits with visiting curators and artists.

International, national and local book artists are encouraged to apply, however housing is not provided. Those not currently residing in the New York tri-state area should indicate in their statement how they plan to stay in the area for the year-long duration of the residency. On average, Book Artists-in-Residence spend 20-40 hours per week in the studios and use the tuition waiver for 8-10 courses. The residency is not able support collectives or collaborations at this time. 

We welcome artists of all backgrounds, abilities, and experiences to apply. 

The 2021 Book Artist in Residence Program runs from September 2020 through August 2021. 

NOTE: In light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Center is committed to making the space safe for all. For the duration of 2020, all public programming will be held online, while the studios and exhibition spaces will open at an extremely limited capacity. The residents have 24 hour access to the studios, and are entitled top priority access to the equipment resources. The studios will entail strict safety procedures to be observed by all artists who use the studios. Additionally, residents may participate in any virtual classes taught by instructors in the studios, as long as safety protocols are observed. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • A statement describing why you would benefit from being a Book Artist-in-Residence at the Center for Book Arts

  • An artistic CV (3 pages max)

  • 10 images of work samples (images should be in .jpg format, 72dpi, 1000px on longest side)

  • An image list that includes the work title, year created, materials and dimensions. 

APPLICATION FEE: $0

DEADLINE: July 6, 2020

https://centerforbookarts.submittable.com/submit/136644/book-artist-in-residence

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Rigorous

INFO: Rigorous, an online journal highlighting the works of authors, artists, critics, and educators, seeks fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, visual art, sound art, audiovisual art and movies, cartoons, and any other artistic creations by people of color.

Submittable. Please submit up to 10 files, with a maximum of 3000 words.

Please include a cover letter with a brief bio (up to 100 words).

For text submissions: we prefer an easily-editable file, from Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer. We know that line spacing is very important to some poets, so some poets prefer to submit a .pdf file to ensure their spacing is handled properly. If you do this, please submit a .pdf and a Word (or Writer) file.

We are open to spoken word presentations, songs, and music videos. Feel free to submit an audio or audiovisual file of such performances. When you do so, additionally submit a Word or Writer file with the full text of your submission.

DEADLINE: July 7, 2020

https://rigorous.submittable.com/submit

Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship

Wallace House at the University of Michigan

INFO: The Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship will take the place of our traditional, residential Knight-Wallace Fellowship for the 2020-21 academic year in response to continued uncertainty about close gathering and in-person instruction. Selected Fellows will not be required to leave their news organizations or places of work. This adapted fellowship will maintain our multidisciplinary approach and cohort-based philosophy.

The Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship will provide a $70,000 stipend over eight months plus $10,000 to support supplemental costs for reporting projects to be produced during the period of the fellowship. Our ten Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellows will also receive professional development and digital seminars with researchers and experts tackling challenges across a range of fields and disciplines. Fellows will have remote access to research and resources at the University of Michigan and regular opportunities for engagement with faculty and students.

We want to encourage ambitious reporting projects that step back from breaking and incremental coverage. As the world grapples with huge questions and complex solutions, we need journalists to investigate, scrutinize, analyze and explain the process and outcomes. 

When in-person gathering becomes possible and we can ensure a safe experience for our Fellows, we will host one-week Fellowship Cohort sessions in Ann Arbor at Wallace House and a final symposium on campus at the University of Michigan, highlighting the reporting work produced during the fellowship. 

A Focus on In-Depth Reporting

Published or produced work is a requirement of the fellowship. Applicants must submit a detailed reporting proposal related to the seismic challenges we now face. The output should match the proposed project and form of journalism. For instance, a documentary filmmaker might complete one film during the period of the fellowship; a long-form magazine writer might produce one or two published pieces; a community-based or enterprise reporter might produce a project that appears weekly or monthly. 

Areas of focus can include but are not limited to science and medicine, the economy, law and justice, business, race and ethnicity, education, inequality, technology, the environment, and entertainment and recreation. Areas of coverage can be local, national or global.

The fellowship is not intended to support daily beat reporting that would be produced regardless of fellowship support. It is also not intended for book writing.

All work produced during the fellowship will be owned by the media organization for which it is produced and will carry an agreed-upon acknowledgment of support by the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists at the University of Michigan.  

The program is open to staff, freelance and contract journalists. All applicants must have at least five years of reporting experience and be either a U.S. resident or hold a U.S. passport.  

The Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship for the 2020-2021 academic year is a working fellowship featuring:

  • An eight-month program focused on supporting ambitious, in-depth, innovative journalism projects examining our most pressing public challenges from social shifts precipitated by the pandemic to persistent social justice issues surrounding race, ethnicity and inequality

  • A remote structure that allows staff reporters to remain with their news organizations and freelancers to remain in their place of work

  • A cohort of ten Fellows selected from a pool of experienced journalists from a variety of beats and expertise 

  • A $70,000 stipend to support reporting and fellowship participation dispersed monthly from September 2020 through April 2021

  • An additional $10,000 in supplemental support to cover extra costs including health insurance, reporting equipment and travel-related reporting expenses

  • Weekly remote seminars with University of Michigan faculty and subject matter experts from a wide range of fields

  • Professional development and supplemental skills workshops

  • Subject to public-health guidance, one-week Fellowship Cohort sessions held at Wallace House on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor with travel, lodging and hosting expenses covered by the program

  • A year-end symposium at the University of Michigan highlighting work produced during the fellowship 

DEADLINE: July 7, 2020

https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/knight-wallace/

Call for Flash Fiction from BIPOC WRITERS

Interstellar Flight Magazine

INFO: For the rest of 2020, we’re asking writers to reimagine our world for the better. We’re looking for flash fiction stories from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) writers who re-envision the future.

What were you imagining for 2020 when it began? What's on your apocalypse bingo card for next month? Does it feel like tempting fate too much to ask if our current reality can get any worse OR any better? We invite you to fast forward and tell us how any or all of 2020's chaotic plot lines resolve, get tangled, tied off, or cut. Write us some Alternate Endings to tell around the fire until we get there. Does the fae spell break at 00:00:01 on Jan 1 2021? Is a free roaming space colony in Andromeda still trying to wipe out a sentient mutated Covid-19 200 years from now? Show us our futures in evocative, speculative flash fiction (up to 1,000 words) that responds to what humanity is facing this year. Experiments with story form welcome. We are featuring BIPOC writers for this call and will select one story for each month through the end of 2020. Society needs new blueprints to build from. Show us your Alternate Endings.

Our Guest Editor for this call is Jamileh Jemison. 

 What we want:

  • Previously unpublished flash fiction (up to 1,000 words). You may submit up to 3 pieces. 

  • Speculative genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, or any interpretation of these that fits the theme.

  • By writers of color (please let us know how you’d like to be identified in your cover letter.)

  • Collaborative pieces by multiple writers are welcome. In the case of multiple writers, payment will be split between collaborators.

  • We strongly encourage submissions from underrepresented voices including but not limited to women, femmes, non-binary, and LGBTQIA authors, as well as writers with disabilities.

DEADLINE: July 10, 2020

https://www.interstellarflightpress.com/submissions.html

Summer One-on-One Manuscript Sessions

Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing

INFO: Summer One-on-One Sessions are a new offering from MVICW.  Our instructors will offer a generous review of your work, provide line edits, written feedback, and a 40-minute Zoom meeting to discuss your manuscript in late July or early August. (These Summer One-on-One sessions are separate from our Summer Conference manuscript-meetings which are included in attendance to our 2021 Summer Writers’ Conference). 

For poetry manuscripts, please submit between 3-4 poems (totaling no more than 8 pages max)

For fiction and CNF manuscripts, please submit up to 15 pages of double-spaced prose (one piece only).

Once we receive your manuscript, we’ll match you with an author/poet best suited to your work. One-on-One Manuscript Sessions will be conducted by:

  • Christopher Citro (poetry/CNF)

  • Samantha Tetangco (poetry/CNF/fiction)

  • Randi Beck Ocena (fiction/CNF)

  • Robert James Russell (fiction/CNF)

  • John T. Howard (poetry/fiction)

Please note that these sessions are available on a first-come first-served limited basis.

COST: $200

DEADLINE: July 10, 2020

https://mvicw.submittable.com/submit/166759/mvicw-summer-one-on-one-manuscript-sessions

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Fat & Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives

INFO: Fat & Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives is an anthology challenging the negative and damaging representation of fat bodies in popular culture. This anthology will celebrate our bodies, our lives, and present illuminating examples of fat & queer literature. 

Editors Bruce Owens Grimm, Miguel M. Morales, and Tiff Ferentini have teamed up to boost the voices of people who live at the intersection of fatness and queerness, especially the voices of fat and queer QTBIPOC.  Fat & Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives, which will be published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, an imprint of Hachette, in 2021.

Works between 3,000 - 5,000 words are preferred for prose. A poet may submit up to 5 poems for consideration.

DEADLINE: July 10, 2020

https://www.fatandqueer.com/?fbclid=IwAR01uuqzHjH3MsabS0mBP6Du65UIYO3Y0jGiydkPIojqUsaFbw1t0chatF4

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal

INFO: Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal is accepting poetry, prose, art (paintings), and art photography for Issue 4.

Please submit work relating to: Nature, water, sky, animals, Native American folk, tales or stories.

Send your work(s) up to 5 poems or artworks and bio via email to Editor/Publisher Mysti S. Milwee at mystiart21@gmail.com

In the subject line please state: Your name, # of works, and Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal

All accepted poetry that is translated will be published in the journal.

DEADLINE: July 13, 2020

https://sequoyahcherokeeriverjournal.wordpress.com/about/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Pandemic Post

INFO: The Pandemic Post is a small online print zine featuring interviews, art, essays, recipes, fiction, poetry, and more. In solidarity with the fight for racial equity, Issue No. 4 of The Pandemic Post will only be featuring work from Black creators.

Is there anything you want to tell our progressive, largely white audience? Do you have existing work you want us to publish or re-publish? We want to see it all, and we promise to use our platform to amplify your voice as best we can.

We are a volunteer-run effort and all of our profits go to the organizations we support — however, we’re offering a small honorarium of $40 per accepted submission for this issue.

Email submissions to editors@thepandemicpost.com or upload something directly at thepandemicpost.com/submit

DEADLINE: N/A

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBwPl_njauC/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

TueNight

INFO: TueNight is a storytelling community for women  and non-binary folks over 40, sharing where we’ve been and exploring what’s next. Twice each month on Tuesday (natch), we publish original personal essays. 

Our Guidelines

  • Topics: Generally, we’re interested in all relevant topics far and wide, including, but not limited to, love, sex, health, career, entertainment, travel, and food. For summer 2020, we’re interested in pitches on the following topics:

    • Freedom: deadline to pitch – July 14

    • Sleep: deadline to pitch – August 11

  • Audience: Generally Gen-X women and non-binary folks age 40+

  • Format: We typically publish essays (approximately 800-1,000 words), however, we’re also up for lists, videos and other kinds of image-driven content that’s in line with our mission.

  • Pitch: Please send pitches and 2-3 links to clips of previous work to hello@tuenight.com. We’re also open to first-time writers, so don’t be shy. If you have a great idea, we have great editors to help you bring it to life.

  • Diversity: We are intentional about publishing a diverse slate of writers. We welcome pitches from writers of every racial background, binary/non-binary, single, married, not moms, moms, city mouse, country mouse. Gen-X Midlife is our common denominator, of course.

  • Voice: Smart, vibrant, optimistic — with the occasional dose of that Gen-X side eye. We gotta be us.

  • Pay: $50

https://tuenight.com/tuenight-submission-guidelines/?fbclid=IwAR3C1mXHESzLtVKyBpw40DGMEgXVaTPAhtoHwgA9An671cqBSMQmwGTI8qg

Radical Remedies: Collective Healing and Power Through Story

Detroit Narrative Agency

INFO: As our communities face the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and severe anti-Black racism, what do resilience, resistance, joy, grief, and collective care look like?

Detroit Narrative Agency (DNA) invites Detroiters and Michigan residents to creatively respond to this question through short videos with its latest project, Radical Remedies: Collective Healing and Power Through Story. 

Radical Remedies will amplify community stories to build collective healing and power, as well as redistribute resources to storytellers and mediamakers. Video submissions should be 30 seconds to five minutes long; selected videos will receive a $100-$500 stipend, and will be shared across media platforms. This project will honor the experiences of Black, Brown and Indigenous people living in Detroit and Michigan, weaving together our collective threads, connecting kindred communities nationally and globally.

To submit to Radical Remedies, please read the following carefully:

  • Your video must be between 30-seconds and five minutes long, and creatively respond to the following prompt: As our communities face the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and severe anti-Black racism, what do resilience, resistance, joy, grief, and collective care look like?

  • Your video can be documentary/non-fiction, narrative/fiction, experimental, animation, or any other form/genre. It can be expressed through storytelling, dance, music, skillsharing, science fiction, comedy, and so much more. It simply needs to be original, creative, engaging, and related to the prompt.

  • This opportunity is open to all experience levels ranging from professional filmmakers, community mediamakers, to social media content creators (TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc).

ELIGIBILITY  

Submitters must live in Michigan. We will be prioritizing entries by and about people who are BIPOC and those living in Detroit (including Hamtramck and Highland Park), but all Michigan residents are encouraged to submit.

  • You must have ownership/rights of the content shared in order to submit.

  • Videos with misinformation or any content that perpetuates harmful narratives will not be considered.

  • Selected videos will receive a stipend ranging from $100-$500, and an opportunity to have their work shared with proper credit on DNA channels, social media, and possibly screened as part of DNA's Ethics & Aesthetics series launch at the Allied Media Conference (AMC). In order to submit your video you must agree to allow DNA and Radical Remedies community partners to share your video/film publicly.

PROGRAM VALUES

  • We prioritize films made by Black, Brown, Indigenous, Immigrant, Disabled, Poor/Working Class, Queer, Trans*, non-binary, Women and Femmes who are storytellers and mediamakers.

  • We prioritize media made by people who belong to the communities their media is about. 

  • We prioritize stories that disrupt dominant media narratives.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Ryan Pearson at ryan@alliedmedia.org.

Detroit Narrative Agency (DNA) is a community organization that disrupts harmful narratives about Detroit. We do this by supporting Black, Brown, and Indigenous Detroiters to examine and create film and media that build collective healing, power and liberation.

DEADLINE: July 13, 2020

https://detroitnarrativeagency.submittable.com/submit/168281/radical-remedies-collective-healing-and-power-through-story

SFF Short Story Submissions Call for Afro-Latinx Writers

INFO: RECLAIM THE STARS is a YA science fiction and fantasy anthology that will be published by Wednesday Books an imprint of St. Martin’s Press and be edited by Zoraida Córdova (Labyrinth Lost). The collection features YA speculative fiction exploring the Latinx diaspora through the lens of SFF, with stories likely included by Elizabeth Acevedo, Vita Ayala, David Bowles, Zoraida Córdova, Sara Faring, Romina Garber, Isabel Ibañez, Anna-Marie McLemore, Yamile Saied Méndez, Nina Moreno, Maya Motayne, Daniel José Older, Claribel Ortega, Mark Oshiro, and Lilliam Rivera. Publication is expected for winter 2022. 

The collection is one of the first of its kind, bringing much needed representation to the world of science fiction & fantasy! Along with the anthology, we are launching a submission call in search of an Afro-Latinx author writing speculative fiction. The anthology editor will review submissions for potential publication and inclusion in the anthology.

ELIGIBILITY

  • Open to Afro-Latinx writers 18 years of age or older (as defined above). Applicants must include this information in their bio.

  • Open to Afro-Latinx writers published and unpublished, so long as the short story entry has never been previously commercially published.

  • Open to Afro-Latinx authors of all genders.

  • Open to to Afro-Latinx authors eligible to work in the United States.

DEADLINE: July 15, 2020

https://zoraidacordova.com/books/reclaim-the-stars/

LAR Short Fiction Award

Los Angeles Review 

INFO: The Los Angeles Review Short Fiction Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of fiction. This season's judge is Kristen Millares Young.

• Please submit a story no longer than 2,500 words. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at editor@losangelesreview.org if your story is accepted elsewhere.

• Only previously unpublished works are considered for the Los Angeles Review Short Fiction Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.

• The winner will be selected in fall of 2020 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.

• The winning story will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition, set to be released in spring 2021.

•  In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.

ENTRY FEE: $20

DEADLINE: July 15, 2020

https://losangelesreview.submittable.com/submit/52323/lar-short-fiction-award

LAR Flash Fiction Award

Los Angeles Review 

INFO: The Los Angeles Review Flash Fiction Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of fiction. This season's judge is Ellen Meeropol.

• Please submit a piece no longer than 500 words. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at editor@losangelesreview.org if your story is accepted elsewhere.

• Only previously unpublished works are considered for the Los Angeles Review Flash Fiction Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.

• The winner will be selected in fall of 2020 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.

• The winning story will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition, set to be released in spring 2021.

•  In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.

ENTRY FEE: $20

DEADLINE: July 15, 2020

https://losangelesreview.submittable.com/submit/52324/lar-flash-fiction-award

LAR Creative Nonfiction Award

Los Angeles Review 

INFO: The Los Angeles Review Creative Nonfiction Award is a prize of $1,000 and publication in LAR given annually for an exceptional work of nonfiction. This season's judge is Aimee Liu.

• Please submit a piece no longer than 2,500 words. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately at editor@losangelesreview.org if your piece is accepted elsewhere.

• Only previously unpublished works are considered for the Los Angeles Review Creative Nonfiction Award. Entries are not considered for general inclusion in the Los Angeles Review.

• The winner will be selected in fall of 2020 and announced via our website, and a Red Hen Press press release.

• The winning piece will be published in the new LAR Online and included in the annual best-of print edition, set to be released in spring 2021.

•  In the cover letter field of each submission, include author’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Do NOT include this information in the submitted file.

ENTRY FEE: $20

DEADLINE: July 15, 2020

https://losangelesreview.submittable.com/submit/52325/lar-creative-nonfiction-award

Anne LaBastille Memorial Writers Residency

The Adirondack Center for Writing

INFO: The Adirondack Center for Writing offers a two-week residency annually in October to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers at a lodge on Twitchell Lake in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains.

Six writers are selected to take part in this intimate community of writers, half of the spaces are reserved for regional authors, and the other spaces are open to writers from all over the world. Quality of written submissions will be our primary consideration when accepting applications. We’re more interested in your writing than your MFA or publications. Send us good writing!

AT THE LODGE

Meals are served family-style in the Lodge, which is luxurious with lots of common spaces for evening group discussions as well as private spaces for quiet writing and reflection during the day. Residents are offered single rooms with private baths. There are no desks in individual rooms, but plenty of private and collaborative work space throughout the residence. Residents are encouraged to take full use of the hiking and paddling of the local area.

This residency exists to provide space, time and an inspiring landscape for regional and outside writers to work on their writing projects. With no cell phone coverage, this residency is a chance to unplug and connect with other writers, and to tap into the creative self.

Prepping Your Application for the Anne LaBastille Memorial Writers Residency

  • Prepare to send up to 10 pages of manuscript, or a .pdf. The text should be in your choice of easily readable 12pt font with 1.5 line spacing.

  • Remove your name from ALL materials (except cover letter and references, if included). In order to remain unbiased, we will be forced to disregard any submissions that include your name.

  • Do you live at least part time in the region of the Adirondack Park? If so, please submit under the Adirondack Region category. If not, please use the Out of Town category instead.

Eligibility: The residency will be open to 6 writers every year, with three spaces for writers from the region, and three from elsewhere. We accept writers in any genre.

Fees: $30. The entire two-week residency is free for selected applicants.

References: We don’t request references, but allow submission of up to two.

DEADLINE: July 15, 2020. All applicants will be notified of the status of their application by August 15, 2020.

https://adirondackcenterforwriting.org/2019/05/13/applications-open-to-the-anne-labastille-memorial-writers-residency/

Letters from the Inside: intersectional reflections on life in lockdown

Art Spoken Madrid / Intersect Madrid

INFO: Intersect Madrid in partnership with Art Spoken Madrid present, Letters from the Inside: Intersectional Reflections on Life in Lockdown — an anthology that aims to bring to light stories from the recent quarantines arisen from the global COVID-19 pandemic and our transition into the first phases of worldwide re-opening. Through this anthology, we hope to create a body of work for community healing amidst a time of turbulent change.

We are looking for submissions in the genres of creative non-fiction, poetry, photography/video essays, and visual art. If you are a seasoned writer, a novice, or anywhere in-between, we want to hear your voice. Our goal is to uplift intersectional voices of historically underrepresented artists, including people of color, queer and trans individuals, asylum seekers, indigenous communities, and differently- abled and neurodivergent people. You can find the submission guidelines below, along with the anthology prompts thereafter.

What are the maximum limits for my piece?

  • For poetry: 2 pages

  • For creative non-fiction: 3,000 words

  • For video essays: 5 minutes

  • For photography essays: 15 photographs & 1,000 words in total For visual art: 5 pieces

How do I submit my work?

Please send the following to lfti.anthology@gmail.com:

  • Your piece as a word document (.doc/.docx) or a Google Docs link.

  • A short bio (200-300 words) telling us a little bit about yourself and any writing credits (not

    mandatory if you have not been previously published).

  • A high-quality photo of yourself (.png or .jpg).

  • If submitting a video essay: .mov, .mp4; If photography/visual art: .jpg, .tiff, .png, .pdf

  • Your Venmo/Bizum/PayPal account information (optional)

What languages can I submit pieces in?

• English
• Spanish
• Other languages are welcome, but please submit a short English or Spanish summary of the piece

Will I be paid for my submission?

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer payment to contributors. However, we will provide you with a publishing credit as well as a free digital copy of the anthology. The money earned from this anthology will be utilized by Art Spoken and Intersect Madrid, two local non-profit organizations that uplift communities of color and other underrepresented groups through an emphasis on education and the performing arts. Both of our organizations are committed to creating spaces for voices that are typically left out of classrooms and artistic venues throughout the world. We also plan to develop lessons and curriculum based on the anthology in order to engage students in Madrid and beyond in an intersectional understanding of the pandemic.

NOTE: We find it important to acknowledge that the lack of direct compensation in this project plays into a historic undervaluing of artists, especially those from underrepresented communities. All artists deserve to be paid for their work, and as such, we encourage you to share with us your Venmo/Bizum/PayPal account information (or any other method in which to send compensation), so that we can invite readers to make direct contributions to you if they feel compelled to do so. Please do not hesitate to contact us via e-mail with any questions or suggestions regarding this topic.

Who retains the copyright to my work?

By submitting to this anthology, you grant Intersect Madrid and Art Spoken Madrid the right to use your submitted work in this anthology project. Uses include but are not limited to an e-book, print book, websites, marketing, and any other reasonable purpose having to do with the anthology. As it pertains to originally published pieces in this anthology, you retain the rights to use your work in any other future settings; however, we ask that you cite the piece as published in our anthology (i.e. “originally published in Letters from the Inside: Intersectional Reflections on Life in Lockdown”) and if published online, include a link to the forthcoming website.

What do I do if I’m resubmitting a piece that has been published elsewhere?

If you’re using a piece that has been published elsewhere, please include the location of where it was originally published and include permission to republish the piece.

Note: We do not accept any physical copies, only digital versions sent via the email below. If you don’t have online access, please ask a friend or loved one to share your work with us. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to send a message to us at lfti.anthology@gmail.com.

DEADLINES:

  • Early-Bird: July 18, 2020

  • General: August 8, 2020

*Early bird submissions will be given priority consideration.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hsaJ9liUjdh-lfyLUQ_OcDe2VdDjnCS5/view

ArabLit Quarterly's Fall 2020 Issue: CATS

INFO: We are looking for cats (قطط)-focused writing, however that might be interpreted. Naturally, we are as interested in The Merits of the Housecat, by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (tr. David Larsen) as we are in “Medieval Cat Poem” by Abū ʿĀmir al-Faḍl ibn Ismāʿīl al-Tamīmī al-Jurjānī, in Rehab Bassam's “Days of the Black Cat,” in “Minouche,” by Anis Arrafai, and in cats both real and mystical. 

We are also interested in cat recipes (?), cat essays, cat comix, feline playlists, a history of cats in a particular city, as well as other cat topics not yet considered.

Also: If you have classic photos of Arab authors and their cats, please do share.

We are also interested in:   

  • Translated short stories between 100 and 10000 words  

  • Translated poetry   

  • Translated playtexts   

  • Translated comix 

  • Texts that play with genres, cat-like    

We are not able to accept:  Fiction and poetry written originally in English. Sorry.   

We do accept: Both pitches and completed works.      

Yes, we do pay: $15/page

DEADLINE:

  • Pitches: Due by July 20, 2020

  • Drafts of completed works: Due by August 20, 2020

https://arablit.submittable.com/submit/163429/arablit-quarterlys-fall-2020-issue-cats

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

A Public Space

INFO: In connection with the Editorial Fellowship program at A Public Space, we are pleased to announce an open call for a special portfolio in the magazine to be edited by Taylor Michael.

Memory is a tricky thing. Whether it’s obsessing over our failures, surveying the tokens that trigger us, or considering our past and where we come from, our memories, collective and individual, can tell us about ourselves. Why do we hold onto certain things—failures, archival materials, family trauma—and not others?

Submit prose, fiction, or nonfiction, that thinks about inheritance or legacy, broadly considers memory, or incorporates archival history. I’m open to wherever this prompt may take you.

Only previously unpublished pieces are eligible. Black, Indigenous, and folks of color are especially encouraged to submit. International submissions are welcome, but we are only able to consider work in English. Only one submission per person is allowed. Writers whose work is published in the magazine will receive an honorarium.

DEADLINE: July 20, 2020

https://apublicspace.org/news/detail/open-call-for-submissions?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=89730eb444-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_12_04_15_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6566a6ed1a-89730eb444-68639565

2020 ArabLit Story Prize

INFO: The ArabLit Story Prize is an award for the best short stories, in any genre, newly translated from Arabic into English. Translators must have rights to the work, and translations must have been previously unpublished.

 Stories will be judged primarily on the quality of the translated work as a thing-in-itself, although translators must also submit the Arabic original, as this must be a translation, not a loose adaptation nor a work written originally in English.

This year's three judges are Sawad Hussain, Donia Kamel, and Hilal Chouman.

PRIZE: $500 to the winner, split between author and translator. Shortlisted stories will have the opportunity to be published in the ArabLit Quarterly as well as a future anthology.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0. However, if you wish to see last year's shortlist, you can tick the box to get e-copies of previous issues of ArabLit Quarterly. If you do not tick the box, you will not be asked for a fee.

DEADLINE: July 20, 2020

https://arablit.submittable.com/submit/162720/2020-arablit-story-prize

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: I am my Father's Daughter 

The Miki Chronicles

INFO: Father-Daughter relationships tend to be the most precious and sometimes affect the way decisions are made.  Navigating a father-child relationship is not easy and everyone has a version of their experience. Whether the relationship took some work or no work at all, there is something special about how it affects your growth as a woman. 

I am my Father's Daughter is a  collection of stories written by powerful women about their relationship with their father. Please submit if your story meets one or more of the following criteria:

  1. Do you have a relationship with your father that has evolved from distant or tumultuous to healthy and thriving?

  2. Have you always had a good relationship with your father despite enduring hard times?

  3. Have you always had e and continue to have a good relationship with your father?

  4. You do not have a good relationship with your father and are at peace with it?

​Word Limit: 2000 and must be written in English

DEADLINE: July 21, 2020, 9 PM EST

https://www.themikichronicles.com/submission

COVD-19 ARTIST RELIEF GRANTS

INFO: This Summer, Artist Relief will continue offering $5,000 grants for U.S. artists in need. The 10-minute application is open to all artists, including poets and writers.

Before applying, we ask that applicants self-evaluate whether they are experiencing dire financial emergencies during this time and make space for those most urgently in need.


Due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we define “dire financial emergencies” as the lack or imminent endangerment of essentials such as housing, medicine, childcare, and food. We are aware that each artist’s needs differ, so ask that you thoroughly and accurately describe your situation. Applicants should demonstrate a pressing and critical need for emergency support to be considered for this grant.

We also highly recommend reviewing our FAQ for questions related to eligibility, application, selection process, and disbursement.

To be eligible, you must be able to answer ”Yes“ to the prompts listed below.

  • I am a practicing artist able to demonstrate a sustained commitment to my work, career, and a public audience;

  • I am experiencing dire financial emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic;

  • I am 21 years of age or older;

  • I can provide a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) after I’ve been notified of my selection;

  • I have been living and working in the U.S. for the last two years;

  • I am not a full-time employee, board member, director, officer, or immediate family member of any of the coalition partners;

  • I have not previously been awarded a relief grant from this fund

DEADLINE: July 22, 2020

https://www.artistrelief.org/apply

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Trotamundos 103 °

INFO: Trotamundos 103 ° is a digital magazine based in Mexico. We are seeking submissions for our special publication Personal. In this edition we seek to give voice to the changes that our individual realities suffered as a result of the confinement derived from COVID-19. The objective of this publication is to reflect on the social, political and cultural repercussions. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

  • Authors must be 18+

  • The works must be original

  • One work per modality will be accepted. 

  • The topics will be chosen freely by the author as long as they relate to the pandemic.

CATEGORIES:

  • Chronicle : maximum length of two pages. 

  • Micro essay or article : maximum length of one page. 

  • Story : maximum length of three pages.

  • Photography : series of three pieces minimum, six pieces maximum. 

  • Illustration : one to three works per author can be presented in any artistic technique.

DEADLINE: July 25, 2020

https://trotamundos103.com/convocatoria

Varuna Residential Fellowships

INFO: Varuna Residential Fellowships offer two to three weeks of full board and accommodation at Varuna including a prepared evening meal, uninterrupted time to write in your own private studio, the companionship of your fellow writers and a one-hour Varuna Conversation with a Varuna consultant.

In 2021, Varuna will offer 24 Varuna Residential Fellowships, including our prestigious Flagship Fellowships.

Varuna Residential Fellowships can be taken between January and the end of May 2021.

What you need to send us

You will need to send us between 7,000 and 10,000 words from the beginning of your manuscript, along with a synopsis of the entire work.  For poetry, you need to send us a selection of 10 poems.

What we are looking for

Varuna welcomes manuscripts from writers working in all creative forms, including fiction, screenplay/drama, poetry, children’s books, and narrative non-fiction. Artistic merit is the most important criterion for our assessors, who are looking for strongly written characters, sound structure, compelling themes, a distinctive and engaging voice, and social and cultural relevance. Our assessors also consider the potential of your manuscript, based on the experience of the writer and their work plan.

Fees

Application fees are $65 per application, unless you are a financially current alumni member using your annual fee waiver. Application fees are used to pay professional assessors to read your work. If you have a Healthcare card, the application fee is $35.

If you are successful, you will be asked to make a contribution of $315 per week towards your residency (note that this fee is waived for the Henry Handel Richardson fellowship).

And you will need to meet your own travel expenses to and from Varuna. If you have a Healthcare card, you may apply to the Varuna Travel Assistance Fund for a subsidy of up to $300. 

DEADLINE: July 29, 2020

https://www.varuna.com.au/fellowships/varuna

THE SALAM AWARD FOR IMAGINATIVE FICTION

INFO: The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction is a short story award to promote science fiction and related genres of writing in Pakistan. The scope is broad and will include every thing from regular science fiction and steampunk to magic realism and weird fiction. 

PRIZE:

  1. A cash prize of Rs 50,000

  2. Story will be published on the Salam Award website

  3. Review by an established literary agent for market guidance and possible representation

  4. An editorial review by a professional editor for critique and potential publication in a multi-award winning science fiction magazine

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

http://thesalamaward.com/

CALL FOR ENTRIES: The Lit Exhibit 2020: Archives

The Lit Exhibit

INFO: This year we are inviting creatives to reflect on the Archive, and to send us poetry, micro fiction, installation art, and experimental writing that speaks to this premise.

We would also like to deepen the conversation on archiving through a public forum / webinar. The archive has value: it is a means of preservation, tradition, knowledge. How do we protect memory?

These conversations are not irrelevant in these times: the means of archiving information provides accountability & often healing. We are interested in collaborating with other archivists who might be interested in co-facilitating a workshop with us! We hope to inspire people to create their own archives & to possibly share with us for our upcoming exhibition.

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

https://www.thelitexhibit.nyc/apply

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN, DIASPORA ARTISTS

Lolwe

INFO: Lolwe -- an online magazine that publishes fiction, literary criticism, personal essays, photography, and poetry -- is accepting submissions for Issue 2 throughout the month of July (1-31 July 2020). The issue will be guest-edited by Mapule Mohulatsi, Gbenga Adesina and Esther Karin Mngodo.

We are looking for work that is bold, different, and blurs or pushes boundaries: play with form and language, ignore genre classifications, send in your fears and joys, your doubts and faiths, your curiosities and silences.

Please read the submission guidelines and send us your work via Submittable.

Submission Guidelines

What to submit: Fiction, essays, poetry, and photography.

Who can submit: Black (African, Caribbean, Diaspora) artists.

Limit: 1,000-10,000 words for fiction and essays. 3-5 poems contained in a single document. 5-10 images/artwork in one document alongside 200-500 words about the work.

Format: Word document, Times New Roman, pt 12, double-spaced.

Response time: 3-4 months after submission deadline. Queries to info@lolwe.org.

Multiple submissions: No. Please submit to only one category.

Simultaneous submissions: Yes. Just remember to withdraw if accepted elsewhere.

Republishing: No. Only original, unpublished submissions will be read.

Submission fees: None. Feel free to donate a “tip” to us though.

Payment: Lolwe will offer a modest remuneration for work that is accepted for publication. You can help by donating to Lolwe.

Send a brief bio alongside the submission.

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

https://lolwe.org/submit/

2020 RCWMS Essay Contest

Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South

INFO: RCWMS is committed to supporting women as they find their voices and make them heard. In addition to our writing classes, workshops, and retreats, we run an essay contest in most years. Our 2020 Essay Contest opens for submissions on June 15 and is open through July 31, 2020. Women 18 years of age and older may submit previously unpublished nonfiction essays of 1,200 words or less. 

THEME: Essays should focus on the theme “What has changed for you in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing racism in the USA, and the recent public response to police violence?” We invite submissions that consider this theme in a variety of ways. What has changed for you? How are you responding? What have you lost or abandoned? What has sustained you during this time? 

DETAILS: Women 18 years of age or older may submit up to 2 nonfiction essays, 1,200 words or less. Submit online only: rcwms.submittable.com/submit. Previous first-place winners and current RCWMS Board members not eligible. No sermons, please. Do not put your name on your essay(s). Fill out the online cover letter form with the essay's title, your name, address, phone, and email. Submissions open June 15, 2020 and close July 31, 2020. 

PRIZES: $300 for first place, $200 second, and $100 third. The winning essay will be published in the RCWMS newsletter, South of the Garden, in September or December 2020. 

NOTIFICATION: Winners will be notified by email.

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

https://rcwms.submittable.com/submit/168413/2020-rcwms-essay-contest

Event & Workshop Pitches for Fall 2020

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

INFO: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is an alternative literary arts space, an incubator for emerging writers and a sanctuary space for readers and ideas. Our public space is designed for gathering communities and building critical dialogue between literature and movement culture. At a time when migrants, women, people of color, Muslims, and LGBTQ people are specifically targeted, we are a community of activists who use our artistry to advocate for and center the voices and ideas on the margins. We offer a new countercultural public space in which to imagine a more just future.

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is accepting applications for the Fall 2020 season for workshops, readings, panels and performances. If you have a workshop or event which you’d like to present to our curation team, do visit our workshop and events pages and even better, attend our events and workshops to get a feel for the space and AAWW community. 

All the AAWW events at our site are open to the public with a $5 suggested donation. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Our on-site events take place on weekday evenings  starting at 6:30 PM and run for 50 minutes. If you have an event that may have unique space or A/V needs, please do include this in your applications. 

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

https://aaww.submittable.com/submit/159810/event-workshop-pitches-for-fall-2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

An Asian Tapestry of Colors

INFO: Stories reveal the soul of a community and provide us with a glimpse into someone else’s life. For this upcoming new collection, we are seeking short stories that reveal the soul of human interactions that are set in Asia. More specifically, we are looking for stories that focus on Asian heritage, cultural practices and beliefs. In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s words:

“… it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person … and when we realise that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.”

Let’s weave an Asian paradise with multiple voices together in this collection.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Unpublished stories

  • Stories revolving around any aspect of heritage, cultural practices and beliefs.

  • Stories can be set in any Asian country. We are particularly interested in stories from: SingaporeMalaysiaIndonesiaThailandPhilippinesBruneiLaosCambodiaMyanmarVietnamSouth KoreaChinaJapan and India.

  • Authors do not have to be based in the countries where their stories are set.

  • Stories written for readers between
    13 to 17 years old.

  • Word count: 3,000 to 5,000 words.

  • To include a glossary if necessary.

  • Translated stories may be submitted for consideration, as long as they have not been previously published in English. Stories which have been published in English (including online on websites and personal blogs) will not be considered. If you intend to submit a translation, please obtain permission to translate from the author.

  • You may submit more than one story and up to a maximum of two stories.

  • Submissions must be literary in tone. Non-fiction and creative non-fiction will not be accepted.

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

2021 Bard Fiction Prize

INFO: To apply, candidates should write a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard and submit a CV, along with three copies of the published book they feel best represents their work. No manuscripts will be accepted.

The creation of the Bard Fiction Prize, presented each October since 2001, continues Bard’s long-standing position as a center for creative, groundbreaking literary work by both faculty and students. From Saul Bellow, William Gaddis, Mary McCarthy, and Ralph Ellison to John Ashbery, Philip Roth, William Weaver, and Chinua Achebe, Bard’s literature faculty, past and present, represents some of the most important writers of our time. The prize is intended to encourage and support young writers of fiction, and provide them with an opportunity to work in a fertile intellectual environment. Last year’s Bard Fiction Prize was awarded to Greg Jackson for his short story collection Prodigals (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2016).

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

http://www.bard.edu/bfp/

Spring 2020 Story Contest

Narrative

INFO: Our Spring contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, 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.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

Awards: 

  • First Prize is $2,500

  • Second Prize is $1,000

  • Third Prize is $500

  • Up to ten finalists will receive $100 each

  • All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $27 fee for each entry. And with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

DEADLINE: July 31, 2020

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/spring-2020-story-contest?uid=103566&m=fe23855d75c151df0a3814f3cfdcb3bc&d=1588262960

CALL FOR ESSAYS: BLACK REFLECTIONS

Non.Plus Lit

INFO: We recognize the systemic, structural, and interpersonal racism that permeates through our society as a whole--and we know the literary world is no exception to these imbalances of power. We’ve spent the past few weeks considering ways in which Non.Plus Lit can support the movement to dismantle white supremacy. Among other long term, structural steps we’re taking, we’re opening up submissions for Black Reflections: a collection of essays by black writers.

For Black Reflections, we’re accepting previously unpublished personal essays on any topic of the writer’s choosing. As our About page states, we’re looking for writing that “takes us somewhere we’ve never been, leaves us nonplussed with nothing left to say.” The same is true here. There’s no guidelines other than the collection only accepting essays by black writers. 

We’ll be paying 50 dollars per accepted essay to collection contributors.

DEADLINE: N/A

https://www.nonpluslit.com/blackreflections

PEN/JEAN STEIN GRANT FOR LITERARY ORAL HISTORY

INFO: The PEN/Jean Stein Grant for Literary Oral History recognizes a literary work of nonfiction that uses oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement. The winner receives a $10,000 grant meant to help maintain or complete their ongoing project. Past winners include Loida Maritza Pérez, Nyssa Chow, and Aleksandar Hemon. 

The grant is made possible by a substantial contribution from American author and editor Jean Stein, whose groundbreaking work helped popularize literary oral history. Her books include American Journey: The Times of Robert Kennedy (1970), Edie: An American Biography (1982), and West of Eden: An American Place (2016).

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://pen.org/jean-stein-oral-history-grant/?mc_cid=2843f611d3&mc_eid=d562c31e56

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: CARIBBEAN FEMINIST STORIES

Intersect

INFO: Intersect, a Caribbean feminist organization committed to decolonial & intersectional knowledge production through storytelling in Antigua and Barbuda is seeking fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art exploring Caribbean feminism. Themes are "Colourism" and "Growing Up Queer" in the Caribbean.

We need more grassroots feminist scholarship that allows us to hear and listen to diverse voices of people and their experiences with and perspectives on colourism and queerness in Antigua and Barbuda and throughout the Caribbean region. The word "queer" is also often deployed in a way that obscures people's unique experiences as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or gender non-conforming. Do you embrace this term? What does it mean to you? What have you learned about being a lesbian or a gay man and/or non-binary person from the Caribbean? The descriptions under each theme are writing prompts to help you get started. We're really hoping to receive submissions on these topics!

Fiction and non fiction: 500-1,000 words.

Poetry: less than 1,000 words.

Submit your pieces to intersect.anu@gmail.com.

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA0IX-IjgL2/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Mixed Mag

INFO: Mixed Mag is a multimedia publication dedicated to promoting multiethnic/multicultural voices.

Submission guidelines:

  • prose submissions must be under 1500 words in the following categories (fiction/CNF, politics, tv/film/theatre, music, health/wellness/food)

  • submit up to 3 poems

  • submit up to 10 original photos or visuals

send to mixedmag.media@gmail.com

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://twitter.com/MixedMag/status/1276631534586429441

Flash Contest

Pidgeon Pages

INFO: Pigeon Pages is a literary space where emerging and established writers from all backgrounds are encouraged to nest together. We seek to champion voices that are not always allowed to sing loudly.

The Flash Contest is judged by Kiley Reid, bestselling author of Such a Fun Age

The winning author will receive $250 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

Two honorable mentions will receive $50 and publication in Pigeon Pages.

All submissions will be considered for publication.

ENTRY FEE: $15

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://pigeonpagesnyc.submittable.com/submit/116787/flash-contest-up-to-three-entries

Red Hen Press Novella Award

INFO: Established in 2018, the Novella Award is for a previously unpublished, original work of fiction. Awarded manuscript is selected through an annual competition which is open to all writers.

Award is $1000 and publication by Red Hen Press.

15,000 word minimum, 30,000 word maximum.

This year's final judge will be Donna Hemans.

SUBMISSION FEE: $25

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://redhenpress.submittable.com/submit/119231/red-hen-press-novella-award

CCR Summer Prizes in Fiction and Poetry – 2020

Cream City Review

INFO: You may submit multiple times if there is a payment for each entry. All submitted work must be previously unpublished. The winner will receive $700, publication, and an online feature on our website. The runner-up will receive $300, publication, and an online feature on our website as well.

The editors at CCR will read each submission, and 7-10 finalists will be forwarded to the judges for final decision.

*Current students, faculty, and staff of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin System are not eligible to enter the contest. If you have been affiliated with the university in the past, please wait three years after the affiliation to submit to the CCR Summer Prizes.

*CCR Contributors, please wait at least 2 years from date of publication before submitting.

*Previous winners and runner-ups may not submit to the prize.

*Please read the following guidelines before submitting.

Poetry Contest Guidelines:

  • You may send up to four poems in a single document. (.doc, .docx, & .pdf are acceptable)

  • Please do not include your name anywhere in the submission

  • You may include a brief, 3rd person bio in the appropriate box in Submittable

  • Each entrant will receive a one-year subscription to CCR, beginning with the issue featuring the contest winners

Judge: EJ Koh

Author of The Magical Language of Others (Tin House Books, 2020) and A Lesser Love (Pleiades Press, 2017)winner of the Pleiades Editors Prize for Poetry. Her poems, translations, stories have appeared in Academy of American PoetsBoston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, PEN America, Slate, and World Literature Today.  She has accepted fellowships from the American Literary Translators Association, Jack Straw Writers Program, Kundiman, MacDowell Colony, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, and Vermont Studio Center. Koh earned her MFA at Columbia University in New York for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. She is completing her PhD at the University of Washington in English Language and Literature.

Fiction Contest Guidelines:

  • Please send us one short story of up to 9,000 words in a single document (.doc, .docx, & .pdf are acceptable)

  • Please do not include your name anywhere in the submission

  • You may include a brief, 3rd person bio in the appropriate box in Submittable

  • Each entrant will receive a one-year subscription to CCR, beginning with the issue featuring the contest winners

Judge: Lucy Tan

Lucy Tan is author of the novel What We Were Promised, which was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and named a Best Book of 2018 by The Washington Post, Refinery 29, and Amazon. Her short fiction has been published in journals such as PloughsharesAsia Literary Review, and McSweeney’s. A recipient of fellowships from Kundiman and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, Lucy is originally from New Jersey and currently lives in Seattle.

ENTRY FEE: It is $15 to submit one entry. One entry fee includes a one-year subscription to our journal, which is normally $22. If you submit more than one entry, we’ll extend your subscription by one year. 

DEADLINE: August 1, 2020

https://uwm.edu/creamcityreview/contests/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Short Stories

minight & indigo

INFO: We are looking for previously unpublished, CHARACTER-DRIVEN fictional short stories written by Black women writers. All genres are welcome. Subject matter and plots can run the gamut, but we want emotion, grit, soul, and writing that forges an immediate connection with the reader.

DEADLINE: August 2, 2020

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit/165994/short-stories-submission-deadline-august-2nd

CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: HEARD/WORD

Galleyway

INFO: HEARD/WORD is Galleyway's new audio series highlighting compelling voices in poetry and prose. We invite you to share recordings of original poems and short fiction. Selected work will be showcased on our blog and social media platforms. Submissions should include:

  • MP3 recording of you reading your poetry (no longer than 3 minutes) or short fiction (no longer than 5 minutes)

  • Text version of the piece

  • A headshot 

  • A brief bio

  • Social media handles and link to website

Please send submissions to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://galleyway.com/blog/2020/3/31/call-for-audio-submissions

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

NNỌKỌ

INFO: Just like the name, NNỌKỌ is a gathering of African Literature and Art. We are always on the lookout for fresh literature and art from African Writers and Writers of Colour. If you write or create art, we would love to hear from you.

What Are We Looking For?

Our sole purpose is promoting the creativity that the African continent possesses by publishing pen wielders for readers around the globe and appreciators of art, because, what’s art without exposure?
We are looking for stories that have not often been told but should be — through voices that have not yet been heard — but should. We are interested in providing a home for stories that push the limits. Stories only you can write. Stories that give us a glimpse of just how colourful the pages of your imagination can be.

Compensation

Unfortunately, Nnoko is unable to pay contributors at this time. However, we are working hard to reach a position where contributors can receive compensation for their work.

What We Publish

  • Short Stories

  • Series

  • Poetry

  • Non-Fiction

  • Plays

  • Essays

We usually respond within 10–14 days of submission. If unfortunately your piece is rejected, then fret not! You can still send us something else from your arsenal. What we ask is that you kindly wait for another 14 days before sending in another work for consideration.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.nnoko.org/submissions/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Litehouse

INFO: Litehouse welcomes all ardent second-language English writers and poets to unfold their creativity, forge new words, and explore their linguistic self in an emotional and personally meaningful way.

– All submissions should be in English and include titlenamenationality, and a small bio (1-2 sentences) or your social media.
– For fiction/non-fiction, stories shouldn’t exceed 2000 words.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://tothelitehouse.com/submit/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Dear Loneliness

EX/POST Magazine

INFO: Dear Loneliness is an interactive art project. We are writing the longest letter in the world to fight loneliness.

STEP ONE: Write a letter—a real one, on paper—about loneliness. 

Or draw a portrait, compose a symphony, anything you feel best expresses your point. It can be just 50 words, though any length is fine, as long as we can transfer it to an A4-sized sheet of paper.

 Got writer's block? Us too. Here are a few things to think about: your mood, your high school, your strongest childhood memory, your relationship with your mother, your relationship with technology, your lack of relationships, what you like to do when home alone...

STEP TWO: Take a photo/scan and send us your letter—you can email, tag or DM us on social media, or upload to our secure form.

We want to stress that we do not record last names or any other identifying information. If you wish, you can sign up for our email list and hear about our research survey later in the year (along with other cool updates!), but this is completely optional.

STEP THREE: Follow our journey on social media and subscribe to our mailing list!

We will be updating the gallery with letters that have author approval to share, as well as posting updates on our social media and mailing list.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.dearloneliness.com/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: WRITE FOR CRWNMAG!

CRWN

INFO: We're on a mission to be the most beautiful and honest representation of Black women in the history of modern print. To that end, we're working with the best writers in the world to tell OUR story. If you're an exceptional writer with style and a point of view, we want to hear from you!

Please review our writing guidelines below before submitting your pitch HERE.

GUIDELINES

We are currently accepting pitches (200-250 words) for our digital platform in the following categories:

Watch: Film, TV, Internet 

Listen: Podcasts, Music, Playlists 

Art: Exhibits, Museums, Interviews

Business: Roundups, Features, Advice

Beauty: Product Reviews, Beauty News, Roundups, How-Tos, Photo Essays

Hair: How-Tos, Roundups, Product News, Photo Essays

Style: Street Style, Fashion Editorials

Travel: City Guides, Photo Essays

Books: Book Reviews, Roundups, Author Features/Interviews

Food: Recipes, Restaurant Reviews

Thought: “Hot Takes,” Personal Essays, Op-Eds

Family: Marriage, Relationships, Sex, Babies 

Health: Wellness, Fitness, Spirituality

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.crwnmag.com/blog/write

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee

INFO: The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee is launching Shalom/Salaam Publishing, and looking for written work (short stories, poetry, etc) and imagery (paintings, photos, illustrations, collage, etc) that transcends boundaries, brings people together, and inspires faith in humanity.

The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee (MJSC) is a grassroots organization guided by the Muslim and Jewish values of Peace שָׁלוֹם سلام, Learning علم‎‎ יֶדַע, and Charity زكاة‎‎ צדקה, to build meaningful relationships between all faiths, and to stand against hate through shared values and social action

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdku-rxQnpN8yB6vqnoRuDwKPnsxeOlThH6aWjts1f31Wabew/viewform

'AWAKE' ZINE SUBMISSION

Lucky Jefferson

INFO: Lucky Jefferson's new digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black and African American writers in American society. This digital zine will highlight poems, essays, and art from writers of color and the different opportunities and challenges of cultural assimilation in America, establishing identity and preserving culture, and the concept of double-consciousness. 

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.

GUIDELINES:

- Send no more than three poems in a submission. Poems should be submitted in a single file, with poems separated by titles or page breaks.

- If sharing an essay, include an essay with no more than 1500 words. 

- Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the Black experience is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).

- Include a cover page highlighting the poet’s name, email address, biography, and mailing address. Biographical statements should be two to three sentences or 50-75 words.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/167135/lucky-jefferson-awake-zine-submission

FICTION / NONFICTION -- JUNE 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

You Don’t Look Like a Professor!

INFO: The narrowly defined stereotype of the college professor as a white, cisgendered male has real-life implications for teaching and learning in higher education. Systemic obstacles facing marginalized scholars in all areas of academia are well documented but the scholarship of teaching and learning has been slow to respond in productive, practical ways to the classroom challenges of teaching and learning when you “don’t look like a professor.” This new anthology will be the first book to build on and move beyond the abundant empirical research, anecdotal evidence, and lived experiences of discrimination in academia to offer specific, actionable strategies for effective teaching and learning—strategies which fully take into account embodied identity and unequal teaching contexts.

Submission Guidelines: I am seeking short (5,000 words or less including notes) snappy chapters that draw on evidence-based scholarship about effective teaching, the science of learning, and wisdom of practice to describe specific, actionable pedagogical practices and teaching techniques. Your chapter title should clearly indicate what strategy, teaching tool, or recommendation you are making. For example: “Formative Student Feedback as a Strategy for Navigating Student Preconceptions” or “Cultivating Pedagogical Gratitude Practices While Fighting for Academic Equity.” Clear, engaging, and jargon-free writing is a must! Please submit your proposed chapters as a Word document email attachment.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

https://www.youdontlooklikeaprofessor.com/home?fbclid=IwAR1BvtmTljCYsOHGaV4ylwpcJf6p2omHU1oxAtbtaHK5M0jRKtzjiX1Kq4E



CALL FOR PAPERS: WORDS BEATS & LIFE: THE GLOBAL JOURNAL OF HIP-HOP CULTURE, SPECIAL ISSUE ON SOUTH AFRICA

INFO: South Africa was one of the first countries in Africa to embrace hip hop culture. Since the 1980s, hip hop culture has grown and spread throughout South Africa, where multiple hip hop communities have emerged across the country to shape distinctly South African hip hop cultures. All of the hip hop elements have strong representation in SouthAfrica, which still has one of the largest hip hop scenes on the continent. South Africa offers a lot of diverse themes and topics for in depth discussion when it comes to hip hop. This issue will explore many of those topics, and seeks submissions that address topics like:

  • The history of SA hip hop 

  • The role of gender & sexuality in South African hip hop music, breakdance, graffiti, and/or DJ culture

  • The role of race & ethnicity in South African hip hop culture

  • The role of NGOs and external donors

  • The role of mass media (radio stations, TV, publications, etc…)  

  • The role of language in South African hip hop 

  • Business and hip hop

  • The making of hip hop “moguls” 

  • The relationship between hip hop and the entertainment industry

  • The relationship between hip hop & kwaito

  • The growth of hip hop as an industry

  • The influence of South African hip hop globally 

  • The future of SA hip hop

  • The growth of hip hop community organizations & movements 

  • The politics of street art and graffiti

This issue of the journal, like many of the journal’s other issues, accepts submissions from scholars, artists, activists, and cultural critics.

* Scholarly research papers should be a minimum of 3,000 words and a maximum of 8,000 words (includes endnotes and reference list). All submissions designated as scholarly require an abstract that should not exceed 150 words in length. All scholarly submissions should be accompanied by five key words.

* Critical essays, or essays that explore the various perspectives on debate, should be 1,500 – 3,000 words.

* Scholarly reviews of books, albums, or films related to the topic, should be 1,000 to 2,000 words.

* Poetry should include no more than 3 poems. You must create a separate submission for each poem.

* Original artwork submissions should be limited to 3 pieces. Artwork should be submitted as low-resolution .jpg or PDF files. Artwork must include the following information: title of piece, year created, media, dimensions (in inches), location of the piece.

* Interviews should be 1,500 to 3,000 words.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

https://wblinc.org/callforsub

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AFROFUTURISM ISSUE

Speculative City

INFO: Every issue of Speculative City is defined by a distinct theme. We are excited to announce our Issue 9 theme will be Afrofuturism. Writer Stefani Cox and writer/visual artist Jacqueline Barnes will act as guest editors for this issue.

Definition of AFROFUTURISM:

  • literary works that use the frame of science fiction and fantasy to explore what Black futures could look like and to reimagine past and present experiences of the African diaspora

We are looking for afrofuturist fiction, poetry, and essays written by authors who are specifically of Black and/or African descent. And, as per usual, we seek provocative works that are centered within a cityscape. Writers published will be paid $20-$55 according to the category and length of their submission. We do not accept submissions exceeding 5500 words.

  • All submissions should be the original, unpublished work of the submitter.

  • We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if the submission has been accepted by another publication.

  • We do not accept multiple submissions for fiction or essays.

  • Please submit word (.doc, .docx) or rich text format (.rtf) files and format your submission according to our format guide.

  • Please send all inquiries to info @ speculativecity .com .

  • We try to respond to all submissions, but as a team of two, we may not always be able to.

Before submitting work, please also be familiar with our contract.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

http://www.speculativecity.com/submissions/

Works of Resistance, Resilience: Call for Submissions

About Place Journal

INFO: About Place Journal seeks submissions of creative non-fiction, poetry, fiction, hybrid work, video and artwork that explores the questions: How do we live and work towards a long-term dream for the continuation of our planet? How do we change our relationship to our earth; to each other to reflect social and economic equality?

We draw inspiration for this issue from a poem by the late Jayne Cortez, “There it is”:

“My friend / they don’t care /
They will try to exploit you /
absorb you   confine you /
or kill you.”

The Covid-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to look deeply into the mirror of our daily lives that reveal issues: lack of essential worker protections, lack of affordable health care, record level unemployment/underemployment, homelessness, Iack of protection for people in the shelters and those in systems of containment: prisoners, immigrants and their children.

Thousands have died worldwide, and the losses to families and communities are unquantifiable. The pandemic continues to disrupt our notions of “normal” in every aspect of life while becoming a window of opportunity through which those in power are advancing agendas that suit the interests of the one percent in opposition to the needs of the larger culture. How do we as artists and activists reflect on these times as we witness the disenfranchisement of poor, middle and working class people; further closing of borders; the ongoing, yet new economic turmoil; the continual erosion of land protections; the lack of water rights; and so many additional issues that face us?

We ask you consider the principal of Aya – a fern, in the Adinkra language. Aya is the Akan symbol for endurance and resourcefulness. It comes to mind when I think of our cultural and collective inheritance. In times of profound trouble in the West, we often look at other cultures such as African and Native cultures for examples of endurance. Resistance as a form of empowerment in a time where the average citizen must do something to save ourselves.

We have a profound opportunity to renew and reimagine our essential cultures, including our multiple relationships: to our planet, to our spiritual sources, to our family, to our friends, to our beliefs. As artists, what does it mean to be resilient in this time? We look forward to thinking with you about how art explores new ways of engagement in these times.

Editor: Jacqueline Johnson
Assistant Editors: Ifeona H. Fulani & Vida James

SUBMISSION PERIOD: June 1 - August 1, 2020

https://aboutplacejournal.org/submissions/

LITERARY ARTS RESIDENCY PROGRAM

The Studios of Key West

INFO: The Studios offers a residency program for emerging and established artists and writers designed to encourage creative, intellectual and personal growth. The program grants nearly 35 artists each year the time and space to imagine new artistic work, engage in valuable dialogue and explore island connections.

The Studios’ residency program is community-based and built upon the hope that visiting artists will take inspiration from Key West’s rich artistic past and present, and will engage with — and be inspired by — the remarkable people and culture that surrounds them.

Key West’s official motto, “One Human Family” reflects our commitment to living together as caring, sharing neighbors dedicated to making our home as close to paradise as we can. To that end, we encourage artists of all races, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities to apply.

Residencies are almost a full month, and run from the 16th of the month through the 14th of the next.

ENTRY FEE: $40

DEADLINE: June 8, 2020

https://tskw.slideroom.com/#/Login

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Malasaña

INFO: Malasaña is an online arts magazine established in New England in 2019. We currently publish bi-annually. We are interested in writing that shows a love for language, experimentation, and craftsmanship. We want urgent & diverse voices, especially voices from historically-silenced peoples. 

We accept fiction, poetry, translation, and visual art submissions.  

  • For fiction, please submit up to 2,500 words. We will occasionally accept a longer piece if we really feel it fits with our intent.  

  • For poetry, please submit three to five poems, all in a single document.   

  • For art, all images should be 300 dpi.   

  • Translations of poems and flash fiction are welcome. Translator should have written permission from original author.   

  • Please include a brief bio in your submitted document.   

All work should be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine―we ask that you let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere. Please include a short third-person bio in your cover letter. 

SUBMISSION FEE: $2

DEADLINE: June 10, 2020

https://malasanamagazine.submittable.com/submit

Convening in the Ark: Black & Sacred Sites of Revelation 

Root Work Journal

INFO: Root Work Journal, grounded within the Ark, imagines this time of quarantine as a route and portal to convene with the sacred postures of our ancestors: to comfort, to dream, to manifest.

We invite those of us who are conscious of our proximities to the ship to convene around rebellion, fugitivity, marronage, and other less apparent survival strategies that will sustain our spirits. We are hoping to gather pieces that help us re-member how we contend with the ongoing violence of the ship while also transitioning into new conceptual and physical worlds. 

So with expediency, we seek to honor the ancestors' call to action: we invite you to convene with us in the Ark. We call for papers, poems, meditations and writings that guide us from societal collapse into new worlds. We invite you to think deeply and lovingly in responding to the following paradigms: 

Abolition: Rebelling against the hopium of schooling:

  • How schooling seasons us to define optimism as “hoping against hope” that a mechanism built on the bones of our people will someday be our salvation

  • Resistance to schooling as a form or act of mental health

  • The necessity to reframe our depression and desires to end our lives as emanating from an underlying necessity to end the world in which we suffer

  • Teachers’ allegiance to schooling amidst societal collapse

Fugitivity: Detaching from the forces that keep us captive 

  • Re-conceptualizing growth in a culture of neoliberalism: growth does not always or necessarily mean "up" (i.e. stock market, test scores, degrees obtained) or even “more”; growth can refer to vital pathways that are oriented down (i.e. roots into the earth, from the womb to birth)

  • Success in the plantation lessening one’s likelihood to leave it or recognize it as such  

Marronage: Fugitive Movements from bondage and replications of alternative worldviews (Jamal-Wright, 2019)

  • How school achievement disintegrates Black communal connections

  • Intergenerational dialogues that explore the comingling of our love of learning with the project of schooling

  • The Sacredness of Black educational convenings

  • Who and what are necessary for the inevitable journey of the Ark (the vehicle) that transitions us from the ending of one world into a new one

Unknown, Unarchived and Uncaptured

  • We invite the community to offer reflections, works of art, and other testimonies about our Ark that speak beyond the suggested paradigms.

Curators for this special issue include: Cindy Bonaparte, Marcelo Clark, Sheryll Germany, Ernest Hardy, LeShawn Darnell Holcomb, Stephen Jamal Leeper, Leslie Poston, Tonesha Russell, Melanie Tervalon, Jas Wade, Deaidre White

For written entries, we ask that writers submit original pieces of work up to 10,000 words in length. 

(we prefer original pieces, but we are open to hosting work from journals that allow for concurrent submissions)​

DEADLINE: June 12, 2020 

https://www.rootworkjournal.org/calls

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Tint Journal

INFO: Tint showcases the original work of writers for whom English is a second or non-native language. Short stories, essays, flash and poetry will only be accepted by writers who have learned or acquired the English language after being fluent in another language and within an open call for submissions. Reviews, interviews, and profiles focusing on ESL writers are welcome year-round by writers of all linguistic backgrounds. Art submissions are accepted within an open call for submissions only. 

How can I submit my work?

  • We exclusively accept creative writing and art submissions which reach us within the period of an open call for submissions.
    Interviews, reviews, profiles and essays on ESL writing are accepted year-round.

  • Please name your document [Genre]_[Last Name]_[Title], e.g. Poetry_Miller_The Rose.

  • Provide your submission with a title page, indicating your name, first language, second language(s), nationality, category, title of your piece, contact information (e-mail), and day of submission. Put page numbers on all following pages.

  • All submissions should be sent to submissions@tintjournal.com. If this form of submission represents an obstacle to the writer, please contact the journal via info@tintjournal.com.

  • We prefer doc and docx files. In case your submissions requires special formatting, we also accept pdf files.

  • For length and content, read through the “Original creations by ESL writers” and the “Creations by writers of any kind” guidelines below.

  • Allow for a time period of up to 20 days between the end of a call and an answer.

What kind of submissions does Tint accept?

  • Please submit only previously unpublished pieces. If you have a previously published piece that fits our mission, please contact us via info@tintjournal.com.

  • Translations will not be accepted. It should be an original creation in English. However, the work can feature words or passages in the writer’s original language.

  • For creative prose submissions (fiction or nonfiction), please submit one piece (short story or essay) between 1,000 and 4,000 words.

  • For flash (fiction or nonfiction) submissions, please submit one piece. It should not exceed 800 words.

  • For poetry submissions, please submit one poem. If the poem has subsections, mark them clearly in your document. A poem should not exceed four C4, A4 or Letter pages in length.

SUBMISSION FEE: $0

DEADLINE: June 12, 2020

https://tintjournal.com/submit/submission-guidelines

NARRATIVE PRIZE

Narrative

INFO: The Narrative Prize is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative.

The prize is announced each September and is given to the best work published each year in Narrative by a new or emerging writer, as judged by the magazine’s editors. In some years, the prize may be divided between winners, when more than one work merits the award.

AWARD: $4,000

DEADLINE: June 15, 2020

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/node/421?uid=103566&m=1e32f865664fcc3ea1affc353d055dc6&d=1559323196

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ISSUE FOUR

The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism

INFO: The journal is issuing a call for submissions in the three categories of scholarly articles, poems, and prose (fiction, nonfiction, and experimental) dealing with themes in Gloria Anzaldua’s thought, including nepantla, spirituality, heteronormativity, Latinx identity, patriarchy, colonialism, mestizaje, and writing as a form of resistance.

Those interested in submission guidelines and learning more about the journal should refer to the journal’s website,  www.journallcf.org

Submissions outside of the thematic area of Anzaldua’s work will also be considered.

Fiction: Works should not exceed 1,500 words. We will also consider Flash Fiction pieces. Multiple submissions should not exceed 1,500 word count and should be submitted in one document.

Nonfiction: Works should not exceed 1,500 words. We will also consider Flash Nonfiction pieces. Multiple submissions should not exceed 1,500 word count and should be submitted in one document. 

Scholarly Articles: Formal and academic articles that range between 5,000 to 8,000 word count.

The journal will provide a voice for the articulation of feminist and social justice concerns from a Latina perspective, broadly construed to include Latinas in the U.S., Latin America, and other countries. The journal will be an online, open access, peer-reviewed academic journal that considers narrative and poetic entries as legitimate forms of scholarly feminist analyses. We particularly welcome proposals for creating social orders in which both women and men can equally and autonomously promote a planetary ethic that expresses moral concern for all inhabitants of the earth community. Perhaps most of all, the journal will strive to exemplify the highest standards of intellectual and moral integrity and fairness. We believe that the true potential of feminism will never be realized unless these ideals are embraced and implemented.

SUBMISSION FEE: $3

DEADLINE: June 15, 2020

https://journallcf.submittable.com/submit

Sheltering Stories: NYC Teens Talk About COVID-19

City Dreams Press

INFO: New York City teens, we want to hear from you! Send us your personal essays, photography, and artwork in response to Covid-19. How is it affecting you? What are your thoughts, feelings, and observations? What do you see in your neighborhoods? How are you coping with sheltering in place?

City Dreams Press invites submissions from New York City teenagers age 12-18 for an upcoming e-book “Sheltering Stories: Teen Talk on COVID-19”.

GUIDELINES:

  • Personal essays: up to 1,500 words

  • Poetry: 3-5 poems

  • Photography or artwork: 3-5 images

DEADLINE: June 15, 2020

https://www.citydreamspress.com/

PEN/HEIM TRANSLATION FUND

PEN America

INFO: The PEN/Heim Translation Fund was established in the summer of 2003 by an endowed gift of $730,000 from Michael Henry Heim and Pricilla Heim, in response to the dismayingly low number of literary translations currently appearing in English. Its purpose is to promote the publication and reception of translated international literature in English. As of 2015, each grant recipient receives a copy of The Man Between: Michael Henry Heim and a Life in Translation, generously provided by Open Letter Books.  

Thanks to the generosity of Michael Henry Heim and Pricilla Heim’s endowment, PEN America has awarded grants to almost 200 winning projects. From 2009, the Fund’s annual contribution for grant awards has been augmented by support from Amazon. The Fund has been uniquely successful in finding publishers for major international works, encouraging younger translators to enter the field, and introducing English-speaking readers to new and exciting voices. All other criteria being equal, preference is given to translators at the beginning of their career, and to works by underrepresented writers working in underrepresented languages.

Over the 16 years of its existence, the Fund has given grants of $2,000–$4,000 to nearly 200 translations from over 35 languages, including Armenian, Basque, Estonian, Farsi, Finland-Swedish, Lithuanian and Mongolian, as well as French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. Among the 108 projects awarded grants in the Fund’s first 13 years of operation (2004–2016), 91 (nearly 70 percent) have thus far been published or are forthcoming from a publisher. Many of those books found their publishers as a result of being awarded a grant by the Fund. In addition to being excerpted and favorably reviewed in a host of magazines including The New YorkerThe New York Review of BooksGrantaThe Paris ReviewWords Without BordersThe Literary ReviewMandorla, and many others, about 20 percent of the published PEN/Heim Translation Fund projects have won or been shortlisted for major literary awards.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • The PEN/Heim Translation Fund provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation.

  • Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion.

  • There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English.

  • The Fund seeks to encourage translators to undertake projects they might not otherwise have had the means to attempt.

  • Works with multiple translators, literary criticism, and scholarly or technical texts do not qualify.

  • Translators who have previously been awarded grants by the Fund are ineligible to reapply for three years after the year in which they receive a grant.

  • Please note that projects that have been previously submitted and have not received a grant are unlikely to be reconsidered in a subsequent year. 

  • Projects may have up to two translators. 

  • Translators may only submit one project per year. 

DEADLINE: Extended to June 15, 2020

https://pen.org/pen-heim-grants/?mc_cid=2843f611d3&mc_eid=d562c31e56

FICTION with INGRID ROJAS CONTRERAS

ZYZZYVA

INFO: As we all adhere to social distancing and sheltering in place in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, ZYZZYVA will continue to offer our Writer's Workshops, in a slightly altered format. These three-hour courses will be conducted over Zoom's conferencing service, and will be limited to five students. Courses will include a craft discussion from the instructor, as well as traditional workshop-style group discussion of the attendees’ submitted work. Following the Workshop, attendees will also be sent a page of feedback on the submitted work from the instructor.   

Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her first novel Fruit of the Drunken Tree (Doubleday) is an Indie Next selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and a New York Times editor's choice. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times MagazineBuzzfeedNylon, and Guernica, among others. Rojas Contreras has received numerous awards and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, VONA, Hedgebrook, The Camargo Foundation, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. She is the book columnist for KQED, the Bay Area's NPR affiliate. She teaches writing at the University of San Francisco, and works with immigrant high school students as part of a San Francisco Arts Commission initiative bringing writers into public schools. 

Submission Guidelines: Please submit a fiction manuscript (short story, flash, or novel excerpt) of no more than 2,500 words (roughly 10 pages double-spaced). Make sure it is a manuscript you wish to discuss in the Workshop itself.

APPLICATION FEE: $15. Accepted applicants will be informed by July 10th. If accepted, the fee to attend is $150.

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Deadline: June 19, 2020

  • Fiction Workshop: July 18, 2020

https://zyzzyva.submittable.com/submit/154774/fiction-with-ingrid-rojas-contreras

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SHORT FICTION & LITERARY REVIEWS / ESSAYS

Bengaluru Review

INFO: Bengaluru Review is an online monthly publication. We welcome unsolicited submissions of poetry, prose, art, and book reviews, not necessarily that order. We request you to read our submission guidelines intently before submitting them.

Short-fiction

  • Age, theme, and genre are no barriers.

  • Please submit only up to 2 pieces of work (1-2) per submission. Short-story (fiction) and flash fiction are both allowed.

  • The word limit for short-fiction is 5,000 words and flash fiction is 1,000 words. There are no minimum word limit.

  • Please send in your entries in a single document attached in either of the following formats ONLY: .doc, .docx.

  • We suggest that submissions be formatted with 12 pt. Times New Roman or Garamond type.

  • Simultaneous submission is allowed. We request you to immediately notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere.

  • Please submit only once per reading period. You can submit again in the next reading period.

  • Multiple submissions are considered if they pertain to different categories (poetry, fiction, etc.).

  • Blank e-mails with no body will not be read. Please add a cover letter into the body of the email that includes your first and last name, email address, the title of your work(s), and a brief bio (strictly under 100 words or less).

  • Please include an author photograph in a high-resolution landscape mode. You can attach up to 2-3 pictures. Please note that the minimum dimensions of a photo should be at least 800 x 420 pixels (W x H).

  • We undergo a "blind" submission process. Personal information should not appear anywhere in the attached document(s).

Literary Reviews and Essays

  • Age, theme, genre are no barriers.

  • Please submit up to 2 pieces of work (1-2) per submission.

  • The maximum word limit is 3000 words. Reviews exceeding the word limit may also be considered if adjudged exceptional.

  • Please send in your review attached in either of the following formats ONLY: .doc, .docx.

  • We suggest that submissions be formatted with 12 pt. Times New Roman or Garamond type.

  • Simultaneous submission is allowed. We request you to immediately notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere.

  • Please submit only once per reading period. You can submit again in the next reading period.

  • Multiple submissions are considered if they pertain to different categories (poetry, fiction, etc.).

  • Blank e-mails with no body will not be read. Please add a cover letter into the body of the email that includes your first and last name, email address, the title of your work(s), and a brief bio (strictly under 100 words or less).

  • Please include an author photograph in a high-resolution landscape mode. You can attach up to 2-3 pictures. Please note that the minimum dimensions of a photo should be at least 800 x 420 pixels (W x H).

  • We undergo a "blind" submission process. Personal information should not appear anywhere in the attached document(s).

READING PERIOD: June 20 - July 5, 2020

https://bengalurureview.com/page/submission-guidelines

Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award

Sisters in Crime

INFO: The Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award is an annual grant of $2,000 for an emerging writer of color.

This grant is intended to support the recipient in crime fiction writing and career development activities. The grantee may choose to use the grant for activities that include workshops, seminars, conferences, and retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of the work.

An unpublished writer is preferred, however publication of several pieces of short fiction and/or up to two self-published or traditionally published books will not disqualify an applicant.

You can read the complete press release here.

Requirements For Application

  • An unpublished work of crime fiction. This may be a short story or first chapter(s) of a manuscript in-progress, 2,500 to 5,000 words.

  • A resume or biographical statement.

  • A cover letter that gives a sense of the applicant as an emerging writer in the genre and briefly states how the grant money would be used. No prior writing or publishing experience is required, but the applicant should include any relevant studies or experience.

DEADLINE: Extended to June 22, 2020

https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/EleanorTaylorBland?fbclid=IwAR0K6rB3Ip3V3zG32Ch1_fo0G6Sb3xzWHw2Vj2OT98KOfflq7suqyGbQne4

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Speculative Fiction/Horror Issue

midnight & indigo

INFO: We are looking for previously unpublished, character-driven, speculative short stories written by Black women writers.

Speculative fiction is a broad genre encompassing fiction with certain elements that do not exist in the real world, often in the context of supernatural, futuristic or other imaginative themes. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, fairytale fantasy, and supernatural fiction.  

  • Stories must meet our minimum 1,400 word count requirement.  Please include the word count at the top of your submission.

  • All submissions will be considered for publication in our Speculative fiction special issue, scheduled to be published in October 2020 (online and/or print).

  • We offer $75 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on midnightandindigo.com.

DEADLINE: June 28, 2020

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit/159595/speculative-fiction-horror-issue-only-submission-deadline-june-28th

Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for Women

INFO: Named in honour of Zeenat Haroon Rashid (21 Jan 1928 - 8 April 2017), a founding member of the Womens National Guard at the time of Independence, a prize of Rs 100,000 (1 Lakh) is awarded annually through a competition for writing in English on the theme of Women and Pakistan. 

The competition is open to all women of Pakistani nationality or Pakistani heritage (with CNIC or NICOP) aged 18 and above and entries must be original, previously unpublished works of no more than 3000 words. The genre will alternate each year between short-story fiction and non-fiction. The entry should address any aspect of  Women and Pakistan and the judges will look for a piece of writing with a strong, personal voice.

The Competition is open to all women over the age of 18  of Pakistani nationality or Pakistani heritage with a valid CNIC, NICOP or Pakistani passport. The competition is open to both professional and unpublished writers. No family member, relative or close associate of  Zeenat Haroon Rashid may enter. No previous competition winner may enter for two years subsequent to her win. A submission that has been long listed  for the ZHR Prize in any year may not be re-submitted in a subsequent year.

The theme of the competition is WOMEN AND PAKISTAN but your submission should have its own original TITLE. The genre for 2020 is NON-FICTION. Entries should be prose writing in the form of memoir, biography, or narrative or polemical essay. No short stories are permissible this year. Entries must be in English and be no more than 3000 words in length.  

The submission must be the individual and original work of a sole author which has not previously been broadcast or published, in print or online. The submitted work may not be a winning or shortlisted work in any other competition or a translation or re-working of a previously published piece by the author or another author’s work. By submitting an entry you are confirming that the work is your own. Any evidence to the contrary will result in immediate disqualification and a permanent ban on the offending author for future competitions.

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://www.zhrwritingprize.com/how-to-enter

Autumn House Fiction Contest

INFO: For the 2020 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Dan Chaon. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $2,500. The submission period opens January 1, 2020, and closes June 30, 2020 (Eastern Time).

  • The winners will receive book publication, $1,000 advance against royalties, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book.

  • All finalists will be considered for publication

  • Fiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 double-spaced pages (50,000- 75,000 words)

  • The reading fee for the Fiction Contest is $30

  • All fiction sub-genres (short stories, short-shorts, novellas, or novels) or any combination of sub-genres are eligible

  • Submission should be previously unpublished

  • Please don’t include your name anywhere on the actual MS

  • Include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable

  • Feel free to include a TOC and acknowledgments page

  • Simultaneous submissions permitted

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/fiction/

Autumn House Nonfiction Contest

INFO: For the 2020 contest, the Autumn House staff serves as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Jaquira Díaz. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $2,500. The submission period opens January 1, 2020, and closes June 30, 2020 (Eastern Time).

  • The winners will receive book publication, $1,000 advance against royalties, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book

  • All finalists will be considered for publication

  • Nonfiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 double-spaced pages (50,000-75,000 words)

  • The reading fee for the Nonfiction Contest is $30

  • All nonfiction subjects (including personal essays, memoirs, travel writing, historical narratives, nature writing) or any combination of subjects are eligible

  • Submission should be previously unpublished

  • Please don’t include your name anywhere on the actual MS

  • Include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable

  • Feel free to include a TOC and acknowledgments page

  • Simultaneous submissions permitted

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/fiction/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SUMMER 2020 PRINT ISSUE

Serendipity Literary Magazine

INFO: We are particularly interested in work that grapples with the intersections of race, gender, disability, and sexuality in our current socio-political climate. LGBTQ BIPOC are strongly encouraged to submit. Please do not submit if you do not identify as BIPOC.

Serendipity is a literary journal specializing in poetry, prose, and art that engages with issues of race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and intersecting identities. We seek work that explores, celebrates, and interrogates all aspects of our identities; and work that delights and beguiles our readerly sensibilities. Formerly an online journal, we are now publishing an annual print publication featuring fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Our goal is to publish exciting work that amplifies marginalized voices, particularly that of same-gender loving BIPOC.

GUIDELINES:

  • Writers: We accept prose submissions under 5,000 words and no more than three (3) poems, in either .doc or .docx format. Please use 12pt font, 1-inch margins, and number your pages. Include your last name, genre, title of work, and email in the header.

  • Artists: Please submit up to six images in separate files.

  • All work must be previously unpublished. This includes blogs and other online publications.

  • Cover letters are optional.

  • Please include a current bio of no more than 100 words written in third person.

  • We accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us immediately if work you submitted has been accepted elsewhere.

Contributors will receive one free copy of the print journal and $15 as payment remitted via PayPal.

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

http://serendipitylitmag.org/submit/

CALL FOR CHAPBOOK SUBMISSIONS

Paper Monster Press

INFO: Paper Monster Press, a bilingual publishing and a quarterly no-garage indie transgenre zine, is seeking chapbook submissions.

Send 13-30 pages of poetry, micro/flash fiction, essays in Filipino or English to papermonsterpress@gmail.com

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://www.facebook.com/papermonsterpress/photos/a.191879894184936/3183062301733332/?type=3&theater

CALL FOR CHILDREN’S BOOK Manuscripts

Paper Monster Press

INFO: Paper Monster Press, a bilingual publishing and a quarterly no-garage indie transgenre zine, is seeking children’s book manuscripts

Send manuscripts in Filipino or English to papermonsterpress@gmail.com

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://www.facebook.com/papermonsterpress/photos/a.191879894184936/3213391822033713/?type=3&theater

WALTER GRANT

We Need Diverse Books

INFO: The Walter Grants provide financial support to promising diverse writers who are currently unpublished.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Applicants must identify as diverse (defined below).

  • Applicants must be unpublished as illustrators and/or authors. This includes both trade publishing and self-publishing. If the applicant has a book deal for an as yet unpublished book, the applicant is considered published for purposes of this grant. Essays, short stories, and articles do not render an applicant ineligible.

  • Applicant must be working toward a career as a children’s author and/or illustrator. This includes but is not limited to: Picture Books, Early Reader Books, Chapter Books, Middle Grade Books, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Non-Fiction, Poetry.

  • Applicant must be a U.S, resident or a refugee living in the States. (Note for refugee applicants: receiving a grant might affect your income limitations and any government assistance you may receive. You may want to reach out to appropriate officials, like an immigration attorney, for advice.)

  • Applicant must be at least 18 years in age.

WHAT IS MEANT BY DIVERSE?

Applicants must identify as one or more of the following:

  • Person of color

  • Native American

  • LGBTQIA+

  • Person with a disability

  • Marginalized religious or cultural minority

Please note:

  • The applicant themselves must be diverse. Being married to, a parent of, or a sibling of a diverse person, or being someone who has grown up with diverse people, will not qualify an otherwise ineligible applicant.

  • Work submitted for consideration of the Walter Grant must not be work currently on submission. If the work being considered for the Walter Grant subsequently goes on submission, applicant is required to notify the Walter Grant committee.

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://diversebooks.org/our-programs/walter-grant/submission-guidelines/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Variety Pack

INFO: For the rest of the month of June we will be only seeking to publish Black LGBTQIA+ voices for our special issue: Black Voices of Pride 

Check out the info from our special issues pages:

At Variety Pack we know we can do more as a journal and we want to do more. In an effort to show solidarity with the amazing Black voices in the LGTBQIA+ Community. For the rest of June we will be taking submissions exclusively from Black LGBTQIA+ creatives. Joining us on our team for this special issue, will be our guest editor Dior J. Stephens!

We are taking submissions in all categories; flash fiction, short fiction, poetry, cnf/essays, visual art/mixed media.

Also for this special issue we will be adding a donations button to our website, where the proceeds will go to paying our contributors and guest editor as well!

Please submit to the following email: varietypackblmpride@gmail.com.

Please be sure to refer to our submission guidelines below: but remember the emails to send to don’t apply to this, please send to the one listed above^^^

Also along with the guidelines provided below, please put in your subject line: Name: Genre – “Title” (For ex: Gerry: Flash Fiction – “Something, Something, Something”)

DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

https://varietypack.net/submissions-2/

RESIDENCY

Vermont Studio Center

INFO: Each month, VSC welcomes over 50 artists and writers from across the country around the world to our historic campus in northern Vermont.

All of our residencies include:

  • A private room in modest, shared housing

  • 24-hour access to a private studio space in one of our 6 medium-specific studio buildings

  • 3 communal meals per day (plus fresh fruit, coffee/tea/cold beverages, and cereal available around the clock) 

Most residents stay with us for 1 month, so our sessions adhere to a 4-week calendar; however, residencies can be scheduled in 2-week increments ranging from 2 to 12 weeks if a shorter or longer stay better suits your needs.

FELLOWSHIPS FOR WRITERS INCLUDE:

Henry David Thoreau Fellowship
One (1) fellowship for a poet whose creative work directly engages environmental issues and embodies the life, work, and spirit of Henry David Thoreau.

ELIGIBILITY NOTE: To be considered, please include a brief statement (250 words or less) that describes how your poetry engages environmental issues and embodies the life, work, and spirit of Henry David Thoreau. 

VSC/Cave Canem Fellowship
One (1) 4-week fellowship for a Cave Canem Fellow. Includes $1,000 stipend. The $25 application fee is waived for eligible applicants.

ELIGIBILITY NOTE: Please indicate in the application when you were a Cave Canem Fellow.

VSC/Kundiman Fellowship
One (1) 4-week fellowship for a Kundiman Fellow. Includes $1,000 stipend. The $25 application fee is waived for eligible applicants.

ELIGIBILITY NOTE: Please indicate in the application when you were a Kundiman Fellow.

DEADLINE: Extended to June 30, 2020

vermontstudiocenter.org/residencies

Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

INFO: The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean will be awarded to the best fictive short story by a writer from the Caribbean.

Stories must be original fiction. Word count: 1,200 words or less.

PRIZES AND PUBLICATION:

  • A $500 US cash prize

  • BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean

  • Winning writer will receive an official profile on the BCLF website

  • The winning story will be published in the leading e-newspaper for Caribbean culture and affairs, New York Carib News

  • Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/eligibility-submission-guidelines-caribbean-nationals

Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer's Prize

Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival

INFO: This prize will be given to the best short story by an unpublished writer of Caribbean heritage or of Caribbean descent in the North American diaspora. Writers’ fiction must not have appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more.

Stories must be original fiction. Word count: 1,200 words or less.

PRIZES AND PUBLICATION:

  • A $500 US cash prize

  • The BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers Award

  • Winning writer will receive official profile on the BCLF website

  • The winning story will be published in the leading e-newspaper for Caribbean culture and affairs, New York Carib News

  • Annual Membership to the The Center for Fiction

  • Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://www.bklyncbeanlitfest.com/eligibility-submission-guidelines-3

Latinx Lit Celebration guest edited by Ruben Quesada

[PANK]

INFO: We will be publishing poetry, prose, non/traditional, and media by Latinx writers to raise awareness of the breadth of their experiences and talents. If you identify as Latinx and would like your work to be considered for publication, please submit by July 1 using the following guidelines:

For poetry:

  • Up to 3 poems

  • Include all poems in a single file

  • Begin each new poem on a new page

For prose:

  • Up to 3,000 words of fiction or non-fiction

For Non/Traditional or Media:

  • Use MP3 or MP4 only, with a file size under 60MB.

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://pankmagazine.submittable.com/submit/166847/latinx-lit-celebration-guest-edited-by-ruben-quesada

Call for Work: To Speak as a Flower: A Folio of Performance Writing

Anomaly

INFO: Anomaly invites previously unpublished submissions of poems, prose, playwriting, video, art, and hybrid genres of work that might fall under a broad rubric of performance writing. We embrace this term’s wide scope, encompassing everything from Don Mee Choi’s turn to playwriting conventions in “Hardly Opera” (from which we draw our title) and jayy dodd’s scene in Anomaly‘s issue 26 folio Radical : Avant Garde Poets of Color, to Tatsumi Hijikata’s dance notations and Duriel Harris’ musical scores as poems.

We are interested in work that uses performance as one of its tools, work which is made possible by a relationship to performance — even if that performance never happens, or imagines impossible commitments. What forms might such composition take if it followed Etel Adnan’s provocation that “memory and theatre work in similar ways,” or if it pursued a stage “more open to different ways of moving” (as Hilton Als has characterized Adrienne Kennedy’s work)? We are committed to promoting the work of marginalized and underrepresented artists, including by Black, Indigenous, and other artists of color, as well as, disabled, neurodivergent, women, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming artists — and we wonder whether this form might be especially useful for these artists!

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://medium.com/anomalyblog/call-for-work-to-speak-as-a-flower-a-folio-of-performance-writing-63d1b9193564

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: People of Color Destroy Lovecraft 

The Were-Traveler

INFO: Lovecraft wrote some hella scary monsters, on that most horror scholars agree, but he was terribly racist. I would like to see for this issue, POC characters that turn Lovecraft's racism and monsters on his/their heads. My preference for this issue is to have the majority of stories written by writers of color, if not all. Queer writers of color are especially encouraged to submit. 

Flash/shorts (750-1500 words. No more, no less) for $10 per piece original, previously unpublished. Microfics (350-749 words) will pay at a $5 per story rate for original, previously unpublished stories.  

Reprints will be accepted on this one. BUT will pay at a $5 rate for flash/shorts (750-1500 words) and $3 for microfics (350-749 words). You must identify your story as a reprint on the cover page of the manuscript and provide the market and date (mo/yr) where it was last published. 

Please follow instructions on the Guidelines page and include your name, PayPal email, and word count (total, not approximate) on the first page of your story document. 

DEADLINE: July 1, 2020

https://the-were-traveler.weebly.com/submissions-call.html

CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: HEARD/WORD

Galleyway

INFO: HEARD/WORD is Galleyway's new audio series highlighting compelling voices in poetry and prose. We invite you to share recordings of original poems and short fiction. Selected work will be showcased on our blog and social media platforms. Submissions should include:

  • MP3 recording of you reading your poetry (no longer than 3 minutes) or short fiction (no longer than 5 minutes)

  • Text version of the piece

  • A headshot 

  • A brief bio

  • Social media handles and link to website

Please send submissions to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://galleyway.com/blog/2020/3/31/call-for-audio-submissions

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Litehouse

INFO: Litehouse welcomes all ardent second-language English writers and poets to unfold their creativity, forge new words, and explore their linguistic self in an emotional and personally meaningful way.

– All submissions should be in English and include titlenamenationality, and a small bio (1-2 sentences) or your social media.
– For fiction/non-fiction, stories shouldn’t exceed 2000 words.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://tothelitehouse.com/submit/

Call for Submissions: Write for CRWNMAG!

CRWN

INFO: We're on a mission to be the most beautiful and honest representation of Black women in the history of modern print. To that end, we're working with the best writers in the world to tell OUR story. If you're an exceptional writer with style and a point of view, we want to hear from you!

Please review our writing guidelines below before submitting your pitch HERE.

GUIDELINES

We are currently accepting pitches (200-250 words) for our digital platform in the following categories:

Watch: Film, TV, Internet 

Listen: Podcasts, Music, Playlists 

Art: Exhibits, Museums, Interviews

Business: Roundups, Features, Advice

Beauty: Product Reviews, Beauty News, Roundups, How-Tos, Photo Essays

Hair: How-Tos, Roundups, Product News, Photo Essays

Style: Street Style, Fashion Editorials

Travel: City Guides, Photo Essays

Books: Book Reviews, Roundups, Author Features/Interviews

Food: Recipes, Restaurant Reviews

Thought: “Hot Takes,” Personal Essays, Op-Eds

Family: Marriage, Relationships, Sex, Babies 

Health: Wellness, Fitness, Spirituality

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://www.crwnmag.com/blog/write

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee

INFO: The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee is launching Shalom/Salaam Publishing, and looking for written work (short stories, poetry, etc) and imagery (paintings, photos, illustrations, collage, etc) that transcends boundaries, brings people together, and inspires faith in humanity.

The Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee (MJSC) is a grassroots organization guided by the Muslim and Jewish values of Peace שָׁלוֹם سلام, Learning علم‎‎ יֶדַע, and Charity زكاة‎‎ צדקה, to build meaningful relationships between all faiths, and to stand against hate through shared values and social action

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdku-rxQnpN8yB6vqnoRuDwKPnsxeOlThH6aWjts1f31Wabew/viewform

'Awake' Zine Submission

Lucky Jefferson

INFO: Lucky Jefferson's new digital zine Awake seeks to amplify the experiences and perspectives of Black and African American writers in American society. This digital zine will highlight poems, essays, and art from writers of color and the different opportunities and challenges of cultural assimilation in America, establishing identity and preserving culture, and the concept of double-consciousness. 

Upon acceptance, submissions will be included on our website and publicized on social media.

GUIDELINES:

- Send no more than three poems in a submission. Poems should be submitted in a single file, with poems separated by titles or page breaks.

- If sharing an essay, include an essay with no more than 1500 words. 

- Send no more than three pieces of art. Artwork that offers social commentary on the Black experience is highly preferred (We love comics and collage pieces!).

- Include a cover page highlighting the poet’s name, email address, biography, and mailing address. Biographical statements should be two to three sentences or 50-75 words.

DEADLINE: Ongoing

https://luckyjefferson.submittable.com/submit/167135/lucky-jefferson-awake-zine-submission

FICTION / NON FICTION -- MAY 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hispanecdotes

INFO: Hispanecdotes - a magazine providing a platform for Latino writers to share their stories, poetry, and personal essays - is excited to announce the theme of our very first print issue: Ascendencia to be published in October 2020! We are interested in essays, poems, and flash fiction up to 1500 words pertaining to the theme.

Limit for submissions: no more than 2 full prose and/or 3 poems.

DEADLINE: May 1, 2020

http://hispanecdotes.com/ascendenciasubmissions/

LITERARY ARTS TOURING GRANT

South Arts

INFO: The Literary Arts Touring grant program offers presenting organizations the opportunity to receive financial support to engage Southern writers (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry) who reside outside of the presenter’s state. Support is awarded to literary projects that contain both a public reading and an educational component such as a writing workshop. The project can include a single engagement by a writer or multiple writers involved in an event (for example, writers series or festivals). The maximum request is 50% of the writers’ fees, up to a total grant of $2,500. Each writer is required to fully-participate in the reading and educational/outreach component.

Projects must take place between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.

DEADLINE: May 1, 2020 by 11:59 PM ET

https://www.southarts.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/literary-arts-touring/https://www.southarts.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/literary-arts-touring/

THE RESTLESS BOOKS PRIZE FOR NEW IMMIGRANT WRITING

INFO: The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing For will be awarded for an outstanding debut literary work by a first-generation immigrant. We’re looking for extraordinary unpublished submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses identity in a global age. A distinguished panel of judges will select a winning manuscript to be published by Restless Books.

Fiction manuscripts must be complete. All submissions must be in English (translations welcome). 

Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. “First-generation” can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere.

Fiction candidates must not have previously published a book of fiction in English. Nonfiction candidates must not have previously published a book of nonfiction in English. We encourage applicants to look at the other titles Restless has published and previous contest winners to get a sense of our aesthetic.

Submitted manuscripts may be simultaneously under consideration for publication by other publishing houses. Once a manuscript has been selected as the winner of the Prize, Restless will contact the author and ask that the manuscript be withdrawn from consideration elsewhere. A publishing contract between the winning author and Restless Books must be signed before the winner is announced.

* Please note that while Restless Books welcomes all submissions for the Prize, we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts for our publishing program.

PRIZE: The winner will receive a $10,000 advance and publication by Restless Books in print and digital editions. We expect to work closely with the winner and provide editorial guidance.

DEADLINE: Extended to May 1, 2020

https://restlessbooks.org/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SHORT STORIES

midnight & indigo

INFO: midnight & indigo, a new literary platform dedicated to short stories and narrative essays by Black women writers, is currently accepting submissions. We are looking for previously unpublished, CHARACTER-DRIVEN fictional short stories written by Black women writers. All genres are welcome. Subject matter and plots can run the gamut, but we want emotion, grit, soul, and writing that forges an immediate connection with the reader.

Stories must meet our minimum 1,500 word count requirement.  Please include the word count at the top of your submission.

We offer $75 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for online publication on midnightandindigo.com.

All submissions will be considered for publication in our upcoming anthology (December 2020/January 2021) at a rate of $125 per story.

DEADLINE: May 3, 2020 at 11:59pm ET⁠

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: NARRATIVE & PERSONAL ESSAYS

midnight & indigo

INFO: midnight & indigo, a new literary platform dedicated to short stories and narrative essays by Black women writers, is currently accepting submissions. We are looking for previously unpublished, first-person POV fictional short stories written by Black women writers.

Essays can be funny, entertaining, serious or sincere. Content must uplift, inspire and leave readers with something to think about. We want emotion, grit, soul, and writing that forges an immediate connection with the reader around your experience. Submissions cannot include list formats or "5 Ways to..." inspirational instructionals.

Essays must meet our minimum 1,200 word count requirement.  Please include the word count at the top of your submission.

We offer $50 for Essays accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) or midnightandindigo.com.

DEADLINE: May 3, 2020 at 11:59pm ET⁠

https://midnightindigo.submittable.com/submit

CREATIVE NONFICTION GRANT

Whiting Foundation

INFO: The Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant of $40,000 will be awarded to as many as eight writers in the process of completing a book-length work of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general readership. It is intended for multiyear book projects requiring large amounts of deep and focused research, thinking, and writing at a crucial point mid-process, after significant work has been accomplished but when an extra infusion of support can make a difference in the ultimate shape and quality of the work.

Whiting welcomes applications for works of history, cultural or political reportage, biography, memoir, the sciences, philosophy, criticism, food or travel writing, graphic nonfiction, and personal essays, among other categories. Again, the work should be intended for a general, not academic, adult reader. Self-help titles and textbooks are not eligible. Examples of the wide range of previous grantees can be found here

Projects must be under contract with a US publisher to be eligible. Contracts with self-publishing companies are not eligible. Applicants must be US citizens or residents. (In previous cycles, projects had to be under contract for two years at time of application; recognizing that many projects do not secure publishing contracts until they are nearly complete, we have removed that restriction.)

Writers must submit the following materials through the online application form.

  • The original proposal that led to the contract with a publisher

  • Three sample chapters, totaling no more than 50 pages (or 25,000 words total if your chapters are short)

  • A statement of progress and the requirements for completion of the book (including a projected budget)

  • A signed and dated contract (please note that to be eligible, books must be under contract with a US publisher – unfortunately, we can make no exceptions to this requirement)

  • A current resume

  • A list of grants, fellowships, or other funding received for the book

  • A letter of support from the book’s publisher or editor (due no later than May 18, 2020)

  • One additional letter of support (not to come from your agent, and due no later than May 18, 2020)

DEADLINE: May 4, 2020

https://www.whiting.org/writers/creative-nonfiction-grant/about

JEROME HILL ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

INFO: Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships support Minnesota or New York City-based artists, early in their careers, who generate and create bold, innovative and risk-taking new work that explores and/or challenges conventional artistic forms.

Fellows receive $50,000* over two consecutive years ($25,000 each year) to support self-determined activities for creation of new work, artistic development and/or professional artistic career development. Fellowship funds support grantees for taking creative risks, exploring new ideas, and pursuing professional and artistic activities.

Fellowships are offered in six fields: Dance, Media (including Film/Video and New Media), Literature, Music, Theater/Performance Art/Spoken Word, and Visual Arts. The Foundation expects to award a total of 60 Fellowships (ten per field).

Jerome Foundation recognizes that many artists today are working across disciplines. Though each applicant must apply in one of the six specified disciplines, there will be the opportunity to identify any additional disciplines in which the artist is working. Artists are invited in the application to share in their own words how they categorize their work.

Artists may apply either as an individual or as part of an ensemble/collective/collaborative—but not both. Artists may submit or be part of only one application: any individual named in more than one application will be ruled ineligible, and all applications in which that individual is named will be removed from consideration.

Fellows will be announced in 2021. Fellows must pursue their self-determined Fellowship activities between mid 2021–mid 2023. After this current cycle, the program will open again for application in 2022 with awards announced in 2023. This program is offered in alternating years.

DEADLINE: May 6, 2020

https://www.jeromefdn.org/jerome-hill-artist-fellowships

CALL FOR WORK

Raising Mothers

INFO: Raising Mothers is currently accepting flash submissions of 250 words max on what motherhood means to you: how it has transformed you, what it is teaching you, the hard, the beautiful, the spiritual.

We are interested in submissions from BIPOC women and nonbinary writers of color who explore this theme.

DEADLINE: May 13, 2020

www.raisingmothers.com/submissions/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Writers Space Africa

INFO: Writers Space Africa (WSA), an international literary magazine, published by the African Writers Development Trust (AWDT), is calling for submissions for its 43rd edition (JULY Edition) under the theme “FEAR”.

We accept submissions in the following categories:

  • Articles/Essays – 1,200 Words maximum

  • Flash Fiction – 300 words maximum

  • Poetry – 1 poem, a maximum of 24 lines

  • Children’s Literature – 700 words maximum (illustrations may be attached)

  • Short Stories – 1,500 words maximum

DEADLINE: May 14, 2020

http://www.writersspace.net/submissions/

2020 Riedel Fellowship for Vietnamese Visual Artists and Writers

Ragdale Foundation

INFO: The Ragdale Foundation and Loan and Norbert Riedel are pleased to announce a new fellowship opportunity for emerging Vietnamese visual artists and writers. This fellowship opportunity will support one visual artist or writer with an 18-day or 25-day residency at Ragdale along with a cash stipend of $500, the creation of a brief video documentary/interview, and the presentation of a public program. Presentation of a public program may include an artist talk, workshop, or other program and will take place within 18 months of the residency.

ELIGIBILITY: One Riedel Fellowship is awarded annually. This opportunity is designed to support an emerging visual artist or writer who lives in Vietnam and/or identifies as Vietnamese. The fellow will be chosen on the merits of their work and their potential contribution to the Ragdale community. All artists of the Vietnamese diaspora and Vietnamese nationals are eligible to apply, first-time visitors to the US are strongly encouraged to apply. Candidates whose work has the potential to find wider audiences in the US are encouraged. English must be at least conversational. Ragdale encourages applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics, and to that end, emerging as well as established artists are invited to apply. While there are no publication, exhibition or performance requirements for applying, applicants should be working at the professional level in their fields. Ragdale encourages artists of all backgrounds to apply and does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of age, disability, gender, origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

DEADLINE: May 15, 2020

http://ragdale.org/residency/fellowship/

ALICE JUDSON HAYES FELLOWSHIP

Ragdale Foundation

INFO: The Alice Judson Hayes Writing Fellowship is an annual award in memory of Alice Hayes, who created the Ragdale Foundation in what had been her family home. All her life she was committed to working for a just and peaceful world. An 18- or 25-day residency, free of charge, and a $500 stipend will be given to a writer who is working on a project designed to bring awareness to a contemporary issue having to do with peace, social justice, education, or the environment. Projects can be nonfiction or fiction (including journalism, essays, memoir, script-writing, creative nonfiction). No academic writing.

DEADLINE: May 15, 2020

http://ragdale.org/residency/fellowship/

Spring 2020 Literature Grant

Café Royal Cultural Foundation

INFO: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a publishing grant to authors of fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting. 

Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted.

Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying.

The processing time of application can take up to three months. Please make sure to submit your application with ample time before the start date of your project. 

GRANT Up to $10,000

DEADLINE: May 18, 2020

https://caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/

ARTS WRITERS GRANT PROGRAM

Andy Warhol Foundation / Creative Capital

INFO: The Arts Writers Grant Program was founded in 2006 to recognize the precarious situation of arts writers, and their indispensable contribution to a vital artistic culture. As the COVID-19 outbreak further threatens the cultural and arts writing landscape, the Arts Writers Grant Program is grateful for the Andy Warhol Foundation's continued support to once again offer an open application.

The Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who are writing about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000, these grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. We also support art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods or experiments with literary styles. As long as a writer meets the eligibility and publishing requirements, they can apply.

By “contemporary visual art,” we mean visual art made since World War II. Projects on post-WWII work in adjacent fields—architecture, dance, film, media, music, performance, sound, etc.—will only be considered if they directly and significantly engage the discourses and concerns of contemporary visual art.

Writers are invited to apply in one of the following categories—article, book, or short-form writing.

DEADLINE: May 20, 2020 at 11:59pm ET.

https://www.artswriters.org/?mc_cid=40c9c5c40e&mc_eid=45394a798e

THE EMERGING WRITER’S CONTEST

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. Read past winners of the contest here

We award publication, $2,000, review from Aevitas Creative Management, and a 1-year subscription for one winner in each of the three genres. Submit to the Emerging Writer's Contest through our submission manager. You must be logged in to access our submission manager.

The 2020 contest judges are Kirstin Valdez Quade (Fiction), Ilya Kaminsky (Poetry) and Esmé Weijun Wang (Nonfiction). 

PUBLICATION: The winning story, essay, and poems from the 2020 contest will be published in the Winter 2020-21 issue of Ploughshares. 

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Have yet to publish a book (including eBooks, translations, books in other languages/countries, self-published works, and poetry chapbooks with a print run of more than 300).

  • Have no book forthcoming before April 15, 2021.

  • Are not affiliated with Emerson College or with Ploughshares as a contributing author, volunteer screener, intern, student, staff member, or faculty member.

  • Will not have a relationship with Emerson before April 15, 2021 (example: if there is a chance you will attend the Emerson MFA program in the coming year or if your work has been accepted for publication for an upcoming issue).

DEADLINE: May 22, 2020 at noon EST

https://www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest/guidelines

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Filipinx-American NARRATIVES

Here-After Magazine

INFO: Here-After Magazine is accepting writing and visual art that centers Filipinx-American narratives. You may submit up to 4 pieces of writing, but be sure to observe the limits for each genre (see below). *For example: you may choose to submit two pieces of poetry and two pieces of prose, but may not submit three pieces of prose and one piece of poetry. Please submit pieces of writing submissions of the same genre in one document. If you are sending both poetry and prose, submit two documents.

*You must send your pieces as a .pdf or .docx file.

PROSE: Please submit fiction/non-fiction up to 1,200 words, single-spaced 12-pt. font in Times New Roman or Arial; this includes short stories, personal essays, think pieces and more. You may only submit two pieces of prose to be considered.

POETRY: Please submit poetry up to 30 lines, single-spaced 12-pt. font in Times New Roman or Arial. All forms are welcome. You may submit up to 4 pieces of poetry to be considered.

DEADLINE: May 24, 2020

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LqfJPOeb93-RSYQGp-eaUuTf3rqFH6oa2zGRzhMr05w/mobilebasic?usp=gmail

Tin House Fall Residency

INFO: The Tin House Fall Residency (May 4 – 27, 2020) is intended to support two authors working on full-length projects (in any genre) focused on climate, environment, and the natural world. This residency aims to give these authors the time, space, and financial flexibility to further their projects while exploring the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Application Requirements (to be submitted as one document):

-Bio

-Personal Essay (1500 words or less outlining your journey as a writer and description of the project you will be working on)

-Writing Sample:

  • Fiction and Nonfiction: One writing sample of no more than 7,500 words. A short story/essay or a portion of a novel or memoir may be submitted. If you are submitting a novel/memoir, please include a synopsis.

  • Poetry: Up to eight poems, totaling no more than 20 pages.

  • Translation: Please follow the requirements for the genre in the original language and submit both your translation and the original text.

  • Graphic Narrative: Project synopsis and up to 20 pages of the project (please upload everything except the project excerpt here. Email the project excerpt to india@tinhouse.com).

 No reference letters, please.

Location: Portland, Oregon

Includes:

  • Private 0ne-bedroom apartment

  • $1000 living stipend

  • Public reading

  • Option to teach Tin House Craft Intensive (paid)

APPLICATION FEE: $30.00

DEADLINE: May 28, 2020

https://tinhouse.com/workshop/residencies/

Writer-in-Residence Program

Associates of the Boston Public Library

INFO: The Associates of the Boston Public Library's Writer-in-Residence program is intended to:

  • Provide an emerging children’s writer with the financial support and office space needed to complete one literary work for children or young adults.

  • Encourage the imagination of young readers, and in so doing, draw attention to the importance of authors and the essential role they perform in nurturing developing minds and furthering our culture.

  • Promote the awareness of the Boston Public Library and its resources, by establishing a living link between the Library and the community.

Residency Benefits

  • A total stipend of $20,000, paid in monthly installments over a nine-month period.

  • Use of a private office, Internet access, and a photocopier.

  • Access to and use of the Boston Public Library’s collections.

  • A forum for the presentation/promotion of your finished literary work.

  • Opportunities to establish connections with writers, publishers, artists, and the community at large through participation in/attendance at Library readings, lectures, and other events.

  • At the end of the residency, your completed manuscript will be added to the BPL’s collections. (However, you retain all rights to your completed work.)

Eligibility

  • The proposed literary project should be intended for children or young adult readers. All genres are welcome, including fiction, non-fiction, scripts, or poetry. (The format is flexible and can include illustrated children’s books or graphic novels, but the majority of our submissions are generally Young Adult novels.)

  • The applicant should demonstrate active engagement as a writer, whether full or part-time, as an avocation or profession.

  • Since this program is intended for emerging authors, the applicant should not have any prior professional book publications. (Self-published books, works for hire, articles, and short stories published in an anthology do not count against this eligibility criteria.)

  • Only one proposal may be submitted per person; joint applications or proposed collaborations by more than one author are not permitted.

  • Works that are already under contract with a publisher are not eligible for submission.

  • There is NO residency restriction to apply, but you must be able to spend at least nineteen (19) hours per week at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square, if selected.

  • Must be eligible to work in the US, as a U.S. citizen or green card holder. English fluency required.

  • There are NO age, gender, race, or educational requirements.

Terms of Residency

  • Must work in-residence at the Boston Public Library’s Central Library in Copley Square, for a minimum of nineteen (19) hours per week from October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

  • Participation in a public reception toward the beginning of the residency, on a mutually agreed upon date.

  • Completion and public presentation of a submission-ready manuscript at the end of residency, on a mutually agreed upon date.

  • Include an acknowledgment of the Associates of the Boston Public Library in all work created during the residency and during any media opportunities stemming from the program, using mutually agreed upon language.

  • Optional participation in Boston Public Library programs such as writing workshops and/or presentations to Boston-area students, as mutually agreed upon. (Participation would be only a small portion of your time.)

Application Process

To apply, please complete the application form (below) and upload a proposal (5 pages max.) and writing sample (15 pages max.) by Friday, May 29, 2020. The documents should be double spaced with one inch margins. The attachments should not include any biographical information, since there is a blind judging process.

Basic questions about the application will be answered via email (via hello@AssociatesBPL.org); no calls please. Questions regarding how to present your work will not be considered. Inquiries concerning applications under review will not be answered. 

Since the physical Boston Public Library is currently closed due to the pandemic, we cannot accept hard copy submissions this year. If using Submittable creates an undue burden for you, please let us know so we can work out an alternative.

Late applications will not be considered. Once submitted, applications may not be altered by either candidates or Associates' staff. 

Selection Process

Finalists are evaluated by a panel of judges, which includes a rotating group of authors, librarians, booksellers, publishers, editors, book designers, teachers, and/or citizens representing different areas of the world of children’s literature. Associates' staff do not vote in this process. The judges do not know the candidates’ names, gender, educational qualifications, or any background information. This blind judging process is focused solely on the quality of the applicant’s writing. The candidate selected to be the 2020-2021 Associates of the Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence will be notified by July 30, 2020.

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Application Deadline:  Friday, May 29, 2020

  • Notification: July 30, 2020

  • Residency Period: October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021

https://associatesofthebostonpubliclibrary.submittable.com/submit/163884/writer-in-residence-application-2020-21

EMERGING WRITER FELLOWSHIPS

Miami Book Fair

INFO: The Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College is pleased to present the Emerging Writer Fellowship program. The program supports new literary voices that demonstrate exceptional talent and promise by providing writers working on a first book with time, space, and an intellectually and culturally rich artistic community.

The goal of the program is to actively support writers working to complete a book-length project within a year, and to help launch the literary careers of three fellows per year. The Emerging Writer Fellowships are designed to provide 12 months of uninterrupted time and studio space to write; mentorship with feedback from a nationally established author in their respective genre; professional experience such as arts administration, teaching creative writing, and other opportunities; $41,000 stipend, and strong literary community support in Miami, Florida.

Each Fellowship Includes:

  • $41,000 honorarium, to be divided as follows:

    • $5,000 initial lump sum to be paid to fellow one month before fellowship dates begin.

    • $36,000 = 12-monthly stipend of $3,000 to cover all living expenses (i.e. utilities, incidentals, transportation, groceries, etc.)

  • Mentorship with an established writer in your genre. Mentors arepart of the selection committee, and meet with fellow a minimum of 6 times (approximately every two months) during the 12-month fellowship. Fellows are expected to share progress and receive feedback on their manuscript-in-progress throughout the year.

  • Professional experience. Fellows have the option to gain valuable experience in the field and build their professional resume during the 12-month fellowship:

    • Creative Writing Workshops: Miami Book Fair offers community creative writing workshops in all genres throughout the year. Fellows have the opportunity to create and teach one workshop during the 12-month fellowship.

    • School Visits: Give presentations at local elementary, middle, or high schools to inspire and empower students.

    • Fellows may visit Miami Dade County Public School Title 1 schools and/or Miami Dade College classes to give presentations and/or readings.

  • Additional benefits:

    • Fellows may attend one community creative writing workshop per semester for free.

    • Fellows may attend one Miami Writers Institute workshop in the genre of their manuscript-in-progress. This includes one 15-minute manuscript consultation with that year’s MWI literary agent/editor.

    • Fellows are invited to attend any and all year-round Miami Book Fair events.

    • Studio space to work during your residency.

DEADLINE: Extended to May 31, 2020

https://www.miamibookfair.com/fellowships/

2020 Berkshire Prize

Tupelo Press

INFO: The Berkshire Prize is open to anyone writing in the English language, whether living in the United States or abroad. Translations are not eligible for this prize, nor are previously self-published books. Poets submitting work for consideration may be authors having published only one previous collection or writers without prior book publications. Previous winners include Jenny Molberg, Ye Chun, and Amy Munson.

FINAL JUDGE: Bin Ramke

PRIZE: $3,000

DEADLINE: Extended to May 31, 2020

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-2020-Berkshire-Prize-Deadline-has-been-extended-.html?soid=1101368942391&aid=kEeIH6CMnls

2020 BEACON STREET PRIZE - FICTION

Redivider Journal

INFO: Enter here for the 2020 Beacon Street Prize, fiction category. One winner will receive $1,000 and publication in Redivider 18.1 -- This year's fiction category features judge Stephen Graham Jones.

GUIDELINES

  • Length Restrictions: One story, up to 8,000 words

  • Multiple submissions: Entrants may submit as many times as they please, to as many categories as they please, but the entry fee must be paid separately for each entry.

  • Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If accepted for publication elsewhere, simply withdraw the piece promptly (for fiction/nonfiction using the withdraw feature on Submittable, for poetry using the notes feature on Submittable to tell us which poem(s) is unavailable).

  • Manuscript Specifications: Submissions must not contain the author’s name or any other identifying information. All entries must go through our online submission manager.

  • Eligibility: All are eligible except current and former Emerson College students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, our judges’ students, or those with a personal connection to any one judge, are asked not to submit to that judge’s category.

PRIZE:

  • $1,000 prize for fiction

  • $1,000 for nonfiction

  • $1,000 for poetry

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

DEADLINE: Extended to May 31, 2020

https://redivider.submittable.com/submit/161097/2020-beacon-street-prize-fiction

2020 BEACON STREET PRIZE - NONFICTION

Redivider Journal

INFO: Enter here for the 2020 Beacon Street Prize, nonfiction category. One winner will receive $1,000 and publication in Redivider 18.1 -- This year's nonfiction category features judge Elisa Gabbert.

GUIDELINES:

  • Length Restrictions: One essay, up to 8,000 words

  • Multiple submissions: Entrants may submit as many times as they please, to as many categories as they please, but the entry fee must be paid separately for each entry.

  • Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If accepted for publication elsewhere, simply withdraw the piece promptly (for fiction/nonfiction using the withdraw feature on Submittable, for poetry using the notes feature on Submittable to tell us which poem(s) is unavailable).

  • Manuscript Specifications: Submissions must not contain the author’s name or any other identifying information. All entries must go through our online submission manager.

  • Eligibility: All are eligible except current and former Emerson College students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, our judges’ students, or those with a personal connection to any one judge, are asked not to submit to that judge’s category.

PRIZE:

  • $1,000 prize for fiction

  • $1,000 for nonfiction

  • $1,000 for poetry

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

DEADLINE: Extended to May 31, 2020

https://redivider.submittable.com/submit/161102/2020-beacon-street-prize-nonfiction

Aura Estrada Short Story Contest

Boston Review

INFO: The theme of this year’s contest is Ancestors.

Who are your people? Who made you who you are? What about you only makes sense to someone who knows where you’re from? What’s a secret about your past?

It is rare now for people to stay where they were raised, and usually when we encounter one another—whether in person or online—it is in contexts that obscure if not outright hide details about our past. But even in moments of pure self-invention, we are always shaped by it. Ancestors asks today’s most imaginative writers to consider what it means to be made and fashioned by others: parents, grandparents, family, the deep past, the animal and natural world, epigenetic memory, predispositions for health or illness, political forebears, inherited social and economic circumstances, settled (and unsettled) ideas about gender and sex, class and racial history, the elders of whatever you feel beholden to or unable to outrun—not to mention your own best and worst decisions. Can we choose our family, or is blood always thicker? And looking forward, what will it mean to be ancestors ourselves, and how will our descendants remember us?

JUDGE: Ivelisse Rodriguez

Ivelisse Rodriguez’s debut short story collection Love War Stories is a 2019 PEN/Faulkner finalist and a 2018 Foreword Reviews INDIES finalist. She has published fiction in the Boston Review, Obsidian, Kweli, the Bilingual Review, Aster(ix), and other publications. She is the founder and editor of an interview series focused on contemporary Puerto Rican writers published in Centro Voices. She was a senior fiction editor at Kweli and is a Kimbilio fellow and a VONA/Voices alum. She earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College and a Ph.D. in English-creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. To learn more about Ivelisse, visit: www.ivelisserodriguez.com.

PRIZE: $1,000

ENTRY FEE: $20

DEADLINE: May 31, 2020

https://bostonreview.submittable.com/submit/55330/aura-estrada-short-story-contest-paid-entry-for-contestants-in-u-s-canada-and

Call for Submissions

You Don’t Look Like a Professor!

INFO: The narrowly defined stereotype of the college professor as a white, cisgendered male has real-life implications for teaching and learning in higher education. Systemic obstacles facing marginalized scholars in all areas of academia are well documented but the scholarship of teaching and learning has been slow to respond in productive, practical ways to the classroom challenges of teaching and learning when you “don’t look like a professor.” This new anthology will be the first book to build on and move beyond the abundant empirical research, anecdotal evidence, and lived experiences of discrimination in academia to offer specific, actionable strategies for effective teaching and learning—strategies which fully take into account embodied identity and unequal teaching contexts.

Submission Guidelines: I am seeking short (5,000 words or less including notes) snappy chapters that draw on evidence-based scholarship about effective teaching, the science of learning, and wisdom of practice to describe specific, actionable pedagogical practices and teaching techniques. Your chapter title should clearly indicate what strategy, teaching tool, or recommendation you are making. For example: “Formative Student Feedback as a Strategy for Navigating Student Preconceptions” or “Cultivating Pedagogical Gratitude Practices While Fighting for Academic Equity.” Clear, engaging, and jargon-free writing is a must! Please submit your proposed chapters as a Word document email attachment.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

https://www.youdontlooklikeaprofessor.com/home?fbclid=IwAR1BvtmTljCYsOHGaV4ylwpcJf6p2omHU1oxAtbtaHK5M0jRKtzjiX1Kq4E

PEN/Heim Translation Fund

PEN America

INFO: The PEN/Heim Translation Fund was established in the summer of 2003 by an endowed gift of $730,000 from Michael Henry Heim and Pricilla Heim, in response to the dismayingly low number of literary translations currently appearing in English. Its purpose is to promote the publication and reception of translated international literature in English. As of 2015, each grant recipient receives a copy of The Man Between: Michael Henry Heim and a Life in Translation, generously provided by Open Letter Books.  

Thanks to the generosity of Michael Henry Heim and Pricilla Heim’s endowment, PEN America has awarded grants to almost 200 winning projects. From 2009, the Fund’s annual contribution for grant awards has been augmented by support from Amazon. The Fund has been uniquely successful in finding publishers for major international works, encouraging younger translators to enter the field, and introducing English-speaking readers to new and exciting voices. All other criteria being equal, preference is given to translators at the beginning of their career, and to works by underrepresented writers working in underrepresented languages.

Over the 16 years of its existence, the Fund has given grants of $2,000–$4,000 to nearly 200 translations from over 35 languages, including Armenian, Basque, Estonian, Farsi, Finland-Swedish, Lithuanian and Mongolian, as well as French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. Among the 108 projects awarded grants in the Fund’s first 13 years of operation (2004–2016), 91 (nearly 70 percent) have thus far been published or are forthcoming from a publisher. Many of those books found their publishers as a result of being awarded a grant by the Fund. In addition to being excerpted and favorably reviewed in a host of magazines including The New YorkerThe New York Review of BooksGrantaThe Paris ReviewWords Without BordersThe Literary ReviewMandorla, and many others, about 20 percent of the published PEN/Heim Translation Fund projects have won or been shortlisted for major literary awards.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • The PEN/Heim Translation Fund provides grants to support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English in print or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation.

  • Works should be translations-in-progress, as the grant aims to provide support for completion.

  • There are no restrictions on the nationality or citizenship of the translator, but the works must be translated into English.

  • The Fund seeks to encourage translators to undertake projects they might not otherwise have had the means to attempt.

  • Works with multiple translators, literary criticism, and scholarly or technical texts do not qualify.

  • Translators who have previously been awarded grants by the Fund are ineligible to reapply for three years after the year in which they receive a grant.

  • Please note that projects that have been previously submitted and have not received a grant are unlikely to be reconsidered in a subsequent year. 

  • Projects may have up to two translators. 

  • Translators may only submit one project per year. 

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

https://pen.org/pen-heim-grants/?mc_cid=2843f611d3&mc_eid=d562c31e56



CALL FOR PAPERS: WORDS BEATS & LIFE: THE GLOBAL JOURNAL OF HIP-HOP CULTURE, SPECIAL ISSUE ON SOUTH AFRICA

INFO: South Africa was one of the first countries in Africa to embrace hip hop culture. Since the 1980s, hip hop culture has grown and spread throughout South Africa, where multiple hip hop communities have emerged across the country to shape distinctly South African hip hop cultures. All of the hip hop elements have strong representation in SouthAfrica, which still has one of the largest hip hop scenes on the continent. South Africa offers a lot of diverse themes and topics for in depth discussion when it comes to hip hop. This issue will explore many of those topics, and seeks submissions that address topics like:

  • The history of SA hip hop 

  • The role of gender & sexuality in South African hip hop music, breakdance, graffiti, and/or DJ culture

  • The role of race & ethnicity in South African hip hop culture

  • The role of NGOs and external donors

  • The role of mass media (radio stations, TV, publications, etc…)  

  • The role of language in South African hip hop 

  • Business and hip hop

  • The making of hip hop “moguls” 

  • The relationship between hip hop and the entertainment industry

  • The relationship between hip hop & kwaito

  • The growth of hip hop as an industry

  • The influence of South African hip hop globally 

  • The future of SA hip hop

  • The growth of hip hop community organizations & movements 

  • The politics of street art and graffiti

This issue of the journal, like many of the journal’s other issues, accepts submissions from scholars, artists, activists, and cultural critics.

* Scholarly research papers should be a minimum of 3,000 words and a maximum of 8,000 words (includes endnotes and reference list). All submissions designated as scholarly require an abstract that should not exceed 150 words in length. All scholarly submissions should be accompanied by five key words.

* Critical essays, or essays that explore the various perspectives on debate, should be 1,500 – 3,000 words.

* Scholarly reviews of books, albums, or films related to the topic, should be 1,000 to 2,000 words.

* Poetry should include no more than 3 poems. You must create a separate submission for each poem.

* Original artwork submissions should be limited to 3 pieces. Artwork should be submitted as low-resolution .jpg or PDF files. Artwork must include the following information: title of piece, year created, media, dimensions (in inches), location of the piece.

* Interviews should be 1,500 to 3,000 words.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

https://wblinc.org/callforsub

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AFROFUTURISM ISSUE

Speculative City

INFO: Every issue of Speculative City is defined by a distinct theme. We are excited to announce our Issue 9 theme will be Afrofuturism. Writer Stefani Cox and writer/visual artist Jacqueline Barnes will act as guest editors for this issue.

Definition of AFROFUTURISM:

  • literary works that use the frame of science fiction and fantasy to explore what Black futures could look like and to reimagine past and present experiences of the African diaspora

We are looking for afrofuturist fiction, poetry, and essays written by authors who are specifically of Black and/or African descent. And, as per usual, we seek provocative works that are centered within a cityscape. Writers published will be paid $20-$55 according to the category and length of their submission. We do not accept submissions exceeding 5500 words.

  • All submissions should be the original, unpublished work of the submitter.

  • We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if the submission has been accepted by another publication.

  • We do not accept multiple submissions for fiction or essays.

  • Please submit word (.doc, .docx) or rich text format (.rtf) files and format your submission according to our format guide.

  • Please send all inquiries to info @ speculativecity .com .

  • We try to respond to all submissions, but as a team of two, we may not always be able to.

Before submitting work, please also be familiar with our contract.

DEADLINE: June 1, 2020

http://www.speculativecity.com/submissions/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- APRIL 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: WOMB ANTHOLOGY

POC United

INFO: The womb. From the Old English wamb. Referred to in science as the uterus. It is the inverted, pear-shaped organ that offers a space for the conception of offspring and is the home for that life to gestate. Throughout history, wombs have been extracted, cut into, sewn together, criminalized, politicized, legislated, and textualized. There are literal and figurative wombs, ones housed in our bodies, ones we wish were housed in our bodies, ones we don’t want, and, for all of us, the wombs from which we were born. For this second POC United anthology, we want them all.

We ask for fiction, essays, and poetry about the desire for a womb, the loss of a womb, the relationship to the mother’s womb, the metaphorical womb, phantom wombs, and any other womb-related ideas you might have. Interpret this theme as freely as you like, and submit so-called literary or genre work.

Please send fiction and non-fiction under 5,000 words and no more than three poems to pocunited@outlook.com as both an attachment and pasted in the body of the message by

DEADLINE: April 1, 2020

https://pocunited.com/submit/?fbclid=IwAR1jcQL_BaoHVsDxJpARZi9MBeJcL8zv9QOISY130Pr7vwi8iL5xVUijjHc

Call for Submissions: Community Power in Times of Crisis

Yes! Magazine

INFO: We are a world of nations dealing with imminent threat; we are individual people and families dealing with imminent threat. In this coronavirus pandemic, we are seeing in clear and visceral ways how our government, health care, and economic systems are failing us—and have been failing us for a long time.

Of course, the effects of climate change have been showing us this, too. But climate change catastrophes hit different countries with different meanness at different times, and it’s too easy to be lulled into a chronic, back-of-the-mind fear. The coronavirus has radically changed business-as-usual for everyone. It has terrified us out of our daily routines and small-scale thoughts.

Our world is experiencing its human interconnectedness—our responsibilities to each other, our government’s responsibilities to its people, our relationship with nature and science and industry. If you draw a line from the bat in the market in Wuhan to all of the human choices made since then, it’s astounding to see how intricately woven are our fates. That interconnectedness is visible in the computer simulations of virus vectors exponentially moving through our global population. Specifically, we see it in our social media feeds as strangers come together to raise funds to help laid off restaurant workers and as neighborhoods organize grocery deliveries for elders, and child care for parents with school-age children.

Yes, this has been a terrifying jolt. Yet communities are rising to the challenge with compassion and creativity, exercising important skills for an uncertain future. When the virus has run its course and we are left to deal with the aftermath, we will be wiser and more resilient. Many people will be transformed, more willing and better armed to help build a more just and sustainable world.

This is what our summer print magazine issue will focus on.

Send us your leads and pitches for reported stories on community initiatives or groups responding to the coronavirus pandemic with creative and compassionate solutions.

Reporters, what’s happening in communities near you? Tell us about the movements toward more just health care. The economic resilience of cooperatives. The compassionate response of mutual aid societies. The relevant preparation of the Transition Town movement. The power of local and regional governments and groups to step up when the federal government fails us.

We are looking for themes of solidarity, community activism, environmental stewardship, decolonization, racial equity, economic fairness, and well-being and caretaking.

This issue will:

Look forward. We will examine the ways in which this event is a rehearsal for other global disasters, including climate change. We will find the system changes and community responses that work not only in this coronavirus crisis but also will help create a better world.

Inspire. We will show how we gather strength through community and are empowered by the beautiful regional and local responses across the globe in all areas—transportation, entertainment, education, small business, public policy, health care, food security, faith.  We will find the spiritual lessons that people might take from this unique moment. 

Celebrate. We will spotlight the everyday heroes emerging in this crisis—groups, movements, individuals, and communities rising to the occasion and inspiring the rest of us. We will lift up the strategies and practical policies that are protecting our most vulnerable people and leading us toward just, sustainable, and compassionate practices for the future.

DEADLINE: April 3, 2020

https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2020/03/17/call-for-submissions-coronavirus/

2020 ELIZA SO FELLOWSHIP

Submittable

INFO: We’re delighted to announce Submittable’s 2020 Eliza So Fellowship, which will support one Native American writer’s book project with a month-long residency in Missoula, MT. Now in its fourth year, the Eliza So Fellowship is dedicated to serving underrepresented writers working to complete a full-length book manuscript.

This year’s fellowship is open to Native American writers at any stage in a book project, provided that 30 representative pages have been completed. No resume is required, and entry is free. We encourage you to consider applying and help us get the word out. 

The 2020 Eliza So Fellowship will include lodging in Missoula, along with a $1,000 stipend for food and travel. Fellows will stay in a private house on the Clark Fork river trail, just blocks from downtown, grocery shopping, farmers markets, parks, restaurants, coffee shops, and more.

Final judge: Heather Cahoon

Cahoon received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Montana where she was the Richard Hugo Scholar. She has been awarded a Merriam Frontier Prize, a Potlatch Fund Native Arts grant, and a Montana Arts Council Artist Innovation Award for her writing, which has appeared in Hanging Loose, Lit Hub, Yellow Medicine Review, basalt, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Carve, and Cutthroat among others. Her first full-length collection of poems entitled Horsefly Dress, is forthcoming from the University of Arizona Press in fall of 2020. Heather is also a federal Indian policy scholar and Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana. She grew up on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana and is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Application and fellowship requirements:

1) You have a novel, collection of stories or poems, a memoir, or other prose work (fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid) in progress (30 pages minimum).

2) You are a Native American writer

3) You are available for a residency from July 18, 2020 – August 14, 2020

Fellows will be asked to give a public reading in Missoula and write a blog post of at least 1,000 words for Submittable during their residency.

If fellows are interested in doing a lunchtime presentation for staff at Submittable’s Missoula headquarters during their stay—on their book project, craft, or any literary topic that interests them—we would be delighted. However, a lunchtime presentation is not required.

DEADLINE: April 5, 2020

https://fellowship.submittable.com/submit

SUMMER WRITERS WEEK (AUGUST 1 - 7)

Hurston/Wright Foundation

INFO: For nearly 30 years, the Hurston/Wright Foundation has been a home for emerging Black writers. Offering diligent instruction, careful critique, and intensive writing, the writing workshops allow writers to sharpen their skills while in a community with fellow Black writers. Each workshop is led by an award-winning author who is also a talented teacher. If you’re looking for a nurturing environment where you can find your voice, develop your craft, and learn about the publishing industry, look no further.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON D.C.

  • Poetry Workshop led by Chet'la Sebree

  • Fiction Workshop led by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

  • Non-Fiction Workshop led by Emily Bernard

APPLICATION FEE: $30

TUITION: $700

DEADLINE: April 6, 2020

https://www.hurstonwright.org/programs/summer-writers-week/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

MudRoom

INFO: Submissions are free, and simultaneous submissions are encouraged. If your work is accepted elsewhere, we just ask that you let us know immediately through Submittable. We try to respond to all submissions within thirty days. Feel free to query after two months. We will not consider work with sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, or ableist content. Include a cover letter with a brief third-person bio on the first page of your submission.

POETRY GUIDELINES: MudRoom publishes poetry of all types. If you’d like your work reviewed, please submit 3-5 original, previously unpublished poems through Submittable. All poems should be included in a single .DOC/.DOCX or PDF file with one poem per page (eight pages maximum). 

PROSE GUIDELINES: Mudroom publishes fiction, essays, and essays in translation. If you’d like your work considered, please submit a previously unpublished work no longer than 6,000 words in double spaced 12-point Times New Roman font.

DEADLINE: April 15, 2020

https://mudroommag.submittable.com/submit

Editorial Fellowship

Words Without Borders

INFO: Words Without Borders seeks applicants for its editorial fellowship. The WWB Editorial Fellowship program is designed to provide training for individuals looking to build a career around the publication and promotion of international literature. The editorial fellow will gain hands-on experience with all aspects of the publication of a digital literary magazine—from issue planning to online promotion. The fellow will become familiar with the special considerations and skills required for editing literature in translation and working within the context of a nonprofit organization.

This is a unique opportunity for an early-career publishing professional to be mentored by experienced editors while also making a contribution to one of the premier magazines for contemporary international literature.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Reporting to the editor and working closely with editorial and communications teams, the fellow’s primary duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

—Participate in editorial meetings, generate ideas for future magazine content.
—Develop at least one issue or feature idea together with editor, identifying contributors and translators, and performing line edits.
—Prepare electronic galleys for monthly magazine.
—Proofread magazine and blog content. 
—Propose, commission, and edit features for WWB Daily, the WWB blog.
—Prepare monthly contracts and maintain editorial schedule .
—Support archive projects, including cataloging and categorizing content from past WWB issues.
—Maintain a schedule of upcoming titles in translation for book reviews.
—Draft social media copy, select images, and schedule social media posts for issue and blog content.
—Update organizational contact database with issue and contributor information.
—Attend and help staff WWB’s literary events in NYC.

QUALIFICATIONS:
The ideal candidate will be highly organized, responsible, and able to work both without supervision and as part of a team. They will also be skilled at written and verbal communications and have knowledge of the international literary landscape.

—Bachelor’s degree; master’s degree a plus but not required.
—Demonstrated interest in international literature.
—Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
—Superior organizational skills, attention to detail, and initiative.
—Proficient with Microsoft Office or other word-processing programs.
—Ability to work both independently and collaboratively on a small, dynamic team.
—Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
—Fluent in English with knowledge of one or more foreign languages.
—Experience with multimedia content production (including slideshows, podcasts, video, and/or creating GIFS) a plus.

Editorial fellows will work from the WWB office in Brooklyn, NY, and require a commitment of sixteen hours per week for nine months, beginning in September.

The editorial fellow position pays $15 per hour.

DEADLINE: April 15, 2020

https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/words-without-borders-fall-editorial-fellowship

The Nimrod Literary Awards

INFO:
The Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction &
The Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry

First Prize: $2,000 and publication
Second Prize: $1,000 and publication

The winners will also be brought to Tulsa for the Awards Ceremony and Writing Conference in October. All finalists will be considered for publication.

Our final judges for 2020 are Kaveh Akbar and Joy Castro.

CONTEST RULES:

Poetry: 3-10 pages of poetry (one long poem or several short poems)

Fiction: 7,500 words maximum (one short story or a self-contained excerpt from a novel)

No previously published works or works accepted for publication elsewhere.  Author’s name must not appear on the manuscript.  Include a cover sheet containing titles, author’s name, full address, phone number, and email.  Submitters do not have to be U.S. citizens, but must be living in the U.S. in October of 2020 to enter the contest.

Postal Submissions: “Contest Entry” should be clearly indicated on both the outer envelope and the cover sheet. Manuscripts should be stapled, if possible; if not, please bind with a heavy clip. Manuscripts will not be returned.  Include SASE for results only. If no SASE is sent, no contest results will be sent; however, the results will be posted on Nimrod’s website.

Mail to:
Nimrod International Journal
Literary Contest–Fiction or Poetry (indicate the appropriate category)
The University of Tulsa
800 S. Tucker Dr.
Tulsa, OK 74104

Online Submissions: Work may be submitted online using our online submission manager system.

SUBMISSION FEE: $20

DEADLINE: April 15, 2020

https://artsandsciences.utulsa.edu/nimrod/nimrod-literary-awards/

2020 Gulf Coast Prize in fiction

INFO: Gulf Coast is now accepting entries for the 2020 Gulf Coast Prize in Fiction. 

The judge for this year's contest is Daniel Peña.

PRIZE: The contest awards $1,500 and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner. Two honorable mentions will be awarded $250. All entries will be considered for publication, and the entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast.

SUBMISSION FEE: $23

DEADLINE: April 16, 2020

https://gulfcoastajournalofliteratureandfinearts.submittable.com/submit/159709/2020-gulf-coast-prize-in-fiction

2020 Gulf Coast Prize in Nonfiction

INFO: Gulf Coast is now accepting entries for the 2020 Gulf Coast Prize in Nonfiction. 

The 2020 Gulf Coast Prize in Nonfiction will be judged by Emma Copley Eisenberg

  • Only previously unpublished work will be considered.

  • Submit one essay (twenty-five, double-spaced pages max) in a single .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.

  • The contest will be judged blindly, so please do not include your cover letter, your name, or any contact information in the uploaded document.

PRIZE: The contest awards $1,500 and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner. Two honorable mentions will be awarded $250. All entries will be considered for publication, and the entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast.

SUBMISSION FEE: $23

DEADLINE: April 16, 2020

https://gulfcoastajournalofliteratureandfinearts.submittable.com/submit/159707/2020-gulf-coast-prize-in-nonfiction

CALL FOR AUDIO SUBMISSIONS: POETRY & PROSE

Galleyway

INFO: Galleyway seeks audio submissions of poetry or prose. In addition to spotlighting monthly opportunities for writers of color, our mission is to champion diverse voices. That’s why we want to hear yours - literally! Share an audio recording of you reading your best poem or work of fiction (excerpt preferred) and we'll showcase it on our blog and social channels. 

Submissions must include:

  • One mp3 file (no longer than three minutes)

  • Your headshot 

  • Your bio

  • Your social media handles

Previously published work is fine! Submissions should be sent to camille@galleyway.com

DEADLINE: April 17, 2020

http://galleyway.com/blog

Pen Parentis Writing Fellowship for New Parents

INFO: One talented writer who is the parent of at least one child under 10 years old will receive $1000 to further their writing career, a year of mentorship, and will be offered the opportunity to read their winning story at the Pen Parentis Literary Salon in New York City on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. Their winning story will also be published in Dreamers Creative Writing Magazine (both online and in print) as well as included in the annual Dreamers Writing Anthology.

Submissions call for a new, never-published fiction story—any genre, on any subject—of up to 710 words, double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 point or similar font, with one inch margins.

SUBMISSION FEE: $20

DEADLINE: April 17, 2020

https://penparentis.submittable.com/submit/0e9a1e00-46e3-4830-aa5d-a3543a30caaa/10th-anniversary-pen-parentis-writing-fellowship-for-new-parents-2020-2021

Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize

American Literary Translators Association

INFO: The Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, which was inaugurated in 2009, recognizes the importance of Asian translation for international literature and promotes the translation of Asian works into English. Stryk was an internationally acclaimed translator of Japanese and Chinese Zen poetry, renowned Zen poet himself, and former professor of English at Northern Illinois University. Both translators and publishers are invited to submit titles.

Recent winners include Red Pine (2010), Charles Egan (2011), Lucas Klein (2013), Jonathan Chaves (2014), Eleanor Goodman (2015), Sawako Nakayasu (2016), Jennifer Feeley (2017), Bonnie Huie (2018), and Don Mee Choi (2012 & 2019). 

To be eligible for the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, works must be: 

  • book-length translations into English of either a) poetry or b) source texts from Zen Buddhism (which must not consist solely of commentaries) 

  • translations from Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai, or Vietnamese into English 

  • published in the previous calendar year

Submissions will be judged according to the literary significance of the original and the success of the translation in recreating the literary artistry of the original. While the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize is primarily intended to recognize the translation of contemporary works, re-translations or first-time translations of important older works will also be seriously considered.

DEADLINE: April 20, 2020

https://www.literarytranslators.org/awards/lucien-stryk-prize

NLS CURATORIAL/ART WRITING INTENSIVE

INFO: The Curatorial/Art Writing Intensive is a 5-month long mentorship program geared towards addressing the dearth of archival scholarship on the work of artists in Jamaica and the Caribbean by empowering young writers and curators with the tools to write these histories.

This program aims to develop diverse curatorial practices with a strong research and writing foundation equipping young curators to work on future projects at larger institutions and in their own intitiatives, thereby generating an archive on specific concerns and artists of focus.

For the program one young mentee will be selected per year to work with a professional curatorial mentor in the development of the mentee’s project addressing one or more of the following themes:

  • Gender: Ecology/Environment

  • Gender: Economy

  • Gender: Politics/Space

The program provides for mentees:

  • A work stipend of JMD $300,000

  • A separate publication and exhibition budget

  • Professional development from an experienced mentor

  • Access to Creative Sounds audio recording studio for podcast recording

  • Project space for the final project execution

  • Space for panel discussion

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

  • A curatorial or research statement of 700 - 1000 words. This should include ongoing research interests, planned areas of focus, as well as critical questions being investigated through the research.

  • An executive summary of 75 - 100 words.

  • A timeline for the project period. The timeline should detail checkpoints such as period of research, technical execution of outcomes such as publications (both podcast and written), panel discussions and curatorial interventions (exhibition or otherwise).

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV).

  • Work sample. Must include PDFs of 3 of your most recent writing samples, especially as related to area of research and/or 10 JPEG images (1200 pixels wide) with accompanying text (PDF format) of exhibitions applicant has worked on in the last 5 years.

  • Recommendations. Applicant must submit 2 signed letters of recommendation from someone who has worked with the applicant in their career, either in exhibitions, school and/or residencies. 7. Completed application form. 8. Copy of valid government-issued identification.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

  • Clarity. Clarity of the ideas and critical questions expressed in the research statement

  • Relevance. How relevant is the applicant’s project to the outlined themes the program is designed to address.

  • Timeline. Well-estimated timeline with thoughtful attention to time for research and technical execution of outcomes.

  • Previous output of applicant

  • Strength of recommendations

NOTIFICATIONS: All applicants will be notified that their application has been received within 14 days of receipt. Accepted applicants will be notified 8 weeks from the close of deadline.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROGRAM

  • Daily Notebook. Mentee is expected to keep a daily notebook that should be logged into each workday. Notebooks will be provided by NLS. Daily entries may include documentation of thought process, process of inquiry, project notes, and concerns.

  • Meetings. Mentee is required to attend regular scheduled meetings with Mentor and periodical meetings with the NLS administrative staff. Mentee is expected to be punctual for all meetings and respectful of all set timelines.

  • Podcast Episode. Resident is expected to host one episode of the NLS IN podcast interviewing guest(s) working in their area of research. Exhibition. The work created in the residency should be available for a month-long curated exhibition at NLS following the residency where applicable.

  • Art Writing Blog. Monthly contribution to the NLS art writing blog informally documenting developments, challenges and emerging curatorial/research concerns.

  • Workspace. The program does not provide office space for the duration of the intensive, therefore applicants are required to have access to their own workspace, computer and working WiFi.

  • Time. Accepted applicants are expected to work independently from March to August, 2019 under the mentorship of a professional curator and writer with a time commitment of at least 15 hours per week.

  • Curatorial Intervention. Mentee is expected to present a curatorial intervention in the form of an exhibition or other format relevant to the Mentee’s project focus.

  • Artist Talk. Mentee is required to moderate one artist talk/panel discussion towards the end of the intensive during the time of the curatorial intervention.

  • Written Publications. Mentee is expected to publish one essay in the form of a catalogue or zine to accompany the curatorial intervention, as well as submit one relevant piece of writing for publishing in a major art publication.

DEADLINE: April 22, 2020

http://www.nlskingston.org/documents/NLS_Curatorial_2019.pdf

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Burning House Press

INFO: Burning House Press is excited to welcome upfromsumdirt as our APRIL 2020 guest editor! As of today upfromsumdirt will take over editorship of Burning House Press online for the full month of APRIL.

upfromsumdirt‘s theme for the month is ESCAPISM

“escapism” captures the meaning of something liberating, physically, in spirit, in heavy thought or deep imagination, or in the heart.

a personal desire or something unbeknownst that calls to you. practical or farcical.

a journey, personal or communal, with a definitive destination, real or imagined.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: All submissions should be sent as attachments to guesteditorbhp@gmail.com

Please state the theme and form of your submission in the subject of the email. For example: ESCAPISM/POETRY

Poetry and Fiction

For poetry submissions, submit no more than three of your best poems. Short stories should be limited to 1,500 words or (preferably) less. We encourage flash fiction submissions, no more than three at a time. Send these in as a .doc or .docx file, along with a short third-person bio, and (optional) photograph of yourself.

Art
Submit hi-res images of your works (drawings, paintings, illustrations, collages, photography, etc) with descriptions of the work (Title, Year, Medium, etc) in the body of the email. Files should be in .JPEG unless they are GIFs or videos, and should not exceed 2MB in size for each work. File names should correspond with the work titles. Video submissions can be uploaded onto Youtube or Vimeo for feature on our website. Send these submissions along with a short third-person bio, and (optional) photograph of yourself.

Virtual Reality/ 3D Artworks

For VR Submissions, please submit no more than three (3) individual artworks. For Tilt Brush works, please upload your artwork to Google Poly (https://poly.google.com/), and mark it as ‘public’ (‘remixable’ is at your own preference). A VR/3D artwork can also be submitted as a video export navigating through the artwork. If you prefer this method, please upload your finished video file to YouTube or Vimeo and provide a URL. With either format, please provide a 150 word artist’s statement.

Non-fiction
Non-fiction submissions (essays, reviews, commentary, interviews, etc) should be no more than 1, 500 words and sent as a .doc or .docx file along with your third-person bio/and optional photograph.

Submissions are open from 1st till 24TH APRIL – and will reopen again on 1st MAY 2020/for new theme/new editor/s.

BHP online is now in the capable hands of the amazing upfromsumdirt – friends, arsonistas, send our APRIL 2020 guest editor your magic!

DEADLINE: April 24, 2020

https://burninghousepress.com/2020/03/31/april-2020-guest-editor-is-upfromsumdirt-theme-escapism/

Emerging Writer Fellowships

Miami Book Fair

INFO: The Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College is pleased to present the Emerging Writer Fellowship program. The program supports new literary voices that demonstrate exceptional talent and promise by providing writers working on a first book with time, space, and an intellectually and culturally rich artistic community.

The goal of the program is to actively support writers working to complete a book-length project within a year, and to help launch the literary careers of three fellows per year. The Emerging Writer Fellowships are designed to provide 12 months of uninterrupted time and studio space to write; mentorship with feedback from a nationally established author in their respective genre; professional experience such as arts administration, teaching creative writing, and other opportunities; $41,000 stipend, and strong literary community support in Miami, Florida.

Each Fellowship Includes:

  • $41,000 honorarium, to be divided as follows:

    • $5,000 initial lump sum to be paid to fellow one month before fellowship dates begin.

    • $36,000 = 12-monthly stipend of $3,000 to cover all living expenses (i.e. utilities, incidentals, transportation, groceries, etc.)

  • Mentorship with an established writer in your genre. Mentors arepart of the selection committee, and meet with fellow a minimum of 6 times (approximately every two months) during the 12-month fellowship. Fellows are expected to share progress and receive feedback on their manuscript-in-progress throughout the year.

  • Professional experience. Fellows have the option to gain valuable experience in the field and build their professional resume during the 12-month fellowship:

    • Creative Writing Workshops: Miami Book Fair offers community creative writing workshops in all genres throughout the year. Fellows have the opportunity to create and teach one workshop during the 12-month fellowship.

    • School Visits: Give presentations at local elementary, middle, or high schools to inspire and empower students.

    • Fellows may visit Miami Dade County Public School Title 1 schools and/or Miami Dade College classes to give presentations and/or readings.

  • Additional benefits:

    • Fellows may attend one community creative writing workshop per semester for free.

    • Fellows may attend one Miami Writers Institute workshop in the genre of their manuscript-in-progress. This includes one 15-minute manuscript consultation with that year’s MWI literary agent/editor.

    • Fellows are invited to attend any and all year-round Miami Book Fair events.

    • Studio space to work during your residency.

DEADLINE: April 30, 2020

https://www.miamibookfair.com/fellowships/

2020 CRAFT Short Fiction Prize

INFO: CRAFT Short Fiction Prize submissions are open to all writers.

  • International submissions are allowed

  • Short fiction only

  • Please submit work in English only

  • 5,000 word count maximum

  • Guest judge Alexander Chee will choose three stories from a shortlist of fifteen.  

PRIZE:

  • $2800 and a subscription to Journal of the Month 

  • Runners-up: $500 and $300 award respectively for the second and third place finalists

SUBMISSION FEE: $20

DEADLINE: April 30, 2020

https://craft.submittable.com/submit/161681/craft-short-fiction-prize-judge-alexander-chee

2020 Beacon Street Prize - Fiction

Redivider Journal

INFO: Enter here for the 2020 Beacon Street Prize, fiction category. One winner will receive $1,000 and publication in Redivider 18.1 -- This year's fiction category features judge Stephen Graham Jones.

GUIDELINES

  • Length Restrictions: One story, up to 8,000 words

  • Multiple submissions: Entrants may submit as many times as they please, to as many categories as they please, but the entry fee must be paid separately for each entry.

  • Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If accepted for publication elsewhere, simply withdraw the piece promptly (for fiction/nonfiction using the withdraw feature on Submittable, for poetry using the notes feature on Submittable to tell us which poem(s) is unavailable).

  • Manuscript Specifications: Submissions must not contain the author’s name or any other identifying information. All entries must go through our online submission manager.

  • Eligibility: All are eligible except current and former Emerson College students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, our judges’ students, or those with a personal connection to any one judge, are asked not to submit to that judge’s category.

PRIZE:

  • $1,000 prize for fiction

  • $1,000 for nonfiction

  • $1,000 for poetry

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

DEADLINE: April 30, 2020

https://redivider.submittable.com/submit/161097/2020-beacon-street-prize-fiction

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION

FIYAH

INFO: FIYAH is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine that features stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. This definition is globally inclusive (Black anywhere in the world) and also applies to mixed/biracial and Afro-appended people regardless of gender identity or orientation.

We accept submissions of short fiction 2,000 – 7,000 words and novelettes up to 15,000 words.

We are looking for brave works of speculative short fiction by authors from the African continent and diaspora that reject regressive ideas of blackness, respectability politics, and stereotype. Please submit your bravest, blackest, most difficult to sell stories to us. We want to read them.We want stories that are well written, of high quality, and generally easy to read on a screen.

We are open to receiving stories around many themes, but we will immediately reject stories that feature any of the following:

  • Graphic depictions of rape or sexual assault

  • Needless brutalization of women and children

  • Depictions of brutalization or abuse of people with disabilities

  • Graphic abuse of animals

In addition:

  • We only consider unpublished work, and we do not consider reprints (work that has been published in another magazine or on your blog or other social media) or fan fiction.

  • We do not accept multiple submissions, so please wait until you have heard a response to a submission before submitting again.

  • We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

  • Please do not resubmit previously rejected stories in a new submission period. Resubmissions are by editorial solicitation only.

  • We are only accepting submission from authors from the African diaspora and the African continent because #BlackWritersMatter. This is an intersectional definition of Blackness, and we strongly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and members from other underrepresented communities within the African diaspora.

DEADLINE: April 30, 2020

https://www.fiyahlitmag.com/submissions/

2020 Beacon Street Prize - Nonfiction

Redivider Journal

INFO: Enter here for the 2020 Beacon Street Prize, nonfiction category. One winner will receive $1,000 and publication in Redivider 18.1 -- This year's nonfiction category features judge Elisa Gabbert.

GUIDELINES:

  • Length Restrictions: One essay, up to 8,000 words

  • Multiple submissions: Entrants may submit as many times as they please, to as many categories as they please, but the entry fee must be paid separately for each entry.

  • Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome. If accepted for publication elsewhere, simply withdraw the piece promptly (for fiction/nonfiction using the withdraw feature on Submittable, for poetry using the notes feature on Submittable to tell us which poem(s) is unavailable).

  • Manuscript Specifications: Submissions must not contain the author’s name or any other identifying information. All entries must go through our online submission manager.

  • Eligibility: All are eligible except current and former Emerson College students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, our judges’ students, or those with a personal connection to any one judge, are asked not to submit to that judge’s category.

PRIZE:

  • $1,000 prize for fiction

  • $1,000 for nonfiction

  • $1,000 for poetry

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

DEADLINE: April 30, 2020

https://redivider.submittable.com/submit/161102/2020-beacon-street-prize-nonfiction

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Hispanecdotes

INFO: Hispanecdotes - a magazine providing a platform for Latino writers to share their stories, poetry, and personal essays - is excited to announce the theme of our very first print issue: Ascendencia to be published in October 2020! We are interested in essays, poems, and flash fiction up to 1500 words pertaining to the theme.

Limit for submissions: no more than 2 full prose and/or 3 poems.

DEADLINE: May 1, 2020

http://hispanecdotes.com/ascendenciasubmissions/

Literary Arts Touring GRANT

South Arts

INFO: The Literary Arts Touring grant program offers presenting organizations the opportunity to receive financial support to engage Southern writers (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry) who reside outside of the presenter’s state. Support is awarded to literary projects that contain both a public reading and an educational component such as a writing workshop. The project can include a single engagement by a writer or multiple writers involved in an event (for example, writers series or festivals). The maximum request is 50% of the writers’ fees, up to a total grant of $2,500. Each writer is required to fully-participate in the reading and educational/outreach component.

Projects must take place between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.

DEADLINE: May 1, 2020 by 11:59 PM ET

https://www.southarts.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/literary-arts-touring/https://www.southarts.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/literary-arts-touring/

THE RESTLESS BOOKS PRIZE FOR NEW IMMIGRANT WRITING

INFO: The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing For will be awarded for an outstanding debut literary work by a first-generation immigrant. We’re looking for extraordinary unpublished submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses identity in a global age. A distinguished panel of judges will select a winning manuscript to be published by Restless Books.

Fiction manuscripts must be complete. All submissions must be in English (translations welcome). 

Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. “First-generation” can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere.

Fiction candidates must not have previously published a book of fiction in English. Nonfiction candidates must not have previously published a book of nonfiction in English. We encourage applicants to look at the other titles Restless has published and previous contest winners to get a sense of our aesthetic.

Submitted manuscripts may be simultaneously under consideration for publication by other publishing houses. Once a manuscript has been selected as the winner of the Prize, Restless will contact the author and ask that the manuscript be withdrawn from consideration elsewhere. A publishing contract between the winning author and Restless Books must be signed before the winner is announced.

* Please note that while Restless Books welcomes all submissions for the Prize, we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts for our publishing program.

PRIZE: The winner will receive a $10,000 advance and publication by Restless Books in print and digital editions. We expect to work closely with the winner and provide editorial guidance.

DEADLINE: Extended to May 1, 2020

https://restlessbooks.org/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing

Creative Nonfiction Grant

Whiting Foundation

INFO: The Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant of $40,000 will be awarded to as many as eight writers in the process of completing a book-length work of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general readership. It is intended for multiyear book projects requiring large amounts of deep and focused research, thinking, and writing at a crucial point mid-process, after significant work has been accomplished but when an extra infusion of support can make a difference in the ultimate shape and quality of the work.

Whiting welcomes applications for works of history, cultural or political reportage, biography, memoir, the sciences, philosophy, criticism, food or travel writing, graphic nonfiction, and personal essays, among other categories. Again, the work should be intended for a general, not academic, adult reader. Self-help titles and textbooks are not eligible. Examples of the wide range of previous grantees can be found here

Projects must be under contract with a US publisher to be eligible. Contracts with self-publishing companies are not eligible. Applicants must be US citizens or residents. (In previous cycles, projects had to be under contract for two years at time of application; recognizing that many projects do not secure publishing contracts until they are nearly complete, we have removed that restriction.)

Writers must submit the following materials through the online application form.

  • The original proposal that led to the contract with a publisher

  • Three sample chapters, totaling no more than 50 pages (or 25,000 words total if your chapters are short)

  • A statement of progress and the requirements for completion of the book (including a projected budget)

  • A signed and dated contract (please note that to be eligible, books must be under contract with a US publisher – unfortunately, we can make no exceptions to this requirement)

  • A current resume

  • A list of grants, fellowships, or other funding received for the book

  • A letter of support from the book’s publisher or editor (due no later than May 18, 2020)

  • One additional letter of support (not to come from your agent, and due no later than May 18, 2020)

DEADLINE: May 4, 2020

https://www.whiting.org/writers/creative-nonfiction-grant/about

JEROME HILL ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

INFO: Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships support Minnesota or New York City-based artists, early in their careers, who generate and create bold, innovative and risk-taking new work that explores and/or challenges conventional artistic forms.

Fellows receive $50,000* over two consecutive years ($25,000 each year) to support self-determined activities for creation of new work, artistic development and/or professional artistic career development. Fellowship funds support grantees for taking creative risks, exploring new ideas, and pursuing professional and artistic activities.

Fellowships are offered in six fields: Dance, Media (including Film/Video and New Media), Literature, Music, Theater/Performance Art/Spoken Word, and Visual Arts. The Foundation expects to award a total of 60 Fellowships (ten per field).

Jerome Foundation recognizes that many artists today are working across disciplines. Though each applicant must apply in one of the six specified disciplines, there will be the opportunity to identify any additional disciplines in which the artist is working. Artists are invited in the application to share in their own words how they categorize their work.

Artists may apply either as an individual or as part of an ensemble/collective/collaborative—but not both. Artists may submit or be part of only one application: any individual named in more than one application will be ruled ineligible, and all applications in which that individual is named will be removed from consideration.

Fellows will be announced in 2021. Fellows must pursue their self-determined Fellowship activities between mid 2021–mid 2023. After this current cycle, the program will open again for application in 2022 with awards announced in 2023. This program is offered in alternating years.

DEADLINE: May 6, 2020

https://www.jeromefdn.org/jerome-hill-artist-fellowships

FICTION / NONFICTION -- MAR 2020

I, TOO ARTS SCHOLARSHIP FOR BLACK WOMEN WRITERS

I, Too Arts Collective / Highlights Foundation

INFO: In partnership with New York Times bestselling author Renée Watson, and the founding members of the I, Too Arts Collective, a scholarship for a Black writer, identifying as a woman, has been created. The scholarship includes full tuition to a qualifying Highlights Foundation workshop. Assistance toward traveling expenses will be offered if available.

The I, Too Arts Collective was founded by Renée Watson in 2016. The collective leased the Harlem brownstone where Langston Hughes lived and created during the last 20 years of his life. The space was activated to host readings, writing workshops, book launch celebrations, youth arts engagement, and conversations with writers, poets, and illustrators. The lease ended on the Hughes house in December 2019.

“I, Too Arts Collective was inspired by Langston’s poem, ‘I, Too’ where he writes about having a seat at the table, how he, too, is America. In so many ways his home became our table, a sacred space for writers and artists to create, to gather, to heal,” says founder Renée Watson. “Part of the organization’s mission was to nurture voices from underrepresented communities in the creative arts. This scholarship has been established to continue that work, to provide financial resources, space, and time for Black women writers to create and perfect their craft.”

The I, Too Arts Scholarship is designed for a Black woman writer, who has at least one book published (self or traditionally).

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/i-too-arts-scholarship-for-black-women-writers/?fbclid=IwAR1XtTrZlEBVIbE1SY9zoZNJaiIatD1ybqKovY0rVWtXE4CaA5SPIE_rdfc

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS -- FICTION / NONFICTION

ANMLY

INFO: Attach one story of no more than 5000 words. Please include a short bio in the "Cover Letter" field.

Translations that foreground the work of the original author are welcome in this category. For translations that foreground the creativity of the translator, please see our Translation section.

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://anmly.submittable.com/submit

CREATIVE RESIDENCY

Millay Colony for the Arts

INFO: The Millay Colony for the Arts is one of the oldest  multidisciplinary artist residencies in the world.  Since its inception by Norma Millay in 1973, we have invited thousands of writers, poets, visual artists, screenwriters, playwrights, filmmakers and composers to come to Steepletop, the estate of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and activist Edna St. Vincent Millay to reflect, refuel and create in quiet solitude. Most residencies are month-long but we do offer shorter stays several times a year, especially to accommodate the special needs of parent creators.

In addition, we partner with local and regional schools and other organizations for unique and compelling public programs and community outreach initiatives.

The seven-acre Colony is located in the Hudson Valley in the foothills of the Berkshires. The Millay Society, our neighbor, oversees Millay’s house and gardens.  There are designated trails for hiking and bicycling as well as nearby lakes, rivers and streams.  In the summer, wild blueberries and other delicacies abound, while in the winter, there is excellent crosscountry skiing.  Nearby Harvey Mountain State Forest draws visitors year-round.  We are within 30 minutes of Chatham, New York and Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  Other attractions include The Mount, Tanglewood, Norman Rockwell Museum, Chesterwood, MassMOCA, Naumkeag, Jacobs Pillow, PS21, the Columbia County Film Festival and Berkshire Shakespeare & Company.  

We provide groceries and Chef Donna cooks delicious family-style dinners weeknights.  We accommodate all dietary restrictions; we also have a bbq grill and firepit (burgers and s’mores anyone?).

Our beloved historic Barn (built from a Sears-Roebuck kit in 1926) features four private bedrooms and studios.  The Main Building (fully ADA-accessible) features 3 private bedrooms and 2 studios, as well as shared living/dining/kitchen space. In addition, the Main Building houses the Nancy Graves Memorial Library, a Yamaha U1 upright piano and the Martha Dupee Darkroom.  Other amenities include washer/dryer, WiFI, printer/computer/copier/fax. 

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://millaycolony.submittable.com/submit

A SCIENCE WRITING WORKSHOP FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (AGES 16-18)

Kenyon Review

INFO: Young Science Writers is an intensive two-week workshop for intellectually curious, motivated high-school students who value science and writing. Our goal is to help students develop their creative and critical abilities with both science and language, and to challenge themselves in the company of peers who share their interests.

Our Approach

Science permeates our society, providing both our most astounding possibilities and some of our most monumental challenges. Yet for all its power, science is often considered a dry realm of facts and figures. The Young Science Writers Workshop focuses not just on the insights of science, but on its stories and characters, even its poetry. The workshop engages with science and nature writing that is technically accurate, meaningful to readers, and a pleasure to read. Reading and writing assignments will draw from a broad range of genres including research articles, journalism, essays, stories, and poetry. We will focus on key processes shared by both science and writing: observation, measurement, experiment, and analysis. Students will perform observations and experiments in Kenyon’s laboratory facilities and ecologically diverse outdoor surroundings, then incorporate these experiences into their writing.

Exercises and assignments will help students critically evaluate scientific information, explore the relationship between scientific ideas and other forms of knowledge, and write with clarity, creativity, and power whether the intended audience is scientists or general readers.

Summer in Gambier

Nestled among rolling hills in the village of Gambier, the Kenyon campus is known for its striking beauty. Its historic buildings and shaded lawns have nurtured excellent writers for generations. Students have full access to College recreational facilities, including basketball and tennis courts and a swimming pool. Weekend activities include social events and field trips.

A COMPLETE APPLICATION CONSISTS OF:

* The online application form.
* A 300 word essay, to be uploaded with the application form.
* A high school transcript, to be uploaded with the application form (we accept both official and unofficial transcripts).
* A letter of recommendation.
* Financial aid information and any supporting financial aid documentation (optional).

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://kenyonreview.org/workshops/young-science-writers/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DRYLAND LITERARY JOURNAL

DSTL Arts

INFO: We accept poetry, prose, and art, and aim to publish the best of each genre. We look for subversive and bold voices; thought-provoking pieces that seek to illuminate a truth for the reader. We are proud to publish never published, emerging, and established writers/poets/artists. We enjoy reading and printing both English and Spanish language pieces.

Note: We prioritize works by people of color. We do not accept work that sustains the traditional white literary Western canon that has continuously ignored and poised itself as an authority over the voices of the oppressed. We do not give a voice to stories from the perspectives of cisgender, heterosexual, white, upper-class males that continue this tradition. We also do not give a voice to feminist works that only consider white female perspectives.

Submission Guidelines

  • POETRY: No more than 1-5 poems in one document 

  • FICTION: 1 short story at 3,000 words maximum

  • FLASH FICTION: No more than 3-5 pieces in one document (not in separate files)

  • NONFICTION: 1 piece at 3,000 words maximum

DEADLINE: March 5, 2020

https://dstlarts.submittable.com/submit/147037/dryland-literary-journal-submission-form

Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat

INFO: Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat in Laceyville, PA, offers visual artists, writers, composers, and instrumentalists a quiet country setting for two- to five-week residencies to focus on their creative endeavors. Spaces are available from mid-May to mid-September. Soaring Gardens has no fees, makes no demands, and there are no intrusions from the administration—only the studios, gardens, deer, other creatures, and time.

The residency is located in a farmhouse with an adjacent studio building and in a small nearby church. At any time, there are only a few artists in residence—usually three or four at the farmhouse and two at the church. Since residents share the living spaces, we encourage artists to apply as a group (a combination of artistic disciplines is fine), although applications from individuals are also welcome.

Residents need a car to get to Soaring Gardens and to use while they are in residence. There is no public transportation close by. Artists are expected to shop, cook, and clean up after themselves; a gardener maintains the grounds. As the purpose of the residency is to provide time for undisturbed work, no children, pets, or overnight visitors are permitted.

Actively working visual artists, writers, instrumentalists, and composers with at least two years of professional experience since graduation may apply. Residencies are from two to five weeks, however preference is given to applicants requesting residencies of four to five weeks. (If scheduling permits, shorter residencies will be considered.) A limited number of $500 grants are available. If a grant will significantly affect your ability to attend, please fill out the Grants section on the application page. Grants will be awarded on the basis of need. Applying for a grant will not affect your eligibility for a residency.

Since residents share living spaces, artists are encouraged to apply as a group (a combination of artistic disciplines is fine), although each application is reviewed separately and the judges reserve the right to select or reject individual members. When you apply as a group, you may pursue individual projects, collaborative projects, and/or both.

DEADLINE: March 10, 2020

https://artistcommunities.org/residencies/soaring-gardens-artists-retreat

TIN HOUSE SUMMER WORKSHOP

INFO: The Tin House Summer Workshop (July 11 - 19, 2020) is a weeklong intensive of workshops, seminars, panels, and readings led by prominent contemporary writers. The program combines morning workshops with afternoon seminars and career panels. Evenings are reserved for author readings, singing, and dancing.

Workshops meet for six sessions, Monday through Saturday, from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. Each workshop will have no more than ten students. Each student will meet with their faculty instructor for a 15-minute one-on-one meeting during the week.

Tin House editors and guest agents are available to meet individually with students throughout the week.

For students who have completed a collection of stories or poems, a memoir, or a novel, one-on-one mentorships are available with select faculty and staff for an additional fee.

The Workshop will take place at Reed College, located on 100 acres of rolling lawns, winding lanes, and magnificent old trees in the southeast area of Portland, Oregon, just minutes from downtown and twelve miles from the airport.

Summer Workshop participants are housed in the dormitories of Reed College near the center of campus. Unless requested, all rooms are singles, with shared bathrooms (private stalls) on each floor. ADA accessible rooms are available.

All classrooms, readings, panel presentations, dining and reception areas are within 1/2 mile from the dormitories. Golf carts will be made available throughout the week for those who wish to have rides.

Meals are served in the dining area of the college and are catered by Bon Appetite. We work closely with Bon Appetite to ensure dietary requirements and restrictions are accommodated. Students who choose not to stay on campus will need to pay for meals individually.

You do not need to be a U.S. resident/citizen to apply.

Admissions

Applications are read by a board composed of Tin House Workshop staff and previous Tin House Scholars. All applications will be read by at least two readers. Our editorial board seeks work that reflects our core values and makes decisions regarding admission based on this and the merit of the writing sample submitted.

  • We will begin admitting applicants in early March.

  • The average turnaround time for applications is six weeks.

  • Our acceptance rate in 2019 was 15%.

General Applicants

Application Requirements:

  • Short Fiction: One writing sample of no more than 5,000 words.
    Novel: One excerpt (from the project you will be workshopping from) of no more than 5,000 words.
    Nonfiction: One essay of no more than 5,000 words or One excerpt (from the project you will be workshopping from) of no more than 5,000 words.
    Poetry: Up to four poems.
    Graphic Narrative: Up to 20 pages.

  • Please do not apply with published material. However, it is acceptable to apply with work that is out for submission. If accepted, you will have the opportunity to switch your manuscript.

  • If you have been accepted into a Tin House workshop previously, please do not apply with the same application material. You are free to excerpt from the same project.

  • Participants may only attend our workshops (including Winter) three times.

  • If you wish to apply in multiple genres, you must submit a separate application for each genre (this includes short fiction and the novel).

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The general application deadline is March 11th.

Our 2020 Summer Workshop Admissions Board:
Lance Cleland (Workshop Director)
India Downes-Le Guin (Assistant Workshop Director)
Rickey Fayne (2019 Summer Scholar)
Mona Law (Workshop Intern)
Santiago Valencia (Workshop Intern)

SCHOLARSHIPS:

1 - Tin House Scholars

Tin House awards twelve full scholarships to our summer workshop. These awards cover the entire cost of the program, including room and board. Tin House Scholars will need to provide and pay for their travel to and from Portland. Scholarship applications are read by a board composed of Tin House Workshop staff, Tin House Books staff, and previous Tin House Scholars. All applications will be read by at least two readers. Our editorial board seeks work that reflects our core values and makes decisions regarding scholarship recipients based on this and the merit of the writing sample submitted.

  • All general scholarship applicants will also be considered for general admission (meaning you do not need to submit a general application as well).

  • In addition to your manuscript, you will be asked to submit a personal essay (1500 words or less) that gives our board insight into where you are coming from as a writer.

  • Payment plans are available for the $30 application fee. Please email our assistant workshop director India Downes-LeGuin (india@tinhouse.com) to inquire.

  • One may be awarded a scholarship once (this includes Winter Scholarships).

  • You may apply for multiple scholarships with one application (in one genre).

  • If you wish to apply in multiple genres, you must submit a separate scholarship application for each genre (this includes short fiction and the novel).

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The winners of these awards will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop.

  • The deadline for scholarship applications is TBA.

A list of recent scholarship recipients can be found here. 

In addition to our general scholarships, Tin House will be offering these additional awards:

2 - Independent Bookseller Scholarship, Sponsored by Tin House Books 

  • This award is intended for a writer presently employed at an independent bookstore.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board. 

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

3 - Institute of American Indian Arts MFA Scholarship

  • This award is intended for applicants who are currently enrolled in or are a graduate of the MFA program at IAIA.

  • Thanks to a private donation, this award covers the application fee, cost of tuition, room/board, and airfare from within the United States.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

4 - LGBTQ+ Scholarship

  • This award is intended for writers who identify as LGBTQ+.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

5 - Oregon Writer of Color Scholarship

  • This award is intended for a writer of color who currently resides in Oregon.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

6 - Still-Emerging Scholarship

  • This award is intended to provide writers over forty years of age who have not yet published a book with the time and space to develop their writing skills further and connect with a community that might help launch their professional writing careers.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 40 years or older by December 31st, 2020.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

7 - Without Borders Scholarship

  • This award is intended for any immigrant writer currently living in the United States.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board,

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.


DEADLINE: March 11, 2020

https://tinhouse.com/workshop/summer-workshop/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BLACK GIRLHOOD ISSUE

Kweli Journal

INFO: Kweli is an online journal that celebrates community and cultural kinships. In this shared space, you will hear the lived experience of people of color. Our many stories. Our shared histories. Our creative play with language. Here our memories are wrapped inside the music of the Muscogee, the blues songs of the South, the clipped patois of the Caribbean. 

Nicole Dennis-Benn will be guest editing Kweli's April/May 2020 Issue.

Dennis-Benn is the author of HERE COMES THE SUN and PATSY. She is a Lambda Award winner and the recipient of the National Foundation for the Arts Grant. Dennis-Benn was also a finalist for the NBCC John Leonard Award, the NYPL Young Lions Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and MORE.

From Nicole Dennis-Benn:

In the novel, Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, the young female protagonist, August, states: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. But what about his daughters, I wondered. What did God do with his daughters?”

This line resonated with me as a woman, who was once a girl in Jamaica, who never saw my life or that of my peers reflected on television, much less on the page. Not until I encountered Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Sula; Paule Marshall’s Brown Girl Brownstone, Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, and Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak! However, those stories did something that few books and mainstream media capture—the representation of black women at the very critical developmental stages of our lives: our girlhood.

Many of the widely acclaimed coming of age stories I had read and seen on television focused primarily on boys. This leaves me to question where are the stories of our black girlhood? It’s as though boys are allowed to make mistakes and fumble into their developing sexualities and self-discoveries, thus generously lending them the redeeming quality of youth; while the black girl is stripped of her youth and imprisoned inside a sanguine cage where she is automatically expected to perform womanhood. In a society where black girls’ bodies are often sexualized, very rarely is our innocence regarded, nurtured, or even depicted. Mainstream narratives do very little to document our growing pains and self-discoveries as girls.

This Kweli issue will focus on filling the gap that books and media have overlooked in our stories: Black Girlhood. This includes the stages of the pre-teen and teen years. These stories are NOT limited to YA fiction, but fiction as a whole that capture our realities through the lens of black girls, ages 5-19. The stories chosen will be from various black women writers, established and unknown, across the diaspora whose stories capture the essence of black girlhood in all its beauty, pain, honesty, and complexity.

DEADLINE: March 14, 2020

http://www.kwelijournal.org/submit-2

THE CABINS 2020 RETREAT

INFO: The Cabins 2020 June session is located on a private camp in walking distance from Tobey Pond and the hiking trails of the Great Mountain Forest in scenic Norfolk, Connecticut. Kayaks and canoes will be at the participants' disposition, and the swimming is fantastic. Please email us if you have mobility concerns and we will talk you through the access to the different accommodations. There is parking on site.

 You can download the summer schedule for an idea of how time is structured during the retreat. Once the group arrives and settles in, a “lights out” time that respects everyone’s various sleep and socialization needs will be decided on. (Lights won't need to go off by then, just voices.)

The Cabins camp is divided up in the following way:

Main House: 2 private bedrooms, communal kitchen, screened porch, dining room, living room with fireplace, 1 1/2 bathrooms, washing machine. Fire pit off of the living room.

Studio 1: One room cabin with 1/2 bath, queen bed

Studio 2: Circular stone cabin with fireplace, 1/2 bath and queen bed​

The Flippery: Separate house containing a main room with 3 twin beds, and a separate room with a bunk bed. 1/2 bath in between the two rooms.

​Room rates are as follows for the 4-day June retreat and include tuition*:

Private queen in main house: $450

Private twin in main house: $400

Private Studio 1: $525

Private Studio 2: $525

The Flippery**: $350

Scholarship recipients: no charge (except for room occupancy tax)***

Applying as a couple or two-person team? A private room or cabin must be selected and an additional $200 will be added to cover the second person’s room and board. To keep the group dynamics comfortable for everyone, only one couple or partnership will be accepted per session.

*Room rates include 3 group dinners and 2 lunches. Additionally, the kitchen in the main house will be stocked with breakfast basics and essentials such as coffee, tea, bread, granola, eggs, condiments, milk, juice, beer and wine. It will be up to the participants to replenish stocks as the weekend progresses. Everyone is more than welcome to bring food, snacks, and cooking ingredients from home to share. All participants must sign liability waivers before they arrive. ​

​**Please note: scholarship recipients will be housed in The Flippery. Visit the apply page for more information about scholarships.

*** Due to new tax laws in Connecticut, each applicant will be charged $5 a day to cover the room occupancy tax, including scholarship recipients.

Payment:

Payment is due in full one week after your acceptance in order to hold your spot by check, Venmo, or PayPal.

​DEADLINE: March 15, 2020

https://www.thecabinsretreat.com/about

2020 Kundiman Mentorship Lab

INFO: Applications are now open for the 2020 Mentorship Lab! This program will support 9 emerging writers through a six-month program. The Mentorship Lab supports 3 writers of each genre (Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, & Poetry), who will take Master Classes, Workshops, and receive one-on-one Mentorship.

This program will support nine NYC–based emerging artists for a six-month mentorship program from July 2020–December 2020. This lab will include not only mentorship support from established artists but also writing workshops, master classes, and a culminating reading open to the public. Kundiman has long been a source of community and support for Asian American writers, and we’re excited to offer this space of close collaboration and community guidance.

We are thrilled to have the following writers serving as Mentors this year:

  • Hala Alyan: Poetry

  • Gina Apostol: Fiction

  • Mayukh Sen: Creative Nonfiction

AWARD: Mentorship Fellows receive a $1000 stipend, individual mentoring sessions with the Mentor in their genre, six Master Classes, and six Workshops. To encourage learning and community across genres, the Master Classes will include fellows from all three genres. The Workshops will be conducted within specific genres.

ELIGIBILITY: The Mentorship Lab is open to emerging writers who self-identify as Asian American. Writers must not have published a full-length book by the conclusion of the Lab, and cannot be enrolled in a degree-granting program during the time of the Mentorship Lab. Writers must be residents of the five boroughs of New York City, and be living in NYC for the full period of the Mentorship Lab. 

Mentorship Lab will meet on biweekly Monday evenings in NYC from September 2020–December 2020. Please make sure you are able to make these class times before applying.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MENTORSHIP FELLOWS:

  • Meet with entire cohort for introductory meeting in July 2020

  • Participate in biweekly 30-minute check-ins with Mentors from August 2020–December 2020, via phone or Skype

  • Attend all 6 Master Classes and 6 Writing Workshops on biweekly Mondays from September–December 2020

  • Participate in culminating public reading in December 2020

DEADLINE: March 15, 2020

http://www.kundiman.org/mentorship-lab

2020 JuxtaProse Nonfiction Prize

JuxtaProse Literary Magazine

INFO: $1,000 and publication in JuxtaProse Literary Magazine will be awarded to the winning piece. Up to three additional pieces, each by a different author, may be awarded "Honorable Mention" status, for which they will receive $100 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication, regardless of whether they receive honorable mention status. Manuscripts must not have been previously published in any form -- including any form of online publication -- in order to be eligible.

Entries should contain a single piece of creative nonfiction that is between 500 and 7,000 words. Any entry which falls outside of these word limits may be subject to disqualification. Authors may enter multiple times but will be charged a separate entry fee each time.

Winners, including the first prize winner and any honorable mentions, will be announced on or before 5:00 pm Pacific Time on June 12, 2020. JuxtaProse reserves the right to extend the contest deadline as necessary, so long as the winners are announced by this date.

SUBMISSION FEES: $18.00 / $14.00

DEADLINE: March 16, 2020

https://juxtaprosemagazine.submittable.com/submit/151745/2020-juxtaprose-nonfiction-prize

Special Issue: Visions and Words for Children of the African Diaspora, Fall 2020

Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora 

INFO: Founded in 1975, Obsidian supports—through publication and critical inquiry—the contemporary poetry, fiction, drama/performance, visual and media art of Africans globally. Recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as one of the premier journals dedicated to Africa and African Diaspora Literatures, Obsidian is published biannually in print and year-round online and hosted by Illinois State University.

This special issue of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora is dedicated to creative artistry for children of the African Diaspora. We invite original textual and multimedia submissions devoted to interdisciplinary and creative approaches in African Diaspora Children’s and YA Literature. Submissions must focus upon literature, visual, and audio artistry created by people of the African Diaspora. Submissions may include scholarly papers, audio and/or visual presentations, interviews, and creative/artistic works. 

Guest Editor: Nancy D. Tolson

Manuscript Guidelines:

  • Include a short cover letter noting the title(s) of the work(s) submitted and citing major publications and awards, as well as any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor.

  • Upload your text submission only as a Word (doc, docx), portable document format/PDF (pdf) or rich-text format (rtf) file.
    **NO Pages, txt, or Open Office Documents.

  • Typed, double-spaced pages (Note: Poetry may be single-spaced)

  • Numbered pages.

  • Scholarly papers should follow the Chicago Style for grammar and MLA format for citations and works cited, and the Obsidian Stylesheet (The style sheet is available to download as a pdf file here at this link : Obsidian Style Sheet The link opens in a new page.

  • Margins should be set at no less than 1” and no greater than 1.5”.

  • Poetry: submit up to five (5) poems totaling no more than eight (8) pages.

  • FictionHybrid genre and critical essays: 12-point font. No more than twenty (20) pages or 5000 words (whichever is achieved first). Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained.

  • Drama/Performance: submit one act or a collection of short scenes no longer than twenty pages (20) following Samuel French or the Dramatists Guild suggested formatting. Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained.

  • Translations are welcome if permission has been granted.

DEADLINE: March 15, 2020

https://obsidianlit.org/how-to-submit/

Anaphora Writing Residency

INFO: Anaphora Writing Residency is a ten-day program based primarily in Los Angeles, exclusively for writers of color only. The program offers workshops, readings, craft talks, and discussions with professionals from the literary and publishing industry. The goal of the program is to nurture emerging and established writers of color, to create opportunities for publication, and establish a wide network of support for writers of different backgrounds.

DATES & FEES: The upcoming residency will run on May 28 - June 6, 2020, and will take place in a small campus in Los Angeles. The program costs $3,000, which includes room and board (double occupancy, with 3 meals daily). Several partial fellowships are available every year, depending on funding availability; applications must be submitted by the priority deadline to be eligible for fellowships. Our Founding Fellows and returning alumnx, will have the opportunity to attend the program at a discounted rate.

DEADLINES:

  • Priority: March 17, 2020

  • Final: March 20, 2020

Applications are reviewed by an anonymous admission board of peers, which rotates every year. Notifications will be sent out by March 25th.  A non-refundable security deposit of $300 is required within two weeks of notification; program fees must be paid entirely prior to the beginning of the residency.

https://www.anaphoraarts.com/anaphora-writing-residency

VONA/VOICES SUMMER WORKSHOPS 2020

INFO: As the only multi-genre workshop for writers-of-color in the United States,  VONA is grounded in social justice and the fostering of a community  where our work is centralized in an environment that is safe, nurturing, and supportive. VONA is about mentoring emerging writers-of-color by accomplished writers-of-color. VONA Alums create a presence in spaces that have traditionally been dominated by mainstream writing. 

 Participants are notified of their acceptance by March 14 and have until March 23, 2020, to confirm their acceptance and pay a non-refundable deposit of $200. Waitlisted applicants will be notified by April 1, 2020.       

Manuscripts to be used in the workshop will be uploaded to the virtual classroom site by May 17, 2020. All fees are due by May 31, 2020. A two-step payment plan is available. Limited partial scholarships are available.   

Writers will only be able to enroll in ONE workshop; however, all are encouraged to apply for first and second choices. Thus applying in different weeks is allowed, but attendance is permitted to only one workshop over the two week period. (You will be notified accordingly of your acceptance or waitlist status to the workshops you have applied.)  

  • Week ONE: June 21 - June 27, 2020 

  • Week TWO: June 28 - July 4, 2020 

Fees for Tuition

  • Week-long workshop: $1,250

  • *Residency: $1,250

Limited need-based partial tuition scholarships offered.

Room and Board - optional

*$675 - $771 (includes meals, wi-fi, linen packet, wellness center, laundry facility, and parking. Register directly with the University of Miami via OCS link once you are accepted.)

SUBMISSION FEE: $30

DEADLINE: Extended to March 18, 2020

https://vonavoices.submittable.com/submit/155419/vona-voices-summer-workshops-2020

2020 WRITING CONTEST

The Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing

INFO: ​We are thrilled to present the MVICW Annual Writers' Contest! Two winners will be awarded full tuition and lodging to attend the Summer Writers' Conference, and two additional winners will be awarded partial tuition ($500 toward Tuition).

The competition is open to anyone who will be 18 years or older at the start of the program. Interested applicants should submit one poem (1-3 pages in length), or one short story , novel excerpt, or creative nonfiction piece (up to 3000 words). Entries will be judged anonymously.

PRIZES: ​

First Place Awards (two winners):

  • One Poetry and One Fiction/CNF

  • $1700 (Tuition & Lodging for the Week)​

Two Second Prize Awards (two winners):

  • One Poetry and One Fiction/CNF

  • $500 each (Towards Tuition)

SUBMISSION FEE: $25

DEADLINE: March 20, 2020

https://www.mvicw.com/contest

TWH 2020

The Writer’s Hotel

INFO: The Writer’s Hotel “Mini MFA” is a one-of-a-kind conference. TWH Editors read and consult on each writer’s full length manuscript pre-conference, followed by a week-long conference in June. TWH NYC events are set at Midtown hotels, including The Roger Smith Hotel and The Casablanca Hotel. On site events include workshops, lectures and agent pitch sessions. And each writer reads their own original work at landmark NYC venues: KGB Bar, The Red Room at KGB Bar and Bowery Poetry Club. Faculty readings are another wonderful feature, and are held at Kinokuniya Bookstore and at Lily’s Bar at The Roger Smith. From our virtual pre-reading process through to our NYC writers conference, TWH takes writers and their writing to the next level. Via TWH, writers bring their work from desk to marketplace at the heart of the publishing industry. It's an extraordinary opportunity. 

To apply, send the first 5000 words of a fiction manuscript. Writers may submit work in any fiction sub-genre. Novels, novels-in-progress, short stories, and short story collections-in-progress are all welcome. The application writing sample must be the first pages of a current target manuscript. Writers may apply below via the

In order to be eligible for TWH 2020, writers should be working on an unpublished target manuscript. A target manuscript is a writer's present writing project--the manuscript that the writer will bring to NYC and present to agents or editors. This target manuscript can be a work-in-progress or it can be full-length draft. Writers should have at least 30-50 finished, polished pages by June, 2020, in order to pitch their manuscript to agents on-site. 

Please note that we do not work on full-length manuscripts that are over 100K words.  If we move forward with an application, the writer will be contacted for a brief phone interview. During the interview, the writer will have the opportunity to discuss their writing and writing goals. We process our applications as quickly as possible. If we feel that a writer is a good fit for TWH, we will work through the acceptance materials quickly. We are prompt to notify about acceptance status, and prompt to begin our pre-conference Team Reading, so that writers can benefit right away from our editing and feedback process.  

PROGRAMMING AND COST: Our programming fee includes the pre-conference TWH Team Reading, performed by TWH editors, and all NYC on-site events June 3-9. Each TWH Team Reading includes hundreds of comments, from line edits to developmental edits, and a follow-up phone call to address any questions a writer may have about the generated comments. The fee covers NYC in-town events June 3-9: All workshops, lectures, readings, Genre Labs, open mic night, the Breakfast Social with TWH Directors and the agent pitch sessions. TWH is a unique and comprehensive writing program. The fee for our 2020 TWH program is $3,250. Our prices are extremely competitive; we feel that the pre-conference reading value alone may well be worth the price of admission. We are also extremely selective, because of the time we spend with each author's work and because of the small size of each Major Workshop on site. 

We can point accepted writers toward credit opportunities via our billing arm, and let writers know about affordable hotels. Many of our attendees who work in academia in the states and abroad have received funding grants via their colleges or universities, as TWH is generally considered a career enrichment program. All five of our participating hotels offer TWH discounts, and there are other opportunities for lodging in the Midtown area that are reasonable. 

STIPEND AND AWARD INFORMATION: TWH offers three stipends of $500 each year. In 2020, we will be awarding three Fiction stipends. Our Sara Patton Stipends are awarded on site in NYC on the last day of our conference. Awardees also have their bio and photo posted on our website following the NYC announcement, and that announcement is up online for a full year. All TWH attendees are automatically entered, with the exception of Teaching Assistants and those working with us in Private Study, who are ineligible for the stipends. Sara Patton Stipends are merit-based, not need based. TWH stipend recipients are chosen at the discretion of our stipend committee in a closed process. 

The Writer's Hotel holds a Writers and Writing Conferences (WC&C) membership, via the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). Because of this membership, all TWH attendees are also eligible to enter AWP's Kurt Brown Prizes competition. AWP's Kurt Brown Prizes also honor three writers each year with $500 and an online announcement. The Kurt Brown Prize is open to accepted TWH 2020 writers. The next application period runs 12/01/19-03/30/20.

SUBMISSION FEE: $30

DEADLINE: March 22, 2020

https://www.writershotel.com/apply

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Kearny Street Workshop / Asian Art Museum

INFO: Kearny Street Workshop, in collaboration with Asian Art Museum, presents Interdisciplinary Writers Lab (IWL), a 3-month, multi-genre master class for local BIPOC writers scheduled for summer 2020. IWL is a unique program that challenges emerging writers to thoroughly explore and develop their writing skills and styles across multiple genres.

The goals of the IWL program include: providing local emerging writers/artists with the opportunity to challenge, develop, and expand their practice by working with established writers in a variety of genres; to contribute to the development of new literary forms and language that incorporate multiple forms of creative expression; to provide emerging artists with the opportunity to build community and connect with writers in the literary world; and to publish in a print anthology that highlights work by exciting new writers committed to exploring new forms and voices.

*Although IWL accepts applications from all interested students, the focus of this program is geared towards artists and writers of color. It’s our hope that the students’ engagement in this program will prompt the further development of their craft.

IWL 2020 is a collaboration between Kearny Street Workshop and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.

SUBMISSION FEE: $10

PROGRAM FEES: Tuition for IWL is $400. The application fee is $10. In order to reserve your spot with IWL, full tuition must be paid upon acceptance into the program. Failure to pay tuition before the established deadline prior to the start of IWL could result in removal from the program. Opportunities to apply for scholarships will open after acceptance into the program.

DEADLINE: March 29, 2020

https://www.kearnystreet.org/iwl-2020-call-for-submissions

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FICTION

them

INFO: Our team at them. is excited to announce our new monthly fiction column, a space dedicated to publishing queer stories and poems by and for the LGBTQ+ community.

Queer people have long used literature to telegraph our lives and stories to the world, and to reclaim, recontextualize, and retell history on our own terms. Queer literature was at the heart of the fight to strike down obscenity laws in the West, has helped countless people discover their sexuality and identity before the internet, and has long been a powerful tool of resistance and imagination for LGBTQ+ people worldwide. In short, it’s vital to our community — which is why we’re inspired to provide our audience with a platform for their own work, to publish the next generation of LGBTQ+ writers.

Each month, we will select a new theme — subjects as abstract as love, creation, and connection, or as concrete as a day at the beach — and invite readers around the world to submit poems, flash fiction, and short stories tied to that theme.

This April, leading up to this year’s Met Gala, About Time: Fashion and Duration, we’ll be publishing submissions themed around time. We’re looking for stories and poems both about time as a literal concept and as it relates to one’s life — a time you fell in love, how coming out changed the timeline of your adolescence, a queer time travel saga, even a period piece that transports us to a different historical era. While we encourage any interpretation of this theme, we are looking to select:

  • 5 poems

  • 4 pieces of flash fiction (under 1,000 words)

  • 1 short story

DEADLINE: March 30, 2020

https://www.them.us/story/them-monthly-fiction-column-call-for-submissions

THE RESTLESS BOOKS PRIZE FOR NEW IMMIGRANT WRITING

INFO: The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing For will be awarded for an outstanding debut literary work by a first-generation immigrant. We’re looking for extraordinary unpublished submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses identity in a global age. A distinguished panel of judges will select a winning manuscript to be published by Restless Books.

Fiction manuscripts must be complete. All submissions must be in English (translations welcome). 

Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. “First-generation” can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere.

Fiction candidates must not have previously published a book of fiction in English. Nonfiction candidates must not have previously published a book of nonfiction in English. We encourage applicants to look at the other titles Restless has published and previous contest winners to get a sense of our aesthetic.

Submitted manuscripts may be simultaneously under consideration for publication by other publishing houses. Once a manuscript has been selected as the winner of the Prize, Restless will contact the author and ask that the manuscript be withdrawn from consideration elsewhere. A publishing contract between the winning author and Restless Books must be signed before the winner is announced.

* Please note that while Restless Books welcomes all submissions for the Prize, we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts for our publishing program.

PRIZE: The winner will receive a $10,000 advance and publication by Restless Books in print and digital editions. We expect to work closely with the winner and provide editorial guidance.

DEADLINE: March 31, 2020

https://restlessbooks.org/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing

NLS CURATORIAL/ART WRITING INTENSIVE

INFO: The Curatorial/Art Writing Intensive is a 5-month long mentorship program geared towards addressing the dearth of archival scholarship on the work of artists in Jamaica and the Caribbean by empowering young writers and curators with the tools to write these histories.

This program aims to develop diverse curatorial practices with a strong research and writing foundation equipping young curators to work on future projects at larger institutions and in their own intitiatives, thereby generating an archive on specific concerns and artists of focus.

For the program one young mentee will be selected per year to work with a professional curatorial mentor in the development of the mentee’s project addressing one or more of the following themes:

  • Gender: Ecology/Environment

  • Gender: Economy

  • Gender: Politics/Space

The program provides for mentees:

  • A work stipend of JMD $300,000

  • A separate publication and exhibition budget

  • Professional development from an experienced mentor

  • Access to Creative Sounds audio recording studio for podcast recording

  • Project space for the final project execution

  • Space for panel discussion

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

  • A curatorial or research statement of 700 - 1000 words. This should include ongoing research interests, planned areas of focus, as well as critical questions being investigated through the research.

  • An executive summary of 75 - 100 words.

  • A timeline for the project period. The timeline should detail checkpoints such as period of research, technical execution of outcomes such as publications (both podcast and written), panel discussions and curatorial interventions (exhibition or otherwise).

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV).

  • Work sample. Must include PDFs of 3 of your most recent writing samples, especially as related to area of research and/or 10 JPEG images (1200 pixels wide) with accompanying text (PDF format) of exhibitions applicant has worked on in the last 5 years.

  • Recommendations. Applicant must submit 2 signed letters of recommendation from someone who has worked with the applicant in their career, either in exhibitions, school and/or residencies. 7. Completed application form. 8. Copy of valid government-issued identification.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

  • Clarity. Clarity of the ideas and critical questions expressed in the research statement

  • Relevance. How relevant is the applicant’s project to the outlined themes the program is designed to address.

  • Timeline. Well-estimated timeline with thoughtful attention to time for research and technical execution of outcomes.

  • Previous output of applicant

  • Strength of recommendations

NOTIFICATIONS: All applicants will be notified that their application has been received within 14 days of receipt. Accepted applicants will be notified 8 weeks from the close of deadline.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROGRAM

  • Daily Notebook. Mentee is expected to keep a daily notebook that should be logged into each workday. Notebooks will be provided by NLS. Daily entries may include documentation of thought process, process of inquiry, project notes, and concerns.

  • Meetings. Mentee is required to attend regular scheduled meetings with Mentor and periodical meetings with the NLS administrative staff. Mentee is expected to be punctual for all meetings and respectful of all set timelines.

  • Podcast Episode. Resident is expected to host one episode of the NLS IN podcast interviewing guest(s) working in their area of research. Exhibition. The work created in the residency should be available for a month-long curated exhibition at NLS following the residency where applicable.

  • Art Writing Blog. Monthly contribution to the NLS art writing blog informally documenting developments, challenges and emerging curatorial/research concerns.

  • Workspace. The program does not provide office space for the duration of the intensive, therefore applicants are required to have access to their own workspace, computer and working WiFi.

  • Time. Accepted applicants are expected to work independently from March to August, 2019 under the mentorship of a professional curator and writer with a time commitment of at least 15 hours per week.

  • Curatorial Intervention. Mentee is expected to present a curatorial intervention in the form of an exhibition or other format relevant to the Mentee’s project focus.

  • Artist Talk. Mentee is required to moderate one artist talk/panel discussion towards the end of the intensive during the time of the curatorial intervention.

  • Written Publications. Mentee is expected to publish one essay in the form of a catalogue or zine to accompany the curatorial intervention, as well as submit one relevant piece of writing for publishing in a major art publication.

DEADLINE: March 31, 2020

http://www.nlskingston.org/documents/NLS_Curatorial_2019.pdf

Winter 2020 Story Contest

Narrative

INFO: Our winter contest is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, 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.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, with characters we can respond to as human beings, and with effects of language, situation, and insight that are intense and total. We look for works that have the ambition of enlarging our view of ourselves and the world.

AWARDS:

  • First Prize: $2,500,

  • Second Prize: $1,000

  • Third Prize: $500

  • Ten finalists will receive $100 each

  • All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2020 and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.

SUBMISSION FEE:  $27 and you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

DEADLINE: March 31, 2020

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/winter-2020-story-contest?uid=103566&m=c5d91f99e9594504e9609948cae7d1d4&d=1583337917

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: WOMB ANTHOLOGY

POC United

INFO: The womb. From the Old English wamb. Referred to in science as the uterus. It is the inverted, pear-shaped organ that offers a space for the conception of offspring and is the home for that life to gestate. Throughout history, wombs have been extracted, cut into, sewn together, criminalized, politicized, legislated, and textualized. There are literal and figurative wombs, ones housed in our bodies, ones we wish were housed in our bodies, ones we don’t want, and, for all of us, the wombs from which we were born. For this second POC United anthology, we want them all.

We ask for fiction, essays, and poetry about the desire for a womb, the loss of a womb, the relationship to the mother’s womb, the metaphorical womb, phantom wombs, and any other womb-related ideas you might have. Interpret this theme as freely as you like, and submit so-called literary or genre work.

Please send fiction and non-fiction under 5,000 words and no more than three poems to pocunited@outlook.com as both an attachment and pasted in the body of the message by

DEADLINE: April 1, 2020

https://pocunited.com/submit/?fbclid=IwAR1jcQL_BaoHVsDxJpARZi9MBeJcL8zv9QOISY130Pr7vwi8iL5xVUijjHc

2020 Eliza So Fellowship

Submittable

INFO: We’re delighted to announce Submittable’s 2020 Eliza So Fellowship, which will support one Native American writer’s book project with a month-long residency in Missoula, MT. Now in its fourth year, the Eliza So Fellowship is dedicated to serving underrepresented writers working to complete a full-length book manuscript.

This year’s fellowship is open to Native American writers at any stage in a book project, provided that 30 representative pages have been completed. No resume is required, and entry is free. We encourage you to consider applying and help us get the word out. 

The 2020 Eliza So Fellowship will include lodging in Missoula, along with a $1,000 stipend for food and travel. Fellows will stay in a private house on the Clark Fork river trail, just blocks from downtown, grocery shopping, farmers markets, parks, restaurants, coffee shops, and more.

Final judge: Heather Cahoon

Cahoon received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Montana where she was the Richard Hugo Scholar. She has been awarded a Merriam Frontier Prize, a Potlatch Fund Native Arts grant, and a Montana Arts Council Artist Innovation Award for her writing, which has appeared in Hanging Loose, Lit Hub, Yellow Medicine Review, basalt, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Carve, and Cutthroat among others. Her first full-length collection of poems entitled Horsefly Dress, is forthcoming from the University of Arizona Press in fall of 2020. Heather is also a federal Indian policy scholar and Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana. She grew up on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana and is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Application and fellowship requirements:

1) You have a novel, collection of stories or poems, a memoir, or other prose work (fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid) in progress (30 pages minimum).

2) You are a Native American writer

3) You are available for a residency from July 18, 2020 – August 14, 2020

Fellows will be asked to give a public reading in Missoula and write a blog post of at least 1,000 words for Submittable during their residency.

If fellows are interested in doing a lunchtime presentation for staff at Submittable’s Missoula headquarters during their stay—on their book project, craft, or any literary topic that interests them—we would be delighted. However, a lunchtime presentation is not required.

DEADLINE: April 5, 2020

https://fellowship.submittable.com/submit

FICTION / NONFICTION -- FEB 2020

FIRST PAGES PRIZE

INFO: The First Pages Prize is an annual prize awarded to three emerging writers. The competition is for writers who are NOT currently represented by a literary agent, whether for previously published or unpublished work.

AWARD: Three winners receive:

  • A cash award (1st - $1,000, 2nd - $750, 3rd - $500 in US dollars)

  • Partial developmental editing to support the completion of their full manuscript

  • Agent feedback on their winning entry pages

  • Travel stipend (based on geographic location) to Paris, France and two nights’ lodging for the 1st and 2nd place winners

  • Invitation to a public reading of their work and prize presentation events in Paris on June 9-10, 2020 for the 1st and 2nd place winners

Agent feedback will be with the winner’s choice of either Amy Tannenbaum of Jane Rotrosen Agency in New York, or Caroline Hardman of Hardman & Swainson Literary Agency in London and will take place in April or May with the agent reading the winning entry and then conducting a 15-minute consultation with the winner by phone or Skype.

Prizes are supported by The First Pages Prize, Inc. and The de Groot Foundation.

DEADLINE: February 2, 2020

https://www.firstpagesprize.com/

KWELI 2020 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

Kweli Journal

INFO: We are excited beyond measure about the Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference on Saturday, April 4, 2020! We had an amazing conference in 2019, and #Kweli20 promises to be an even more exciting, educational, and community-building day for BIPOC creatives. Kweli's spring conference is an excellent opportunity for Indigenous and POC writers and illustrators to learn, get inspired and network with others in the industry.

Thanks to the generosity of our amazing donors, we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships to attend the Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference!

The scholarship application portal opens on January 2nd and closes on February 2nd.

You can submit ONE application for our review and consideration. Please note that the scholarship covers the cost of registration. It does NOT cover travel or the costs of a master class or manuscript / portfolio review.

For details on the conference, please see the following link: http://www.kwelijournal.org/the-color-of-childrens-literature-conference-2

DEADLINE: February 2, 2020

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEdvH6ONlL7S5JS6OFFl8LYcDFHvfz1CsbHjUwGkRR4T_ULA/viewform

Literary and Photographic Contest 2019-2020

Hispanic Culture Review

INFO: “Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres” (Tell me who you are with, and I’ll tell you who you are). Even though this saying in Spanish has a negative connotation, we think it is time to give it a new meaning that speaks of identity going beyond self-definition. Nationality, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation, and more are identity markers, ties that bring us together or separate us from others. According to this, knowing who we are implies that we learn the stories we have in common and to tell them to leave testimony of the human condition that makes us truly a community.

For the 2019-2020 edition, we invite you to think about the concept of “my people” and to go beyond the boundaries that separate us to give shape to what really unites us. 

The selected works will be published in our magazine, and the winners will receive a monetary prize of $100 dollars and a certificate of recognition, and will be notified through email as well as on our Facebook page (Hispanic Culture Review GMU). Prizes will be issued in the Spring of 2020. 

For a work to be considered, the following specifications must be followed; if the specifications are not followed, the work will be eliminated:

  • The maximum number of works per author is 2, which must be sent as separate files. Those submitting photography and visual arts works are allowed to send up to 6 works.

  • Written works must be written in Arial 12pt font.

  • Academic works and essays must follow the current MLA or APA formatting style.

  • Maximum length allowed for the texts:

          -Academic essays and investigations: 3000 words (including footnotes).

          -Narrative: 2500 words.

          -Poetry: 50 lines maximum.

  • Visual Arts: photographs must be in JPEG format and 300 PPI.

  • Only unedited work will be accepted, which means works that have not been published before or are pending revision in other media. This includes printed and electronic work, as well as those included in literary blogs.

  • Works written in both English and Spanish will be accepted.

  • There are no age or nationality restrictions to participate, except in the case that the person has his/her fiscal residence in any of the countries subject to the sanctions of the United States government, since it would be impossible to send the monetary prize to the winner. https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx

Selected works will be published in both the print and electronic versions of the HCR magazine. HCR reserves the right to publish the works exclusively in its digital version. 

DEADLINE: February 7, 2020

https://hispanicculturereview.submittable.com/submit?utm_content=108803356&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-50286440

CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIP

Luminarts

INFO: The Creative Writing Fellowship awards two $7,500 Luminarts Fellowships for excellence in creative writing in the categories of prose and poetry, in fiction and nonfiction. Applicants (must be Chicago-based) submit a two-page written piece (either a stand-alone piece or an excerpt of a larger piece such as a novel or short story). Entries are submitted and reviewed by an initial panel of jurors. Once reviewed, all top entries go to the final juror panel and the winners are selected. Jurors are comprised of professional authors, novelists, and poets, literary contributors, publishers, editors, journalists and media contributors. 

DEADLINE: February 7, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. CST

https://luminarts.org/creative-writing-opportunities/

Spring Residency for Debut Writers of Color

Tin House

INFO: Our Spring Residency (May 1 - June 2) is intended to support two writers of color who are working on their first books. This residency aims to give these authors the time, space, industry support, and financial flexibility to help finalize their debut projects.

The spring residents will be provided fully furnished one-bedroom apartments in Portland, Oregon and a $1,000 living stipend towards air travel and food. The residents will also have the option to teach a one-day Craft Intensive during their stay. Our Craft Intensives, which feature no more than twelve students and last for three hours, combine close readings, discussions, and in-class writing. For this, we pay the resident an additional $600.

Tin House will also offer the residents an opportunity to read publicly during a community event.

Other than these optional activities, the principal responsibility of the residents will be to spend time further developing their manuscripts.

Eligibility:

The Spring Residency is intended for writers of color who have not yet published, and are not yet under contract to publish as of February 9th, 2020. Self-published books and Chapbooks do not count toward this requirement.

Former Tin House Scholars and International Students may apply.

To apply for this residency you must be 21 years of age or older by May 1st, 2020.

Application Requirements (to be submitted as one document):

  • Bio

  • Personal Essay (1500 words or less outlining your journey as a writer and description of the project you will be working on)

  • Writing Sample (from the project)

  • Fiction and Nonfiction: One writing sample of no more than 7,500 words. A short story/essay or a portion of a novel or memoir may be submitted. If you are submitting a novel/memoir, please include a synopsis.

  • Poetry: Up to eight poems, totaling no more than 20 pages.

  • Translation: Please follow the requirements for the genre in the original language and submit both your translation and the original text.

  • Graphic Narrative: Project synopsis and up to 20 pages of the project.

DEADLINE: February 9, 2020

https://tinhouse.com/workshop/residencies/

2020 Innovations in Reading Prize

National Book Foundation

INFO: The National Book Foundation's 2020 Innovations in Reading Prize will award $10,000 to an individual or organization that has developed an innovative project which creates and sustains a lifelong love of reading in the community they serve. In addition, the Foundation will recognize up to four honorable mentions.

Before completing the Application Narrative, please be sure you have:

1. Read detailed information about the prize and eligibility on our website.

2. Completed the Application Registration process.

DEADLINE: February 13, 2020

https://www.nationalbook.org/applications-are-now-open-for-the-2020-innovations-in-reading-prize/

PREE Writing Studio

INFO: At PREE we care about writing so it gives us great pleasure to launch the very first PREE Writing Studio in collaboration with the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies, Mona and the Prince Claus Fund. We’re assembling some of the most exceptional Caribbean Writers for four days in Kingston, Jamaica, including Marlon James, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Ishion Hutchinson, Kei Miller, Ingrid Persaud, and Safiya Sinclair. If you’re an emerging writer who’s keen to learn from the best we invite you to join us. PREE Writing Studio is for all writers, anywhere, no Caribbean connection required.

WHEN: May 24-28, 2020

WHERE: On the beautiful campus of The University of the West Indies, Mona, in Kingston, Jamaica

Four days at a residential, boutique studio with our most outstanding writers to get your writing muscles in shape. Each participant will work with one of our writers in their studio for the duration of the four days, getting intimate feedback from a respected author as well as your peers. Groups are designed to be small so that writers can get meaningful attention from tutors.

If you’re an emerging or mid-career writer who wants to learn from some of the smartest, most innovative writers in the world, scroll down to see our exciting line-up.

We are currently accepting applications to the Pree 2020 Writing Studio! To express interest, please email a short sample (2500-3000 words, one to three poems) of your work to preewritingworkshop@gmail.com with Pree Writing Studio 2020 in the subject line. In the body of the email indicate a ranking of which writing studio you would like to participate in. Based on the quality of work, we will invite approximately 25-30 applicants to join us in May in Kingston. PREE staff will place you in a writing studio based on preference, availability, and best fit. For information on fees to attend studio please click here.

FEES: The fee for attending PREE’S inaugural writing studio is US$1000 or its equivalent in Jamaican dollars. The fee covers tuition, lodging and meals during the course of the studio. Classes will end at lunchtime on May 28, 2020. Please contact us if you need any more information or have questions at preewritingworkshop@gmail.com

Five lucky PREE writers under the age of 30 whose work appears in issues 4 and 5 will get fully subsidized places in the studio and will get to attend Calabash immediately after. This is an incentive for young writers to give us their best for Issue 5 which focuses on Ecocide. You might be one of the lucky ones! Here’s a link to our submission window.

DEADLINE: February 14, 2020

https://preewritingstudio.com/

VOICES OF COLOR FELLOWSHIPS

 Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing

INFO: We are proud to announce The Voices of Color Fiction Fellowships (established 2017). The fellowships provide support for writers of color. Application for these fellowships is open to all writers of color, ages 18 and older. The awards provide funding to attend a week of choice at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Two First Prize recipients will receive the full retreat package, covering tuition and lodging. One Second Prize recipients (one in each genre) will receive $500 credit toward the cost of tuition. This fellowship assists MVICW with our commitment to expanding the American literary canon by promoting voices from a wide array of cultural backgrounds, and to increasing philanthropic support for writers of color in the arts.

Voices of Color Fiction Fellowships:

  • Two Full Fellowships in Fiction/CNF

  • Tuition & Lodging for the Week

  • $1700 Fellowship Value

Second Prize Fellowship:

  • One Fiction/CNF

  • $500 Toward Tuition

DEADLINE: February 14, 2020

https://www.mvicw.com/voices-of-color

ESALEN WRITER’S CAMP FELLOWSHIP

Writing By Writers 

INFO: Writing By Writers is pleased to offer fellowships to Esalen Writer's Camp for emerging writers of color and/or members of the LGBTQIA+ community to amplify all voices that need to be heard. Fellowships cover the full cost of tuition, a shared room and all meals, but do not cover transportation.

An "Emerging Voice" is someone who is currently DOES NOT meet any of the below criteria*:

  • Has an B.A., M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D. or minors in Creative Writing.

  • Currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs.

  • Writers who have published one or more books through major publishing houses, university presses, or established presses.

  • Current professional magazine/newspaper feature writers or editors.

  • Writers who are widely published in top tier literary journals and/or magazines.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020

Winners will be notified by March 1st. Selection will be based on a writing sample and short statement about why you are interested in attending Esalen Writer's Camp. All submissions will be reviewed by Samantha Dunn and the finalists will be selected by Samantha Dunn and the WxW Board of Directors. 

https://www.writingxwriters.org/esalen?fbclid=IwAR0QhfUxL7OOakfLHF7Bwfa2wCSm2ocsaXLMIjkXcMkZ5BUgaTvySKxX3Kw

VONA/Voices Summer Workshops 2020

INFO: As the only multi-genre workshop for writers-of-color in the United States,  VONA is grounded in social justice and the fostering of a community  where our work is centralized in an environment that is safe, nurturing, and supportive. VONA is about mentoring emerging writers-of-color by accomplished writers-of-color. VONA Alums create a presence in spaces that have traditionally been dominated by mainstream writing. 

 Participants are notified of their acceptance by March 14 and have until March 23, 2020, to confirm their acceptance and pay a non-refundable deposit of $200. Waitlisted applicants will be notified by April 1, 2020.       

Manuscripts to be used in the workshop will be uploaded to the virtual classroom site by May 17, 2020. All fees are due by May 31, 2020. A two-step payment plan is available. Limited partial scholarships are available.   

Writers will only be able to enroll in ONE workshop; however, all are encouraged to apply for first and second choices. Thus applying in different weeks is allowed, but attendance is permitted to only one workshop over the two week period. (You will be notified accordingly of your acceptance or waitlist status to the workshops you have applied.)  

  • Week ONE: June 21 - June 27, 2020 

  • Week TWO: June 28 - July 4, 2020 

Fees for Tuition

  • Week-long workshop: $1,250

  • *Residency: $1,250

Limited need-based partial tuition scholarships offered.

Room and Board - optional

*$675 - $771 (includes meals, wi-fi, linen packet, wellness center, laundry facility, and parking. Register directly with the University of Miami via OCS link once you are accepted.)

SUBMISSION FEE: $30

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020

https://vonavoices.submittable.com/submit/155419/vona-voices-summer-workshops-2020

RESIDENCY Fellowships for Writers 

Vermont Studio Center

INFO: VSC offers dozens of Fellowships each year to writers of outstanding talent. Fellowships cover the full cost of a VSC residency, while some awards include an additional stipend for travel, lost income, child care, and the like. 

All applicants are eligible to receive one of 16 merit-based VSC Fellowships. Additional Fellowships will be awarded to applicants of merit who also meet special eligibility requirements chosen by the Fellowship donor.

These include: 

  • Seven (7) Fellowships for artists and writers of distinction who are 50+ years of age.

  • Three (3) James Merrill Poetry Fellowships.

  • One (1) Fellowship from The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW).

  • One (1) VSC / Callaloo Writing Fellowship for a writer in the African Diaspora who is a Callaloo conference or creative writing workshop participant. The $25 application fee is waived for eligible applicants.

  • Two (2) Voices Rising Fellowships for Black American women fiction writers with demonstrable financial need. Given in honor of women writers of color such as Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Zora Neale Hurston, whose voices have inspired so many; includes a $2,000 stipend.

Admitted applicants not awarded Fellowships may request financial aid, which VSC provides through the support of donors.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020

https://vermontstudiocenter.org/?utm_content=2-15%202nd%20Email_Writers%20Only+CID_07da3ae92e54023daa933a0112a78f70&utm_term=Deadline

AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS VISITING FELLOWSHIP

INFO: The American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship was created in 2013 to nurture and sustain cross-cultural intellectual discourse.

The fellowship offers writers and researchers an opportunity to pursue a creative project in Paris for a month or longer while participating actively in the life of the American Library. Applicants should be working on a book project, fiction or non-fiction, or a feature-length documentary film, that contributes to cross-cultural discourse. We are not accepting poetry projects at this time.

Particular attention will be paid to an applicant’s ability to offer the Library community a variety of opportunities for exploring a topic. In addition to the stipend, the Library will connect the fellow to resources and people in Paris that could be helpful to his or her project. The fellowship is open to all nationalities, though the proposed project must be in English.

The fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the de Groot Foundation. There are two one-month fellowship periods a year in fall and spring, with dates to be specified later.

Fellowship award: a $5,000 stipend paid before start of fellowship period. The award, to be spent at the discretion of the Fellow, is designed to cover travel to Paris, accommodation, and expenses associated with the month in Paris.

Visiting Fellows are expected to:

·       Be present in Paris during the period of the fellowship.

·       Be present in the American Library a minimum of three half-days a week.

·       Present an hour-long evening program at the Library.

·       Participate in a Library reception.

·       Meet with staff informally to explore a topic of mutual interest.

·       Extend the Library’s reach by participating in events arranged by the Library with other organizations in Paris.

·       Provide the Library and the funding foundation with a written report of the fellowship experience.

·       Appropriately acknowledge the Library and the Visiting Fellowship in publications and print media related to the fellowship project.

·       Participate in the Library’s social media communication, fundraising campaigns, and other public events. 

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020 

https://americanlibraryinparis.org/visiting-fellowship-2/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: JOY ISSUE

INQLUDED

INFO: We are looking for works that interrogate your thoughts, feelings, experiences & interactions with joy. what does joy look like to you? what does it feel like?

We are a platform for  QTIBIPoC youth (queer, trans & intersex Black, Indigenous & persons of color), therefore we only publish work by youth and people in the QTIBIPoC community. When we say youth, we mean ages 12-30 more or less. So, with that said, we respectfully ask that you do not submit if you are not part of those three communities. Additionally, since we want to engage a wide range of voices, and encourage readership from a variety of ages, we ask that your submissions are suitable for all ages. At this time we are unable to provide contributors with compensation.

  • Poetry: We love poetry! Submit up to 5 poems at a time. 

  • Fiction: Submit up to 1,500 words. If requested, please be prepared to send as google doc and structure your piece.

  • Non-Fiction: We accept all forms of nonfiction. We are always on the look out for exceptional personal essays that explore the intersection of identities. Word limit: 1,500. 

  • Music: Link us to your music! We’ll either request an interview or do a write-up!

  • Visual Art: All of it! Feel free to send up to six original pieces or link us to your portfolio!

  • Interviews/Interview requests: Doing something really cool or know of someone who deserves a community spotlight? Send us a pitch!

  • Middle Grade / YA Short Stories:  Send us your best, most polished, original stories. All genres welcome! 1,500-4,000 words.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020

https://inqluded.org/submit/

CALL FOR WRITERS

The Future Newspaper

INFO: The Future Newspaper is looking for writers to contribute to a speculative newspaper set in the future. The paper will explore issues that disproportionately impact Black and other marginalized people, such as police violence, housing, wealth inequality, and the prison system. Black writers and other writers of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Each article will be grounded in a solutions journalism framework, which critically explores how people and institutions respond to problems. Examples of solutions stories include, this Mother Jones article, which focuses on a novel approach to supporting people after prison. And this New York Times article about cities fighting inequality with free public transportation. Or this Baltimore Sun article about training doulas to help lower the city’s maternal mortality rate.

For this project, writers will identify and report on solutions to social issues currently being implemented in communities across the country. One key question guiding the reporting is: What promise do these solutions hold for the future? The resulting article will be a speculative account, set 20-30 years from now, of what happens when these solutions are realized on a large scale.

The newspaper is the latest public art project from multidisciplinary artist, Alexandra Bell. Bell is best known for Counternarratives, a series of large scale New York Times articles edited to challenge the presumption of “objectivity” in news media. While writers are asked to use journalistic practices to produce the articles, the pieces will be part of an interactive public art project. The Future Newspaper is made possible by funding from the Open Society Foundations and CatchLight.

TO APPLY: Please email the following items to alexandrabellstudios@gmail.com with the subject line “Future Newspaper _ Your Last Name” by 11:59pm on Sunday, February 16th. Topics can include, but are not limited to: Arts & Culture, Health, Housing, Criminal Justice, Technology, Immigration, Politics and Business. • A 2-3 paragraph pitch that identifies a real problem, how people are working to solve it, and the promise these practices hold for the future. • 2-3 writing samples showing off your best writing and reporting • A very brief bio and links to your most-used social media accounts

DETAILS: Each article will be 1,200 - 2,000 words. Writers will be paid $1.50 per word. Editorial guidance will be provided throughout the writing process.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Alexandra Bell is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the complexities of narrative, information consumption, and perception. Through investigative research, she considers the ways media frameworks construct memory and inform discursive practices around race, politics, and culture. Her work has been exhibited at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Charlie James Gallery, MoMA PS1, We Buy Gold, and many others. She is a 2019 CatchLight fellow and a 2018 Soros Equality Fellow.

DEADLINE: February 16, 2020

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5gJLaYN2npEWWVSMTY1Q2ZLVmNPUlktV0RZVzdVRE9Pemk4/view

Women Deliver Reporting Grants

International Women’s Media Foundation

INFO: Too often, girls and women are portrayed solely as victims or recipients of aid, rather than the strong agents of change that they are – worthy of the world’s investment. Whether it’s responding to humanitarian crises, championing sexual and reproductive health and rights, addressing climate change, or tackling the world’s economic problems – women are on the front line of solving the globe’s most significant challenges.

This grant initiative seeks to address the need for reporting and increased media coverage of women and girls as agents of positive change in developing countries.

The IWMF encourages applications from independent and staff journalists. Applicants to this initiative are required to submit a publishing plan with news outlets from the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

AWARD: A total amount of $40,000 reporting grant will be awarded to individuals or teams. The estimate of each grant size will range from $3,000 to $10,000.

DEADLINE: February 16, 2020

https://www.iwmf.org/programs/women-deliver-reporting-grants/

IWMF Reporting Grants - Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice in the Americas - 2020

International Women’s Media Foundation

INFO: The International Women’s Media Foundation and the Women’s Equality Center are pleased to provide grants to support reporting focused on reproductive health, rights and justice in the Americas. Examples of relevant topics include abortion and contraception access, reproductive health policy, stigma, migration as a result of abortion bans, and more. These grants support reporting of untold stories surrounding issues that impact women and girls’ daily lives in the region. This opportunity is open to all women-identifying and non-binary journalists and will focus on reporting about and from Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.

Grants will typically range from $1,000 to $10,000, but funding will vary depending on the need, scope, and location of the project. Grant funds may be used to cover travel and logistics, security costs, insurance, and other reporting expenses. All reporting and publishing must be completed by July 1, 2020. 

The IWMF and WEC expect to announce grant recipients in March 2020.

Eligibility Criteria

The reporting fellowship is open to individuals and to teams of journalists. All applicants must fulfill the following eligibility criteria:

  • Women-identifying and non-binary journalists from anywhere in the world may apply.

  • Professional journalism must be the applicant’s primary profession.

  • Applicants must have three (3) or more years of professional journalism experience. Internships do not count toward professional experience.

  • Applicant must be able to show proof of interest from an editor or have a proven track record of publication in prominent media outlets.

DEADLINE: February 16, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST

https://iwmf.submittable.com/submit/e3f124e5-079a-41b3-9f92-acac762e03af/iwmf-reporting-grants-reproductive-health-rights-and-justice-in-the-americas

FICTION/NONFICTION Fellowships for Writers Week

Idyllwild Arts

INFO: We will be awarding six fellowships. We are accepting poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Submit a 10 page work sample. By submitting work, you confirm that you will attend the 2020 Writers Week at Idyllwild Arts if selected. The fellowship covers tuition, meals and housing on campus. Fellowship recipients are responsible for their own transportation to and from Idyllwild, CA. Applicants must be over 18 years of age. For complete information about the program, and before submitting work, see: www.idyllwildarts.org/writersweek

Max 10 pages

SUBMISSION FEE: $15

DEADLINE: February 19, 2020

https://idyllwildarts.submittable.com/submit

African Writers Trust Publishing Fellowship Programme: 2nd Edition

INFO: This Publishing Fellowship programme is open to early career publishers and creative writers intending to self-publish their manuscripts. Applicants will be selected from Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The Publishing Fellowship programme was designed to create a step-change in the book sector in Africa, by focusing on professional development of upcoming talent in African publishing over three years (2018-2021). The overall objective of the programme is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, skills, expertise, experiences and collaborative learning between the more experienced publishers and the early career and emerging ones.

The programme will be delivered at two levels:

  1. Mentoring and Training Workshop (Residential)

The Mentoring and Training workshop will be held in Uganda from 8th to 14th March 2020. The workshop will consist of a variety of sessions including:

  • What You Need to Know Before Getting into Self-publishing

  • How to Make Money out of Your Writing/Publishing?

  • Understanding Legal Aspects Surrounding Writing and Publishing

  • How Do You Choose a Book Cover that Tells Your Story?

  • Seed Funding

At the end of the workshop, all Fellows will be invited to make an application for the seed funding budget worth EURO 4,200. The specific aim of the seed funding budget is to ensure that the winning project gets the resources it requires to produce a model publication that adheres to acceptable international publishing standards – and to which other publishers can aspire to; and learn from. The winner will be expected to publish the book within the prescribed timelines.

Benefits

  • The opportunity for mutual learning from publishing experts.

  • The opportunity to network with other emerging publishers and writers.

  • The opportunity to engage with peers and trainers on a one-to one

Costs 

  • Air travel expenses for the successful candidates will be covered.

  • Accommodation and meals expenses for the successful candidates will be provided for the duration of the workshop.

  • Out of Pocket allowance will NOT be provided.

Eligibility — Who can apply?

The successful candidates MUST have an on-going project in the form of a manuscript which they are developing for publication; and are committed, enthusiastic, and looking to further their skills and experience in the book industry.

The following can apply:

  • Early career and emerging publishers.

  • Self-publishing creative writers.

  • Individuals working in the publishing industry.

 You must be available for the Training and Mentoring Workshop dates from 8th to 14th March, 2020.

Application process

Eligible applicants are asked to send one file containing the following information:

  • A completed Application Form

  • Cover Letter (no more than 300 words)

  • Sample of Work-in-Progress (no more than one page-500 words)

DEADLINE: February 16, 2020 at 5pm GMT

https://africanwriterstrust.org/call-for-applicationsafrican-writers-trust-publishing-fellowship-programme-2nd-edition/

WORKSPACE RESIDENCY

Lower Manhattan Cultural Center

INFO: LMCC’s flagship residency program, Workspace, is a nine-month studio-based program that focuses on the creative process and cohort development of emerging artists. At its core, Workspace nurtures experimentation, creative risk taking, collaboration, learning and skill sharing through regular opportunities for dialogue with peers and arts professionals. Participating artists are provided round-the-clock access to semi-private studio spaces and are expected to engage with the cohort for the full duration of the nine-month program.

LMCC is shifting its guidelines for the Workspace program to be more responsive to the multi- and interdisciplinary ways in which artists work. We seek to create a welcoming, diverse, and dynamic cohort of individuals working across disciplines, including but not limited to visual arts, film, performance art, social practice, design, digital media, and the literary arts. 

DEADLINE: February 27, 2020

https://lmcc.submittable.com/submit/7ba98eef-0f75-4089-8dce-af0c3b14a4de/workspace-2020-2021-online-application?mc_cid=a5defe2f2c&mc_eid=2bec2fd1bc

2020 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship

The Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship gives academic and professional opportunities to women journalists committed to human rights and social justice reporting. During this fellowship, the selected journalist will have the chance to complete research and coursework at MIT’s Center for International Studies and to participate in internships with The Boston Globe and The New York Times. 

Eligibility Criteria:

  • The Neuffer Fellowship is open to women-identifying and non-binary journalists whose work focuses on human rights and social justice issues.

  • All applicants for the Neuffer Fellowship must be working journalists with at least three years of full-time, professional journalism experience. Internships and journalism-related work completed as a university student do not count as professional experience. Applicants may be affiliated or freelance journalists.

Journalists from any country around the world are eligible to apply. However, applicants must speak, read and write English fluently in order to fully participate in and benefit from the Fellowship.

DEADLINE: February 27, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST

https://iwmf.submittable.com/submit/ec995963-f6a9-4d1c-a355-f1236ec4bfbe/2020-elizabeth-neuffer-fellowship

2020 INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Sustainable Arts Foundation

INFO: This year, we will make awards of $5,000 each to twenty artists and writers with children. Additionally, we will name twenty finalists.

Our awards offer unrestricted cash, and recipients can use the funds as they see fit.

Our program is an award program that rewards excellence in a creative field (note that this is different from a grant program, in which the application is focused on a proposal for new work).

Our selection process is focused almost entirely on the strength of the submitted portfolio.

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible, the applicant must have at least one child under the age of 18.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Artists and writers with at least one child and a strong portfolio of polished work are welcome to apply.

We are inspired by anyone who is making creative work while raising a family. Given the intense demand for these awards (we typically receive over 3,000 applications), and the fact that the awards are based on demonstrated excellence in your discipline, we don’t recommend that artists or writers who are beginning their creative careers apply to this program.

While we don’t require that applicants have published or exhibited their work, the rigor and critique involved in that process can certainly benefit the portfolio. Portfolios of writing or artwork created in a more personal vein for sharing with friends and family are not suitable.

We invite you to view our list of previous awardees and follow the links to their work to get a feel for their level of craft.

Writers may apply in one of the following categories:

  • Creative Nonfiction

  • Early and Middle Grade Readers

  • Fiction

  • Graphic Novel/Graphic Memoir

  • Illustrated Children's Books

  • Illustrated Children's Books (Text Only)

  • Long Form Journalism

  • Poetry

  • Young Adult Fiction

DEADLINE: February 28, 2020

https://www.sustainableartsfoundation.org/?fbclid=IwAR1obwwIj9U0oBJAbKJbtVSltUnzSEVSrI-XJVWLjYXYaglgaAaw4O-Se90

CREATIVE CAPITAL AWARDS

INFO: Creative Capital supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel, and career development services. Our pioneering venture philanthropy approach helps artists working realize their visions and build sustainable practices. Creative Capital provides each funded project with up to $50,000 in direct funding and career development services valued at more than $50,000, for a total commitment of over $100,000 per project.

The application for the Creative Capital Awards is open to artists, collectives, and collaborations working in all disciplines, including Literary Fiction, Poetry, Theater, and Narrative Film, among others.

DEADLINE: February 29, 2020

https://creative-capital.org/award/about-the-creative-capital-award-open/

I, TOO ARTS SCHOLARSHIP FOR BLACK WOMEN WRITERS

I, Too Arts Collective / Highlights Foundation

INFO: In partnership with New York Times bestselling author Renée Watson, and the founding members of the I, Too Arts Collective, a scholarship for a Black writer, identifying as a woman, has been created. The scholarship includes full tuition to a qualifying Highlights Foundation workshop. Assistance toward traveling expenses will be offered if available.

The I, Too Arts Collective was founded by Renée Watson in 2016. The collective leased the Harlem brownstone where Langston Hughes lived and created during the last 20 years of his life. The space was activated to host readings, writing workshops, book launch celebrations, youth arts engagement, and conversations with writers, poets, and illustrators. The lease ended on the Hughes house in December 2019.

“I, Too Arts Collective was inspired by Langston’s poem, ‘I, Too’ where he writes about having a seat at the table, how he, too, is America. In so many ways his home became our table, a sacred space for writers and artists to create, to gather, to heal,” says founder Renée Watson. “Part of the organization’s mission was to nurture voices from underrepresented communities in the creative arts. This scholarship has been established to continue that work, to provide financial resources, space, and time for Black women writers to create and perfect their craft.”

The I, Too Arts Scholarship is designed for a Black woman writer, who has at least one book published (self or traditionally).

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/i-too-arts-scholarship-for-black-women-writers/?fbclid=IwAR1XtTrZlEBVIbE1SY9zoZNJaiIatD1ybqKovY0rVWtXE4CaA5SPIE_rdfc

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS -- FICTION / NONFICTION

Anomaly

INFO: Attach one story of no more than 5000 words. Please include a short bio in the "Cover Letter" field.

Translations that foreground the work of the original author are welcome in this category. For translations that foreground the creativity of the translator, please see our Translation section.

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://anmly.submittable.com/submit

A Science Writing Workshop for High School Students (ages 16-18)

Kenyon Review

INFO: Young Science Writers is an intensive two-week workshop for intellectually curious, motivated high-school students who value science and writing. Our goal is to help students develop their creative and critical abilities with both science and language, and to challenge themselves in the company of peers who share their interests.

Our Approach

Science permeates our society, providing both our most astounding possibilities and some of our most monumental challenges. Yet for all its power, science is often considered a dry realm of facts and figures. The Young Science Writers Workshop focuses not just on the insights of science, but on its stories and characters, even its poetry. The workshop engages with science and nature writing that is technically accurate, meaningful to readers, and a pleasure to read. Reading and writing assignments will draw from a broad range of genres including research articles, journalism, essays, stories, and poetry. We will focus on key processes shared by both science and writing: observation, measurement, experiment, and analysis. Students will perform observations and experiments in Kenyon’s laboratory facilities and ecologically diverse outdoor surroundings, then incorporate these experiences into their writing.

Exercises and assignments will help students critically evaluate scientific information, explore the relationship between scientific ideas and other forms of knowledge, and write with clarity, creativity, and power whether the intended audience is scientists or general readers.

Summer in Gambier

Nestled among rolling hills in the village of Gambier, the Kenyon campus is known for its striking beauty. Its historic buildings and shaded lawns have nurtured excellent writers for generations. Students have full access to College recreational facilities, including basketball and tennis courts and a swimming pool. Weekend activities include social events and field trips.

A COMPLETE APPLICATION CONSISTS OF:

* The online application form.
* A 300 word essay, to be uploaded with the application form.
* A high school transcript, to be uploaded with the application form (we accept both official and unofficial transcripts).
* A letter of recommendation.
* Financial aid information and any supporting financial aid documentation (optional).

DEADLINE: March 1, 2020

https://kenyonreview.org/workshops/young-science-writers/

Tin House Summer Workshop

INFO: The Tin House Summer Workshop (July 11 - 19, 2020) is a weeklong intensive of workshops, seminars, panels, and readings led by prominent contemporary writers. The program combines morning workshops with afternoon seminars and career panels. Evenings are reserved for author readings, singing, and dancing.

Workshops meet for six sessions, Monday through Saturday, from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. Each workshop will have no more than ten students. Each student will meet with their faculty instructor for a 15-minute one-on-one meeting during the week.

Tin House editors and guest agents are available to meet individually with students throughout the week.

For students who have completed a collection of stories or poems, a memoir, or a novel, one-on-one mentorships are available with select faculty and staff for an additional fee.

The Workshop will take place at Reed College, located on 100 acres of rolling lawns, winding lanes, and magnificent old trees in the southeast area of Portland, Oregon, just minutes from downtown and twelve miles from the airport.

Summer Workshop participants are housed in the dormitories of Reed College near the center of campus. Unless requested, all rooms are singles, with shared bathrooms (private stalls) on each floor. ADA accessible rooms are available.

All classrooms, readings, panel presentations, dining and reception areas are within 1/2 mile from the dormitories. Golf carts will be made available throughout the week for those who wish to have rides.

Meals are served in the dining area of the college and are catered by Bon Appetite. We work closely with Bon Appetite to ensure dietary requirements and restrictions are accommodated. Students who choose not to stay on campus will need to pay for meals individually.

You do not need to be a U.S. resident/citizen to apply.

Admissions

Applications are read by a board composed of Tin House Workshop staff and previous Tin House Scholars. All applications will be read by at least two readers. Our editorial board seeks work that reflects our core values and makes decisions regarding admission based on this and the merit of the writing sample submitted.

  • We will begin admitting applicants in early March.

  • The average turnaround time for applications is six weeks.

  • Our acceptance rate in 2019 was 15%.

General Applicants

Application Requirements:

  • Short Fiction: One writing sample of no more than 5,000 words.
    Novel: One excerpt (from the project you will be workshopping from) of no more than 5,000 words.
    Nonfiction: One essay of no more than 5,000 words or One excerpt (from the project you will be workshopping from) of no more than 5,000 words.
    Poetry: Up to four poems.
    Graphic Narrative-Up to 20 pages.

  • Please do not apply with published material. However, it is acceptable to apply with work that is out for submission. If accepted, you will have the opportunity to switch your manuscript.

  • If you have been accepted into a Tin House workshop previously, please do not apply with the same application material. You are free to excerpt from the same project.

  • Participants may only attend our workshops (including Winter) three times.

  • If you wish to apply in multiple genres, you must submit a separate application for each genre (this includes short fiction and the novel).

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The general application deadline is March 11th.

Our 2020 Summer Workshop Admissions Board:
Lance Cleland (Workshop Director)
India Downes-Le Guin (Assistant Workshop Director)
Rickey Fayne (2019 Summer Scholar)
Mona Law (Workshop Intern)
Santiago Valencia (Workshop Intern)

SCHOLARSHIPS:

1 - Tin House Scholars

Tin House awards twelve full scholarships to our summer workshop. These awards cover the entire cost of the program, including room and board. Tin House Scholars will need to provide and pay for their travel to and from Portland. Scholarship applications are read by a board composed of Tin House Workshop staff, Tin House Books staff, and previous Tin House Scholars. All applications will be read by at least two readers. Our editorial board seeks work that reflects our core values and makes decisions regarding scholarship recipients based on this and the merit of the writing sample submitted.

  • All general scholarship applicants will also be considered for general admission (meaning you do not need to submit a general application as well).

  • In addition to your manuscript, you will be asked to submit a personal essay (1500 words or less) that gives our board insight into where you are coming from as a writer.

  • Payment plans are available for the $30 application fee. Please email our assistant workshop director India Downes-LeGuin (india@tinhouse.com) to inquire.

  • One may be awarded a scholarship once (this includes Winter Scholarships).

  • You may apply for multiple scholarships with one application (in one genre).

  • If you wish to apply in multiple genres, you must submit a separate scholarship application for each genre (this includes short fiction and the novel).

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The winners of these awards will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop.

  • The deadline for scholarship applications is TBA.

A list of recent scholarship recipients can be found here. 

In addition to our general scholarships, Tin House will be offering these additional awards:

2 - Independent Bookseller Scholarship, Sponsored by Tin House Books 

  • This award is intended for a writer presently employed at an independent bookstore.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board. 

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

3 - Institute of American Indian Arts MFA Scholarship

  • This award is intended for applicants who are currently enrolled in or are a graduate of the MFA program at IAIA.

  • Thanks to a private donation, this award covers the application fee, cost of tuition, room/board, and airfare from within the United States.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

4 - LGBTQ+ Scholarship

  • This award is intended for writers who identify as LGBTQ+.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

5 - Oregon Writer of Color Scholarship

  • This award is intended for a writer of color who currently resides in Oregon.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

6 - Still-Emerging Scholarship

  • This award is intended to provide writers over forty years of age who have not yet published a book with the time and space to develop their writing skills further and connect with a community that might help launch their professional writing careers.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board.

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 40 years or older by December 31st, 2020.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.

7 - Without Borders Scholarship

  • This award is intended for any immigrant writer currently living in the United States.

  • This award covers the cost of tuition and room/board,

  • The winner of this award will not be announced publicly until after the conclusion of the Summer Workshop, where they will be listed as a Tin House Scholar.

  • Applicants must be 21 years of age by the time of the workshop.

  • The deadline to apply for this award is March 11th, 2020.


DEADLINE: March 11, 2020

https://tinhouse.com/workshop/summer-workshop/

FICTION / NONFICTION -- JAN 2020

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — Weird Little Prose Book

421 Atlanta

INFO: 421 Atlanta, now an imprint of Publishing Genius, is accepting submissions for weird little prose books for one week only. Send your complete manuscript by January 7, 2020.

What are we looking for?

Think novellas, flash fiction or nonfiction, or a triptych of linked stories or essays. Genre-bending is great; straight-up poetry is not the thing this time. Manuscripts should be between 5,000 and 25,000 words. 

We especially invite submissions from those who are often excluded or marginalized in the literary world, including people of color, LGBTQ-identifying people, and people with disabilities.

Because of the quick turnaround, manuscripts should be thoroughly revised, fully polished. 

What's the deal?

We'll accept 1-2 books, which will be published by March and available at the AWP conference in San Antonio, TX. If the winning author is able to attend, they can read at Toast, an offsite event.

Book(s) will be published in a limited edition of 100, with 25 copies for the author to sell or keep.

DEADLINE: January 7, 2020

https://publishinggenius.submittable.com/submit/156419/weird-little-prose-book-before-march-421-atlanta

Writer to Writer Mentorship Program

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

INFO: AWP's mentorship program, Writer to Writer, matches emerging writers and published authors for a three-month series of modules on topics such as craft, revision, publishing, and the writing life. Mentors volunteer their time and receive a free one-year AWP membership. Writer to Writer is free of charge to mentees.

Should you be chosen to participate, your mentor will review your writing, listen to your concerns, and help you problem solve. You will have opportunities to interact with others taking part in that session, and AWP's membership team will be there with you every step of the way.

Our Fall session begins each September and consists of six modules over a three-month period, concluding mid-December.

Our Spring session begins each February and consists of six modules over a three-month period, concluding mid-May.

There is no charge to apply, and there is no fee for this program. Is your mentor waiting for you this season?

DEADLINE: January 12, 2020

https://www.awpwriter.org/community_calendar/mentorship_program_overview

The 2020 A Public Space Editorial Fellowships

A Public Space

INFO: A Public Space is thrilled to announce a new Fellowship program for aspiring editors. The aim of the Editorial Fellowship program is to create a framework for the art of editing, bridging tradition and evolution. It is our hope to support a cadre of editors who will offer a more diverse publishing community—culturally, aesthetically, economically.

The Fellowship will offer a curriculum that integrates education, experience, mentorship, and the opportunity for innovation. Fellows will receive intensive training in all aspects of editing, from evaluating submissions through to publication of a piece. As part of the program, they will also learn about publishing history, exploring known interactions between editors and writers; archival documents; and the role of the editor in a changing landscape.

This is a nine-month program, from March 15 through December 15. Fellows will be expected to be at A Public Space’s office in downtown Brooklyn fifteen hours per week. They will participate in all aspects of our publishing programs, including evaluation, curation, editing, production, marketing, publicity, circulation, and distribution. They will work closely with the senior editorial staff on both the magazine and book imprint; and will have the opportunity to meet leading figures in the publishing community. Fellows will also be invited to attend a series of Master Classes with editors as part of A Public Space’s academy. 

APPLICATION

Compensation: $10,000 stipend, to be paid bi-weekly

Eligibility: A strong interest in literary publishing and a commitment to promoting literature are the only prerequisites. Preference will be given to aspiring editors who have not worked extensively in literary publishing, and who may have limited access to career opportunities in the industry. Candidates outside of New York City are encouraged to apply, but A Public Space cannot fund relocation expenses. Unfortunately, at this time we are unable to sponsor work visas. A Public Space reserves the right to invite candidates.

Timeline: Submittable is open for Editorial Fellowship submissions through January 15, 2020. Submissions for the Fellowships close at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on January 15. Successful applicants will be informed no later than February 15, 2020. The Fellowship will begin March 15, 2020.

Procedure: Only electronic submissions via Submittable will be considered. Applications must be submitted through this Editorial Fellowship category. There is no application fee. 

Please submit the following:
—A cover letter describing your interest in the Editorial Fellowship; how you envision the role of an editor; the influences and experience that you will bring to your work as an editor; and your goals for the fellowship and beyond the fellowship.

—A short (one page or less) excerpt from a work by a non-establishment writer; and a brief statement telling us why this writer and passage appeals, and why you feel work such as this should be championed by editors.

—A short (one page or less) review of a book you read recently. Please include how you learned about the book—whether from a review, social media, a bookstore or library recommendation, a chance encounter.

—Please also include in your cover letter where you heard about the Editorial Fellowship.

Note that we only accept PDF or Word files (.doc and .docx). Please submit the cover letter, excerpt, and review as one file. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

DEADLINE: January 15, 2020

https://apublicspacedemo.submittable.com/submit?utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=aacd500b3c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_02_03_46&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6566a6ed1a-aacd500b3c-68639565

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Ploughshares

INFO: We do not consider multiple submissions, so please send only one manuscript at a time, either by mail or online. Do not send a second submission until you have heard about the first. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are fine as long as they are identified as such and we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.

If you are working on submissions with an agent, or are an agent submitting work on behalf of an author, please read our note on simultaneous submissions with an agent.

Cover Letters
We encourage you to include a short cover letter with your submission. It should reference:

  • Major publications and awards

  • Any association or past correspondence with a guest or staff editor

  • Past publication in Ploughshares

Please note that we ask cover letters to be included as the first page of your submission document.  There are no additional comment boxes for adding a cover letter. 

Manuscript Guidelines

  • Typed, double-spaced (poetry may be single-spaced) pages.

  • Numbered pages.

  • If in hard copy, submit with text on one side of the page.

  • Fiction and nonfiction: Less than 6,000 words. Excerpts of longer works are welcome if self-contained. Significantly longer work (7,500–20,000 words) can be submitted to the Ploughshares Solos series.

  • Poetry: Submit 1-5 pages at a time with each poem beginning on a new page.

Translations are welcome if permission has been granted.

Unsolicited book reviews and criticism are not considered.

DEADLINE: January 15, 2020

https://www.pshares.org/submit/journal/guidelines

2020 Writer to Agent

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

INFO: AWP is pleased to offer registered conference attendees the opportunity to apply to meet with literary agents at the #AWP20 Conference & Bookfair in San Antonio. These agents are seeking new clients to represent in fiction and nonfiction.

Literary agents from Aevitas Creative ManagementAyesha Pande LiteraryFolio Literary Management, and Serendipity Literary Agency will read and review applications on a rolling basis to find prospective clients to meet with at the conference. If the literary agency is interested in the author’s work, they will contact the applicant directly to schedule a day and time to meet in San Antonio.

How to Submit

  • Only registered attendees of the #AWP20 Conference & Bookfair in San Antonio are eligible.

  • Submit a query letter along with the first five pages of a novel, essay collection, narrative nonfiction book manuscript, or short story collection as one document via the “Writer to Agent” link in AWP’s Submittable account. The Writer to Agent page is hidden and can only be accessed through this webpage for registered attendees.

  • The five-page submission should be double-spaced in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and the document should be saved according to your type of project and your name (Project_LastName_FirstName); for example, “Novel_Proulx_Annie” or “Essays_Didion_Joan.”

  • Query letters are comprised of a description of the book and the author’s bio. If you have questions about writing and submitting a query letter, review the  Writer to Agent Web Series episode for instructions and tips. 

  • Indicate in the query letter if the submission has been published in a magazine or journal. 

  • Agents from each of the four participating agencies will read the query letters and submissions. You may address your query letter to “agent.” 

  • Submissions in poetry are not eligible. 

  • Submissions are limited to one per conference attendee. If you are working on multiple projects, you can only pitch one, but may very briefly mention other projects towards the end of your query letter: i.e., “I am also working on a young adult novel.” Multiple submissions will be removed from consideration. 

Terms & Conditions

  • The opportunity to meet with agents is solely at the discretion of Aevitas Creative Management, Ayesha Pande Literary, Folio Literary Management, and Serendipity Literary Agency. 

  • AWP facilitates this service as a benefit to conference attendees, but does not participate in reviewing applications.

  • Meeting with an agent does not constitute a partnership or relationship or establish representation on behalf of the agency. 

  • AWP, Aevitas Creative Management, Ayesha Pande Literary, Folio Literary Management, and Serendipity Literary Agency make no claims as to the probability applicants will be selected to meet with an agent.

  • Applications are only accepted via Submittable. Aevitas Creative Management, Ayesha Pande Literary, Folio Literary Management, and Serendipity Literary Agency will not respond to any inquiries about submissions or the Writer to Agent program.

  • Due to the volume of applications, feedback is not possible for applicants who are not selected.

DEADLINE: January 15, 2020

https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/writertoagent_overview

OTHER TONGUES VOLUME 2: MIXED-RACE WOMEN SPEAK OUT (AGAIN!)

INFO: Co-editors Adebe DeRango-Adem and Andrea Thompson are seeking submissions of writing and/or artwork for a follow-up anthology of work by and about mixed-race women, intended for publication by Inanna Publications in 2020-21.

The purpose of this anthology is to explore the question of how mixed-race women in North America identify in the 21st Century. The anthology will also serve as a place to learn about the social experiences, attitudes, and feelings of others, while investigating more general questions around what racial identity has come to mean today. We are inviting previously unpublished submissions that engage, document, and/or explore the experiences of being mixed-race.

DEADLINE: January 15, 2020 

https://adebederangoadem.com/2019/09/16/call-for-submissions-vol-2/

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Please See Me

INFO: We seek previously unpublished, creative, and high-quality work in the form of poetry, creative nonfiction/essays, fiction/short stories/flash fiction, and digital media (photography, drawings, podcasts, and short films). Patients, students, family members, caregivers, nurses, physicians, healthcare consumers, artists, mental health providers, physical therapists, writers, clergy—all of us will be patients one day and all are welcome to submit work. We are especially looking for content that connects us, make us feel something, or helps us see illness, wellness, health, or the healthcare environment differently.

Theme Guidelines

The theme for our March 2020 issue is Hope. What, or who, gives you hope? A caregiver? A patient? A child? A colleague? What did you hope for and receive, or not receive? What are you hoping for as it relates to health and wellness–for yourself or for others? Have you lost hope? Have you found hope? Did a new treatment or wellness plan give you hope for a cure? A better way of life? Tell us about all of it. All submissions should directly or indirectly touch on this theme in some way. Be creative! It’s a new year and there is much to be hopeful about!

All Submissions can be made through Submittable.

Mental Health Awareness Writing Contest

In this issue we are also hosting a Writing Contest with a $250 award in all 3 written genres for stories and narratives that raise awareness on issues related to mental health, such as homelessness, missed or delayed diagnosis, or loss (of family, husband/wife, jobs), with extra credit given to those who can tie both into our theme of Hope. Contest Submission should be made through Submittable.

Genre Guidelines

Poetry

Please submit a maximum of three poems at a time.

Fiction

Please submit short stories up to 4,000 words in length. Flash fiction, up to 1,000 words, is welcome and encouraged.

We will look at excepts of longer works on a case-by-case basis; please query us with a description of your project before submitting.

Creative Nonfiction

Please submit nonfiction pieces up to 4,000 words in length.

We will look at excepts of longer works on a case-by-case basis; please query us with a description of your project before submitting.

Films

Please submit links to your short films for review, and up to five minutes in length.

Other Media

We welcome submissions of photography, podcasts, and other media. All digital media will should be hosted by the creator, and shared by a link. Photography and still images can be attached to submission.

For All Submissions

Get creative! Anything that touches on our theme is be considered fair game. If you are not sure your work fits, please query us through Submittable.

DEADLINE: January 15, 2020

http://pleaseseeme.com/submissions/

Summer 2020 LITERATURE FELLOWSHIP (June 1– September 30, 2020)

MacDowell Colony

INFO: About 300 artists in seven disciplines are awarded fellowships each year and the sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence. There are no residency fees. Travel grants as well as need-based stipends are available to open the residency experience to the broadest possible community of artists. Artists with professional standing in their fields, as well as emerging artists, are eligible to apply. MacDowell encourages artists from all backgrounds and all countries in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts.

Writers of novels, short story, graphic writing, journalism, essays, biography, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and translation into English are accepted.

SUBMISSION FEE: $30

DEADLINE: January 15, 2020

https://macdowell.slideroom.com/#/Login

  

YOUNG WOMEN WRITERS PROJECT

The Carnegie Center for Literacy & Leaning 

INFO: The Carnegie Center invites young women in grades 9-12 to apply to the Young Women Writers Project, a FREE series of intensive workshops focused on creative self-expression through writing. The selected group of participants will attend six sessions (see below). In these workshops, experienced writers in their 20s and 30s will mentor on a variety of genres, encouraging participants to look within themselves for issues that are important in their lives. Participants will also learn techniques of delivering an effective literary reading and other business-of-writing tips. The program will culminate with two public readings and a Writing Mentoring Day.

WHERE & WHEN: All sessions take place from 10:00 am-2:00 pm at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (251 West Second Street, in downtown Lexington, KY). Participants must commit to attending all six sessions.

  • February 22: Writing from the Heart: #Ownvoices Tales Inspired by Real Life with Mariama Lockington

  • February 29: Creative Non-Friction: Political Humor Writing with Asha French

  • March 7: Creative Nonfiction: Essays, Magazine Writing and Beyond with Saraya Brewer

  • March 14 : How to Build A Better World…In Your Writing with Olivia Cole

  • March 21: The Things We Don't Say Out Loud: Performing Your Work with Angelica Miller

  • March 28: POC: Poets of Color with Danni Quintos

MENTORING DAY: Participants will be required to attend a Writing Mentoring Day at a local elementary school (typically one weekday in April from 3-5pm; exact date/time TBD). The Carnegie Center can provide a letter to schools requesting early dismissal if needed. Participants will work in pairs, small groups, or individually on creative writing exercises with 4th and 5th grade girls. Cash stipends are provided for Mentoring Day participation.  

PUBLIC READINGS: Participants will be invited to showcase their writing talents in two public readings (May 2020 & September 2020 during the Kentucky Women Writers Conference). Participation in the public readings is not mandatory, but strongly encouraged. Cash stipends are provided for participation in the May reading. 

COST: There is NO application or participation fee. Students admitted to the program will receive full scholarships covering all instruction and materials. Participants are asked to bring their own bag lunches, as lunch will not be provided. The Young Women Writers Project is funded in part by the Kentucky Foundation for Women and Toyota Motor Manufacturing KY.

ADMISSION: To be considered for the Young Women Writers Project, please submit the following:

  • a completed cover sheet (below);

  • a letter stating your interest and motivations for participation;

  • a writing sample (5 pages maximum);

  • a photo/video release form (if you do not give permission for us to use your photo, please make a note on the form)

DEADLINE: January 17, 2020 

https://carnegiecenterlex.org/youth-and-family/young-women-writers-project/

  

THE TOMÁS RIVERA BOOK PRIZE

Los Angeles Review of Books

INFO:  The Tomás Rivera Book Prize is a unique partnership between the Los Angeles Review of Books and UC Riverside. Open to any author writing in English about the Chicanx/Latinx experience, the Rivera Book Prize is committed to the discovery and fostering of extraordinary writing by a first-time or early career author whose work examines the long and varied contributions of Chicanx/Latinx in the US. The Rivera Book Prize aims to provide a platform that showcases the emerging literary talent of the Chicanx/Latinx community, to cultivate the next generation of Chicanx/Latinx writers, and to continue the rich literary memory of Tomás Rivera, Chicano author, poet, activist, and educator. Known for his seminal collection of stories, …and the Earth Did Not Devour Him, Rivera was the first Latino Chancellor of the UC system and a champion of higher education and social justice. The Rivera Book Prize honors his legacy and his belief in the power of education, activism, and stories to change lives.

ELIGIBILITY: All previously unpublished works in prose written primarily in English focused on the Chicanx/Latinx experience in the United States.

Selection and Final Judge: A shortlist of entries will be announced. The Rivera Book Prize will select a final judge. This judge will be a noted Chicanx/Latinx writer who will award the winner from the shortlist of final manuscripts. All manuscripts will be read anonymously and judged on their literary merit and originality.

SUBMISSION FEE: $35

DEADLINE: January 17, 2020 

https://losangelesreviewofbooks.submittable.com/submit/149756/larb-libros-contest

ARTIST RESIDENCY

Helene Wurlitzer Foundation

INFO: The Foundation offers three months of rent-free and utility-paid housing to people who specialize in the creative arts. Our eleven guest houses, or casitas, are fully furnished and provide residents with a peaceful setting in which to pursue their creative endeavors.

The Foundation accepts applications from painters, poets, sculptors, writers, playwrights, screenwriters, composers, photographers, and filmmakers of national and international origin.

Applications are reviewed by a selection committee consisting of professionals who specialize in the artistic discipline of the applicant. Numerous jurors serve on committees for each: visual arts, music composers, writers, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers. Jurors, who know nothing about the artist's demographics, score in five categories based purely on the merit of the applicant's creative work samples.

Artists in residence have no imposed expectations, quotas, or requirements during their stay on the HWF campus. The HWF’s residency program provides artists with the time and space to create, which in turn enriches the artistic community and culture locally and abroad.

SESSIONS:

  • Session 1: Jan - Apr

  • Session 2: June - Aug

  • Session 3: Sept - Dec

DEADLINE: January 18, 2020

https://wurlitzerfoundation.org/apply

NYSCA/NYFA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

INFO: The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is a $7,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located therein. This grant is awarded in 15 different disciplines over a three-year period (five categories a year) and the application is free to complete. The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is not a project grant, but is intended to fund an artist's vision or voice, at all levels of their artistic development.

APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

  • 25 years or older

  • Current residents of New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located in New York State

  • Must have maintained New York State residency, and/or residency in one of the Indian Nations located therein, for at least the last two consecutive years (2018 & 2019)

  • Cannot be enrolled in a degree-seeking program of any kind

  • Are the originators of the work, i.e. choreographers or playwrights, not interpretive artists such as dancers or actors

  • Did not receive a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in any discipline in the past five consecutive years: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019

  • Cannot submit any work samples that have been previously awarded a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship

  • While collaborating artists are eligible to apply, the total number of collaborators cannot exceed three

  • Are not a current NYFA employee or have been in the last 12 months, a member of the NYFA Board of Trustees or Artists’ Advisory Committee, immediate family member of any of the aforementioned, or an immediate family member of a 2019-2020 panelist

  • Artists that have been awarded five NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships receive Emeritus status and are no longer eligible for the award

2020 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Categories

  • Craft/Sculpture

  • Digital/Electronic Arts

  • Nonfiction Literature

  • Poetry

  • Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts

DEADLINE: January 22, 2019

https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Artists'-Fellowships?fbclid=IwAR2pXVjz3oBICDWe4kkOArpVjNyqAPT7V7kwDHwpwCXBe2MXJas5FjDsZlU

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Global City Review

INFO: Global City Review is a biannual online and print publication. Each issue is organized around a broad theme and includes stories, poems, memoirs, interviews, essays, and artwork. The designated theme for forthcoming Issue 24 is: Setting The Record Straight.

We publish:

  • short fiction and memoir (up to 15 pages)

  • poetry (up to 5 poems; please format and submit as a single document)

  • interviews and essays (up to 15 pages)

  • artwork in various mediums

  • We accept simultaneous submission. If your work is accepted elsewhere, we ask you inform us immediately.

  • No multiple submissions. Please only send one submission per reading period.

We publish original, previously unpublished work.

Format:

  • All manuscripts must be double spaced and numbered.

  • To be included on the first page of your submission:

  • your name;

  • contact information;

  • genre;

  • word count; and

  • one to three sentences about how the work speaks to the designated theme of the forthcoming issue.
    We accept .doc and .docx formats.

DEADLINE: January 31, 2020

https://globalcitypress.com/contact-subscribe-submit/

adda open call: CLIMATE CHANGE

INFO: adda is the online magazine of Commonwealth Writers. We are looking for new writing on the theme of climate change. We seek poetry, fiction and – in particular – non-fiction.

Non-fiction submissions can be sent either completed or in the form of a detailed proposed idea/pitch (maximum 500 words). For those sending in a pitch, Commonwealth Writers recommends submitting as far in advance of the deadline as possible.

No previously published work will be considered, whether in print or online, in whole or in part. We will, however, consider new translations into English of work already published in other languages. We will consider commissioning new non-fiction in other languages and arrange the translation ourselves. Please note, we can only accept submissions from citizens of Commonwealth countries.

We encourage you to familiarise yourself with the work already published on adda. We are looking to select a broad range of work. Entries by voices, or on topics, that may receive less attention from other publications are welcomed.

Please submit only once. You may enter work in one of the three categories: Poetry, Fiction, or Non-fiction. We accept simultaneous submissions on the understanding you will inform us immediately if the text is accepted for publication elsewhere.

To submit to this call, please complete the submissions form and upload:

  • A description of your writing history (300 words max)

And one of the following:

  • Up to two poems only (no word count, but a maximum five pages in total)

  • One piece of fiction writing (word count 2000-5000)

  • One non-fiction piece (word count 2000-5000)

  • One non-fiction proposal (word count 500 words maximum)

Submissions are read anonymously. Please do not include any contact or personal information in the files that you submit.

DEADLINE: January 31, 2020

https://www.addastories.org/open-call/

NYC Emerging Writer Fellowship

The Center for Fiction

INFO: The Center for Fiction NYC Emerging Writer Fellowship offers grants, editorial mentorship, and other opportunities to early-career New York City-based practitioners who are at a critical moment in their development as fiction writers.

During the one-year fellowship period, grantees will receive:

  • A grant of $5,000

  • The opportunity to have their manuscript revised and critiqued by an experienced editor

  • Access to write in our Writers Studio

  • The opportunity to meet with editors, authors, and agents who represent new writers at monthly dinners

  • Two public readings as part of our annual program of events

  • A professional headshot for personal publicity use

  • Inclusion in an anthology distributed to industry professionals

  • Tickets to our First Novel Fete and/or Benefit & Awards Dinner

  • Complimentary admission to all Center events

  • 25% discount on writing workshops at the Center

Applicants must be current residents of one of the five boroughs, and must remain in New York City for the entire year of the fellowship. Students in degree-granting programs are not eligible to apply. This program supports emerging writers whose work shows promise of excellence. Applicants can be of any age, but must be in the early stages of their careers as fiction writers and will not have had the support needed to achieve major recognition for their work. We define “emerging writer” as someone who has not yet had a novel or short story collection published by either a major or independent publisher, and who is also not currently under contract to a publisher for a work of fiction. Eligible applicants may have had stories or novel excerpts published in magazines, literary journals or online, but this is not a requirement. If at any point during the judging process an applicant signs a contract for publication or accepts an offer to study in a degree-granting program, he or she must alert us immediately to have the application pulled from consideration.

DEADLINE: January 31, 2020

https://centerforfiction.org/grants-awards/nyc-emerging-writers-fellowship/apply-to-the-nyc-emerging-writer-fellowship/

KWELI 2020 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

Kweli Journal

INFO: We are excited beyond measure about the Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference on Saturday, April 4, 2020! We had an amazing conference in 2019, and #Kweli20 promises to be an even more exciting, educational, and community-building day for BIPOC creatives. Kweli's spring conference is an excellent opportunity for Indigenous and POC writers and illustrators to learn, get inspired and network with others in the industry.

Thanks to the generosity of our amazing donors, we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships to attend the Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference!

The scholarship application portal opens on January 2nd and closes on February 2nd.

You can submit ONE application for our review and consideration. Please note that the scholarship covers the cost of registration. It does NOT cover travel or the costs of a master class or manuscript / portfolio review.

For details on the conference, please see the following link: http://www.kwelijournal.org/the-color-of-childrens-literature-conference-2

DEADLINE: February 2, 2020

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEdvH6ONlL7S5JS6OFFl8LYcDFHvfz1CsbHjUwGkRR4T_ULA/viewform

ESALEN WRITER’S CAMP FELLOWSHIP

Writing By Writers 

INFO: Writing By Writers is pleased to offer fellowships to Esalen Writer's Camp for emerging writers of color and/or members of the LGBTQIA+ community to amplify all voices that need to be heard. Fellowships cover the full cost of tuition, a shared room and all meals, but do not cover transportation.

An "Emerging Voice" is someone who is currently DOES NOT meet any of the below criteria*:

  • Has an B.A., M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D. or minors in Creative Writing.

  • Currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs.

  • Writers who have published one or more books through major publishing houses, university presses, or established presses.

  • Current professional magazine/newspaper feature writers or editors.

  • Writers who are widely published in top tier literary journals and/or magazines.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020

Winners will be notified by March 1st. Selection will be based on a writing sample and short statement about why you are interested in attending Esalen Writer's Camp. All submissions will be reviewed by Samantha Dunn and the finalists will be selected by Samantha Dunn and the WxW Board of Directors. 

https://www.writingxwriters.org/esalen?fbclid=IwAR0QhfUxL7OOakfLHF7Bwfa2wCSm2ocsaXLMIjkXcMkZ5BUgaTvySKxX3Kw

 

AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS VISITING FELLOWSHIP

INFO: The American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship was created in 2013 to nurture and sustain cross-cultural intellectual discourse.

The fellowship offers writers and researchers an opportunity to pursue a creative project in Paris for a month or longer while participating actively in the life of the American Library. Applicants should be working on a book project, fiction or non-fiction, or a feature-length documentary film, that contributes to cross-cultural discourse. We are not accepting poetry projects at this time.

Particular attention will be paid to an applicant’s ability to offer the Library community a variety of opportunities for exploring a topic. In addition to the stipend, the Library will connect the fellow to resources and people in Paris that could be helpful to his or her project. The fellowship is open to all nationalities, though the proposed project must be in English.

The fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the de Groot Foundation. There are two one-month fellowship periods a year in fall and spring, with dates to be specified later.

Fellowship award: a $5,000 stipend paid before start of fellowship period. The award, to be spent at the discretion of the Fellow, is designed to cover travel to Paris, accommodation, and expenses associated with the month in Paris.

Visiting Fellows are expected to:

·       Be present in Paris during the period of the fellowship.

·       Be present in the American Library a minimum of three half-days a week.

·       Present an hour-long evening program at the Library.

·       Participate in a Library reception.

·       Meet with staff informally to explore a topic of mutual interest.

·       Extend the Library’s reach by participating in events arranged by the Library with other organizations in Paris.

·       Provide the Library and the funding foundation with a written report of the fellowship experience.

·       Appropriately acknowledge the Library and the Visiting Fellowship in publications and print media related to the fellowship project.

·       Participate in the Library’s social media communication, fundraising campaigns, and other public events. 

DEADLINE: February 15, 2020 

https://americanlibraryinparis.org/visiting-fellowship-2/