open Call for criticism pitches
The Margins (Asian American Writers’ Workshop)
DEADLINE: Rolling
INFO: The Margins is open year-round to pitches and submissions of critical essays on Asian American literature, film, visual art, and culture.
We specifically seek essays that—through close engagement with art—might challenge the Asian American community to think or act in a new way. We are open to criticism of any artform, of works from any time period, so long as the writer speaks in some way to how we live now. Critics are encouraged to foreground their own voice and style in the pursuit of this goal, but should ultimately keep focus on their chosen objects of study.
Possible forms include but are not limited to:
A review of a single title with ambitions and analysis that extend beyond the title under review. E.g., “The Banality of Hate” by Sanjena Sathian (The Margins)
An essay where personal experience or voice is used to drive a critical study. E.g., “Death, Mediated” by Ismail Ibrahim (The Margins)
A study of an emerging phenomenon—referencing multiple recent works—with an eye toward the future. E.g., “Mixed-Race Metaphor” by Andrea Long Chu (Vulture)
A critique of a persistent, underexamined issue in our literature or literary community. E.g., “Blunt-Force Ethnic Credibility” by Som-Mai Nguyen (Astra)
An essay that puts new work into conversation with older works (or emerging artists into conversation with established artists) to make an argument about the evolution of a form or genre. E.g., “Controlled” by Noor Qasim (The Drift)
Additional notes on book reviews: We prefer criticism of works by more established writers, or posthumous criticism. We are generally not interested in list-style or roundup reviews, but are open to pieces that put multiple books in conversation with each other, or to reviews of anthologies. It is useful, but not a requirement, for a pitch to be timed to a publication date.
Send pitches of up to 500 words or drafts from 1,500-3,000 words to Spencer Quong, criticism editor, at criticism@aaww.org. Writers can expect a reply within one month. Please do not use the criticism@aaww.org inbox to pitch interviews.
We pay all writers and translators. Please refer to our rate sheet for more details.
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The Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship
One Story
DEADLINE: October 9, 2024
APPLICATION FEE: $0
INFO: Each year, together with the Talve-Goodman Family, One Story awards one writer the Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship. Honoring the memory of author and former One Story Managing Editor Adina Talve-Goodman, 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.
THE FELLOW RECEIVES:
Access to One Story online classes.
Admission to One Story’s Writing Circle.
Stipend ($2,000) and free admission to One Story’s week-long summer writers’ conference, which includes craft lectures, an intensive fiction workshop, and panels with literary agents and publishers.
A full manuscript review and consultation with One Story Executive Editor Hannah Tinti (story collection or novel in progress up to 150 pages/35,000 words).
REQUIREMENTS:
This fellowship calls for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an advanced degree program (such as an MA or MFA) in Creative Writing, English, or Literature, and has no plans to attend one in the 2025 calendar year. We are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that centers, celebrates, or reclaims being marginalized through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment. All applicants must be at least 21 years of age as of January 1st, 2025.
TO APPLY TO THIS FELLOWSHIP YOU WILL NEED:
A fiction writing sample (3,000 – 5,000 words)
A personal statement (600 – 1,100 words)
Two professional or personal references who can speak to your commitment to writing (no recommendation letters required but please provide: name, email, phone)
A current resume detailing any work or educational experience. Please also list any writing classes you have taken, along with writing-related awards, fellowships, publications, and residencies (if any).
All applications will be received via Submittable
The winner of the 2025 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship will be publicly announced in January 2025
one-story.com/learn/fellowship/
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2025 Right of Return Fellowship
The Center for Art & Advocacy
DEADLINE: October 11, 2024 at 11:59pm EST
INFO: The Center for Art & Advocacy will accept applications from U.S.-based creatives working in visual art, film, music, creative writing, performance, design, and multidisciplinary practices for the 2025 Right of Return Fellowship from September 1, 2024, through October 11, 2024.
The Right of Return Fellowship is open to directly impacted creatives from every discipline. For the 7th annual cohort, a panel of external reviewers will select six new 2025 Right of Return Fellows from our open-call applicant pool to receive a $20,000 grant, mentorship, and community building.
The Center for Art & Advocacy’s Right of Return Fellowship invites directly impacted artists to propose art projects aimed at transforming our criminal legal and immigration systems, to reduce their scale and reach.
Artists have always played a critical role in social movements as culture-makers and catalysts for change. Right of Return Fellows exist and work at the forefront of social movements and have the unique power to translate complex and nuanced ideas into powerful experiences. The goal of the Right of Return Fellowship is to support the creation of new bodies of work that uplift the voices of people directly impacted by the criminal justice system, reflect the humanity of criminalized and incarcerated people, and build public will for ambitious and visionary change.
ARTIST RETREAT: If selected, Right of Return Fellows will be asked to commit to participating in a group retreat in spring 2025 and be invited to a multi-cohort retreat in following years. The Right of Return retreats are meant to foster community, develop political advocacy skills, and support practice sustainability. If COVID-19 or other circumstances makes in-person convenings impossible, abbreviated versions of the retreat will be held online.
THERAPY INITIATIVE: During the course of this fellowship, all fellows are encouraged to engage in at least 6 hours of a trauma healing modality of their choice. The Center will be responsible for coordinating the logistics and ensuring services are financially covered. Fellows are welcome to try multiple modalities including but not limited to: talk therapy, EMDR, somatic coaching, group therapy, art therapy, and more.
FELLOWSHIP GRANT: The Right of Return Grant is $20,000 total: $10,000 artist award, $10,000 for project materials and production. Selected fellows will be asked to provide a proposed overall budget for the project and a project summary upon completion. A project budget is not required for the application.
ELIGIBILITY:
The Right of Return Fellowship seeks to support directly impacted artists with a demonstrated capacity to advance social change and a clear vision for utilizing their creative practice to end mass incarceration.
More specifically:
Directly impacted artists of all creative disciplines, age 18 or older at the time of the application. We do not fund organizations or non-profits, only individual artists.
We define the word “artist” in broad terms to include creatives who work in visual art, film, music, creative writing, performance, design, and multidisciplinary practices.
In the context of this Fellowship, “directly impacted” includes those who have themselves been incarcerated, charged, or convicted, including felony convictions; people who were detained in migrant detention centers but who have now attained U.S. citizenship by the time of this application’s open.
Artists must collaborate with an advocacy organization during the development and/or execution of their proposed project (collaborating organizations do not need to be secured at the time of application and The Center for Art & Advocacy can help connect fellows to advocates).
Artists may be at any stage of their career, with or without formal training.
Projects and applicants must be U.S. based. This includes all 50 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico.
The Center for Art & Advocacy seeks a diverse cohort of fellows with regard to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and experience.
FELLOWS NOTIFIED: Mid-December 2024
centerforartandadvocacy.org/fellowships/
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call for submissions: ‘Kinship’ Issue
Myriad (Hexagon Mag)
SUBMISSION PERIOD:
Initial Deadline: October 14 - November 1, 2024
BIPOC Deadline: October 14 - November 8, 2024
INFO: Kinship is at the heart of all humanity. Myriad is looking for stories that examine how and why people form communities in a micro or macro sense. It’s about finding your place and your people, whether it’s through chosen family, solidarity, co-working, or grassroots activities.
We want stories that utilize the speculative to explore beyond the traditional notions of kinship, be it familial (nuclear family) or romantic (monogamous relations.
Send flash fiction (1,000 words or less) that interrogates:
Can humans get along?
How can technology or magic change how humans live with one another?
BFFs til the end of the world.
COMPENSATION: CAD $18.00
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OPEN SUBMISSIONS: NONFICTION
Hub City Press
DEADLINE: October 15, 2024
INFO: Hub City Press publishes books of literary fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, regional nonfiction, nature, and art. We are seeking new and extraordinary voices from the American South who have written well-crafted, high-quality works. We are particularly interested in books with a strong sense of place. We believe strongly that the publishing industry needs to promote a more diverse range of experiences, and so have committed ourselves to spotlighting lesser-heard Southern voices including: people of color, members of LGBTQ and gender diverse communities, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, as well as ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. Hub City is a small press, publishing eight to ten titles per year. In general, our publication schedule operates at least 12-18 months in advance of release.
Hub City publishes writers living in or from the South. What's the South? A complicated issue, to say the least, but the short answer for our purposes: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. (Are you from a border state like Missouri, Oklahoma, or Ohio? If you feel like your book is a good fit for us, make a case in your query.)
We do not publish romance, science fiction, true crime, mystery, cookbooks, how-to books, horror/paranormal or specific-religion inspirational books. We do not publish books for young people (YA, middle grade or childrens). Please do not send us a query if your book has already been self-published, even only as an e-book. We are looking only for full length works, rather than single stories, essays, or poems. We will automatically reject works with evidence of AI authorship.
WHAT TO SEND US:
A brief, informative query letter about your manuscript (include the title, genre, length, description of the work, author background and publication history)
Any credentials that particularly qualify you to write your book. If you have access to special markets or promotional opportunities for your book, we’d like to know about them as well.
Your full manuscript (.doc and .docx preferred) Please note incomplete manuscripts will be automatically rejected.
/hubcity.submittable.com/submit
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2025 RESIDENCIES
Vermont Studio Center
DEADLINE: October 15, 2024
APPLICATION FEE: $25
INFO: Vermont Studio Center invites applications for 2025. Nestled in the Green Mountains, VSC hosts an inclusive, global community of artists and writers. Enjoy private studios and lodging, fresh - local meals, and a vibrant Visiting Artists & Writers Program.
VSC’s residency program welcomes artists and writers working across all mediums and genres for two, three, and four week sessions.
Residents enjoy well-lit, private studios within a short walk to residency housing, dining hall, and local amenities. Studio spaces range from 170 - 300 square feet. Accommodations include a private room and shared common areas. The campus features include a print shop, digital lab, and metal, wood, ceramic facility. Studios are open 24 hours a day.
A VSC residency provides artists and writers the time and space to focus on their creative practice in an inclusive, international community within a small Vermont village. Residents can explore swimming holes, hiking and biking trails, as well as the rural charm of neighboring towns, while expanding their creative potential and building a solid network of friends and mentors.
PROGRAMMING
During each session, Visiting Artists and Visiting Writers are invited to join us for presentations, craft talks, one-on-one manuscript consultations, and individual studio visits. Residents can also enjoy open studio nights, resident presentations, and exhibition openings. All scheduled activities are optional. Residents are encouraged to unplug, completely immerse themselves in their work, and work at their own pace.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
VSC is committed to community building both locally and on campus. Every resident has the opportunity to participate in our Community Contribution Program for 3 hours per week, by assisting in one of these areas: Kitchen, School Arts Program, Visual Arts, and the Writing Program. No prior experience is necessary.
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ART OMI: WRITERS RESIDENCY
Art Omi
DEADLINE: October 15, 2024 at 11:59pm EST
INFO: Art Omi, a not-for-profit arts center with a 120-acre sculpture and architecture park and gallery, offers residency programs for international artists, writers, translators, musicians, architects and dancers. Art Omi believes that exposure to internationally diverse creative voices fosters acceptance and respect, raises awareness, inspires innovation, and ignites change. By forming community with creative expression as its common denominator, Art Omi creates a sanctuary for the artistic community and the public to affirm the transformative quality of art.
Art Omi: Writers hosts authors and translators for two weeks to one month throughout the spring and fall. The program’s strong international emphasis provides exposure for global literary voices and reflects the spirit of cultural exchange that is essential to Art Omi’s mission.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
Each applicant is required to provide 4 (four) separate items in total:
A cover letter, which provides the following details: country of birth, country of residency, the language in which you write, your preferred residency dates. Please note we have two sessions per year: Spring (March 27 - May 28) and Fall (September 4 - November 5). Additionally, please let us know how you heard about Art Omi: Writers, why you want to come to Art Omi: Writers and what you expect to get from the experience.
A brief (2 pages, maximum) statement about your work history, referencing publications, performances and writing credits. This can be submitted in CV format.
A writing sample, no more than 25 pages. The work sample does not have to be published or related to your current project and can be a combination of multiple samples.
A one page description of the work to be undertaken while at Art Omi: Writers.
Your writing sample does NOT have to be an English translation; please submit your writing sample in your mother tongue. All other documentation must be submitted in English.
Your cover letter should be provided in the designated Cover Letter field. Items 2-4 should each be provided as separately uploaded files.
Alumni of the program are eligible to reapply after 5 years.
RESIDENCY DATES:
Spring:
Thursday, March 27–Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Thursday, May 8–Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Autumn:
Thursday, September 4–Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Thursday, October 9–Wednesday, November 5, 2025
DECISION NOTIFICATION: January, 2025
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Writers Mentorship Program
Latinx in Publishing
DEADLINE: October 16, 2024
INFO: The Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Program offers the opportunity for unpublished and unagented writers who identify as Latinx (mentees) to strengthen their craft, gain knowledge about the traditional publishing industry, and expand their professional connections through work with experienced Latinx authors (mentors).
WMP 2025 WILL ACCEPT MENTEES IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:
Adult Non-Fiction
Adult Horror Fiction
Adult Romance Fiction
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction
ABOUT THE WRITING MENTORSHIP PROGRAM:
The next cycle of the program runs from February 2025 through October 2025.
Mentees must complete an application, state which mentor they are applying to work with, and submit 20-30 pages of sample writing for their writing project in the appropriate genre/category. If you are applying in the picture book author-illustrator or graphic novel categories, please include a link to illustration samples along with your writing sample.
Your application should be tailored to the mentor you would like to work with, meaning that your writing sample should be in the genre that mentor works in. You may submit applications for up to 3 different mentors, but in that case, each application form will likely require a different writing sample.
Participants will be notified of Latinx in Publishing’s admission decisions in December 2024, and mentors and mentees will be formally connected in January 2025.
Mentors and mentees will connect for a minimum of one hour per month over the course of ten months.
The program will close in November 2025. If the mentor and mentee would like to continue their mentor relationship after that point, it is entirely at their discretion.
Please be aware that the Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Program is a volunteer-run initiative. Latinx in Publishing will not be held responsible for mediating any relations between mentors and mentees once the program ends.
QUALIFICATIONS TO BE A MENTEE:
Must identify as Latinx (does not include individuals of Spanish origin)
Must be unagented and unpublished
Must have an active interest in writing books and a project in mind to work on during the mentorship
Must be located in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) and be at least 18 years of age
Must be available to dedicate at least one hour per month for a minimum of ten months for a meeting with their mentor
Must be available to attend mandatory program events that are scheduled with notice, about once a month or once every two months.
latinxinpublishing.com/mentorship
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Moondancer Fellowship For Environmental + Nature Writers
The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow
DEADLINE: October 21, 2024
APPLICATION FEE: $35
INFO: The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) is pleased to offer the 2024 Moondancer Fellowship for authors who express their passion for the natural world and concern for the environment through their writing. This fellowship is open to poets, fiction writers, playwrights, screenwriters, essayists, memoirists, and columnists. Prior publication is not a requirement. The successful applicant will demonstrate insight, honesty, literary merit, and the likelihood of publication or production.
The fellowship winner will receive a two-week residency at WCDH to focus completely on their writing. 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 desired, 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. Only one writing project may be proposed per application. Writers proposing more than one project must submit a separate application and fee for each one.
The winner will be announced no later than November 20, 2024. Residency must be completed by December 31, 2025.
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Call for essay submissions: Writings on Diasporican Visual Artists
The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO)
DEADLINE: October 21, 2024 by 11:59pm EST
INFO: The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO), the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States, invites art critics, curators, art historians, and art or art history students to submit their original works focusing on contemporary diasporic Puerto Rican visual artists to be included in our Diasporican Art in Motion database initiative. This community of artists is understudied and as a result, they are underrepresented in the field of Arts and Arts criticism. This underrepresentation stems from the fact that diasporic Puerto Rican visual artists often fall outside the boundaries of American, Latin American, Caribbean, and sometimes even Puerto Rican art.
As a research center focused on the Diasporic Puerto Rican experience, we are committed to promote the creation of knowledge of our cultural heritage and expressions. Diasporic Puerto Rican Artists have been at the forefront of identity issues and their work often examines and expands the national representation boundaries. The production of knowledge based on Diasporic Puerto Rican Artists will not only help the understanding and promotion of their work, but will enlighten the understanding of ourselves and of our diasporic journeys.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Essays should be no more than 1000 words and focus on an artist currently included in the Diasporican Art in Motion database.
Essays can take the form of an artist profile, exhibition review or response, short interview, or response to a specific artwork.
Submissions should follow the same standard requirements of our CENTRO Journal Style Guide, with the exception that submissions won’t be sent by email but through a digital form instead.
Any writer can submit more than one writing for different artists. Manuscripts can be submitted either in English or Spanish.
Writings should be original and not previously published.
We encourage writings on artists whose work has not been widely studied.
OVERVIEW OF MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION PROCESS:
Complete the form below, ensure all mandatory fields are completed, and review and confirm your submission.
We will email you to confirm receipt of your form.
Your manuscript undergoes a rigorous review process where independent experts in your field evaluate its quality, originality, and relevance. The decision to publish your article will be based on the outcome of the peer reviews. Depending on the availability of peer reviewers, this process may take up to six months.
We will email you with our decision and, if applicable, further steps.
COMPENSATION FOR SELECTED ESSAYS: $300
centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/opportunities/writings-on-diasporican-visual-artists/
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The Helena Whitehill Book Award (FOR POETRY + CREATIVE NON-FICTION)
Tupelo Press
DEADLINE: October 31, 2024
INFO: The Helena Whitehill Book Award is a prestigious INTERNATIONAL prize for adult writers. This year we are beyond thrilled to announce it will be judged by the inimitable Ilya Kaminski, a decorated poet who in 2019 was named among “12 Artists who changed the world” by the BBC.
PRIZE: The Helena Whitehill Book Award includes a cash award of $1,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, a book launch, national and international distribution by the University of Chicago Press, a one-week residence at Gentle House on the Olympic Peninsula, and unlike our other prizes, open to submissions of poetry, chapbook or full length, no page limit, and also open to creative non-fiction, no page limit. Manuscripts are judged anonymously and all finalists will be considered for publication. Please read the complete guidelines before submitting your manuscript.
Sally Whitehill writes: “My mother, Helena Whitehill, loved words, and in particular, poetry. She believed creative expression should and could be for everybody, and passed this belief on to me and to my sisters. In Tupelo Press and Jeffrey Levine, I am excited to find partners who share this doctrine. The anonymous nature of the submission process for the Helena Whitehill Book Award is one way we have put this belief into action. I can think of no better way to honor my mother than to support this prize and other writers.”
tupelopress.org/helena-whitehill-book-award/
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2025 Fresh Voices Fellowship
Epiphany
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024 at 11:59pm
APPLICATION FEE: $0
INFO: The Fresh Voices Fellowship supports one or more 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.
One or More Writers, in Prose or Poetry, Will Receive:
A $2000 stipend
Publication in a print issue of Epiphany
A one-year subscription to Epiphany
A close relationship with the editorial team and participate in the editorial and publication process of a small non-profit literary magazine
The opportunity to contribute an online essay series during their fellowship
We encourage writers who work outside the traditional literary and academic systems to apply, and applicants must not have an advanced degree in English, creative writing, or other related fields, and must not be enrolled at the time of application in any degree-granting program. Applicants must also have not have published or be contracted to publish a book.
Work Sample: Please include a 5-page sample (double-spaced for prose) of previously unpublished work that you feel most represents you, your interests, and your literary style. (If you’re sending a novel excerpt, please include a short synopsis of the novel and an explanation of where, in the story, the excerpt falls.)
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.
epiphanymagazine.submittable.com/submit
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PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers
PEN America
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024
INFO: The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes twelve emerging writers each year for their debut short story published in a literary magazine, journal, or cultural website, and aims to support the launch of their careers as fiction writers.
Each of the twelve winning writers receives a cash prize of $2,000 and the independent book publisher Catapult will publish the twelve winning stories in an annual anthology entitled Best Debut Short Stories: The PEN America Dau Prize, which will acknowledge the literary magazines and websites where the stories were originally published.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE:
Stories must be submitted by editors of literary magazines, journals, or cultural websites and published in the English language. Publications may be based and/or distributed anywhere in the world, so long as the story submitted was originally written in and published in English. Authors may not submit their own work.
Participating publications include literary magazines, journals, or cultural websites published on a recurring schedule.
Stories must have been published or forthcoming in the applicable calendar year.
Editors from eligible publications may only submit a writer’s debut short story. “Debut” is defined as the writer’s absolute first fiction publication in any language, which has undergone an editorial review process and been accepted and published in a literary outlet that the author is not academically or professionally associated with. Translations are ineligible. Writers who have published one or more books which have undergone editorial review are ineligible.
Editors from eligible publications may submit up to four eligible stories from debut authors in a given award year. Stories may not exceed 12,000 words in length.
Submitted story files should not include the journal name or other identifying information.
Both the editor and debut author must agree to and sign the award’s declaration of eligibility at the bottom of this form.
pen.org/program/pen-dau-short-story-prize/
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CALL FOR FICTION SUBMISSIONS: SPRING ISSUE 10.1
Foglifter
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024
INFO: Foglifter is now open for submissions for our Spring Issue 10.1.
GUEST EDITOR: This issue's guest fiction editor is Jonathan Ayala, a writer from El Paso, Texas and a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso’s MFA program in Creative Writing. He has studied at the Tin House Summer Workshop and the Macondo Summer Writers’ Workshop. His stories have been published in journals such as Foglifter, Rio Grande Review, and The Acentos Review. In addition to writing, he works in health equity and writes, "Cultural Analysis/Cultural Activism," a newsletter about art and culture responding to the HIV epidemic.
GUIDELINES:
Please send a single Word document with up to 7500 words of fiction (up to three flash fiction pieces). Make sure it is in standard double-spaced formatting and a readable font.
For grant purposes, we cannot consider submissions that do not include a completed demographic survey with their submission.
Foglifter aims to reflect the vibrant diversity of the LGBTQ+ literary community in our award-winning journal. Fill out our anonymized Demographics Survey to be considered for publication—then take a screenshot of the thank-you screen at the end and attach it along with your submission.
foglifter.submittable.com/submit
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CALL FOR HYBRID + DRAMA SUBMISSIONS: SPRING ISSUE 10.1
Foglifter
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024
INFO: Foglifter is now open for submissions for our Spring Issue 10.1.
GUEST EDITOR: This issue's guest hybrid editor is Jai Dulani (he/him), a twice Pushcart nominated multi-genre writer. He was a finalist in the 2023 New Michigan Press / DIAGRAM chapbook contest and the Rose Metal Press 2023 Open Reading Period. His poetry and creative non-fiction have appeared in The Rumpus, Best New Poets, Alaska Quarterly Review and elsewhere. Dulani served as the Assistant Managing Editor of the Bellingham Review, where he co-founded “Resilient Pieholes,” a food feature noted in the New York Times.
GUIDELINES:
Send up to 20 pages of cross-genre work, text-image hybrids, or drama.
PDFs are accepted in this category.
For grant purposes, we cannot consider submissions that do not include a completed demographic survey with their submission.
Foglifter aims to reflect the vibrant diversity of the LGBTQ+ literary community in our award-winning journal. Fill out our anonymized Demographics Survey to be considered for publication—then take a screenshot of the thank-you screen at the end and attach it along with your submission.
foglifter.submittable.com/submit
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CALL FOR NONFICTION SUBMISSIONS: SPRING ISSUE 10.1
Foglifter
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024
INFO: Foglifter is now open for submissions for our Spring Issue 10.1.
GUEST EDITOR: This issue's guest nonfiction editor is Jai Dulani (he/him), a twice Pushcart nominated multi-genre writer. He was a finalist in the2023 New Michigan Press / DIAGRAM chapbook contest and theRose Metal Press 2023 Open Reading Period. His poetry and creative non-fiction have appeared in The Rumpus,Best New Poets, Alaska Quarterly Review and elsewhere. Dulani served as the Assistant Managing Editor of the Bellingham Review, where he co-founded “Resilient Pieholes,” a food feature noted in the New York Times.
GUIDELINES:
Please send a single Word document with up to 7500 words of nonfiction (up to three flash nonfiction pieces).
Please make sure it is in standard double-spaced formatting and a readable font.
For grant purposes, we cannot consider submissions that do not include a completed demographic survey with their submission.
Foglifter aims to reflect the vibrant diversity of the LGBTQ+ literary community in our award-winning journal. Fill out our anonymized Demographics Survey to be considered for publication—then take a screenshot of the thank-you screen at the end and attach it along with your submission.
foglifter.submittable.com/submit
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Mesa Refuge Residency
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024
APPLICATION FEE: $50
INFO: Mesa Refuge welcomes a diverse community of writers—both emerging and established—who define and/or offer solutions to the pressing issues of our time. Particularly, it is our priority to support writers, activists and artists whose ideas are “on the edge,” taking on the pressing issues of our time including (but not limited to): nature, environment and climate crisis; economic, racial and gender equity; social justice and restorative justice; immigration; health care access; housing; and more.
We especially want writers of nonfiction books, long-form journalism, audio and documentary film. Occasionally we accept poetry, fiction (Young Adult/Adult Literary), screenwriting and playwriting, photojournalism, personal memoirs (as a vehicle to tell a larger story) and graphic narrative. We tend not to accept academic writing. The potential impact and distribution of your project is also important.
We aim to support a diverse community of writers and welcome applicants that represent a broad spectrum of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, immigration status, religion or ability. Please see our DEI statement for more information about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
As a small nonprofit, our application fee of $50 helps underwrite the cost of application review. However, we do not want the application fee to be a barrier to apply. To request a fee waiver, please email us directly here.
GUIDELINES: The questions on our application are mostly short answer. We require one writing sample (max 2,000 words or 10 pages), a current resume, headshot photo and two references (we do not require letters of recommendation). Applicants will be contacted approximately 10 weeks after the application deadline.
Our residencies are two weeks long and there is no residency fee. Additional residency expenses like travel, transportation and food are your responsibility. Our facility accommodates three residents at a time.
When you click the button, below, you will be transferred to our application on Submittable. Our residency application will be available on June 1, 2024.
For more information, read our Frequently Asked Questions page, or contact us at info@mesarefuge.org.
mesarefuge.org/residencies/application/
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Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Commonwealth Foundation
DEADLINE: November 1, 2024
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: The search for some of the Commonwealth’s best short story writers has begun again. Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and over can enter a short story of 2000-5000 words for a chance to win £5,000.
Submissions should be made via the online entry form. The eligibility and entry guidelines can be found here.
An international judging panel of writers will select a shortlist of around twenty stories, from which five regional winners are chosen. One of the regional winners is then selected as the overall winner, who receives £5,000. The regional winners will receive £2,500. All five regional winning stories will be published on Granta.
Scroll down to read answers to frequently asked questions about the prize, including who can enter, how stories are judged and what languages we accept.
For any inquiries regarding the prize, please email: creatives@commonwealthfoundation.com
commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-prize/
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MONTHLY MENTORSHIP: RIGHT TO WRITE AWARDS
Writability
DEADLINE: November 12, 2024
INFO: Each year, two Right to Write Awards are given to outstanding applicants who have already been accepted into the Monthly Mentorship program. The award supports BIPOC and Veteran writers by waiving their tuition. Applicants must apply and be accepted to Monthly Mentorship before or in tandem with applying to the Right to Write Award.
Monthly Mentorship program dues are $4150. Recipients of a Right to Write Award will receive $3650 and are asked to pay the balance of $500, which covers fees Maximum Impact incurs for software, streaming, and tech features that help bring the program content to you in accessible ways. Application details are below.
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Rising Writer Prize
Autumn House Press
DEADLINE: November 15, 2024
READING FEE: $30
INFO: The 2025 Rising Writer Prize is for a first full-length book of fiction. The Autumn House staff and select outsider readers will serve as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is K-Ming Chang.
PRIZE: The winner receives publication of their full-length manuscript and $2,000. We will announce the contest’s finalists and the winner by March 15, 2025.
GUIDELINES:
Must be the author’s first full-length fiction book (previous publications of chapbooks and full-length books in other genres are fine)
The winners will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $1,000 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
All finalists will be considered for publication
Submissions should be approximately 100 – 200 pages
The reading fee is $30 (We will waive the submission fee for those undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Before you reach out to request a waived fee, please read our full statement and instructions here. If the guidelines are not followed, we will not be able to offer a waived fee.)
All fiction sub-genres (short stories, short-shorts, novellas, or novels) or any combination of sub-genres are eligible
The book should be previously unpublished
We only accept original manuscripts; AI-generated or AI-supported works are not accepted
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 are permitted, but please let us know immediately if your book was accepted elsewhere
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
ABOUT THE JUDGE: K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award winner, a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, and an O. Henry Prize Winner. She is the author of the New York Times Book Review Editors’ choice novel BESTIARY (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Otherwise Award. In 2021, her chapbook BONE HOUSE was published by Bull City Press. Her story collection GODS OF WANT (One World/Random House) won a Lambda Literary Award and was a NYT Editors’ Choice. Her latest novel is ORGAN MEATS (One World, 2023), a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and CECILIA, a novella (Coffee House Press, 2024).
autumnhouse.org/submissions/rising-writers-prize/
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ROLLING SUBMISSIONS
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: TRANSLATION COLUMN
The Margins / AAWW
DEADLINE: Rolling
INFO: The Margins seeks work from writers for an ongoing monthly column on language, culture, and translation from Asia. We consider Asia as an umbrella term that encompasses all of its regions (South, Southeast, East, Central, and North Asia, and SWANA) and the many diaspora communities of Asians all over the world.
We welcome essays, hybrid works, translations, and translator’s notes that engage with Asia’s literature, cultures, subcultures, languages, and diasporas. We are also interested in works that grapple with the concept of the Transpacific, colonialism, history, and empire, especially as they relate to language and translation.
We pay all writers and translators. Please refer to our rate sheet for more details.
Examples of work we’re interested in:
Translator’s notes: Essays on the philosophy, craft, and art of translation
Translator’s diaries: Writings about the experience and choices for a particular book in translation
Essays and translations of essays on languages and multilingualism
Essays on power and empire as they relate to translation
New translations/re-translations of essays by important Asian scholars, thinkers, philosophers, and revolutionaries
Reportage on the writing, reading, publishing, and translation culture of a particular place
Photo essays about bookstores and literary salons in Asia or that feature Asian literature
Interviews with independent publishers, writers, artists, and thinkers in Asia or the Asian diaspora
Some examples of what we’re looking for:
Send pitches of up to 500 words or finished pieces from 1,000-2,500 words to Soleil David, senior editor, at translation@aaww.org. For translations into English, translator must have already obtained permission from the copyright owner.
We read submissions year round and in all languages spoken and read in Asia. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know via email if your pitch/essay has been accepted elsewhere. Writers can expect a reply within three to four months.
aaww.org/submissions-translation-column/
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CALL FOR AUTHORS
Vanderbilt University Press
DEADLINE: Rolling
INFO: Vanderbilt University Press acquires books in the areas of Latin American and Hispanic studies; global and public health; human rights and civil rights; anthropology; history and postwar studies; and studies of race, class, gender, and sexuality. We also publish books with a regional focus on Tennessee and the South, including, for example, books on Nashville and country music.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Initial inquiries about potential book projects should be queried to the acquisitions department via email. We do not accept full manuscripts until requested. First, ensure that VUP publishes in the disciplinary area that your project represents.
If that is the case, please send a cover letter and book proposal that includes the following:
A short book abstract
A brief but detailed statement outlining the manuscript’s arguments, themes, and significance to the field
A table of contents that clearly summarizes the content and structure of each chapter
Assessment of the work’s fit with existing literature, comparison with published books on the topic, and discussion of the intended audiences and market for the book
Statement of the anticipated word count of the manuscript; plans for tables, figures, or other illustrations; and schedule for completion
Sample chapter (optional)
Curriculum vitae
If your manuscript is based on a dissertation, please discuss how the material and research has been developed, reframed, or otherwise revised. VUP does not publish unrevised dissertations.
If your manuscript is an edited collection, please include information about each of the contributors and note if any of the chapters are previously published.
If your manuscript is a translation, please describe why the author’s work warrants translation into English, as well as any and all information on rights to the work and the book’s history in its native language.
Keep a file or a copy of your proposal materials. We do not return proposals. Please do not call the Press to inquire about the status of your proposal or manuscript. We review all material received, and you will be contacted when a decision has been made. We aim to communicate whether a proposed project is being pursued further no more than eight weeks after the receipt of the proposal.
For more information about specific series initiatives, visit our Series page.
vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/resources/submission-guidelines-for-prospective-authors/