Opportunities for Writers – February 2023

Opportunities for writers including writers conferences, workshops, contests, and submissions. Updated 2/22/24.

Submit your opportunity to mail@indianawriters.org. Submit your opportunity by the 1st of the month to ensure it is included.

Have a short story, poem or other work you’re just dying to share?  Check out these publications, workshop and contest opportunities.  

*Advice on Writing Contests:  

When considering contests, look to see how they handled winners’ work from previous years: Is there a list of previous winners? Where you can go to read or have access to the winning pieces of writing? Who are the judges? Are they people who you would read yourself? If you win, what kind of audience would you receive for your work? Research contests and their reputations online. Use places like duotrope.com, Poets and Writers (pw.org), the New Pages (newpages.com), or The Review Review (thereviewreview.net), to see whether there is any other information about the contest from other sources.

Meet Authors and Improve Writing Skills at Get Inked 2024!

A writer’s conference for students in grades 7–12 on the beautiful campus of Saint Mary’s College. Virtual option available.

Teen writers are invited to attend the Get Inked Teen Writing Conference. Hosted by Saint Mary’s College, participants will spend the day connecting with published authors in writing workshops and small-group breakout sessions. Students will experiment with style and form, share ideas, improve their writing skills, and make valuable connections with industry professionals and other young writers.

This day-long event is perfect for students who:
• Have an interest in writing and storytelling
• Want to be a little more confident in their writing abilities
• Want to meet industry professionals, and like free books!
 
This year’s conference features YA authors Alicia Novio, Patrick Flores-Scott, Kristin Bartley-Lenz, Katherine Higgs-Coulthard, and Mary Ann Moore, along with more to be announced soon.
 
Live far from campus? No problem! Both in-person and virtual attendance options are available.

Saturday, February 24, 2024 In-person at Saint Mary’s College

Limited to 70 in-person participants. Registration is $70 and includes two autographed books and
a Get Inked Writer’s Notebook. Lunch is provided.

Saturday, March 2, 2024 Virtual Conference on Zoom

Limited to 100 remote participants. Registration is $70 and includes two autographed books and a Get Inked Writer’s Notebook. Shipping of conference materials is included.
 

Students with financial need are invited to apply for assistance with fees through the Patricia S. and
Thomas W. Hill Scholarship for Young Writers. For more information on this scholarship, contact
Katherine Higgs-Coulthard at higgscou@saintmarys.edu.

Indiana Humanities Eclipse Poetry Contest

We invite Hoosier poets everywhere to submit an original poem inspired by this unique event. The poet who submits a poem that best reflects the significance of the eclipse will receive a cash prize of $500, the opportunity to read the poem during an eclipse watch party in Indianapolis, and have their work featured on Indiana Humanities’ website and social media. A second-place prize of $200 and third-place prize of $100 will be awarded, also with the opportunity to read at the April 8 event. 

Submissions are due Feb. 9, 2024. A panel of judges will choose the winner and runners-up. Winners will be notified by March 1, 2024, so that the poem and poet can be incorporated into the many special festivities surrounding the eclipse programming. 

For more information and submission guidelines

IndyFringe Theater Festival Fellowship

OnyxFest: Production Grants for Black Playwrights in Indiana

OnyxFest

The Africana Repertory Theatre of IUPUI (ARTI) announced that scripts are being accepted for consideration of full production grants for playwrights to participate in OnyxFest 2024.

Organizers say judges this season will look for variety. In addition to drama and serious topics, creative comedy, romance, mystery, spoken word, musical and even dance productions are welcomed! Playwrights will receive royalties along with stipends to pay actors, directors, lighting assistants and sound technicians. The grant will include funds for set design, props, costume and makeup as well as the complete cost of theater rental for both rehearsal and performances.
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for serious new playwrights with talent but inadequate financial resources,” Williams said, adding that OnyxFest 2024 will also provide playwrights script development assistance, marketing and advertising, along with video recordings and internet streaming of plays.
Scripts should be submitted to https://go.iu.edu/4RJu. All scripts must be downloaded no later than 11:59 pm Fri., March 1, 2024. Entries will then be submitted to a jury of theater professionals who will read each and determine winners. Recipients will be notified no later than the end of April. Entries must be original one-act plays between 45 minutes and an hour in length. There may be no more than five characters per cast. Williams recommends that writers avoid stereotypes, degrading or disrespectful portrayals of Black life and culture, and gratuitous violence or sexual content.

Sandra Carpenter Memorial Fund Ohio Writers Scholarship

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
FOR OHIO WOMAN WRITER

February 1, 2024: CINCINNATI, OH—The Sandra Carpenter Memorial Fund (SCMF) is once again accepting applications for its annual SCMF-SWF Ohio Writers Scholarship, an award created in the memory of Cincinnati native, Sandra Carpenter (1964–2019). Carpenter, a University of Cincinnati alumna, was a professional writer and editor, and enthusiastic traveler, who spent the last decade of her life working and writing in Stockholm, where she supported the founding of the Stockholm Writers Festival (SWF) in 2017. Cherished by family and friends, she was also a beloved to mentor to many. “There are two things you need to know about me,” Carpenter wrote as she launched her expat blog in 2011, “1) I love to travel. 2) I love to write.” The SCMF seeks to honor her memory with an award that supports the dreams of an aspiring woman writer.  

The SCMF-SWF Ohio Writers Scholarship sponsors an emergent Ohio woman writer (an Ohio native, long-time resident or Ohio-educated) who is pursuing the publication of a book to attend the Stockholm Writers Festival, August 23–25, 2024. The award includes a Festival ticket, a one-on-one meeting with a literary agent, and a $1,500 cash travel stipend. 

Now in its seventh year, the Stockholm Writers Festival assists attendees in developing the skills and business knowhow essential to navigate the world of publishing, while fostering an ever-expanding community of international writers. Carpenter was a SWF board member; the scholarship is a collaboration between her Stockholm and Cincinnati communities. Application deadline is March 15, 2024.

“Our hope is that this international professional experience will support an Ohio woman writer in the development and publication of her manuscript; expand her writing community and resources; and deepen her interest in international travel and writing,” says Kezia Carpenter, Sandra Carpenter’s cousin and the driving force behind the Fund.

The Sandra Carpenter Ohio Writers Scholarship includes:

• A ticket to the full Stockholm Writers Festival, August 23–25, 2024.
• A coveted one-on-one meeting with a literary agent. 
• A travel stipend of $1,500 from SCMF to help fund airfare and hotel to attend the Festival.
• Publicity and recognition of the winner on SCMF and SWF websites and social media.

All eligibility rules and guidelines are posted online at scmemorialfund.com. The online application form must be submitted no later than March 15, 2024.

NewPage Big List of Writing Contests

The Big List of Writing Contests features a comprehensive list of magazine contests, book contests, chapbook contests, writing contests, audio contests, video contests, and competitions from independent publishers, literary magazines, alternative magazines, creative writing programs, and writing conferences and festivals. If you are interested in contests for young writers, check out our Young Writers Guide to Contests. You can view more information about currently open contests here.

October Contests!

Westchester Review

(Katita Miller, Automatic Drawing #16)

We are a literary magazine based in Westchester County, NY but not limited to that in our readers/writers. While we used to focus on Westchester writers when we launched in print in 2007, we have vastly expanded our reach and contributor base and, since the pandemic, are published fully online with an audience around the world. We launch four seasonal issues a year with a carefully curated array of short stories, creative nonfiction, 10-min plays and poetry. 
We specifically want to encourage submissions on the prose end of things right now — fiction and essays — and would love for you to share this message and flyer attached with your students/audiences who might write in those genres. 
Our submission portal opens and closes depending on our needs/deadlines in various genres at the moment, with all the guidelines in the submit link below. We charge no submission fees for work to be considered and welcome your interest. 

Our fall issue: https://www.westchesterreview.com

Submit Here

11 Literary Magazines Accepting Writing and Art from Teens

Check out the link here!

Pen to Paper Writing Group

What we’re about

We write. We share. We live.
Pen to Paper is Indy’s most notorious coterie of misfit writers.
What We Do
In its simplest form, we write stuff, share it with each other, and talk about it. Of course, to organize this effort requires a few rules, a calendar, and a sextant.
We critique each others written material and provide creative support, constructive criticism, and sage advice.
Who May Join
If you write, you may join. Hell, even if you don’t write, give us a whirl, as long as you provide us with homemade cookies and lemonade.
We accept people at all skill levels, from the doe-eyed novice to the curmudgeonly expert.
If you want to write or improve your writing, then you’ve come to the right place.
We critique all manner of writing, be it fiction, non-fiction, poetry, travelogues, erotica, technical manuals … if it has words, we’ll read it.
So, You Want to Join
Follow these simple steps to initiate yourself into our mysteries:
1) Check out the Newbies page on our website at http://www.pentopaperblog.org/newbies-start-here/
2) Check out our guiding principles on our website at http://www.pentopaperblog.org/rules-of-write-club/
3) Come to a meeting.

It’s really that simple. For what are you waiting? An incorrectly placed preposition?
Note: It may appear from the RSVP’s that attendance is sparse. That is not really the case. We’ve been around so long that members rarely RSVP anymore.

Formerly known as Crazyhorse, swamp pink publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction on a semi-monthly basis.

Poems receive $40 each, and we pay $0.05 a word for prose. Maximum payout for accepted work is $200.

Submissions of fiction and nonfiction can be up to 7,500 words in length. We have published exceptional work that falls outside this range, but it is an unusual occurrence. For poetry, please submit a set of 3-6 poems. We accept simultaneous submissions for all genres. More specific guidelines for each genre can be found below.

It typically takes us 12-16 weeks to respond to submissions.

Young Writers: Watermelon University Open for Enrollment!

Each month on a Saturday, young scholars are invited to meet Professor Watermelon and Mister Smart at the Indianapolis Public Library. For three adventurous hours, the class dives into a themed topic, like a mythical forest, a spooky town or a harvest garden. These amusing settings are chosen to inspire a wealth of ideas and topics for young scholars to cultivate and use as springboards for creative writing and drawing. Young scholars research their topics by using the Dewey Decimal System and other valuable tools/resources found at the library. These academic skills are presented in a FUN and creative way, while children make stories, make art and make friends!

Learn more and sign up!

Speed City Sisters in Crime

We have opened submissions to our chapter’s ninth short story anthology, to be published in November of 2023 in time for our chapter’s 20th anniversary in 2024.

Submissions are open to all who are Speed City chapter members in 2022/2023.

Attached to this email are the complete submission guidelines for our new publication.

Title: Amber Waves of Graves
Editors: Lillie Evans, Tony Perona and Stephen Terrell
Theme: Rural settings, country graveyards and small-town life in Indiana can be beautiful. And deadly.

The complete submission guidelines are also available online on our website.

The Flying Island

Flying Island, the Online Literary Journal of the Indiana Writers Center accepts submissions on a rolling basis from Indiana residents and those with significant ties to Indiana.

• Fiction: up to 5,000 words
• Nonfiction: up to 3,500 words
• Poetry: up to three poems, no more than 50 lines each.

Visit the journal and submit your work.

Please follow this link to carefully read their guidelines and submit your best work – the competition will be extraordinary as they have some key pieces from very well known authors already.

More than a publication; a community.

Of Rust and Glass is a literature and arts publication featuring talent from all across the Midwest United States, including writers, artists, photographers, videographers, musicians, and everything in between. It is a celebration of the thriving creative spirit within our wonderful community.
Currently seeking submissions for themed releases:

“Fall” Submissions open through 9/15/2022

For more information on these themes visit our submissions page.

Old Iron Press open to submissions!

Old Iron Press is a female-led small press dedicated to retooled classics and new voices innovating the familiar. Existing apart from traditional publishing with an entirely different set of values, we are focused on originality over sales. 

Submissions for our inaugural anthology, “Playing Authors,” will go live on May 1, 2022 and run until October 1, 2022. Selected contributors will receive one free contributor copy and an honorarium..

Inspired by the classic game of Authors, originally published in 1861, we are asking what it means to be an author—and an Author.

For more information, visit our submission guidelines at www.oldironpress.com.

The Paper 24-7.com accepting articles

We are two small local newspapers – one in Crawfordsville and the other in Noblesville. We have an electronic Sunday edition in Crawfordsville that is similar to newspapers of yesteryear – pages devoted to food, health, home, etc. We also have a Voices section and get submissions from writers from all over.

How to submit for Sunday Voices:

E-mail your article to Tim Timmons at ttimmons@thepaper24-7.com. Do not attach the article, simply include it in the body of the e-mail. Also include a brief bio and jpeg mugshot and note that you agree for Sagamore News Media to publish your piece. Although SNM does not pay for submissions, we do have a paid Sunday readership and your work will be available to our circulation base and also on our website. SNM does not accept third-party submissions. Each one must come from the author.

Authors Publish 32 Magazines that Publish Flash Fiction

These magazines publish flash fiction; a few also publish micros. Many of them publish longer work too, as well as other genres, like nonfiction and poetry. Most, but not all, of these are open for submissions now. They are a mix of genre and literary outlets, and listed in no particular order.

Authors Publish 5 Paying Literary Magazines

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They are a mix of literary and genre markets.

Inked Voices

A Platform for Writing Groups and an Online Space for Writers

With Inked Voices, writing groups and workshops can collaborate intimately despite distance and strange schedules. We are not a giant critique forum, but a collection of small workshopping communities.

Join the community and check out the plans

The Glacier: Poetry for the Coming Ice Age now Accepting Submissions

The Glacier is an online literary magazine based out of Indiana University South Bend. The magazine is accepting submissions of poetry, visual art, and fiction for its inaugural issue.

Curated by poet and artist David Dodd Lee and managed by editor and poet Austin Veldman, The Glacier is a sister press to both 42 Miles Press and Twyckenham Notes, both also of South Bend, Indiana.

We seek the best art possible. Accepted work will be presented in a clean online aesthetic. For an idea about how your work will be presented, please visit the latest issue of Twyckenham Notes.

Indiana Pandemic Poetry Project

COVID-19 has created a time in history like no other; students, specifically, have faced many unique challenges because of this. With this poetry project, we hope to assemble a collective reflection in response to the trials and time at home we have faced, as we work towards the end of the Pandemic together.

Indiana students in the years of study of 4th-12th grade or the undergraduate, graduate, or doctorate levels are all welcome to submit one original poem.

Storm Cellar: A Literary Journal of Safety and Danger

Storm Cellar is a nationally distributed, independent literary arts magazine rooted in the Midwest, appearing in print and ebook editions. This is a journal of safety and danger. We want your prose, poems, chimeras, and ideas penned on envelopes in buses and train cars. The magazine aims to publish amazing work by new and established writers and artists, present a range of styles and approaches, and cure (not merely displace) boredom. If you write one thing to be read while waiting for the all-clear to sound, send it here.

-La Libreta- Open for Submissions

-La Libreta- is published online three times each year. We publish the work of intergenerational writers and artists of color from the Bronx and beyond that identify as women.

– December 1st deadline – for publication on January 30
– April 1st deadline – for publication on May 30
– August 1st deadline – for publication on September 30

Please read and follow submission guidelines. 

Cutleaf Journal Open to Submissions

Cutleaf publishes a new issue twice a month. We welcome unsolicited original prose (both creative nonfiction and fiction) and poetry from established and emerging writers. 

Work published online in Cutleaf may be chosen for inclusion in the print Cutleaf Reader.

You can find updated submission guidelines here.

Acre Books open to submissions

Acre Books, the book-publishing offshoot of The Cincinnati Review, aims to build on the excellence that its parent publication has become known for. Like CR, our small press will focus on surprising, imaginative, and absorbing works—of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, and hybrid forms—that are expertly crafted and beautifully polished, and that engage readers aesthetically as well as emotionally. We are devoted in particular to finding, and bringing to a broad readership, remarkably talented newcomers. Initially we will bring out 6 titles annually, but we intend in the coming years to expand our lists and our staff. Visit our home page to subscribe to our mailing list.

Acre’s titles are distributed by the CDC (Chicago Distribution Center).

Submit here.

The American Poetry Review Seeks Submissions

Seeking poetry submissions, submissions for first book prize, and prose writing related to poetry such as book reviews and interviews. Visit them on Submittable to learn more.

Seeking Submissions for Meditation Anthologies

Hazelden Publishing is the leading publisher of addiction recovery and self-help resources. Part of the?Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment provider, we offer a variety of accessible and life changing materials–from daily meditations to evidence-based programs. 

In the past, our meditation-a-day format books have been written by a single author. Now, we are taking the opportunity of using the 365 days in a year to expand the number of voices we can uplift and recognize.?The more people who hear about the call for submissions, the more inclusive, reflective of the community, and useful the final books will be.  

Complete information about How We Heal: Meditations for Reclaiming Our Voices from Addiction and Sexual Trauma is available here: https://www.hazelden.org/store/publicpage/meditations-anthology-writing-detail 

Complete information about Leave No One Behind: Daily Meditations for Service Members and Veterans in Recovery is available here: https://www.hazelden.org/store/publicpage/meditations-anthology-writing-leave-no-one-behind 

Washington Post Seeking Op-eds

In our effort to bring in more voices from across America, the Washington Post’s op-ed department would like to hear from writers with a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and outlooks. The one constant should be that they are good writers with strong viewpoints, and value facts and reasoned argument over invective. We’ll welcome one-off submissions, or pieces on breaking news events that we solicit, but we also hope that some writers will develop into regular contributors.

The Washington Post maintains a high bar for acceptance: We receive a large volume of op-ed submissions and have limited space, so even worthwhile op-eds might not be accepted if they don’t meet our needs at the moment. But our having a designated venue for op-eds from across the country does expand the possibility that your submission could find a home here. (A good target length for op-eds is 750-800 words.)

Here are some examples of writing that would fit into this category. As you can see, the range of topics is broad – political, personal, analytical, humorous, legal, business-oriented, you name it. What ties them together is that they don’t originate in Washington or universities or think tanks or other common sources of opinion articles. They bring first-hand experience or on-the-ground knowledge to bear on matters that may be local to the writer but could easily be of interest to readers everywhere.

Extra note: It’s best to send pieces in both an attachment and pasted into the email (reading in the email is fastest, but if there are links within the text, they convert more easily from a document).

Send op-eds to Mark Lasswell, Mark.Lasswell@washpost.com

Write for Sixty Inches from Center

Sixty welcomes writers and artists of all experience levels to pitch ideas for traditional and experimental arts writing around topics, and practices that are relevant to the cultural landscapes of the Midwest.

Priority will be given to writing by, about, and for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, artists with disabilities, and the long list of writing, art-making, and cultural practices that have been neglected in mainstream conversations and canons about art and culture. We publish writing, photography, art, archive materials, video, and conversations that are thoughtful, generative, experimental, and relatable to a variety of readers.

Once a pitch is accepted, writers have full and free access to our editors, transcribers, translators, photographers, and illustrators to support the creation and completion of the final piece.

To see what type of articles they publish and other guidelines, visit the link.

Driftwood Press Submissions Open

John Updike once said, “Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.” At Driftwood Press, we are actively searching for artists who care about doing it right, or better. Driftwood Press is a bi-annual literary magazine founded in Tampa, FL in 2013.

As of 2018, we pay our contributors (see guidelines for rates) for each contribution made to our magazine.

At Driftwood Press, we are actively searching for artists who care about doing it right, or better. We are excited to receive your submissions and will diligently work to bring you the best in full poetry collections, novellas, graphic novels, short fiction, poetry, graphic narrative, photography, art, interviews, and contests.]

Visit their website for more information and to submit your work.

Extinction Rebellion Creative Hub Open for Submissions

Welcome to the Extinction Rebellion Creative Hub: an anthology of songs, fiction and poetry that’s inspiring, meaningful and original, and that reflects the principles, concerns and values of the Extinction Rebellion from a global, regional or local perspective.

This collection is a voice and a resource for Extinction Rebellion members everywhere, and a contribution to the global XR profile in the wider world.

Find out more and submit your work.

blankcoverpress.com 
Submissions open in all genres!

For submissions, email: submissions@blankcoverpress.com 
https://blankcoverpress.com 

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: A Force Outside Myself: Citizens Over 60 Speak

Deadline: Rolling
If you are 60 or older, we’re interested in your thoughts right now and hope you can write a short first-person narrative. (100-500 words) Send entries to Kitania Folk at aforce@mcsweeneys.net and watch our site for ongoing updates.

Awakenings Review Seeks Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Photography, and Art

Established in 2000, The Awakenings Review is an annual lit mag committed to publishing poetry, short story, nonfiction, photography, and art by writers, poets and artists who have a relationship with mental illness: either self, family member, or friend. Our striking hardcopy publication is one of the nation’s leading journals of this genre. Creative endeavors and mental illness have long had a close association. The Awakenings Review publishes works derived from artists’, writers’, and poets’ experiences with mental illness, though mental illness need not be the subject of your work. Visit www.AwakeningsProject.org for submission guidelines.

Complete Guide to 2022 Artist Grants & Opportunities

A list of the top international open calls, residencies, fellowships, and awards that we believe will benefit artists during the upcoming year! The complete list is broken down into six categories: grants, residencies & fellowships, calls-for-entry, publications, COVID relief funds, and opportunity sites.

This list will be updated throughout the year, so make sure to bookmark the page, check back often. View the list.

Poets & Writers: New Writing Contest Deadlines!

For information regarding writing contests and deadlines: Go Here

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR OPPORTUNITY LISTED HERE? Email the details to: mail@indianawriters.org

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