Weekly Round-up of Calls & Contests :: December 24, 2021

Happy holidays! Hopefully you have some time to kick back and relax before jumping into keeping your submissions goals strong. NewPages will be on our annual winter break next week but have no fear as we still have goodies coming your way; stay tuned to our blog and social media accounts. Plus, if you haven’t already, subscribe to our weekly newsletter (now on Substack). Subscribers currently get a first look at opportunities before they are on our site.

If you are subscribed but haven’t seen our newsletter in a few weeks, please don’t forget to add [email protected] to your safe senders list. You can view our archive of recent newsletters via the Substack link above.

Calls for Submissions

You can view all active calls for submissions by visiting our website. Plus, if you have a young writer in your house, don’t forget you can find publications for them to submit to in our Young Writers Guide.

Take The Fruit Religion Abuse Anthology Seeks Subs. Take The Fruit, Flood The Desert: A Religious Trauma Anthology is accepting submissions. Did you question church doctrine and the way leaders/family members used it to lead you? How did the threat of eternal damnation affect you? Did you experience self-loathing or an inability to make decisions? What messages did the church give you about your relationship to your body, sex, and boundaries? How have you healed and reclaimed your identity? Send up to 3 pieces of any genre (Google or Word docs) up to 2,500 words total to [email protected], with the subject “submission, Take The Fruit.” Extended Deadline: December 31, 2021. www.amandaekwriter.com/take-the-fruit-flood-the-desert

Sky Island Journal: Issue 19 (Winter 2022) Call for Submissions. Sky Island Journal is an independent, international, free-access literary journal dedicated to publishing the finest poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction. We publish accomplished, well-established authors—side by side—with fresh, emerging voices. We provide over 90,000 readers in 145 countries with a powerful, focused, advertising-free literary experience that transports them: one that challenges them intellectually and moves them emotionally. We publish quarterly, and our average response time is 9 days. Every submission receives a prompt, respectful response detailing what we appreciated. Enjoy our previous issues and submit to our stunning Issue 19 before midnight on December 31st, at www.skyislandjournal.com.

RCC MUSE Journal – Poetry and Prose Submissions Open. MUSE is especially looking to publish work from under- or misrepresented groups, such as people of color, disabled people, LGBTQ+, present/formerly incarcerated people, and others from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Through January 15: submit one short story or CNF 1500 words max; up to three poems. Mail to RCC MUSE, Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506 or email [email protected]. If email, send as attachment with “Last Name – Genre – Title of Submission” in the subject line (e.g., Smith – Prose – “In Summer”). Please include contact information. See full submission guidelines at rcc.edu/muse.

Heron Tree: Call for Submissions. Heron Tree is open for submissions through January 15, 2022. We will read submissions and make decisions on a rolling basis. Accepted poems will be published individually online (one poem a week beginning in February 2022) and then collected in Heron Tree volume 9, which will be available as a free downloadable ebook. This special issue will be devoted to found poetry. See our detailed submission guidelines at herontree.com/how/.

Sand Hills Literary Magazine. Spring 2022 Issue & online Spotlight Series. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, photography, comics, cross-genre, interviews, audio. $3 fee (no fee for Augusta University students). Deadline: January 15, 2021.

Mistake House Magazine Seeks Submissions from Graduate & Undergraduate Writers. Mistake House Magazine publishes fiction and poetry by students in graduate or undergraduate programs worldwide. We seek inventive work that speaks to the heart in a complex global context, including work expressive of documentary poetics. Submission window: October 15, 2021 to March 15, 2022. Submission fee $5. Guidelines at www.mistakehouse.org/submit/.

Atmosphere Press Reading Book Manuscripts in All Genres. Atmosphere Press currently seeks book manuscripts from diverse voices. There’s no submission fee, and if your manuscript is selected, we’ll be the publisher you’ve always wanted: attentive, organized, on schedule, and professional. We use a model in which the author funds the publication of the book, but retains 100% rights, royalties, and artistic autonomy. This year Atmosphere authors have received featured reviews with Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and have even appeared on a giant billboard in Times Square. Submit your book manuscript at atmospherepress.com. Deadline: Rolling.

Call for Submissions: Storm Cellar. Storm Cellar seeks new and amazing writing and art for its spring issue! We are a journal of safety and danger, in many senses, in print and ebook formats since 2011. Send secrets, codes, adventures, mad experiments, and wild things. Black, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, fat, border-straddling, poor, and other marginalized authors encouraged, bonus points for a Midwest connection. Now paying; limited no-fee submissions available each month. Full guidelines and f.a.q. at stormcellar.org/submit. Deadline: Rolling.

CHESTNUT REVIEW (“for stubborn artists”) Invites Submissions Year Round. CHESTNUT REVIEW (“for stubborn artists”) invites submissions year-round of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, and photography. We offer free submissions for poetry (3 poems), flash fiction (<1000 words), and art/photography (20 images); $5 submissions for fiction/nonfiction (<5k words), or 4-6 poems. Published artists receive $120. Notification in <30 days or submission fee refunded. We appreciate stories in every genre we publish. All issues free online which illustrates what we have liked, but we are always ready to be surprised by the new! chestnutreview.com

Wood Cat Review. Inaugural Issue. Flash fiction, short fiction, essays, poetry. No fee. Deadline: Year-round.

Writing Contests

Don’t forget to check out all active contests on our website! Like to plan your submissions calendar in advance? The Big List of Writing Contests lists a variety of book, magazine, and chapbook contests by their deadline date. Plus, don’t forget to go through our contests for young writers. The majority of those contests are free to enter.

2022 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction. Press 53 Award for Short Fiction: First Prize $1,000, publication, and 50 copies (ten hardcover and 40 softcover) awarded to an unpublished collection of short stories. Press 53 Short Fiction Editor, Claire V. Foxx, will judge. Enter online through Submittable. Deadline: midnight, December 31, Eastern Time. Winner and finalists announced before May 1, 2022. Reading fee: $30. Complete information, plus a list of past winners at www.press53.com/award-for-short-fiction. Questions should be directed to Kevin Morgan Watson, Publisher and Editor in Chief at [email protected] or 336-770-5353.

Acacia Fiction Prize: $1,200 + Publication. Send us your polished manuscripts of short stories, flash fiction, novellas, or any combination totaling 45K to 75K words. Winner Receives $1,200, publication by Kallisto Gaia Press, and 20 copies. Runner-Up receives $100 and offer of publication under our generous contract. Gabino Iglesias is the final judge. Individual stories may be previously published. Original work. $25 to play. Submissions through Submittable only. All judging is ID concealed. See website for more info. Deadline: December 31, 2021.

$1,200 & Publication – Saguaro Poetry Prize. Send us your polished manuscripts of original contemporary poetry totaling 28 to 48 pages. Winner receives $1,200, publication by Kallisto Gaia Press, and 20 copies. Runner-Up receives $100 and offer of publication under our generous contract. Guest judge to be announced. Individual poems may be previously published. Original work. $25 to play. Submissions through Submittable only. All judging is ID concealed. See website for more info. Deadline: December 31, 2021.

The Annual Memoir Prize for Books. The second annual Memoir Prize awards Memoir and Creative Nonfiction book-length works of exceptional merit in the categories of traditional, self-published, and previously unpublished prose. Submit your full-length memoir on any subject matter for a chance to win cash and a feature in Memoir Magazine. The only contest of its kind dedicated exclusively to the Memoir genre accepts full-length books of memoir or narrative creative nonfiction, essay collections, or graphic narratives for consideration. No restrictions on length, type of publisher, or year of publication. Deadline: December 31, 2021. Enter at memoirmag.com.

Interim Test Site Poetry Series Call for Manuscripts. We’re looking for manuscripts of at least 48 pages that engage the perilous conditions of life in the 21st century, as they pertain to issues of social justice and the earth. Because we believe the truth is always experimental, we’ll especially appreciate books with innovative approaches. Beginning in 2021 and going forward, Interim will be publishing two books in their Test Site Poetry series—one title publicized as the winner of the Test Site Poetry Series and the other as the Betsy Joiner Flanagan Award in Poetry. Both winners will receive $1,000 and publication by the University of Nevada Press. Extended Deadline: January 1, 2022. www.interimpoetics.org/test-site-poetry-series

Submit to the Inaugural Emma Howell Rising Poet Prize. Background: The contest is in honor of Emma Howell who was born in Portland, Oregon, and died in 2001, at the age of twenty. She left behind a single volume of poetry: Slim Night of Recognition. This prize is an effort to promote the publication of young poets, to honor Emma’s memory, as well as honor the time and effort her father, Christopher Howell, former Director of Willow Springs Books, has put into our press. Prize: $2,000 + manuscript publication. Eligibility: Poets 35 years old and younger who have not yet published a book-length poetry manuscript. Submit: bit.ly/3aE00R3. Deadline: January 15, 2022.

Driftwood Press In-House Short Fiction & Single Poem Contests. Submit soon to our In-House Short Fiction & Single Poem Contests! On the short fiction side, we’re proud to announce that we’ve upped the award to $500 for the winning story and $150 for all runners-up! Winners and runners-up also receive publication, an interview, and an illustration that will appear alongside their story. All stories submitted are considered for publication by not one—but two editors, and response times are faster than usual. On the poetry side, all works are also considered for publication, with the runners-up awarded an interview, publication, and $50 per poem. The winner of the In-House Poetry Contest will receive $400, publication, a featured interview, and a commissioned illustration to appear alongside their work. Deadline: January 15, 2022.

Holden Vaughn Spangler Award Deadline Extended! MUSE is especially looking to publish work from under- or misrepresented groups, such as people of color, disabled people, LGBTQ+, present/formerly incarcerated people, and others from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Deadline extended to January 15 for Spangler Award submissions. Submit up to three poems about a child or childhood, $5 fee payable by check or Venmo @rccmuse. Mail to RCC MUSE, Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506 or email. If emailing, send as attachment with “LastName – Spangler – Title” in the subject line (e.g., Smith – Spangler – “Summer”). Please include contact information. See full submission guidelines at rcc.edu/muse.

DISQUIET Literary Prize. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. $15 fee. Grand Prize: Full scholarship to DISQUIET 2022, $1,000 travel stipend. Genre Prizes: $500 and publication. Deadline: January 24, 2022.

2022 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Submissions are now being accepted for the 10th Saroyan Prize. The awards, co-sponsored by Stanford Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation, are “intended to encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan legacy of originality, vitality, and stylistic innovation.” Two prizes of $5,000 each are given for works of fiction and nonfiction. Writers who have published four books or more are ineligible. Submit five copies of your work published between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, with a $50 entry fee by January 31, 2022. Visit our website for complete eligibility and submission details: library.stanford.edu/saroyan.

3rd Annual Short Short Story Contest to Support Literacy. Ethos Literacy—a nonprofit literacy program—announces its 3rd Annual Short Short Story Contest. 100-word limit on one of these topics: chewing gum, horror movies, skyscrapers, or tubas. Cash prizes: Best in Contest: $250; Best Youth Prize (14 years or younger): $100; 4 Best of Category: $100; People’s Choice $100. Publication in a digital magazine + webcast of winners reading their stories. Submission fee: $10. Proceeds support literacy programs for teens and adults. Deadline: January 31, 2022.