Novellas, poetry, short fiction wanted, special calls for work by young poets, disabled writers, and writers 55+

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Psychopomp describes itself as a small press publishing otherworldly fiction and captivating essays. They’re currently looking for speculative fiction and literary novellas, 20,000–40,000 words that fall under one or more of these themes:

stories where grief or loss play a leading role

stories that feature the afterlife or the underworld

stories that involve the journey through death/the journey of the dead

stories that involve death personified (Death!)

stories that take place in, or utilize a multiverse

stories that involve time travel (esp. those that involve time travel + a previously mentioned theme)

origin stories (especially as they relate to previously mentioned themes)

stories where the characters slowly lose their sense of reality

goth

space, but make it goth

a story within a story within a (within a story that’s [within a story] within a story) story….

stories where things that are not usually personified ARE personified (planets? galaxies? time? …bones?

creepy meta-horror

amazingly original ghost stories

Pays $750 U.S advance against royalties, plus 25% of net receipts.

Deadline: April 30, 2023. Full guidelines here.

Psychopomp is also seeking nonfiction essays, 1,000–2,000 words,  on an ongoing basis. Essays should fall under the general umrella of: goth, death, funerary, grief, loss, alternative, or otherworldly.

Pays $50. See full guidelines here.

 

The League of Canadian Poets is calling for entries for the Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Prize for Canadian Youth. The prize is supported through a generous donation from the Stursberg family and other donors in honour of Jessamy Stursberg. 

The prize accepts submissions from young poets all across Canada, with three prizes awarded in both the Junior (grades 7 to 9) and Senior (grades 10 to 12) categories:

Winner: $400
Second Place: $350
Third Place: $300

Selected winning poems and runners-up will be published in a special edition of the League of Canadian Poets chapbook series!

Full guidelines and entry link here.

The League’s next contests for adults are in the summer – two contests, both open June 1 with deadlines of August 10:

Lesley Strutt Poetry Contest $5 entry fee. Open to all poets. No limit on number of submissions. Unpublished work only. Winner receives a $500 prize and publication on Poets.ca and Poetry Pause. 

Toronto Arts & Letters Club Foundation Annual Poetry Award $5 entry fee. Open to poets in the early stage of their career. No limit on number of submissions. Unpublished work only. Winner receives a $500 prize, publication on Poets.ca, and a year of membership with the Toronto Arts & Letters Club. 

 

Royal Canadian Legion District E invites you to enter the fifth annual seniors 55+ literary competition. Poems, essays, short stories and short memoir pieces accepted. Prizes will be awarded to winners in each category:

POETRY — maximum 32 lines

SHORT STORY - word count maximum 4,000

ESSAY — word count maximum 1,000

MEMOIR — includes biographies, autobiographies, and travel writing — word count max. 5000

Do not include your name on the entry; use the application to identify yourself.

Open to all Ontario resident seniors aged 55+

Must complete and attach official registration form

Must be original, written by the contestant and be unpublished   

Must be submitted in English or French

Must not exceed the line or word limits specified

Must be electronic submission. Name on application/entry form and title page only

Contestants may submit only one entry in any / each category

Submission must include a cover page stating the title, author's name and entry line/word count

Biographies that are submitted must include written consent from the subject, if living.

Entry forms are available upon request at: DistrictEseniorsliterary@gmail.com

Submissions must be received at: DistrictEseniorsliterary@gmail.com

and clearly marked SENIORS LITERARY COMPETITION

Deadline: April 30, 2023

 

Arc Poetry is a Canadian magazine the looks to “find the brave new voices. We feature poetry that is woozy, cunning, shearing and wildlike; and prose that offers new perspectives on the verse you thought you knew.”

Arc accepts submission from poets at all stages of their career during their two submission periods: Spring April 1 – July 31 and during fall September 1 – December 31. You may submit only once per year with up to three poems, not to exceed 360 lines of poetry. Pays $50 per page.

Arc also publishes and pays for essays about poetry, in-depth interviews with poets, and short (500-word) appreciations of a single poem by a Canadian poet.

Full guidelines for all submissions here.

Special call for submissions: Arc invites “artists who live with disability/chronic illness/mental illness and other forms of existence that are impacted by ableism to send us poems, prose, essays, and reviews exploring what it means to be in the world, or your topic of choice. We hope that your art challenges the able-bodied gaze and doctrine by changing the narrative of the dominant body and extending the meaning of wholeness.”

These poems will be part of Arc‘s Fall 2023 issue. Deadline May 15, 2023. Full guidelines here.

  

long con is a Canadian digital art and literature quarterly that publishes art about art. 

“long con  was founded on the idea that all artworks exist in conversation with all other artworks, and the magazine’s purpose is to publish artworks that bring this long conversation to the surface. 

“For us, 'art about art' means artworks created in direct response to other objects, performances, artifacts, etc., that can be considered ‘art’ – including all forms of writing, gallery & theatre arts, and pop culture (fashion, sports, comics); infrastructure (monuments, architecture, tools); ephemera (ads, memes, user manuals); propaganda (parades, political speeches); and non-human creations (elephant paintings, bird nests, insect dances).”

long con publishes literary works including fiction, poetry, prose poetry (but non nonfiction), plus visual, video, audio, and interactive works. Pays $50 for most pieces, 425 for short works.  

Guidelines here. Deadline May 31, 2023, for inclusion in Issue 15.

 

Quick Brown Fox welcomes your short stories, poems, and essays about reading, writing, favourite books, and libraries. Read a few essays on the blog to get a taste of what other writers have done (see here and scroll down).

Quick Brown Fox also welcomes reviews of any kind and of anything, anywhere or anybody. If you want to review your favourite coffee shops or libraries, babysitters or lovers (no real names please), go for it. See examples of book reviews here (and scroll down); other reviews here (and scroll down).

Submit to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Include a short bio at the end of your piece and attach a photo of yourself.

 See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.