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Another month, another Free Sh*t for Writers! Wow, oh my god, thank you for being here.
This month, we’ve got free talks, free workshops, and free money, plus a bunch of contests that pay and don’t charge fees. And lots of other goodies sprinkled in between. Let’s get right to it.
Free sh*t going on this month
✦ The Writer’s Center and Poet Lore’s monthly book club is coming up! This time, they’re hosting poet and educator Brittany Rogers and discussing her collection, Good Dress. RSVP and join the chat on June 10.
✦ Today in free money: The PEN/Bare Life Review Grants support literary works in progress by immigrant and refugee writers. $5,000 each (!). Apply by June 15.
✦ PEN America is hosting Rhythms and Roads: Cultivating Practice, Connection and Community, focusing on the habits, relationships, and forms of support that sustain a writing life. Join the gang—and maybe foster some new connections?—on June 22.
✦ Do you need an editor? An eternal question. For those who demand answers, Jane Friedman is hosting a chat with developmental editor Katie Bannon, who will discuss if (and when) an editor makes sense for your project, on June 26.
✦ Do you long to write for the screen? The small screen, that is. Sundance Collab is, well, collaborating with TikTok on a new course: From Script to Screens: Writing Your Micro-Series. Free to attend, but you do have to apply. Get your goods in by July 1.
A second free thing
We’re changing it up this month! Below are a few handpicked contests that are open, no-fee, and pay, including a bit of this (prose) and a bit of that (poetry).
Craving the good ol’ days of lit mags that are open, no-fee, and paying? Not to worry, darlings. We’ve made a Collection for this month for ya: Open Lit Mags That Pay Writers and Don't Charge Fees.
As for the contests? You can get into those below.
Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets by Atlanta Review → Deadline: June 15 | Prize: $100 | Open for Poetry | “The Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets solicits unpublished poems from college-age students, aged 18-23, on any subject or style.”
Heads up: Atlanta Review’s site says the deadline is June 1, but their Submittable says June 15.
A Midsummer Tale Narrative Writing Contest by Toasted Cheese Literary Journal → Deadline: June 21 | Prize: Varies | Open for Fiction and Nonfiction | "This year A Midsummer Tale entries must incorporate a festival that takes place during the heat of the summer. This could be a religious or cultural festival, a seasonal or harvest festival (e.g. Lughnasadh), an arts festival (a music festival, film or theater festival, literary festival, etc.) or a summer fair or exhibition (e.g. an agricultural or county fair). Other possibilities include renaissance fairs and pride festivals."
Something in the Water Contest by Tales from the Moonlit Path → Deadline: June 25 | Prize: $50 | Open for Fiction | “Water holds memories. Rivers carry them. Lakes bury them. Oceans swallow them whole. But, there are times when the surface breaks and something that should have stayed hidden starts to rise. For this summer’s Tales from the Moonlit Path contest, we invite you to explore the unsettling possibilities of Something in the Water. Beneath calm surfaces and quiet reflections something ancient, patient, and long forgotten, is waiting.”
The 12th SUSPECT Poetry Contest by Suspect [Singapore Unbound] → Deadline: June 30 | Prize: $100–$300 | Open for Poetry | “SUSPECT calls for poems that use BOTH words “minor” AND “destructions” or their variants in an imaginative fashion, together or separately. We want micro-stories of huge losses and macro-stories of tiny wreckages. We want deconstructed lyrics and lyrical deconstructions. We want the irreparable, except, perhaps, by art.”
Crumbs Contest by Foofaraw → Deadline: July 1 | Prize: Varies | Open for Fiction | “Crumbs is a semi-monthly, themed, 100-word drabble story contest from Quotidian Bagatelle and Emma Burnett. June’s theme is Ash: what's left after burning.”
Real quick: The Crumbs Contest has a cap of 100. Get your submission in sooner rather than later!
Want more? Head to our Browse to choose your own.
-> Browse contests <-
Classifieds
Want to submit a classified, or know someone who might? Get the details here.
✦ Free Generative Workshops & Submissions Meetups Writing spaces for new drafts, encouraging feedback, submissions support, and stress relief from creative expression paired with community connection.
✦ Ask, Write, Repeat — Free Workshop on June 20 | Two hours of guided writing exercises and Q&A led by an experienced writing instructor and award-winning author. Monthly on Zoom. Register for the recording.
Free sh*t in the Chill Subs extended universe
✸ Over at The Forever Workshop, former Tin House editor Elizabeth DeMeo talked about her unconventional path to an MFA and how you can make the most of yours once you graduate and go into the real world.
✸ Last week, Sub Club handpicked seven whole lit mags for you to submit to, with details for each.
✸ If Free Sh*t for Writers isn’t enough for you—it’s okay, we won’t take it personally—head over to the Chill Subs Blog, where Andrea Firth collected six free submission newsletters that every writer should know. Psst—don’t forget to join Andrea’s next Submit it Now! Session (you guessed it: also free), where you’ll get some time to write and support on your submitting journey.
✸ Feelin’ like a LEGO? Join our free upcoming event, 7 Kinds of Writer's Block and How to Get Past Each One, on June 16. It’s gonna be a good one. BTW: For the latest on events, you can opt in to our events newsletter or keep track of our upcoming events here.
And that’s it! We’ll see you next month. In the meantime, tell your friends about Free Sh*t for Writers or hang out with us wherever we are.
rachael vaughan clemmons
rachael is the Senior Editor of Chill Subs. Sometimes writing, always procrastinating.