Black Lives Matter | June 2020

To our readers,

The Vagabond City Lit staff stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and all those protesting against police brutaality and anti-Black violence. We condemn the police murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade as well as the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the many more Black lives ended by racist violence 

To support this ongoing movement, the Vagabond City Lit staff has donated $300 to Tru Art Speaks in St. Paul, MN, the Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund, and the National Bail Out Collective. We hope you consider donating to these organizations—or organizations, bail funds, and mutual aid funds in your own community—if you have the means. 

In lieu of a June issue, we’re publishing the below list of resources to support Black artists and writers as well as a list of resources for dismantling white supremacy in the literary world. The list will be updated regularly with new resources and opportunities. We will also continue to work hard to be a home for marginalized creators.

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Resources for Black Writers and Artists

Funds:

• Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund, run by Shade Literary Arts. You can donate to this fund here.
  
• Speculative Literature Foundation’s Diverse Writers/Diverse Worlds Grant ($500). Submit by August 31, 2020. 

Collectives, Orgs, & Directories:

• Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective — on Instagram and Twitter. You can donate to the BTFA Collective here.
  
• Black Trans Media
  
• Black Writers Collective. You can donate to the Black Writers Collective here.
  
• DELORIS, a directory of BIPOC-creatives available for paid hire, and BIPOC-owned businesses seeking pro bono creative work.
  
• Permission to Write, a free mentorship program for Black Writers. (They’re also seeking mentors!) 
  
• You can find a list of even more literary organizations led by Black writers over at the Atlas Review. Thanks to Natalie Eilbert for compiling. 

Submission + Work Opportunities:

• Catan Studio is looking for a Black artist interested in creating board game art/design (Salary/pay not listed).
  
• Cave Canem is seeking a Poetry Coalition fellow. Apply by July 15, 2020 (Salary range: $18,720 plus $1,000 toward health care).
  
• Graydon House, a subsidiary of HarperCollins, is accepting unagented submissions by Black authors until September 8, 2020. 
  
• The Hellebore is open for submissions (unpaid). On September 1, 2020 they will open for  applications to the Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Award.
  
• Acentos Review, a quarterly literary and arts journal that promotes and publishes Latinx work, is open for submissions (unpaid)
  
• The Paz Prize for Poetry recognizes a previously unpublished poetry book written in Spanish by a poet residing in the U.S. Submit by July 31, 2020. (Winning book will be published in a bilingual edition by Akashic Books, and its author will receive a $2,000 cash prize.)
  
• Latinx Futurisms Anthology is open for submissions. The editors are also offering feedback to Black Latinx poets. The deadline was just extended indefinitely.
  
• For a giant list of everywhere you can submit between June and August 2020, check out Entropy Mag.
  
• For a crowd-sourced list of which outlets pays writers and their average rates, definitely visit Who Pays Writers.
  
• Here’s a rad list of Black, Indigenous, and POC-owned design studios, many of which are hiring.