Opportunities with FWJ

FWJ offers opportunities in the literary and management areas of a growing national-level literary magazine. We are an independent, nonprofit organization. We have no paid staff. We do have fun. We are interested in talking with you if you think you would like to join our team. Are you interested in one of the following? Do you feel you have the skill, talent, and energy to contribute to a literary organization with a future? If so, contact us at editors@FifthWednesdayJournal.org and put “Opportunities at FWJ” in the subject line. Include in the body of the message your name and where you live. We’ll be in touch with you.

  1. Development and fundraising If you have experience with grant applications for organizations in the arts, in particular in literature and publishing, and you would like to help us grow, we want to talk with you. We are particularly eager to talk with persons who live in the Chicago area and those familiar with private foundations sympathetic to our mission and goals. Our needs in this arena are immediate and persistent.
  2. Marketing and event planning/coordination We are searching for a person with experience in planning and coordinating events, including literary readings in the Chicago area. We need support in planning, publicity, and logistics for programs with audiences of 100 and more. Experience in the use of print, radio, TV, and Internet media is especially important to us.
  3. Interns If you live in the Chicago or west suburban area, are interested in learning what it takes to publish a national-level literary magazine, and you are willing to work independently on assigned projects at a steady pace, you can gain experience as an intern at FWJ. Interns may be involved with assignments across a wide range of tasks including: research and fact-checking in support of the submissions in fiction and nonfiction; proofreading literary texts; posting announcements and other materials to Facebook, Twitter, etc.; assisting with the logistics for readings and events; research in support of fundraising and grant applications; and a host of other tasks that keep us running smoothly. Interns must live within easy commuting range of Lisle, Illinois.
    Note, April 15, 2013: As of this writing we have two openings to begin immediately. Applicants must live in the Chicago area. Applicants must be committed and seriously interested in the work of publishing a national-level literary magazine.
  4. Reading submissions as one of our assistant editors We ask that readers commit to at least two issues of the magazine. We expect our readers to hold or be working toward an advanced degree in English literature or an M.F.A. in creative writing. We expect our readers to be serious writers. Some experience reading for a literary publication is helpful.
    Note, August 10, 2012: We have a few openings for readers of poetry and creative nonfiction. Reading for the spring 2013 issue starts immediately.