Erika Dreifus

Each week in this space, Practicing Writing shares no-fee, paying markets for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction: competitions, contests, and calls for submissions. These weekly posts complement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province. (But this blog does share those more localized opportunities, including jobs.)

As always, if you’d like to share a specific opportunity listed here, please credit the blog for the find. Thanks for respecting the time and effort that I put into researching, curating, and posting this information! I do notice, and I appreciate the courtesy.

• ICYMI: The opportunity-laden February issue of our newsletter went out to subscribers last Friday. You can also find it archived online.
• At University College London (UCL), the Jacob Fabrikant Creative Fellowship “invites an artist or writer to work with the members and students of the centre to develop their creative practice on a theme related to the health humanities. This year we are offering one grant of £5,000 to work on a project linked to one of our core research themes. The programme aims to explore how creative practice operates as a form of knowing, exploring or discovering issues related to health and illness. For our Fellowships, we are looking for creative practitioners who are excited about exploring, through their own creative practice,” one of the themes delineated within the announcement. Application deadline: February 16. (Hat tip: Freelance Writing Jobs.)
• This one’s for Ontario residents only: The Toronto Star Short Story Contest is one of the largest and longest-running short story contests in North America….Each year the winning works are published in the Toronto Star and on thestar.com, giving passionate storytellers an excellent opportunity to capture national attention. The contest, now in its 47th year, also carries one of the biggest prizes in Canada for a short story contest, with the first-place winner receiving $5,000. In addition to seeing their story in the largest newspaper and on one of the most-visited websites in Canada, the winner also gets to study with some of the country’s best creative writing teachers. Part of the top prize includes the tuition fee for one of two programs at the Humber School for Writers, either the Creative Writing Graduate program which has an approximate retail value of $3,895 or the Summer Workshop in Creative Writing valued at $1,665. The second-place winner receives a cash prize of $2,000 and the third-place winner will be awarded $1,000. All three winners will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges.” Deadline: February 26.
• Just opened for entries (February 1) and remaining open until March 15: the $20,000 DAG Prize for Literature, “awarded annually to an emerging prose writer whose work expands the possibilities for American writing. The goal of the DAG Prize is to contribute meaningfully to the evolution of American prose literature. To that end, we aim to support writing that offers significant innovation—for example, at the level of form, content, or genre. What more can prose literature be? What more can it do? The recipient will be a writer who has already published one book demonstrating commitment to such investigations but whose work has not yet received prominent literary recognition. The DAG Prize is meant to support a second project already substantially underway. Prize funds can be used for research, writing, editing, workshops, residencies, or other activities that facilitate the creation of a significant project in prose literature.”
• From 70 Faces Media: “Are you passionate about Jewish traditions, practices and food? Do you have a knack for digital storytelling and an eye for detail? We’re looking for an Editorial Assistant to join our team and work on two of our flagship publications, My Jewish Learning and The Nosher.” Telecommuting position, with a salary of $55,000 to $60,000.
• Kentucky State University of advertising for an Assistant Professor of English to “teach undergraduate courses in English composition and creative writing fiction and creative nonfiction).”