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.

In case you’ve missed it, please check out this recent note to those who subscribe to The Practicing Writer 2.0, with some important updates that connect with these weekly posts here on Practicing Writing. I expect to continue publishing these “Markets and Jobs” posts here on the blog, for the foreseeable future, but henceforth, they may look slightly different, and arrive slightly later in the day, than you may be accustomed to.

• Quick reminder, as it’s nearly mid-month, that plenty of opportunities listed in the April newsletter remain open.
• “The Africa Institute, Global Studies University invites applications for the Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship, a distinguished program that celebrates and supports literary voices engaged in the creative expression of Africa and its diaspora in all forms and genres….The residency program welcomes applications from creative writers, including novelists, short story writers, playwrights, poets, and scriptwriters whose work relates to Africa and the African diaspora for a grant of 50,000 AED in total for the duration of the fellowship, which is inclusive of accommodation, a return airfare ticket, visa and the monthly stipend of 10,000 AED per month per fellow. The proposed project may be in Arabic or English, though other languages will also be considered. To complete their work, recipients will be invited to Sharjah, UAE, for a three-month residency. Typically, the cohort begins in the fall of each year. Recipients will have the opportunity to publish their texts through The Africa Institute’s publications program. Projects relating to theatre and film scripts can also be published as texts or receive support in facilitating productions. The project could be new or a work-in-progress and should be feasible for completion within the timeframe of the residency.” Deadline: April 17.
• Astrolabe, which looks for “work about how we seek out, discover, and grasp onto connection,” is open for submissions until April 20 (or until they reach 150 submissions). “We’re open to work of all genres, with a particular fondness for anything that moves beyond realism in form or content or spirit.” Also: “We currently accept three types of work: fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography & art.” Pays: $50.
• “The award-winning Buckman Journal is pleased to open submissions for the annual Ibby Rivers Poetry Prize, named after the one-and-only Elizabeth Rivers. The winning poet will receive a $300.00 prize and have their work featured in Buckman Journal Issue 015. The prize is open to Oregon and SW Washington residents only.” Deadline: April 20 (or when they reach 100 submissions).
• At Ohio State University, New Ohio Review is advertising for a part-time (20 hours/week) Managing Editor. Compensation: “Minimum hourly rate of $19.38 and commensurate with experience and credentials. This is also accompanied by a prorated tuition for self and dependents, an excellent retirement plan including company contributions, paid vacation, sick, holidays, and winter break closure.” Applications close April 22.
• Applications remain open until April 25 for a Writer-in-Residence position at Whalley Abbey in Lancashire, England. “Full-time member of the resident community at Whalley Abbey preferred (12 month duration anticipated, with flexibility) or Part-time hours by negotiation, with regular day visits and occasional overnight stays at the Abbey.” Be sure to scroll down the page for the position description and application form. NB: Via email, I’ve been told: “Applicants will need to be eligible to live in the UK for a year, as unfortunately we are unable to sponsor a visa….There are no fees to apply or take up the residency, and a modest allowance is paid to cover incidental living expenses.”
• “The Ohio University Department of English seeks a Visiting Professor with a deep commitment to student success and to fostering the growth and development of student reading and writing. Field of primary specialization is open, but candidates should have experience teaching at least one and preferably more than one of the following: creative writing; lower-division literature courses in prose fiction and nonfiction and/or poetry and drama; multi-cultural literature; and general education writing and rhetoric.” Deadline: April 28.
• Open until April 30: submissions for the Al Blanchard Award. “Story must be a crime story by a New England author or have a New England setting if the author is not from New England. FYI: The six New England states are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.” Prize package includes $100 cash award, free admission to the Crime Bake Conference, publication in the Best New England Crime Stories anthology.
• Flash Fiction Online “is currently seeking submissions for an issue of wilderness horror, scheduled for October 2025. The guest editor for this issue is C.R. Langille, owner of Timber Ghost Press and the League of Utah Writers 2024 Editor of the Year.” Pays: “$100 per story for first electronic rights, with six months exclusivity, as well as a non-exclusive one-time right to publish the stories in an anthology.” Deadline: April 30.
• The Teachers & Writers Magazine Editorial Fellowship, a remote opportunity (“approx. 12 hours per month”), is open for applications until April 30. “The fellows will join the T&W Editorial Board and assist with the production of Teachers & Writers Magazine. In addition to supporting the operations of the magazine, the Editorial Fellowship is intended to give students and recent graduates editorial and publishing experience through hands-on assignments and mentorship from experienced editors….Up to two fellows may be selected….The Editorial Fellowship will last for one year (July 2025 – June 2026), with the possibility of renewing for a second year following a review. The fellows’ stipend [$3,000] will disbursed over the course of the year on a bi-monthly (every other month) schedule.”
• For its summer issue, The First Line seeks short stories that begin with the following first line: “No one really knows why restoration stopped on the abandoned St. Julian hotel, where commoners and kings once came to relax in luxury.” Pays: $25-$50. Deadline: May 1. NB: “We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we’ve notified you as to our decision (usually four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don’t want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line.”
• The North Carolina Rural Center has issued a request for proposals from freelance writers “to develop a storytelling book that captures the formation and growth of faith in rural communities, as well as the ministries that churches have started as a result of our coaching in asset-based community development.” Compensation: “Respondents to this RFP should provide a proposed fee structure for providing services.” Deadline: May 1. (Hat tip: Freelance Opportunities!)
• In Kentucky, “Berea College welcomes applications for a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor position in the English Department to teach poetry in the Creative Writing program during the 2025-2026 academic year.” No deadline indicated.