It’s April, and the world’s still waiting to hear what you’ve got! You could be working on poetry, short stories, essays, or something a little offbeat, but the good news is, there’s a spot for you this month. These writing opportunities are free to enter and organized into easy-to-navigate categories — open calls, regional submissions, grants, and fellowships — so you can go right in.
Bookmark this page and check back often; I’ll be updating it with fresh opportunities as they come.
Go ahead, take that shot, and enjoy the process! 🙂
Call for Submissions By Categories
OPEN TO ALL WRITERS (WORLDWIDE)
These are poetry, prose, and playwriting opportunities for writers without restrictions based on location, demographics, or other criteria.
Solarpunk Magazine is looking for speculative fiction (1,500-7,500 words, $0.08 per word), poetry (up to 5 poems or 5 pages, $40 per poem), and nonfiction (1,000-2,000 words, $75 per piece) for their upcoming issues. (deadline: April 14, 2025.)
Tales from the Crosstimbers is seeking speculative fiction (1,000–5,000 words) and compelling nonfiction for their Summer 2025 issue, paying $10 or 1 cent/word up to $50 (deadline: April 15, 2025).
The Last Girls Club is seeking feminist horror short stories, flash fiction, and poems from a female gaze for its quarterly magazine, paying up to $37.50 per story or $10 per poem (next deadline: April 15, 2025).
Cutleaf is accepting short fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry (pay: $50–$400) from April 1, 2025 (deadline: April 15, 2025) with some categories capped at 200 submissions.
Graveside Press is seeking short stories (2,000–6,000 words) about witchcraft for their Witchcraft Anthology (deadline: April 15, 2025).
The Threepenny Review is accepting fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions, paying $400 per story or article and $200 per poem or Table Talk piece (deadline: April 15, 2025).
Astrolabe is looking for fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography/art on themes of connection, paying $50 per accepted submission (deadline: April 20, 2025, or until they reach 150 submissions).
Mud Season Review is accepting fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and art submissions from April 1–30, 2025, paying $50 for featured work and $15 for poetry in The Take (may close early by genre).
GRANT WRITING OPPORTUNITIES, AWARDS, AND CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIPS
The Whiting Foundation is offering the 2025 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant of $40,000 to up to ten writers completing book-length nonfiction projects (deadline: April 23, 2025).
The Al Blanchard Award is seeking crime short stories (mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, horror) from New England writers or with a New England setting, offering a $100 prize, publication, and free Crime Bake Conference admission (deadline: April 30, 2025).
WITH RESTRICTIONS
Opportunities for writers from specific regions, demographics, or calls with themes.
The Sprinng Writing Fellowship is a 6-week mentorship program for developing Nigerian, Ghanaian, Liberian, and South African writers (ages 18-25), offering mentorship in Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Book Reviews, along with weekly airtime and a 1-year MasterClass membership (application deadline: April 15, 2025).
FORGE is seeking art, poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction from trans and nonbinary survivors for their “Trans Survivors: Healing in Action” zine, paying $25 per accepted piece (deadline: April 15, 2025).
Inch, a micro-chapbook journal by Bull City Press, is seeking short collections of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction (10–16 pages) for their 2025 issues (submission window: March 15–April 15).
Frost Zone Press is accepting submissions for GHOST to GHOST to GHOST, an anthology of flash fiction by Canadian writers (500-1500 words), offering CAD $15 and a print copy for accepted stories (deadline: April 16, 2025).
Translunar Travelers Lounge is seeking speculative fiction (science fiction or fantasy) up to 5,000 words, paying $0.03 per word (minimum $20), with submission windows from March 15–April 15 and September 15–October 15 annually.
Brigids Gate Press is seeking Weird West short stories, poems, and drabbles from marginalized gender authors for the Women of the Weird West anthology (pay: $0.10/word for stories, $50 for poems/drabbles, deadline: April 30, 2025).
The American Poets Continuum Series by BOA Editions is accepting poetry manuscripts from poets with a previous full-length poetry book (deadline: April 1-30, 2025).
The 2025 CNO Naval History Essay Contest is open to professional historians, inviting essays that apply historical insights to modern naval challenges. The top prize is $5,000, with publication opportunities in Naval History magazine or Proceedings. Deadline: April 30, 2025.
WRITING OPPORTUNITIES WITH MAY 2025 DEADLINES
Certain Age is looking for essays, fiction, poetry, art, photography, and video from women “of a certain age,” paying $75 per piece (deadline: May 1, 2025).
The Odyssey Youth Literary Magazine is seeking poetry, prose, photography, and art from writers and artists aged 13-19 (deadline: May 1, 2025).
The Waterston Desert Writing Prize is accepting nonfiction submissions focused on the desert, offering a $3,000 award and a reading at the High Desert Museum (deadline: May 1, 2025).
ROLLING SUBMISSIONS
Shenandoah is accepting short stories and novel excerpts (Sept 10 & Jan 15), multilingual poetry (Apr 15, 2025), creative nonfiction (May 1), and comics (Sept 1–Oct 31, 2025); the Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia poets (Oct 15–31) offers $1000 and publication.
Electric Spec is looking for speculative fiction (250–7000 words) and cover art with speculative elements, paying $20 per accepted piece (deadlines: Jan 15, Apr 15, Jul 15, Oct 15 for Feb, May, Aug, and Nov issues respectively).
Radon is accepting short stories (up to 5,000 words) and poetry (up to five poems) with themes of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia, paying 2¢ per word for prose and $20 per poem (deadline: ongoing).
Rattle is accepting poetry submissions (print: $200, online: $100) with general submissions open year-round and themed submissions including “Late Bloomers” (deadline: April 16, 2025), “Ekphrastic Challenge” (deadline: May 1, 2025), and “Rebels” (deadline: October 16, 2025).
The First Line is accepting fiction, poetry, and nonfiction based on specific first lines, paying $25-$50 for fiction, $10 for poetry, and $25 for nonfiction (deadlines: Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1, 2025).
Minority Africa is accepting multimedia feature pitches focused on solutions stories about minorities in Africa, paying $100–$200 per feature (deadline: rolling basis).
Bonus: Check out our full list of writing opportunities with rolling submissions here.
What are the best free writing contests for beginners?
Several contests in this list have no entry fees, and they are run by prestigious organizations.
P.S.: If you’ve ever won a writing contest/gotten published/any other opportunity via an opportunity shared on D’LitReview, please let me know!
P.P.S.: If you liked this list, kindly share it with others who would love to see it too. Thanks for reading!
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