For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish.
Each month we scour the myriad opportunites out there and come up with a carefully selected list of competitions, fellowships, grants and jobs for you to browse. But --t his is just a slice of what's out there. Want more? Sign up to our Bloc Boost service, and have a personal, curated list of opportunities delivered to you.
Otherwise, you can also check out writing jobs or writing opportunities pages which are updated daily.
Writing Awards and Competitions
Bath Children's Novel Award
2017 Deborah Cass Prize for Writing
The Deborah Cass Prize is now in its third year and is going national. This is a prize for writers with a migrant background who are relatively early in their careers.
In the first two years the prize was open to Victorian writers and attracted a high quality field of entrants.
The inaugural prize was won by Moreno Giovannoni for Tales of San Ginese, a book of tales about an Italian village, which will be published by Black Inc. in 2018. Melanie Cheng, who was runner-up in the first year, recently published her first collection of short stories, Australia Day, which are about belonging in contemporary Australia.
Jean Bachoura won last year’s prize, for Night Falls, about a young Syrian-Australian man, largely set in war-destroyed Damascus.
Three of Australia’s leading writers, Christos Tsolkias, Alice Pung and Tony Ayres, are the judges of the prize again in 2017. The winner will receive a cash prize of $3,000 plus a three-month mentorship with an established writer. The winning manuscript will be presented to Black Inc. There is also the opportunity for publication of the wining excerpt in Mascara Literary Review.
CLOSING 16/10/17
Elle Australia Writing Competition
Write a 4,000-word short story on the topic of your choice. Where you choose to take it is up to you. Fall in love, rule the country or walk a day in Beyoncé’s shoes. The aim is to move the judges, whether they laugh, cry (or cringe). Deadline for entries is November 3, so if you’ve got a story to tell, go on and get telling it.
The winning fiction will be published in the January issue of ELLE Australia, and the author awarded a $5,000 prize. Two runners-up will receive a prize pack of recent releases from Hachette Australia worth $200.
CLOSING 03/11/17
Futurescapes Competition ($4,500)
For 2017, the Futurescapes Contest theme is “Blue Sky Cities.” We’re seeking stories set in a near-future city where significant strides have been made toward improving air quality, climate adaptation, or even net positive impacts on climate and air quality.
You need not paint us a utopia – we don’t really believe in those. We believe that at any given time, depending on individual perspective, every city has dystopian and utopian aspects. The key is to show us a solution, but don’t strip it of realistic political, scientific, or logistical obstacles, and don’t neglect the possibility and ramifications of unintended consequences from even the best solution.
CLOSING 13/10/17
Glen Phillips Poetry Prize Competition
The Glen Phillips’ Poetry Prize has been established in recognition of Professor Glen Phillips; a Life Member at our Centre, our Edith Cowan University Liaison, PCWC Committee Member and a longstanding supporter of the Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre Inc. Glen’s poetry has been widely
published in anthologies, journals and newspapers throughout Australia and internationally.
CLOSING 20/10/17
The Hope Prize short story competition
The Hope Prize encourages writers to explore people's resilience in the face of poverty and disadvantage, to look beyond all too common stereotypes to depict the strengths that people and communities show in dealing with hardship.
Short stories entered for The Hope Prize can be fiction or fact. Whatever the genre, the story submitted must convey the experience of people facing hardship in their lives.
The total prize pool is $17,500, while two Women’s Writing Career Development Scholarships — of $5,000 each — will also be awarded.
Authors must be Australian residents and entries must be between 2000 and 5000 words. The closing date for entries is January 31, 2018.
Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel
The Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel is an exciting new award for writers holding New Zealand citizenship or who are permanent residents of New Zealand.
The prize is in memory of Michael Gifkins, much-loved author, editor and literary agent. Thanks to a generous financial commitment from his partner Ann Hatherly and his son André Gifkins, and Text Publishing, the winner will receive a contract for world rights with Text and an advance to the value of NZ$10,000.
The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc.) will administer the award.
CLOSING 20/11/17
NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have a proud history, both in celebrating achievement by Australian writers and in helping to establish values and standards in Australian literature.
Entries for the 2018 awards are now open.
CLOSING 13/10/17
Odyssey House Victoria Annual Short Story Competition
This competition is open to writers of all ages and experience.
Each submission must be no more than 1500 words and follow the theme “Courage”. It will need to make a reference to alcohol and/or drugs. There is a limit of three entries per person, and the entry fee is $10 per story.
CLOSING 03/11/17
Penguin Random House Australia Literary Prize
We are thrilled to announce the establishment of the inaugural Penguin Random House Australia Literary Prize. Officially launched at the Leading Edge Books Roadshow in Sydney on 17 July, this prize endeavours to find, nurture and develop new Australian authors writing in the areas of literary fiction and non-fiction, and celebrates the recent formation of the Penguin Random House Literary Division.
Of the prize, Nikki Christer, Group Publishing Director of Penguin Random House Australia said, “Penguin Random House is home to many of Australia’s most admired and celebrated authors. The Penguin Random House Australia Literary Prize will enable us to remain a great house of literature, by helping us discover the great writers of tomorrow.”
Submissions are being accepted from today, with entry open to all Australian residents aged 18 and above. Entries will close on Friday 20 October.
Entries will need to include a 300 word synopsis, manuscript and pitch document (full details on the entry page below).
The winner, to be announced on Friday 9 February 2018, will be awarded $20,000, with the winning book slated for publication in early 2019.
CLOSING 20/10/17
The Plough International Poetry Prize
For previously unpublished poems on any subject. An Open Competition for a poem up to 40 lines plus, new this year, The Ronald Duncan Short Poem Competition – maximum length 10 lines. Both competitions will be judged by Michael Symmons Roberts. The prizes in each category: 1st prize £1,000 – 2nd prize £500 - 3rd prize £250
CLOSING 31/01/18
Southern Cross Short Story Competition 2017
The judge in 2017 is Maurilia Meehan. Maurilia is an award winning Australian author. Her novels include Madame Bovary’s Haberdashery, The Bad Seed, Adultery, The Sea People and Fury.
The winning stories will be announced and read at an award presentation in Ballarat in November 2017.
The Stringybark Malicious Mysteries Short Story Award 2018
The prize value for this competition is over $1000 in cash and books. International entries are most welcome. The story must:
1. Address the theme;
2. Be written for an adult audience (that is, we aren't after children's stories); and
3. Be 1500 words or fewer in length.
The Two Sylvias Press 2017 Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize
The Wilder Series Book Prize is open to women over 50 years of age (established or emerging poets) and includes a $1,000 prize, publication by Two Sylvias Press, 20 copies of the winning book, and a vintage, art nouveau pendant. Women submitting manuscripts may be poets with one or more previously published chapbooks/books or poets without any prior chapbook/book publications. Length: 60-100 pages of poems.
CLOSING 30/11/17
XO Romance Prize
Xoum Publishing is excited to launch the 2017 XO Romance Prize, to be awarded to a previously unpublished work of contemporary romance fiction. The winner will receive a $5000 prize with the winning work published under Xoum’s romance imprint, XO.
CLOSING 31/10/17
Writers Digest Popular Fiction Awards
Residencies, Festivals, Fellowships and Funds
Author's League Fund
Since 1917, the Authors League Fund has been helping professional writers and dramatists who find themselves in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income, or other misfortune.
Most of those we help suffer severe health problems but have inadequate insurance; some face eviction; many are older writers whose income has ceased through no fault of their own.
The Fund exists to help professional writers continue their careers, even their lives, with dignity by providing open-ended, interest-free, no-strings-attached loans to pay for pressing expenses.
CLOSING 31/10/17
Gates Cambridge Scholarship in the UK
Journalists and others can apply for a scholarship to study in the United Kingdom.
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship program, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, allows international applicants to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree in any subject at the University of Cambridge.
Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate a clear ability to lead and a commitment to the greater good.
The scholarship covers the full cost of studying at Cambridge, airfare, stipend, family allowance, visa costs and some additional funding.
The deadline is Oct. 11 for U.S. residents and Dec. 6 for international applicants.
CLOSING 11/10/17
Haven Foundation
The Haven Foundation gives financial assistance to provide temporary support needed to safeguard and sustain the careers of established freelance artists, writers and other members of the arts and art production communities who have suffered disabilities or experienced a career-threatening illness, accident, natural disaster or personal catastrophe. Grants are awarded and renewed at the discretion of the Haven Foundation Board.
CLOSING 31/10/17
Playwriting Australia – Seeking Stageplays
Playwriting Australia is seeking original plays. They approach the selection of plays with care and precision. It is a multi-stage process that involves a number of different readers assessing plays across a detailed list of criteria. It is a process that also allows for readers to be in conversation with them and with each other, ensuring quality control of readers' responses.
They believe terrific new writing must be produced and they do this reading to give playwrights opportunities to develop and/or showcase their best new plays in order to see the work reach production.
All plays submitted to Playwriting Australia are read in their entirety.
Submissions are ongoing.
2018 Hazel Rowley Fellowship opens
Now in its seventh year, the Fellowship commemorates the life, ideas and writing of Hazel Rowley (1951–2011) and awards $15,000 to an emerging or established Australian writer to support research and development of a new biographical work.
The Fellowship encourages writers to immerse themselves in their subject’s lives and culture.
Hazel’s own career received a boost when receiving a fellowship enabled her to travel to the USA while researching ‘Richard Wright: The Life and Times.’
The Fellowship is open to Australian writers of biography but can also extend to include a writer working on an aspect of cultural or social history. It may be used to fund research or travel, to develop a new proposal, or to progress a manuscript for submission to potential publishers.
Judges will be looking for applicants who demonstrate excellence in the quality of their work, courage in their choice of project, and a passionate engagement with the world of ideas and the way that people live their lives. The subject of the biography needs to be someone who made a demonstrable contribution to society.
Writers Omi Residency
This residency allows writers the time to write in a rural setting. It has an impressive alumni list, including Booker, PEN/Faulkner Award and Commonwealth Prize winners.
CLOSING 14/10/17
Publications Seeking Submissions
Allen & Unwin Friday Pitch
Allen & Unwin know how difficult it can be for writers to get their work in front of publishers, which is why we’ve created our innovative and pioneering submissions system – The Friday Pitch.
The Friday Pitch allows for writers of all genres to have their work considered by one of our in-house Submission Editors.
Please select the genre of your work, and follow the links to the appropriate submissions page for more details.
CLOSING 31/12/17
Write for Archer
Archer publishes articles and images about sexuality, gender and identity from a diverse range of writers/artists, from all levels of experience.Archer is aimed at all individuals interested in sexuality, gender and equality. Archer promotes inclusivity, regardless of gender identity, geographical location, ethnic identity, sexual orientation or level of education.
We accept pitches for the Archer website all year round. We often source writers from our website. If our editor thinks a piece may be suitable for the print edition, you will be contacted.
CLOSING 31/12/17
Creative Non Fiction True Story Magazine
The Creative Nonfiction Foundation is pleased to announce that, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, we’ve started a new monthly magazine. Each issue of True Story will features one exceptional work of creative nonfiction, and is distributed in print and digitally (though not available online). Submissions should be between 5,000 and 10,000 words long, on any subject, in any style.* Surprise us! The only rules are that all work submitted must be nonfiction and original to the author, and we will not consider previously published work. We’ll pay $300 on publication and give you 10 free copies of “your” issue.
CLOSING 31/12/17
Forever Yours: Now Accepting Book Submissions
Forever is the romance imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Grand Central Publishing is an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, one of the big five publishers. Forever Yours is the digital sister of Forever, they focus on publishing unagented authors, and often publish authors without a publication history. They publish eBooks, but they an option to print on demand any book over 50,000 words in length.
CLOSING 31/12/17
Monthly Catch at Penguin
Do you have a manuscript you would like Penguin to consider? Penguin Group have what’s known as the ‘Monthly Catch’. During the first week of every month, you can submit unsolicited manuscripts for their consideration.
CLOSING 31/12/17
Manuscript Monday - Pan Macmillan
On the first Monday of every month only, between 10am and 4pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, we accept electronic submissions that comply with the guidelines set out below.
Manuscript submissions sent on any other Mondays or day of the month will not be read so we advise you to wait until the next month if you miss the deadline.
We are looking for:
Commercial fiction – women’s fiction, romance, thriller, crime, historical, humour, paranormal, fantasy
Literary fiction and non-fiction – novels, short stories, and narrative non-fiction only
Children’s books and young adult – junior and middle grade fiction, young adult/crossover fiction; we are not accepting picture book submissions
Commercial non-fiction – history, memoir, mind body spirit, travel, health, diet, biography
Please familiarise yourself with what we publish. We do not publish scripts, plays or poetry in Australia and will not assess them.
Academic submissions are not accepted during Manuscript Monday.
CLOSING 31/12/17
Right Now
Right Now is committed to covering human rights issues in Australia through free, accessible, creative and engaging online, print and radio media. Creative writing is a great way to explore human rights in Australia: from poetry to flash fiction to long and short pieces. Ongoing.
Scum Mag
Scum is interested in publishing feminist-friendly work of any variety, but as a general rule your piece should be under 1000 words (50 lines for poetry) and able to be classified as “fiction”, “culture”, “memoir”, “column”, “poetry”, and/or “review”. They tend not to publish traditional reviews of books and films—to get a feel for the reviews they do publish, check the review tag. Feel free to pitch to them if you’re not sure if your piece is a good fit. (Please note that they don’t accept pitches for fiction or poetry.)
Submissions to Scum are open the first week (from the 1st to the 7th) of every month. The rest of the month, submissions are closed. They pay $60 per piece of writing.
Seizure - Flashers
At Seizure, short-form work is living large. Flashers is the online home of Australian flash fiction.
Each week we publish work between 50 and 500 words that could be written in an hour and read in a minute. We are looking for short, sharp snippets of prose. But flash fiction is so much more than a quick-fix for the time-hungry wordaholic. Flash fiction attracts writers and readers for its peculiar challenges – and authors have to make every word count.
Accepted pieces will have an accompanying illustration by a volunteer artist that matches and complements the writing. Thanks to the Australia Council, we are able to pay our Flasher contributors $50 for each published piece.
CLOSING 31/12/17
The Suburban Review is Open for Submissions
NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE. Build yourself a world of wonder. Explore a moment of emotional turmoil. Shake yourself to the core.
And then write it all down and share it with us!
Tincture Open Submissions
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