Our monthly wrap of writing and publishing opportunities.

For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. If you'd like us to add an opportunity to this list, let us know.

Otherwise find something in this list to help bring you inspiration, fame and $$$.

COMPETITIONS

Writers Bloc Workshop Competition

We think it’s important to invest in literature, and in the future of Australian writers in particular. To that end, each month, we curate, edit, illustrate and publish a selection of original creative writing— and pay the writer professional publishing rates. 

Each month, we will choose one short story, poem, or otherwise brilliant piece of writing to be our Bloc Feature. The Writers Bloc team of professional editors, teachers and award-winning creative writers will then work with you to polish the piece and publish it along with specially commissioned cover art. A little like this.

Best of all, we’ll pay you $100 for the story, and include you in our end-of year-anthology of creative writing.

If you’re interested, all you have to do is upload a completed draft of your story to our Workshop section, and join in our community of creative writers.

Griffith University Josephine Ulrick Literature and Poetry Prizes 

One of the most lucrative prizes for short fiction and poetry around. In addition to a share of the $30,000 total prize money, winners will also be considered for publication in a special e-book edition of Griffith Review. Short stories and poetry of up to 100 lines can win a first prize of $10,000, and a second of $5,000 in each catagory. 

For further information, contact the University's Creative Writing department at [email protected]

Closes 6 May

The Vogel

The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award is one of Australia's richest and the most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of thirty-five. Offering publication by Allen & Unwin, with an advance against royalties plus prize money totalling $20,000, The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award has launched the careers of some of Australia's most successful writers, including Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Gillian Mears, Brian Castro, Mandy Sayer and Andrew McGahan.

The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award-winning authors have gone on to win or be shortlisted for other major awards, such as the Miles Franklin Award, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Booker Prize.

Entries for the 2017 The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award are now open.

The S.D. Harvey Short Story Award 2016 

The S.D. Harvey Short Story Award is an annual competition organised by the Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA). It is part of the prestigious Ned Kelly Awards, celebrating the very best in Australian crime writing.

This year the first prize has increased to $1500, as well as a second prize of $500. The winner will be published in Kill Your Darlings and  all shortlisted entries will also receive a year’s online subscription to KYD.

To read the guidelines and to make a submission, go to the submission page. 

Entries are open from now until Wednesday 15 June 2016.

The Lifted Brow & non/fictionLab Experimental Non Fiction Prize

Competition for boundary pushing non-fiction. First prize $5000, two runner-ups at $500 each. Entry fee is $7, or free to 'Brow subscribers, RMIT students and alumni. 

The Lifted Brow & RMIT non/fictionLab Prize for Experimental Non-Fiction is looking to unearth new, audacious, authentic and/or inauthentic voices from both Australia and the world.

This prize seeks work that is unlike any other. They want to hear from writers they've never read before, and they want writers they already know and love to challenge themselves to create work unlike any they’ve previously produced.

Deadline:  May 29th, 2016

A Moveable Feast

A curated list of International writers competitions with a focus on Britain and the United States

Whitlam Institute: What Matters? Writing Competition

The competition involves writing a 400 to 600 word opinion piece, with one entry allowed per student. The questions include ‘What actions do you think should be taken to build a better society?’, ‘What would you change if you could?’ and 'What do you want other people to care about?’
Entries close – 6th May 2016

Ubud Writers Festival AAWP Short Story Competition.

The winner of this Prize will receive a ticket to Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), accommodation for the duration of the festival and $500 towards economy airfares. In addition, you will receive a one-year annual membership to the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where you are invited to read from your work. In addition, the editors at Meniscus will consider your work for publication. 

The Prize opens on the 21st January 2016 and closes at midnight on 15th May 2016. Late submissions will not be accepted. 

Aerogramme Writer's Studio— 23 Short Story Competitions

A comprehensive list of 23 American Short Story Compeitions in 2016.

Submissions are now open for Griffith Review’s The Novella Project IV competition. Winning novellas will share in a $25,000 prize pool and will be published in Griffith Review 54: The Novella Project IV (26 October 2016). Each entrant will receive a free one-year digital subscription to Griffith Review. Submissions close 13 May 2016. Early submissions are encouraged.

Scholarships, Residencies and Agencies. 

The Overland Writers Residency

The Overland Writers Residency, supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, is a new initiative aimed at addressing a lack of opportunities for marginalised writers. In 2016, the Overland Writers Residency will focus on providing an opportunity for women writers who are also the sole primary carers of one or more children.

The Resident will also receive a stipend of $500 per week ($6,000 in total) and a mentorship with local Melbourne writer Alison Croggon.

Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program, delivered by QWC

The Hachette Manuscript Development program continues to provide a vital professional and creative development opportunity for emerging Australian writers. Shortlisted writers, and their manuscripts, are invited to participate in a fourday retreat program, during which they receive feedback and workshopping opportunities with Hachette Australia publishers, editors and authors, undertake specialised training designed to support establishing a writing career, and take part in networking events with industry leaders.

Applications close 5.00pm, Monday 16 May 2016 and include a $50 fee.

The Jacky Winter Gardens Artist-in-Residence Program

An artist's retreat in a beautiful Bed and Breakfast in the Dandenongs. 

PitchLab

PitchLab is an innovative new approach to selling long-form feature articles to magazines, radio programs, websites, and newspapers. It follows the same successful business model that works in the book publishing industry. Their team of mentors will take your idea out to the market and find it the best possible home. They oversee the business side of the publishing process, negotiate the contracts, and process the billing so that you can focus on what is really important. PitchLab aims to develop new and established writers into world-class journalists. PitchLab charges an industry standard 15% commission for the pieces that we agree to work on, and our experience suggests that writers who use agents generally make more than they would if they negotiated on their own. 

Publications Seeking Submissions

The Suburban Review Vol. 7: Writers of Colour

The Suburban Review is a literary collective that worships creative writing.

This year they're releasing Vol. 7 of our print journal. Submissions are only open to artists and writers of colour. 

Vol.7 is about proliferation; of voices, aesthetics, experiences, stories. In fact, we’re actively fighting against the silencing of non-white voices in creative communities. This silencing was no accident, and our response and retaliation is not accidental. 

If you're a writer who identifies as a person of colour please send them your work!  Only one submission per writer!

Fiction (above 2500 words) = $150

Fiction (below 2500 and above 1000 words) = $100

Fiction (below 1000 words) =$75

Poetry (up to 50 lines) = $75

Poetry Suite (of three poems) = $150

Comics are curated by our comic editor. Email [email protected] with a proposal and sample of work

SUBMISSIONS CLOSE ON JULY 3RD

Voiceworks issue #105 'Nerve’.

If you’re an Australian writer or artist under the age of 25 then Voiceworks issue #105 'Nerve’, wants your work. 

If this isn't you, but sounds like someone you know, pass this message along!

To submit and read the guidelines click here: http://www.voiceworksmag.com.au/contribute/

The Big Issue Fiction Edition

Time to cook up your very best tales: entries are now open for the 2016 Big Issue Fiction Edition! An annual highlight of the publishing world, last year’s edition had a circulation of close to 30,000 nationally. 

Stories must be between 300 and 3000 words. Entries must be in by the close of business, Tuesday 31 May 2016.

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. 

One Teen Story

One Teen Story publishes Young Adult writing, providing opportunities to established adult authors and emerging teen authors of YA. Offering $500 (US) to twelve accepted submissions, rights revert to the author upon publication.

Uneven Floor (poetry)

Uneven Floor, an independent poetry publication based in Perth, Western Australia, is seeking poetry submissions for its online magazine.

Unpaid, editors ask that writers read their website thoroughly to get a feel for their tone before submitting. Ongoing.

Make sure you stay up to date with the best writing opportunities and more by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.

Have you got something the community should know about? A job vacancy, competition or call for submissions? Write to us [email protected] or let us know on Twitter and we'll include it in our next month's list of wonderful opportunities.