For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. Find something in this list to help bring you inspiration, fame and fortune. Also, remember to bookmark our new Opportunities page for the most recent jobs and comps around. 

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 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.

 

The KYD New Critic Award

This award will assist the vocational development of an early-career critic. It is open to critics working in all fields of the arts (books, film, television, theatre, music, dance, performance, visual arts, etc).

The winner will receive $4000 prize money and a mentorship with KYD’s senior editorial staff, as well as publication of a maximum of eight works of criticism (max. 1500 words per piece) in Kill Your Darlings in 2017.

Submissions close 5pm AEDT Monday 31 October 2016.

 

The KYD Unpublished Manuscript Award

This award will assist an early-career author in the development of their unpublished manuscript. The award is open to writers of adult fiction and adult non-fiction.

The winner will receive a $5000 cash prize and a mentorship with KYD’s Rebecca Starford (non-fiction) or Hannah Kent (fiction)

Submissions open 1 Feb 2017 and close 5pm AEDT Friday 31 March 2017.

 

 

Peter Porter Poetry Prize

Australian Book Review welcomes entries in the thirteenth Peter Porter Poetry Prize. The Porter Prize, which is worth a total of AU$7,500.

All poets writing in English are eligible, regardless of where they live. The Porter Prize is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected awards for poetry. It honours the life and work of the great Australian poet Peter Porter (1929–2010), an honoured contributor to ABR for many years.

Poems must not exceed 75 lines and must be written in English.

Deadline for entries is 1 December 2016

 

The Horne Prize

Aesop and The Saturday Paper have announced the launch of a major national essay away. Valued at $15,000 it will be awarded in late December for an essay of up to 3000 words, adressing some part of the theme "Australian Life".

Entries are open from August 6 to October 31 2016.

 

Patrick White Indigenous Writers Award

Open to Indigenous students, Kindergarten to Year 12. Theme (choice of three): "Things are not always what they seem...", "Dreaming", "Standing on one leg..." It can be a story, poem or play, and there is a group category if you want to collaborate with your classmates.
 

CLOSING  23/09/16

 

Wollongong Writers' Festival Short Story Prize

An international competition open to writers around the world regardless of age, genre or career stage. The winner receives AUD$1000 and publication in Mascara Literary Review. Stories should be 2500 words or less.
 

CLOSING 14/09/16

 

Melbourne Poets Union International Poetry Competition

The winner receives AUD$1500 and there are a number of runner-up prizes. Poems can be on any theme and must be less than 50 lines. Entries close on 4 September.
 

CLOSING 04/09/16

 

Hardie Grant Ampersand Prize

The Ampersand Prize from Hardie Grant is open for entries of young adult and middle-grade novels by unpublished authors. The winning writer gets a contract, an advance and serious editorial development to bring their books to market. 

Entries are open September 1 - 16, 2016.

 

Katharine Susannah Prichard Short Fiction Awards 

Open to short fiction pieces from writers Australia-wide. The prize features two categories: Adult and Youth, both of which attract a cash prize.

Entries close 5.00pm AWST Friday 16 September 2016

 

The NSW Writers’ Centre Varuna Fellowship

The NSW Writers’ Centre Varuna Fellowship is an annual prize for a writer who has a manuscript, play or suite of poems that is ready for the next stage of development. In 2016 there will be two fellowships available, with one place reserved for a writer under the age of 30.

Applicants must be NSWWC members and be willing to commit to developing their work. The two winners will be awarded a one-week writing residency at Varuna the Writers’ House in 2017, including accommodation for seven nights and all meals. Two runners up will receive a book pack from Random House, and winners and runners up will have the opportunity to submit their manuscript to Random House for assessment.

Entries for the prize are open from Monday 29 August to Sunday 25 September. You can download an entry form here.

 

JOBS/ INTERNSHIPS

Join the Voiceworks Editorial Committee

Voiceworks is looking for new members (aged 24 and under) to join their editorial committee. They are after people who are familiar with Voiceworks and have a passion for developing talent in young writers. They are looking for editors of nonfiction, fiction, poetry and visual art. Interstate applications are welcome as Voiceworks has opportunities for remote participation.

CLOSING 19/09/16

 

Overland is seeking an Editorial Assistant

Overland is seeking an editorial assistant for two days a week, to start by early October. This is a paid, permanent part-time position. The editorial assistant will work closely with the Overland editor, and with both commissioned and uncommissioned writers. They will work primarily on Overland’s online magazine, with a secondary focus on the print edition. Apply here: https://overland.submittable.com/submit/36435

CLOSING 08/09/16

 

Voiceworks Administrative Intern

Express Media is looking for an intern with administration experience and a passion for words. Key responsibilities in this role include managing the processing of Voiceworks submissions, data entry, undertaking administrative tasks, liasing with stockists and advertisers and other duties as directed by the Voiceworks editor.

CLOSING 19/09/16

 

Writers Victoria Program Officer

Writers Victoria is looking for a highly organised arts administrator to support the delivery of our annual program of professional development events and activities. Duration: October 2016 to December 2020 (with potential to extend) Hours: Full time, 38 hours per week, includes some evenings and weekends Salary: $51,000 pa plus mandatory superannuation Responsible for: Program Assistant, volunteers and interns

CLOSING 06/09/16

 

Partnerships Manager at the Sydney Writers' Festival

The Partnerships Manager is a key member of the Sydney Writers' Festival team working closely with the Head of Development to secure targets against Corporate Sponsorship, as well as securing and managing the delivery of benefits to cultural partners and delivering superior relationships to current Festival supporters throughout the year.

CLOSING 03/09/16

 

Department Coordinator at Screen Australia

Screen Australia is looking for a Department Coordinator to fill a year length contract. They are looking for someone who aims to grow demand for Australian content across all platforms and provide the resources and skills to help get projects onto the screen and in front of audiences. In this role you will be responsible for providing administrative and secretarial support to the Head of Business and Audience, as well as operational support across the team. The successful applicant will have strong demonstrated experience in administrative support at a senior level.

CLOSING 10/09/16

 

Bitch Media Fellowships

Bitch Media is a nonprofit, independent, feminist media organization dedicated to providing and encouraging an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture. Submissions are open from August 1st-September 15th, 2016 for the 2017 Bitch Media Fellowships for Writers, a series of three-month intensive writing fellowships whose goal is to develop, support, and amplify emerging, diverse voices in feminist, activist, and pop-culture media. The program will be directed by Bitch cofounder Andi Zeisler. Fellows will work in one of four subject areas during the fellowship period: Reproductive rights & justice, Pop-culture criticism, Technology and Global feminism. Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend for the three-month fellowship.

CLOSING 16/09/16

 

PUBLICATIONS SEEKING SUBMISSIONS

Submissions Open for Issue #32 of The Lifted Brow, 'Capital'

The thirty-second issue of The Lifted Brow's print magazine is devoted to the theme of ‘Capital’. They are after words and visuals that appraise the relationship between capital and the current state of the wor(l)d. This call is open to interpret as you like – invisible labour, life as a content monkey, Pay the Writers, the commodification of art, bodies, nature, romance, and all spaces in between. The Lifted Brow is looking for: non-fiction essays; comics/graphic narratives; fiction that grapples with capital concerns; and pieces that are perhaps uncategorisable. Pitches must be sent through by midnight September 8th. Full pieces are due by midnight September 28th.

 

CLOSING 29/09/16

 

Overland is Open for Fiction Submissions on 'The Idea of Women'

Overland is looking for fiction for its next special issue, The idea of women, to be guest edited by Mandy Beaumont and Craig Bolland and published in October. For this special online fiction edition of Overland, the editors are looking for stories that explore – broadly – how women are experienced as ideas rather than realities. Women as fantastic beasts. Women as projections. Women not as they actually are, but as they are imagined and fantasised about; as they are limited and defined by, or viewed through, ideas of femininity – from the empowered to the absurd. Online contributors for this edition will be paid $120 per story.

CLOSING 01/09/16

 

Backstory

A new literary peer reviewed journal is taking its online publication to print. Part of Swinburne University’s Writing program, Backstory is a history/past focused journal, accepting fiction (max 3000 words), creative non-fiction (max 3000 words), poetry (max 100 lines), academic essays (max 5000 words), reviews (max 1000 words) and graphic submissions. Your submissions will be considered for the print edition, and/or for a future online edition. You can email your submissions to: [email protected] Check out our current online issues (our second online issue is coming soon)

CLOSING 30/11/16

 

Smut Zine

Call out for submissions of micro fiction/non-fiction (as short as you like but no longer than 250 words), and short poetry (maximum 50 lines) for the fourth issue of Melbourne based zine 'Smut'. Each issue is themed, with past issues themes being: 'Longing', 'the Lovers Tomb' and 'Future Female'. Issue four will be themed 'Day Dreamer'. The themes are just a guideline for you to interpret however you like. Submissions are open until the 1st of September but unable to pay contributors at this time.  If you're keen to get involved, email your submissions to [email protected].

CLOSING 01/09/16

 

Antic New Writing Call for Submissions

Antic is an online literary magazine of new writing in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and criticism, featuring the works of new, emerging and established Australian writers, as well as a smattering of international ones. We promote the writers we publish and strive to bring their words and their ideas to greater audiences. We are looking for nonfiction, fiction and review submissions for our Issue #2. We pay all our writers. All contributors – emerging or established – will receive A$50.00 for 2000-3000+ word pieces in any category.

CLOSING 01/10/16

 

Hot Chicks with Big Brains

Feminisist interview publication is calling for pitches and submissions for Issue #2. 

subTerrain

subTerrain publishes original fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, and commentary three times a year. Submissions must be previously unpublished material. (Note maximum number of submissions per issue in General Guidelines below.)

Closing 02/09/16

 

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. 

 

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.

The Wrong Quarterly

The Wrong Quarterly are a London-based journal who publish "inventive" works of nonfiction, life writing and essays up to 5,000 words and fiction up to 6,000 words. Submissions are accepted from both British and international writers. Ongoing.

 

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.


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. 

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Writers Bloc Community

The Writers Bloc is a community for writers. We provide free anonymous workshopping, advice, events, opportunities, and a paid publishing platform.