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.

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The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award is one of Australia's richest and the most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of thirty-five.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 2016 Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers

The Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers, now in its fourth year, is a unique development award to foster talented writers aged 30 and under writing longform work. Entries between 5,000 and 10,000 words are welcome across all nonfiction genres, including memoir, journalism, essay, and creative nonfiction

The winner receives: a cash prize of $3000, an editorial mentorship to develop their work for publication, and a generous selection of new-release Scribe books tailored to their reading interests.

 Entries close 11.59pm Sunday 10 July. 

The 2016 John Marsden & Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers 

The 2016 John Marsden & Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers is open for entries until Friday July 1. Now in its eleventh year, the prize is open exclusively to Australian secondary school students, so don’t miss out.

First prize includes: 

– A $500 cash prize

– A $500 travel reimbursement to attend the winners’ announcement event

– A book pack of selected works from Hachette Australia’s young adult publications

– Publication in Voiceworks #105

All entries must be received by 9am, Friday July 1, 2016

Victoria University Short Story Competition

Overland and Victoria University are welcoming original, unpublished pieces of up to 3000 words from new and emerging writers from Australia and New Zealand. Prizes worth $8000 with publication in the Overland spring issue.

Entires close 12 June.

NUW Fair Australia Prize

In partnership with the National Union of Workers, Overland is now open to submissions of fiction, essay, poetry and graphics. There are five prizes, worth $20,000 with publication in a special Fair Australia edition. The overarching theme is: Our common future.

Entry is free and closes 17 July.

SOLO monologue writing competition.

Entries are open for the The HotHouse Theatre, La Trobe University and Write Around the Murray festival (WAM) SOLO monologue writing competition. The competition carries a $500 prize for the winner of each of the three categories: unpublished/unperformed monologues; published/performed and monologues written by high school students.

The competition is for both emerging and established playwrights who are resident locally, or based nationally or internationally.

Entries close 5pm AEST, Friday, 24 June 2016.

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.

A Moveable Feast

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

Aerogramme Writer's Studio— 23 Short Story Competitions

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

Jobs

The Stella Prize  – Assistant Prize Manager

A part-time position to work closely with the Stella Prize Manager, as well as with the Executive Director of the Stella Prize, Schools Program coordinator, contract staff and interns. The ideal candidate will be extremely well organised, and possess outstanding written and verbal communication skills. Prior experience in the book industry would be an advantage.

Click here to download a full position description.

Applications must include a response to the key selection criteria, and should be addressed to the Prize Manager, Veronica Sullivan and sent to [email protected].

The deadline for applications is 5pm AEST on Wednesday 8 June, 2016.

The Emerging Writers' Festival – Digital Writers' Festival Director

Are you plugged-in to the literary world, both online and off? Do you have a million-and-one ideas about innovative ways to use the digital space to connect writers and creatives? Are you committed to maximising accessibility of writers’ festivals through online tools? We want to hear from you!

The Emerging Writers’ Festival invites applications for the exciting position of Digital Writers’ Festival Director.

The Digital Writers’ Festival is a first of its kind, world-leading program that promotes Australian writers to new audiences, fosters collaboration between writers online, and increases the accessibility of writers festivals. The DWF is a completely online festival offering a variety of festival experiences in online form.

Applications close 12pm Monday 6 June 2016.

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.

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

Submissions Open for Voiceworks issue #105 'Nerve'

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

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/

Melbourne Spoken Word – Audacious Issue Four

Submissions are now open for Issue Four of Audacious, the audio-journal of Melbourne Spoken Word. Pieces for Audacious are selected from both commissioned artists or poets asked by the editors to record work as well as submissions for the open submission process.

Payment is a percentage of royalties from the first three months of sales of the issue.

Demos - Issue #5: Resistance

Demos Journal is a progressive journal that aims to put the demos or “people” back into democracy. Tey are a youth-led, Canberra based publication that is dedicated to creating a critical and creative space for politics, poetry and ideas around the theme of democracy in a changing climate. Currently open for submissions. 

Pitch deadline: 31 July

Submission Deadline: 15 August

Art Submission Deadline: 25 August

Email submissions to [email protected].

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

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.

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.