Voiceworks is now open for submissions to issue 128, 'Grain'!

Theme: Grain

Steam billows from the machine. It dispenses its gritty, caffeinated liquid into your awaiting mug. The coarse concrete countertop rubs against your elbows as you sip idly, watching the storm roll in across the beach. Outside, wind whisks the sand into the darkening sky, swirling hypnotically. A sudden flash of lightning strikes the shore and pulls you from your reverie.

The sky has decided it’s an indoor day. You huddle up in front of the TV, setting the cup down on the coffee table. The wood grain is irregular, each year of the tree’s life a dark brown river. They flow through the table’s sandy flesh, meandering, diverted by knots: God forgot to use a ruler for this one. The couch cushions are purple; the fabric grain is straight.

When you turn the TV on, there is no reception—your TV, it seems, still has an antenna; perhaps it is the 70s—and you are greeted by static. Look closer, though, through that misnomer sheen: the static is not static at all. It is made up of countless grains—particles of salt and sand, glinting, flittering upon a sea of inky black—choreographed by radio waves reverberating out from the big bang.

You drain the dregs of your coffee, then set it down with unanticipated energy; it bangs loudly on the table, shifting the leftover grounds into the shape of an hourglass. You consult your book on tasseography—the art of divining one’s future from coffee grounds and tea leaves—and see that this symbolises imminent danger. You know it can only mean one thing.

~Thanks to EdCommers Eli Kelly and Joel Keith for the blurb~ 

Remember, you don’t have to stick to the theme! Feel free to go against the grain. (Get it?) Our themes are a prompt more than anything else—a springboard to get the creative ideas flowing. Most of all, we just want good work.

Print Guidelines

Voiceworks accepts fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art and comics, but before you send your work our way, here are some rules:

We are only able to publish writers and artists who are under the age of 25 (that is, 24 and under) at the time of submission.

We only accept work by people living in Australia (including international students) or by Australians living overseas.

We only consider previously unpublished work.

Each category has its own submission page with specific guidelines, but here are the basics:

Fiction: send no more than two stories, each no more than 3,000 words.

Poetry: send no more than three poems, each no more than 100 lines. We recommend reading our poetry guide here before sending us your work.

Nonfiction: we recommend that you pitch your nonfiction work before sending it to us. Head here for advice on how to construct your pitch and write good nonfiction. For completed work, send no more than two pieces, each no more than 3,000 words.

Art and comics: please keep in mind, we print in duotone (only two colours of ink) and our page dimensions are 170 x 245 mm. We recommend you pitch your comics before sending them to us. For advice on how to pitch your comics, check out our handy guide here. Please send no more than three artworks or comics.

We encourage you to submit across genres, but please send us no more than four submissions in total (excluding comics and art).

Deadlines

Nonfiction pitches—Sunday 26 July, 11:59PM AEST

Fiction, completed nonfiction and poetry—Sunday 7 August, 11:59PM AEST

Art, comics and comic pitches—Sunday 14 August, 11:59PM AEST

Rates of pay

$100 for written work and art

$150 for multi-page comics or suites of art

Please read the information carefully and contact Voiceworks Editor Zowie Douglas-Kinghorn if you have any questions or concerns.