Voiceworks is now open for submissions to issue 118, As If!
Start with the letter ‘o’, the shape of your mouth moving and how it melts in the sun. Is it silence or breath because you don’t want to give it a name? The land caves in and your hand feels like forgiveness, or maybe it’s paprika and cut grass. If you fill the cracks with icing and then lick them clean, is it desire for delusion or something simply other? Tell me how far I have to wound to keep the windows flashing, how far until they merge into one? Someone is catching the sands and counting, somewhere a castle is built. She thumps and she yawns and she’s your cat cutting love into sliced apples where the seeds spill your name. You hear the whistle of the train at the station, weaving the whispers behind. It begins like this: the floors keep talking and they’re telling you NEVER AGAIN.
~Thanks to EdCommers Sanna Wei and Wen-Juenn Lee for the blurb~
Remember, you don’t have to stick to the theme! 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. Our motto is…
Themed work: good
Good work: better
Good themed work: best
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We only consider previously unpublished work.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—Monday 6th January, 11:59pm AEDT
Fiction, completed nonfiction and poetry—Sunday 12th January, 11:59pm AEDT
Art, comics and comic pitches—Sunday 2nd February, 11:59pm AEDT
Rates of pay
$100 for written work and art
$150 for multi-page comics or suites of art
You’ll find further details and submission guidelines here. Please read the information carefully and contact Voiceworks Editor Mira Schlosberg if you have any questions or concerns.
Image by Jeanne Carlos.