Voiceworks is now open for submissions to issue 125 'Spectre'
Theme: Spectre
It is difficult to sleep at night sometimes, with the hazy apparitions that dance like revellers around your bed. Spindly fingers close around your wrist and you are woken by a cold breath on your neck. In the stillness and dark, you fumble for your phone and send a few anxious messages. You are left on read at 4:41 am.
You want to wait until it is five am to do something. Sleep, scream—it doesn’t matter. Sunlight begins to suggest itself, but we are not done yet.
In a room down the hallway comes the hum of a haunting melody. Hands pull white thread through a loom. In a photograph on the wall, angry clouds creep through a sepia-toned sky. You notice strange fingerprints in the corner of the image. A face like a glass of red wine hastens towards you. I am a puppet master of sorts, but you will see no strings, only endless spider webs as you try to find me.
Drink up your tea as you tell me your deepest fears and most precious childhood memories. Describe to me the shadowy figures that follow you through the mirrors in your house. Tell me about the child you saw on the street that day who seemed so very familiar. The almost-friends you ghosted, whose lives you silently surveil through your cracked screen.
I’ve already read your diary. What else do you have to show me?
~Thanks to EdCommers Annie Zhang and Clare Millar 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.
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We only consider previously unpublished work.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 September, 11:59PM AEST
Fiction, completed nonfiction and poetry—Sunday 10 October, 11:59PM AEDT
Art, comics and comic pitches—Sunday 24 October, 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 Adalya Nash Hussein if you have any questions or concerns.