Voiceworks is now open for submissions to issue 114, Slug!

Is it terrestrial? It slopes across the screen, sensory and sniffing needles darting around the LED display. In its wake, a dancing thick goo obstructing. URL just ‘oogle.com/document/DragonBallZVillians.’ There’s a shimmer, a slick of light. It’s hard to trace, shifting with her eyes. It doesn’t begin or end.  She sits watching it, mezmerised. Oogle oogle oogle oogle. Waiting, avoiding, waiting, avoiding. She rocks back on her chair and stares out the window. Pinstripes. SWING. A burst of colour. Fingers outstretched. It squelches into the grass. The terrestrial on the screen. The glimmer still distracts, spots dancing over her eyes, over the screen. Oogle oogle oogle oogle. She feels petrol station light-headed. That slick of light is the reason Scully and Mulder exist. ‘You alright?’ ‘Yes I just need to figure out the right combination.’ The keyboard is hiding the answer. UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT.

~Thanks to EdCommers Dani Leever and Catherine Treloar 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—We only consider previously unpublished work.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 - Sunday 30th December, 11:59pm
Fiction, completed nonfiction and poetry - Sunday 6th January 11:59pm
Art, comics and comic pitches - Sunday 20th January 11:59pm

Rates of pay

$100 for written work and art
$150 for multi-page comics or suites of art