short fiction
For humorous short stories (any theme) up to 2500 words. Multiple entries are accepted.
Branch of Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd). Association of publishing professionals, including editors, designers, illustrators, typesetters, proofreaders, desktop publishers and publishing consultants dedicated to excellence in publishing in Queensland. Seminars and workshops are held regularly.
Founded by Rebecca Starford and Hannah Kent, Kill Your Darlings (KYD) is one of Australia’s leading arts and culture magazines. Beginning life as a print quarterly in 2010, KYD is today a vibrant and eclectic online magazine of commentary, essays, interviews, fiction and reviews.
Margaret River Press is an indepdendent, innovative Western Australian publisher. Publishes high-end literary fiction, crime, the best short stories currently being written in Australia and beautifully designed leisure and lifestyle titles.
This award is for an emerging ACT region writer. Entries must be between 1,500–3,000 words. First prize is $600. The winning short story and up to three highly commended stories may be published in an issue of the ACT Writers Centre magazine.
The Suburban Review is a quarterly digital journal of short fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and art. We’re interested in publishing the work of writers from all over Australia and the world.
Publishes science fiction, fantasy and horror stories, and poems. Welcomes new and established writers and artists. Has a preference for lighter, amusing styles of science fiction and fantasy, but will also consider more serious work for publication.
Antic is an online literary magazine featuring the works of new, emerging and established Australian writers, as well as a smattering of international ones. The Antic team is interested in edgy, diverse writing that pushes boundaries and promotes conversation.
Bendigo Writers Festival aims to provide a forum to meet and talk about books and writing, and, mostly, to enjoy the conviviality of a festival set in View Street, Bendigo.
Creative, thoughtful, reflective, insightful, challenging, questioning … Communion is not affiliated with any literary school or movement. While the magazine is not thematic as such, it leans toward work that in some way reflects the concept of communion – with others, self, the world at large etc.
The Copper Triangle Writer’s Group is made up of around twenty friendly and diverse writers. New members are always welcome to the lively and entertaining meetings.
Varuna, the National Writers House invites writers living in New South Wales and the greater Sydney area to apply for a two-week residency at this historic home in the Blue Mountains. Residency dates for 2017 are 11-24 September. For full details of the program and to apply, see the website.
The Grace Marion Wilson Emerging Writers Competition has helped identify a new generation of Victoria’s writers. The annual fiction and creative non-fiction prizes are open to writers with no more than three stories or articles published in a recognised book, magazine or journal. Open to residents of Victoria only.
Founded by the world-renowned BBC Aeronautics Correspondent Reg Turnill and his wife, Margaret, to celebrate the life and works of HG Wells and encourage creative writing, especially among the young, the prestigious HG Wells Short Story Competition offers generous Senior and Junior prizes and free publication of all shortlisted entries in a quality, professionally published paperback anthology. 2019 dates to be confirmed.
This biennial competition is organised by The Neil Gunn Trust in partnership with High Life Highland. Writers worldwide are invited to choose one of the themes and interpret it in any way they wish – the entries do not have to be set in Scotland or during the time when Neil Gunn himself was writing. Stories up to 2500 words, written in English, Scots or a combination of both.
Knightville Poetry Contest: Three poems per entry. Up to 150 lines per poem. Machigonne Fiction Contest: Submit up to 5000 words of prose, anything from flash to long stories. Novel excerpts are welcome, as long as the manuscript functions as a stand-alone story. Previously unpublished work only. International submissions welcome.
Paper Road Press specialises in science fiction and fantasy, all things in between – and things from the fringes, too. We want to see magical realism, urban fantasy, space opera, secondary worlds, time travel, myths and legends, crossovers and reimaginings; the familiar made unfamiliar and the unfamiliar familiar.
Perth International Arts Festival curates and presents an annual arts festival of the highest international quality. PIAF aspires to create new work and stimulate discourse about Western Australia and our place in a complex and political world. As a sub-strand of PIAF, the Perth Writers Festival aims to showcase and celebrate the written and spoken word. Participants include poets, novelists, social commentators, filmmakers, artists and musicians.
Founded in 2005, Puncher & Wattmann is an independent Australian publisher of novels, poetry, biography, criticism, short story collections. Their list continues to grow and achieve significant critical recognition.
Entries must be fiction but can be on any subject and written in any style or form. International competition based in the UK. Entries must be between 180-360 words.
The Somerset National Novella Writing Competition is offered by Somerset College and is part of its Celebration of Literature Festival. Competition open to all Australian secondary students. Entrants must be under 19 years of age at close of entries. Required word length is 8,000 to 20,000 words.
The Young Australian Christian Writer Award is given annually for the best unpublished manuscript by an Australian citizen under 30 years of age. With the Young Australian Christian Writer Award Sparklit discovers and nurtures writers of the future.
Tartarus is a small, British independent press founded in 1990, specialising in collectable hardback limited editions of literary supernatural/strange/horror fiction novels and short fiction collections, along with paperbacks and ebooks. Recipient of five World Fantasy Awards and a Stoker Award.
The Tasmanian Writers & Readers Festival, run biennially by the Tasmanian Writers Centre, unites writers and readers from across the state and Australia through masterclasses, discussion forums, spoken word events, children’s programs and more. The festival occupies various spaces throughout the historic Hadley’s Orient Hotel and encourages all members of the community to engage with their fellow readers and writers through the power of storytelling.
The Tom Howard and Margaret Reid poetry contests are open to all poems written in English. There are no restrictions on age or country. TOM HOWARD PRIZE: $1,500 for a poem in any style or genre MARGARET REID PRIZE: $1,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style Length limit: 250 lines per poem.