Don't be 'Late' to submit to Voiceworks #139!
Theme: Late
That Plath passage about figs is making rounds on the socials, and you’d think it’d have lost its urgency by now but it still makes you panic, just a little bit. When exactly did you grow up? How old is old? You’re always in a rush, always running a little behind, but never sure what precisely for. If you could, you think, you’d show up late to your own funeral.
It’s not just you. People have begun putting ‘too’ in front of ‘late capitalism’, resigned to a world taking its final shuddering breaths. The talking heads say there are solutions, they exist, there are reasons to hope; but it is all too little too late. And yet, online, everybody’s looking younger, trying to fool time, reverse and invert, a trick mirror.
It’s nearing the witching hour. Outside, the moon is a waning crescent, slowly turning her face away. You realise you are humming out loud, falling in time with the ticking of the clock on the wall. It has a cream, curved plastic frame and a handsome face. Your mother bought that clock as a housewarming gift for herself—or was it a wedding gift? She has started to mix up her own stories and timelines, months and years caught between her teeth like sesame seeds.
Something stirs and cackles in the darkness outside. It’s not a witch, but a kookaburra at dawn. Sleep finally comes. In this timeless, proportionless space, you drift peacefully, no alarms, no trains, no delays, no starts nor ends.
Blurb by Faye Tang and Viv Baker.
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We only consider previously unpublished work. (That means, alas, nothing published on Substack, Instagram, blogs and so on).
We do not accept work written with generative AI, in whole or in part.
(Note: we have recently had an increased proportion of emails ending up in writers' spam folders. Please check your spam folder if you are waiting to hear the outcome of our submission.)
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
Written work—Sunday 16 August, 11:59 pm AEST
Art, comics and comic pitches—Sunday 23 August, 11:59 AEST
Rates of pay
$120 for written work and art.
$180 for multi-page comics or suites of art.
Please read the information carefully and contact Voiceworks Editor Joel Keith if you have any questions or concerns.
Remember, you don’t have to stick to the theme! Our themes are a prompt more than a selection criteria—a springboard to get the creative ideas flowing. Most of all, we just want good work!