Category Archives: OPPORTUNITIES

AAWP’s 2026 Prizes Are Open

The Australasian Association of Writing Programs’ suite of writing prizes are back for 2026 and are open now. Keep reading for all the details.

AAWP & Recent Work Press Novella Prize

On a blurry green-grey background, text reads: AAWP and RWP Novella Prize 2026. Novella Prize —Publication Pathway and Cash Prize Have you written a novella in prose or verse or a hybrid novella that crosses genre boundaries? Enter the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and Recent Work Press (RWP) Novella Prize for your chance to win. If you win you will receive: a written commendation from AAWP $500 cash prize fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual AAWP conference (November 2026) If your manuscript is as robust as the synopsis and opening extract of your novella, you may secure a publishing contract with RWP: recentworkpress.com For further information, please visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit.

Have you written a novella in prose or verse? Or a hybrid novella that crosses genre boundaries? Enter the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and Recent Work Press (RWP) ‘Novella Prize’ for your chance to win.

If you win you will receive: a written commendation from AAWP. This ‘tick of approval’ will see your manuscript assessed without delay. You will, effectively, leap to the top of the submissions pile. You will also receive a $500.00 cash prize and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP (November 2026) where you will be invited to read from your work.

If your full manuscript is as robust as the synopsis and opening extract, you may secure a publishing contract with RWP: https://recentworkpress.com

Take advantage of this stunning opportunity. Fast track your writing journey in a fiercely competitive market.

Read the full terms of entry here

Enter the AAWP & RWP Novella Prize here

**AAWP & Westerly Magazine Life Writing Prize**

Overlayed on a photograph of a navy blue brick wall, text reads: AAWP and Westerly Magazine Life Writing Prize 2026. The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and Westerly Magazine are proud to offer a prize for life writing. In 2026, The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and Westerly Magazine are offering a prize for writers at all stages of their journey; both emerging and established writers are welcome to enter. We welcome submissions of autobiography, biography, memoir, and essay. We celebrate Life Writing as a rumination upon memory and experience and encourage creative and hybrid approaches. Hybrid storytelling is broadly conceived as storytelling that crosses traditional boundaries of nonfiction and creative nonfiction and/or is experimental in form. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, a written commendation from AAWP and the winner’s work will be considered for publication by Westerly. Entries Close: 30 June 2026. For further information, please visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit

In 2026, the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and Westerly Magazine are offering a prize for Life Writing. We welcome submissions of autobiography, biography, memoir, and essays. We celebrate Life Writing as a rumination upon memory and experience and encourage creative and hybrid approaches.

The prize is open to writers at all stages of their journey; emerging and established writers are welcome to enter. The prize recognises excellence in nonfiction, creative nonfiction and hybrid modes of storytelling. Hybrid storytelling is broadly conceived as storytelling that crosses traditional boundaries of nonfiction and creative nonfiction and/or is experimental in form.

We invite you to send Life Writing submissions of up to 3500 words. The winner will receive a written commendation from AAWP, a $500 cash prize, a one-year subscription to Westerly, and conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where they will be invited to read from their work. Please see item 3 (Terms and conditions). The winner’s work will be considered for publication by Westerly.

We encourage you to take advantage of this stunning opportunity to celebrate diverse interpretations of nonfiction, creative nonfiction and hybrid modes of storytelling, and be welcomed into the thriving community of writers associated with the AAWP.

Read the full terms of entry here
Enter the AAWP & Westerly Magazine Life Writing Prize here

AAWP & Express Media Sudden Writing Prize

On a light blue abstract photograph, text reads: Sudden Writing Prize 2026. Emerging writers under 25. Open theme. Short-short fiction, sudden fiction, sketchy stories, creative nonfiction, poetry. Prose: 400 words. Poetry: 40 lines. Prose poetry: 200 words. Submissions close 30 June 2026. For further information, please visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit

We are deeply interested in capturing a composite “picture” of what people are writing about. Now. Please send creative work—short-short fiction, “sudden” fiction, “sketchy” stories, creative nonfiction, poetry, as well as hybrid forms.

We are accepting submissions on the following scale: up to 400 words prose, 40 lines for poetry, 200 words for prose poems, and the equivalent for hybrid forms. Submissions must be previously unpublished. Please send your most polished work, without delay.

If you win you will receive a written commendation from AAWP and a $500 cash prize. You will have your work published on the Express Media website and receive a Voiceworks subscription. You will also receive fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where you will be invited to read from your work.
Read the full terms of entry here

Enter the AAWP & Express Media Sudden Writing Prize here

AAWP & Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Translators’ Prize

Next to a close-up photograph of a woman clapping in that audience of an UWRF event, and on a brown background, text reads: AAWP and UWRF Translators' Prize. The AAWP X UWRF Translators’ Prize is offered by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) in partnership with Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF). The prize is open translators at all stages of their career. The aim of the prize is to promote the work of emerging translators by facilitating networking opportunities and publication pathways. The winner will receive an invitation to attend and participate in Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2026, including accommodation for the duration of the festival. In addition, the winner will receive fully subsidised fees to attend the AAWP annual conference and a written commendation from AAWP. Entries close: 30 June 2026. Visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit

This prize is offered in partnership with the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), and is open to translators at any stage of their career.

The winner receives a written commendation from AAWP, a festival pass to UWRF and accomodation for the duration of the festival (*Terms and Conditions apply, see below). In addition, you will receive fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where you will be invited to read from your work. The editors at Meniscus Literary Journal will also consider your work for publication.

Entries must be no more than 30 lines (poetry) or 3000 words (prose), and entrants can translate their own work into English. Entries must be accompanied by a ‘Translator’s Statement of Intention’ (up to 400 words) addressing the aims of the translation.

Read the full terms of entry here

Enter the AAWP & UWRF Translators’ Prize here

AAWP & UWRF Emerging Writers‘ Prize for Prose

Next to a close-up photograph of a man in that audience of an UWRF event, and on a brown background, text reads: AAWP X UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Prose The AAWP X UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Prose is offered by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) in partnership with Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF). The prize is open to emerging writers of prose only. The aim of the prize is to foster global writing communities: to promote the work of under-represented writers to a broader “English-reading” audience. The winner will receive an invitation to attend and participate in Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2026, including accommodation for the duration of the festival. In addition, the winner will receive fully subsidised fees to attend the AAWP annual conference and a written commendation from AAWP. Entries close: 30 June 2026. Visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit

This prize is offered in partnership with the UBUD Writers and Readers Festival, and is aimed at emerging writers of short fiction.

If you win you will receive: a festival pass to UWRF and accommodation for the duration of the festival (*Terms and Conditions apply, see below). In addition, you will receive fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP. The editors at Meniscus will also consider your work for publication.

Take advantage of this stunning opportunity to celebrate the craft of writing at Southeast Asia’s largest and most exciting literary festival. Be welcomed into the thriving community of writers within the AAWP. Enter your short story and make the most of this generous publication pathway and networking opportunity for emerging writers. Entries should not exceed 3000 words.

Read the full terms of entry here

Enter the AAWP & UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Prose here

AAWP & UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Poetry

Next to a close-up photograph of a hand signing a book at an UWRF event, and on a white background, text reads: AAWP X UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Poetry The AAWP X UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for poetry is offered by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) in partnership with Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF). The prize is open to emerging writers of poetry only. The aim of the prize is to foster global writing communities: to promote the work of under-represented writers to a broader “English-reading” audience. The winner will receive an invitation to attend and participate in Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2026, including accommodation for the duration of the festival. In addition, the winner will receive fully subsidised fees to attend the AAWP annual conference and a written commendation from AAWP. Entries close: 30 June 2026. Visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit

Enter your poem in the ‘AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Poetry for your chance to win.

Take advantage of this stunning opportunity to celebrate the craft of writing at Southeast Asia’s largest and most exciting literary festival. Be welcomed into the thriving community of writers within the AAWP. Enter your poem and make the most of this generous publication pathway and networking opportunity for emerging writers.

Read the full terms of entry here
Enter the AAWP & UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize for Poetry here

Chapter One Prize

Overlayed on a photo of a pile of books, text reads: Chapter One. The AAWP’s Publication Pathway for Emerging Writers. Have you written a poetry collection, literary novel, short story collection, or a hybrid work that crosses genre boundaries? Enter the Australasian Association of Writing Programs’ (AAWP) ‘Chapter One’ competition for your chance to win. If you win, your work will be assessed by the University of Western Australia Publishing, as a matter of priority. You will effectively leap to the top of the submission pile. You will also receive a $500 cash prize, a written commendation from AAWP and fully subsidised conference feels to attend the annual conference of the AAWP (November 2026) where you will be invited to read from your work. If your full manuscript is as robust as ‘Chapter One’ you may secure a publishing contract with UWAP: http://uwap.uwa.edu.au. Take advantage of this stunning opportunity. Fast track your writing journey in a fiercely competitive market. Entries close 30 June 2026. For further information, please visit: meniscusliteraryjournal.submittable.com/submit

Have you written a poetry collection, literary novel, short story collection or a hybrid work that crosses genre boundaries? Enter the Australasian Association of Writing Programs’ (AAWP) ‘Chapter One’ competition for your chance to win.

If you win you will receive: a written commendation from AAWP and a letter of recommendation to the University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). This ‘tick of approval’ will see your manuscript assessed without delay. You will, effectively, leap to the top of the submissions pile. You will also receive a $500.00 cash prize and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP (November 2026) where you will be invited to read from your work.

If your full manuscript is as robust as ‘Chapter One’ you may secure a publishing contract with UWAP: http://uwap.uwa.edu.au.

Take advantage of this stunning opportunity. Fast track your writing journey in a fiercely competitive market.

You must be an AAWP member, and you may enter as many times as you like.

Read the full terms of entry here

Enter the Chapter One Prize here

The Prizes and Partnerships Portfolio is managed by AAWP President | Chair, Associate Professor Julia Prendergast, contactable directly at jprendergast@swin.edu.au

Got a question? Want to be on our focused Prizes email list? Email us at prizes@aawp.org.au

AAWP prizes have been ratified by Arts Law: ‘Arts Law was very impressed with AAWP’s attitude, which clearly demonstrated AAWP’s respect for writers.’

You can read more here:Arts Law Advises AAWP on Best Practice

For more information about the AAWP Prizes—including past winners and publication updates—visit this page on our website.

Call for Applications: Inaugural Cinder Mentorship Program

In 2026, the Australian scholarly journal Cinder is transforming to a mentorship program. The program aims to support Higher Degree Researchers and Early Career Researchers to develop and submit a journal article to TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses.

If you are a Higher Degree Researcher or an Early Career Researcher (including independent scholars) who is seeking support to develop a draft scholarly paper suitable for TEXT, you are invited to apply. Early Career Researchers must be within 5 years of PhD conferral. You can read more about TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses here.

Successful applicants will be placed with a mentor – a topic or industry expert – who will read your work, provide feedback during a 30-minute meeting and review changes made in response to feedback. With mentor support, developed papers will be invited for submission to TEXT. You may negotiate a timeline with your mentor; however, it is anticipated that mentorships will not extend beyond 12 months.

The Cinder Mentorship consists of 6 places per year. Two places will be reserved for HDRs and ECRs from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The mentorship will also seek to support writer-scholars who are yet to be published or who experience barriers to support to develop scholarship.

To apply:

Write an application of no more than 1 page outlining:

A title, abstract and keywords of a proposed paper with the potential to be published in TEXT,
A short bio including relevant education, industry experience and any previous publications,
A short statement outlining the value of the mentorship to the applicant, including any information about your background you feel is relevant to the application, and
Your contact details.

Send applications and queries to the Cinder Mentorship Program coordinator, Ariella van Luyn: avanluyn@une.edu.au

Submissions open 1 January 2026 and will remain open until filled or 1 July 2026. You’re encouraged to submit early, as places may fill quickly.

Call for Expert Writing Mentors

We are inviting experienced academics, independent scholars and industry experts in writing, writing studies and adjacent disciplines to volunteer to act as Expert Writing Mentors as part of the Cinder Mentorship Program.

If you volunteer, your name and areas of expertise will be added to a list of mentors held by the mentorship coordinator. You may be contacted inquiring about your interest and capacity to read a draft paper, meet for 30 minutes with a mentee, and receive an account of their revisions in response to your feedback. If you agree, you will be put in touch with your mentee. You will be asked to provide a short progress update to the Cinder Mentorship Program coordinator. You may negotiate a timeline with your mentee; however, it is anticipated that mentorships will not extend beyond 12 months.

If you are interested in being an Expert Writing Mentor in the Cinder mentorship program, please submit:

Your name,

Position title and short CV,

Your best contact details, and

Areas of expertise

Expressions of interest and queries can be sent to Cinder Mentorship Program coordinator, Ariella van Luyn: avanluyn@une.edu.au

Closing Soon: AAWP 2025 Annual Conference Call for Abstracts

Movement & Stasis: 30th Annual Australasian Association of Writing Programs Conference

University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3 – 5 December 2025

This year’s conference is on the theme of Movement and Stasis. We invite abstracts for conference presentations of 15 or 20 minutes in duration and pre-formed collaborative discussion panels (three to four panellists only) that reflect consideration of movement and stasis. We encourage any or all modes of presentation.

We welcome the submission of abstracts relevant to the creative writing discipline, on creative and professional writing practices and processes, research in creative writing, the teaching of writing and related issues.

The deadline for abstract submissions is 30 May 2025.

For more information and submission guidelines visit the AAWP website here.

2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize

The $150,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize is open for submissions in two categories – Adult and Children &Young (CYA) Adult. $100,000 will be awarded to the Adult category winner, with an additional $5,000 awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors. In the CYA category, the winner receives $30,000, while the two short listers receives $5,000 each.

The prize is open to authors who are citizens or residents of Australia and New Zealand. Novels must have been first published between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.

Submissions close 11 June 2025 5pm AEDT.

Learn more via the Historical Novel Society Australasia website here.

2026 National Library of Australia Fellowships

Open to researchers in various fields and disciplines, these fellowships offer financial and research support for residencies at the National Library. Providing extended access to Australia’s largest cultural collection, National Library Fellowships foster research that produces new knowledge to shape Australia’s intellectual landscape and contributes to public understanding of our collections.

The Library’s Fellowships offer experienced researchers an opportunity to undertake deep and sustained research at the National Library using the Library’s collections.

Fellowships are available to researchers who require onsite access to the Library’s uniquely held or extensive collections to advance their research towards publication or other public outcomes.

Applicants may work in any field or discipline where the Library’s collections have appropriate depth and breadth to support the desired outcomes.

Applications for National Library of Australia Fellowships and the Creative Arts Fellowship will close on Monday 5 May 2025.

Learn more via the National Library of Australia website here.

2025 Writers on the Reef Residency

The Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing at James Cook University is pleased to invite applications for its 2025 Writers on the Reef Residency.

The residency is open to published or emerging writers who have a current project to work on during their stay.

From the 13-20 August, 2025, 5 writers will be in residence at beautiful waterfront beach house in Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island.

This year’s residency invites writers of any genre with environmental themes, including but not limited to writing on nature, conservation, islands, oceans, beaches, Sea Country, ecosystems, sustainability, and island communities—or which may resonate in particular with Magnetic Island and its natural, social, or cultural history and habitat.

Applications close 2 May 2025.

Learn more via the JCU website here.

Don Bank Museum Writer in Residence Program

Writers of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, memoir and plays who are from Metropolitan Sydney are invited to apply for this unique opportunity to pursue their inspiration in the tranquil and historic Don Bank Museum whilst contributing to the cultural life of the local community.

This program aims to support writers at all stages of their career.

The successful candidate will benefit from a special one-hour consultation with a publisher from Penguin Random House, networking with the local writing community and Council’s Arts and Events initiaitives, and more.

Applications close Monday 14 April 2025.

Learn more via the North Sydney Council website here.

AAALS Creative Writing Competition

The American Association of Australasian Literary Studies (AAALS), together with the American Australian Association, welcomes submissions to our annual creative writing competition between 1-31 March 2025.

The competition invites entries in the following categories:

· Poetry

· Creative Prose

· Indigenous Writers Poetry

· Indigenous Writers Creative Prose

With the generous support of the American Australian Association, the value of these prizes has been increased. The winner of each prize will now be awarded US$1000, plus publication in the journal Antipodes.

Further details are available here: https://aaals.org/antipodes/, with submissions accepted through the Antipodes portal during March 2025: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/antipodes/submission_guidelines.html.

The Writer’s Way: A Writer’s (Re)treat to (Re)discover the Joy of Writing

The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP)* is delighted to announce a new collaboration with The Writer’s Way retreats – immersive experiences designed to (re)connect writers with creativity, presence, and purpose.

Set in the spectacular Blackall Range of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast hinterland, The Writer’s Way welcomes writers of all backgrounds – creative, academic, and professional – to a retreat founded in mindfulness, not as theory, but as practice.

At The Writer’s Way retreats, you’ll explore meditative, contemplative, and reflective practices intended to deepen your connection to yourself as a writer, refine your creative process, and potentially, elevate the quality of your work. Whether you’re seeking a physical escape, a mental reset, or a spiritual (re)treat to strengthen your sense of purpose, The Writer’s Way provides a perfect setting, a tranquil space to (re)discover the joy of writing.

With limited places available, the next retreat runs 29 May – 1 June 2025.

For details and bookings: https://thewritersway.com.au.

*Special Offer: AAWP members who are Higher Degree Research (HDR) students or Early Career Researchers (ECRs) can apply for a special accommodation rate.

Call for book chapters–Pasts Imagined: Creative Methods in Knowledge Production about History, Memory and Culture

Creative methods are increasingly considered a source for new knowledge production, while the past has increasingly become a site of fascination and nostalgia for contemporary audiences and scholars alike. The popularity of media such as TV including Empress Ki (2013), Stranger Things (2016), Bridgerton (2020), Oppenheimer (2023), novels like Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles (2011) and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing (2016) and podcasts like The Rest is History (2021—) demonstrate a hunger for representations of an imagined past. The past has also become highly politicised: it may seem like a safe haven in times when the future seems blighted by climate crisis, war and illness, while nationalists use an imagined golden age to justify conservatism and violence.

Yet, historical revisionism might also offer a way of giving voice to marginalised perspectives at the intersections of gender, sex, race, ability, sexuality, religion and embodiment. What, then, does this mean for contemporary artists, arts-workers and communities to return, revise or intervene in narratives about the past? In what ways can techniques like fictionalisation and anachronism draw attention to the links between past, present and future? What are the ethics and methodological responsibilities of representing the past in multiple media? In what ways can other versions of the past disrupt dominant knowledge systems and power structures?

Proposed chapters should interrogate these questions with examples across the creative arts, media, cultural studies and museum and gallery studies. Chapters should focus on examples drawn from creative practice and/or creative works or exhibitions. We are particularly interested in chapter proposals that problematise acts of construction, invention and anachronism and understand the epistemological value of such work.

Book editors: Ariella Van Luyn, Alina Kozlovski, Chris Muller

Title and 250-300 word abstracts for chapters of 5000-6000 words due: 3 March 2025

Please submit to avanluyn@une.edu.au

Book proposal developed and submitted: mid 2025

Developed chapters due: End 2025