The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research (ACLAR) invites applications for the editorship of Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature to run for a period of four years from July 2016. Current editors, Professor Clare Bradford and Professor Kerry Mallan, intend to step down from this role at that point, but will work with the incoming editor(s) during a transition period.

Expressions of Interest are invited from individuals or editorial teams. Please consider the above Duties and selection criteria in making the decision to submit a formal application.

Formal applications (which will be invited following the receipt of EOI’s) will be due by August 31, 2016 and will require the submission of:

– A full curriculum vitae for each individual in a primary editorial position
– A detailed response to each of the selection criteria above
– Statements of support as appropriate from institutions / faculties / research
centres named in the application
– A brief outline of how you see the journal developing over the course of your
editorship, should you be awarded the position

Please forward your EOI by email to: ACLAR President, Dr Anthony Eaton (Tony.Eaton@canberra.edu.au) no later than 30 July 2016. If you require further information about the role, see the complete EOI information sheet or contact: Professor Clare Bradford (clare.bradford@deakin.edu.au) or Professor Kerry Mallan (k.mallan@qut.edu.au)

The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research (ACLAR) is calling for submissions for the second biennial Kate McInally Postgraduate Essay Prize.

The Prize is in honour of Dr Kate McInally, a previous Vice-President  of the ACLAR and passionate scholar and teacher of children’s literature. Kate inspired numerous students to undertake research at the masters and doctoral levels. As such, this award follows Kate’s example by continuing to foster future scholars in the discipline of children’s literature studies.

The prize, worth $500, is awarded to the best essay by a postgraduate student in children’s literature studies, as judged by ACLAR board members. It will be announced and awarded at the biennial ACLAR conference, which will be held at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University, July 13-15, 2016.

For more information and how to submit, see the complete call for papers

Expressions of interest are sought from scholars for a new special issue of TEXT journal titled: Beyond the Line: Contemporary Prose Poetry

Just a couple of decades ago, prose poetry occupied a very minor corner of the poetry
spectrum, although in fact many major poets have published works in that form. As early
as the mid 1970s, anthologies of prose poems were emerging in the USA, but they were
preceded by work produced in Europe: the Romantic Fragment of the 19th century
German scene (which was quickly adopted by British Romantics), and then the early 20th
century experiments, and particularly the poetic avant garde in France.

Scholarly writings on the prose poem trace its history, and discuss its difficult relationship
to genre: is it a fragment; or a very short story; or an imagistic moment; or just a poem
without linebreaks?

See the full call for papers for details on how to submit

The second conference of the Aotearoa Creative Writing Research Network aims to bring together creative writing teachers from Aotearoa, the Pacific and beyond to continue discourse around the practice of creative writing pedagogy in our time and place. The conference is now confirmed for 10/11 September at the Auckland University of Technology.

Ahi Kā will feature a range of panel discussions and readings, a postgraduate forum, and a keynote (TBA) on the important issues facing creative writing and its teaching.

Key Dates

15 May: Call for ‘sparks’.

20 June: Spark abstracts due 18 July-: Online Conference registration open; early bird rates apply (online registration will be linked from the ACRWN website)

10/11 September: Ahi Kā: Building the Fire Conference

What is ACRWN?

The Aotearoa Creative Writing Research Network (ACWRN) is a cross-university initiative joining creative writing teachers in New Zealand. The organisation opens opportunities for discussion, collaboration, publication, and publicity about issues relating to Creative Writing at tertiary institutions. The ACWRN website provides Creative Writing resources, events & news, a members directory, and a searchable Australasian database for Creative Writing teachers, supervisors, and examiners.

The Australian Centre is pleased to announce the following awards are open for applications:

Kate Challis RAKA Award 2016

The award of $20,000 (approx.) will be offered to the best book of fiction already published and written in English by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Please visit the website for more information.

Applications close 24 June 2016

Peter Blazey Fellowship 2017

The award of $15,000 (approx.) and a one-month writer-in-residency at the Australian Centre is for writers in the non-fiction fields of biography, autobiography and life writing and is intended to further a work in progress.

Please visit the website for more information.

Applications close 15 July 2016

The recipients will be announced at Melbourne Writers Festival, 2.30pm, Sunday 3 September at The Cube, ACMI.

Monash University seeks to fill a continuing position to be taken up (preferably) by 1 December 2016. The appointee to this position is expected to have a dynamic research and teaching profile. For more information and how to apply, see their website

The University of Canberra is hosting a two-part workshop with Professor Michael Grenfell, Professor of Education at Trinity College, University of Dublin on December 1, 2016.

The workshop will consider a range of theoretical approaches to Creativity and their applications in practice from diverse perspectives, including philosophy, aesthetics, sociology and psychology. The aim is to explore the essential features of Creativity and how they play out procedurally from different points of view.

The workshop is open to postgraduate students and early career academics (up till two years after finishing their postgraduate studies). Those interested in participating should visit the University of Canberra’s website.

If you are an emerging writer based in Australasia, take note! In partnership with Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF), we are offering a once-in-a-lifetime Prize.

The winner of this Prize will receive a ticket to the festival, accommodation for the duration of the festival and $500 towards economy airfares. In addition, you will receive a one-year annual membership to the AAWP and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference in Canberra, where you are invited to read from your work. In addition, the editors at Meniscus will consider your work for publication.

Sound good? Take a look at the terms and conditions and visit the UWRF site for more information

TEXTJournal’s Vol 20 No 1, including the Special Issue ‘Writing and Illustrating Interdisciplinary Research’ edited by Simon Dwyer, Rachel Franks, Monica Galassi and Kirsten Thorpe, is live on the TEXT website! The journal is open access and is available here.

This issue features several exciting papers from both AAWP members and academics in the community. Jessica Gildersleeve’s review of Quinn Eades’, all the beginnings: a queer autobiography of the body, which was launched at last year’s conference, is also included in this month’s issue.

TEXT is currently open to submissions for the October issue. For more information, visit the journal’s submission guidelines.

AAWP is proud to launch the latest issue of Meniscus! Volume 4, Issue 1 contains not only the general issue, but also the latest Special Issue: Beyond the Divide edited by Dallas John Baker, which focuses on writing from the other side (geographical, political, linguistic or cultural).

Submissions to the next issue of Meniscus are now invited. Creative writing of any genre—poetry, micro fiction, short fiction, creative nonfiction, essays—is welcome. See the website for more information.