Submission Guidelines 

Please make sure you read the following guidelines closely. If you’re unsure about any of the guidelines, please contact Voiceworks editor Selina Moir-Wilson at editor@expressmedia.org.au.    

We are only able to publish work by writers and artists who are under twenty-five at the time of submission. Please also keep in mind that because of our funding arrangements, we are only able to publish writers living in Australia or Australian writers living overseas.

Voiceworks only considers previously unpublished work (which includes personal websites and blogs). We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere.    

If your submission is unsuccessful, we will notify you as soon as we can and then provide you with detailed feedback a little later. Feedback is written by a small group of volunteers and we receive a lot of submissions, so we appreciate your patience. If you think something’s gone wrong, or you haven’t heard from us three months after the submission deadline, please get in touch.   

Visual Art and Comics Guidelines 

Visual art submissions include comics, illustrations, drawings, graphics, etc. We recommend that you pitch your comics before sending them to us. For advice on how to construct your pitch, check out our handy guide here.  We print in duotone (two colours) and our page dimensions are 170 x 245 mm. Please supply your images in greyscale, at actual size and 300dpi. Please name your files—strings of numbers and letters are easily confused with other submissions.

Deadline: Sunday 5 November, 11:59 AEST 

Theme: Strike

You fantasise about swift action; an arm slicing through water, utter refusal. A sharp, unmistakable call. Brood in the non-place between thinking and doing. The run before the leap. The leap before the landing. Prepare yourself for the thwack wallop of realisation. Check your periphery. Wear your shin pads.
 

It’s a hushed judgement, a snarky email, a roll of the eyes in the staff kitchen. “No big deal.” Push it away, brush it off, back to business as usual. But each microaggression is a strike on the scoreboard, building to action. Will it be a warning or a final blow? How many strikes until you’re they’re out?
 

Outside, you hear rumbling. Voices from the underbrush, smoke in the distance, strength in numbers. A match has been struck. They can try and blow it out, diminishing the flame, but a burnt scorched match doesn’t go back in the box. Throw it away, try to erase it,  but a charred tip won’t go back to its original red. A tit for tat.
 

When all action is reaction, how do you strike a balance? Caught between blunt force and desire, can you strike a deal?

—Thanks to EdCommers Tiia Kelly and Helen Karakulak for the blurb.

Remember, you don't have to stick to the theme. Most of all, we want good writing!   

Rates of Pay 

$100 for single-page art and comics 

$150 for multi-page comics or suites of art  

Terms of Publication 

Express Media publishes work in Voiceworks on a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free basis. We require writers who will be published in Voiceworks to sign a licence deed granting us permission to publish work in the printed Voiceworks magazine, on the Express Media and Voiceworks websites, and for use in promoting our magazine. Writers retain copyright of their work and are free to use in whatever way they’d like in the future. Please only submit your work if you are satisfied with these terms. For more information about this, please contact us.   

Subscribe 

To get a better idea of what kind of work we publish in the magazine, and to help us continue to support young writers, you can subscribe* to Voiceworks here.      

*Choosing not to subscribe will not impact your submission.

About The Kat Muscat Fellowship

With the generous support of the Muscat family and the broader community, Express Media is honoured to present the 2024 Kat Muscat Fellowship, offering support and development for a young writer or editor.

Kat Muscat was a brilliant young mind of the Australian writing community, whose formidable talent was demonstrated extensively through her incisive writing and perceptive editing. Kat was an integral part of the Express Media community for many years, before stepping up to become Editor of Voiceworks from 2012 – 2014. Throughout her 10 years with Express Media, Kat helped to shape the careers of young writers and editors from all around Australia.

Kat’s writing embodied her personal mantra of defiance, feminism and empathy, and the recipient of the Fellowship will take up her notion of challenge: exploring bold subjects, thinking deeply and critically about the world and the culture we consume, and reflecting and building on the craft of writing or editing.

The Kat Muscat Fellowship offers professional development up to the value of $5,000 for an editorial project or work of writing by a young person of an underrepresented gender. The work must respond to the above values and provocation, continuing Kat’s legacy and further developing the future of defiant and empathetic young Australian writers and editors.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, applicants must: 

• Be a person of an underrepresented gender or sex. This includes cis women, trans women, trans men, non-binary people, intersex people, gender diverse people and those who are otherwise marginalised.
• Be aged 16 to 30 at the commencement of the fellowship on February 26, 2024
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia
• Propose a suitable project that aligns with the theme of ‘Challenge’, and the values of Express Media and The Kat Muscat Fellowship.

The committee is evolving and so is the language we use for the fellowship. In regards to gender eligibility for this fellowship, if you feel this should include you but doesn’t, please get in touch (details below).

What Can I Apply For?

The Kat Muscat Fellowship offers professional development up to the value of $5,000 in 2024. These funds may be used towards professional development opportunities, including, but not limited to: mentoring, residencies, interstate travel, or project fees.

A proposed budget must be submitted as part of the application process, and the final budget will be developed in consultation with Express Media.

Selection Criteria

These must be directly addressed in your application 

• Vision: What is your idea and proposed project?
• Impact: What impact will the Kat Muscat Fellowship have on your artistic practice and career, and what is the potential impact of your project on the wider community?
• Capacity: What relevant experience or track record have you demonstrated, or how can you outline your personal and creative potential to make this project happen?
• Feasibility: How will you realise or execute your proposed project, and is it achievable within the budget and timeframe of the Fellowship? Please include a brief budget to indicate how the funds will be used and if you have secured other funding for this project. If you would like to use our budget template you can download it in Word format here.

The Custodial Committee of The Kat Muscat Legacy Projects, which includes members of Express Media’s board and staff, the Muscat family and appointed community members, will select successful applications.

Reporting

The successful applicant will be required to submit a brief update in October 2024. At the completion of the fellowship, the successful applicant will be required to provide a report on the activity undertaken throughout the year.

This report will be retained for Express Media and the Muscat family for their records and may be used to promote the Fellowship in future years. Guidelines for reporting will be provided to the fellow by Express Media.

How To Apply

Applications will only be accepted from individual writers and editors, and not co-writers, collectives, groups or existing publications.

Your application must include: 

1. A succinct summary of your proposed project, no longer than one to two sentences.
2. A 1-page CV outlining your previous experience as a writer or editor. This CV must include the names and contact details of at least 2 referees.
3. A statement detailing your project or idea that addresses each of the Selection Criteria, to a maximum of 2 pages. You must address each criterion under a separate heading.
4. A brief budget. There is no set template, but an example can be downloaded here.
5. An excerpt or example of your work up to 1000 words.

• For writers, this may be an excerpt from a longer work, a completed short work, or a suite of poems.
• For editors, this may include an editorial, a statement of intent for the project, or an example of work that demonstrates your skills in curation, assessment, and feedback (i.e. the before and after of an edited work).

Your application may also include up to 3 letters of support from peers, colleagues or other professionals of standing that, if relevant, demonstrate how the supporter would be involved in your project.

Applications close 11.59pm Sunday January 21, 2024. 

Terms and Conditions

1. Applications close 11.59pm Sunday January 21, 2024.
2. Late applications will not be accepted.
3. Applicants are limited to one submission per year.
4. All members currently serving on the Express Media Management Committee and all paid, permanent staff of Express Media are ineligible to enter.
5. Submissions will be acknowledged by email following the closing of submissions.
6. Application materials will not be returned.
7. Express Media may contact you for clarification or to request further information in relation to your application and project proposal.
8. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their proposal by February 12.
9. The successful applicant will work with Express Media and the Custodial Committee to shape and deliver the development plan for their fellowship, beginning in March 2024.
10. Any re-negotiation of activity to be undertaken as part of the Fellowship will be agreed to in consultation with Express Media and the Custodial Committee.
11. The successful applicant will be required to provide a short report on the activities undertaken during the fellowship no later than one month after the completion of the fellowship. They will also be required to provide a short progress report in October 2024. Guidelines for these reports will be provided by Express Media.
12. The successful applicant will acknowledge the support of The Kat Muscat Fellowship in future publication or dissemination of the work developed through the fellowship.
13. An extract of the applicant’s work or a section of their final report may be published on the Express Media website.
14. The successful applicant agrees, where possible, to take part in events, media and fundraising activities that promote the Fellowship.
15. The Custodial Committee may decide not to award the prize if they do not believe any of the entries to be of a suitable standard.

Further Information 

Do you have a question regarding your application? Please contact Express Media by email at creativeproducer@expressmedia.org.au