Sudden Writing Prize 2025 (for emerging writers under 25 years of age)

The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) / Voiceworks (Express Media) invite submissions of Sudden Writing. 

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. 

Theme: Open

Word count: 

· 400 words prose

· 40 lines for poetry 

· 200 words for prose poems

Submissions must be previously unpublished. Please send your most polished work, without delay.

If you win you will receive $500. You will have your work published on the Express Media website and receive a Voiceworks subscription. You will also receive a one-year membership to the AAWP, and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where you will be invited to read from your work. 

Take advantage of this opportunity to win a significant cash prize and get published. Be welcomed into the thriving writing communities of Voiceworks and the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP).

For further information, please visit: https://aawp.org.au/news/opportunities

If you have queries or questions about the AAWP’s prizes, please write to: prizes@aawp.org.au

The submission fee per entry is $5.00. Conditions of Entry and Terms and Conditions are below. 

Conditions of Entry

1. This competition is open to emerging writers under 25 years of age, and is for unpublished writing. Emerging writers will not have a full-length, single-authored, commercially published, print publication in fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry. Emerging writers who have published in electronic format only, or who have published work in collections showcasing multiple authors, are eligible. 

2. The Prize will be launched at the AAWP annual conference. Submissions close at midnight (local time) on June 30, 2025. Late submissions will not be accepted. The winner will be announced on the AAWP website and the Voiceworks website no later than September 30, 2025.

3. Entries should not exceed the guidelines: 400 words prose, 40 lines for poetry, 200 words for prose poems.

5. When submitting your work, please use the section marked ‘Cover Letter’ to add your full name, your preferred contact details (email and phone) and a 100-word author bio (as you would like it to appear on any prize announcements).

6. Suggested formatting for the entry is as follows—line spacing: 1.5, font size: 12-point, font: Times New Roman or Garamond.

6. The entry should be de-identified. The author’s name, or other identifying characteristics, should not appear on the submission. Judging is blind. 

7. You may enter as many times as you wish. Subsequent entries incur a separate fee. 

8. The AAWP reserves the right to disqualify any entry that breaches the Conditions of Entry. The entrant will be provided with written notification of the disqualification. If an entry is disqualified no refund will be given. 

9. Entries may not be altered after they have been submitted. 

10. The judges’ verdict is final. The judges will not enter into correspondence or discussion about the outcome. 

11. The AAWP will not reproduce any entries without the express permission of the entrant. 

12. There will be only one overall winner. 

13. Copyright of all submitted work remains with the entrants. The overall winner’s work will be published on the Express Media website. The author retains copyright but grants Express Media a non-exclusive, non-commercial licence to communicate and publish the work on their website (which may remain online in perpetuity), and to record and broadcast readings of the winning entry for the purposes of promoting the prize and Voiceworks, for a period of two years. 

14. The overall winner will receive $500, will have their work published on the Express Media website and receive a Voiceworks subscription.  The overall winner is also entitled to a one-year membership of the AAWP. Entrants are not required to hold an existing membership, but if they are successful then their current membership will be extended by one year.

15. AAWP conference fees (negotiated annually) are provided for the winner. The AAWP conference subsidy for the winner includes conference attendance (and all the benefits that entails). Extra fees (i.e. for the conference dinner, or for special activities such as workshops or tours) are the responsibility of the winner. Travel and accommodation are the responsibility of the winner. 

16. Entries will not be edited or altered by AAWP without the consent of the author. 

17. If your work includes Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) and you inform us of this, AAWP will acknowledge the language group or Indigenous community with an appropriate notice of custodial interest, to be negotiated with you.