The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) publishes the literary journal Meniscus and the writing journal TEXT, and hosts a number of creative writing competitions.
Meniscus is an online, free access literary journal. The editors and advisory board are based in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds, identities, nationalities and ethnicities, anywhere in the world. Meniscus publishes high quality, innovative poetry, prose poetry, short fiction, flash fiction and creative essays in English, or in other languages with a good parallel translation.
We don't accept work produced by generative AI, except where it may include a creative interaction between person and machine, and where the role of the AI is clearly explained.
We do accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you advise us if one of your pieces is accepted by another publisher before you hear from us.
We do accept your work if it has appeared on social media, or your own blog, but not if it has been published elsewhere.
Meniscus has two issues a year — the first around April/May, the second around October/November. We open for submissions usually from 1 Nov to 15 Jan, and for 1 June to 15 Aug for the second, and usually don't begin reading the submissions until the closing date.
The Australian Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund provided funding for the journal until 2019. At present, we regret, we cannot guarantee funding for any other contributors.
Submissions are now open for the second issue of Meniscus for 2024. Please send work on any theme, in the following forms:
* up to three poems, collected in a single document (poems should be max 75 lines each, or up to 250 words for prose poems); and/or
* up to three flash fiction stories, collected in a single document (max 500 words for each piece); and/or
* up to two prose pieces of up to 3,000 words each
Include a brief bio note (50-75 words)
Include a confirmation that it is your own work, and not previously published.
Given the complexities and multiplicities of the term 'unpublished' in this digital age, we nuance the term 'unpublished' (following the position taken by Rattle literary journal), to mean 'uncurated': that is, it should not have appeared in any 'curated' collection: a book, magazine, anthology, whether online or printed. If you've simply shared your work on social media or blogs, we define that as uncurated, and we are happy to see it submitted.
Please advise us if it is being simultaneously submitted to other literary outlets. We are happy to accept multiple submissions, but please let us know immediately if you work has been accepted by another publisher.
We are not interested in work that is the product of generative AI. If you are experimenting in creative ways with AI, and are keen to showcase the work, please include a brief statement about what you were working on, how AI responded, and what your interaction was with the platform you used.
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We are interested in any work you send, and also particularly interested in work that pushes the limits of the form/s, plays with voice, mode and style, or whatever else interests you. Feel free to contact us ahead of time if you would like to discuss your ideas.
We look forward to reading your work.