Australian magazines that publish international writers

You might not know it unless you’re from ‘Down Under’, but Australia offers some wonderful publishing opportunities. It’s home to many high-quality magazines and journals, a number of which accept work from non-Australians. Several of the journals on this month’s list reached out to us for help spreading the word to our community, and we’ve added a few others open to emerging writers from around the world. All accept fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry; many publish in print as well as digital formats; and quite a few pay contributors.

Unless we’ve noted otherwise in the description, the publisher does not charge a submission fee and welcomes simultaneous submissions.

Note: We are a creative writing school and compile these lists for the benefit of our students. We’re happy to answer questions about our courses, but please don’t send us your publishing queries or submissions :). Instead, click on the green links to go to the publication’s website and look for their submissions page. If you find something has changed, we appreciate it if you let us know in the comments. For more great places to submit as well as our best tips on getting published, check out our other lists and resources.

The Letter Review is an online publication established in 2022. They accept fiction (up to 3000 words), essays (up to 5000 words), and poetry (up to 5 poems, 15 pages max). There is a 4 USD (~ 4 EUR) submission fee, but if your work is accepted, they’ll pay you 50 USD upon publication. They are open year-round to submissions and the editors try to make a decision within 3 months. Currently, you can also enter their fiction competition for stories of 400 to 2000 words. Authors of the top three stories will win a cash prize and publication. Long-listed entries will also be considered for publication. Entry fee: 20 USD. Deadline 31 October 2022.

Pure Slush publishes regular, themed anthologies in print and digital formats. Requirements can differ so check their submission calls for details, but they typically accept poetry (80-1000 words per poem, 5 poems maximum) and prose (150-1000 words), including fiction, non-fiction stories and essays. Founding editor Matt Potter likes to work directly with writers to make sure their pieces are in the best possible shape and has published a number of our students. They do not accept simultaneous submissions but usually get back within a few weeks. Pure Slush is currently midway through their Lifespan series. Submissions for Volume 6 on the theme of Marriage close 31 July 2022. Submissions are opening 1 August for their ‘Snatches of an Aria’ anthology, which will feature “stories, essays and poems where hearing just a snatch of an aria changed things”.

Otoliths is a quarterly online magazine featuring fiction, essays, poetry (including visual/concrete poetry), photographs, art & any combination thereof. They do not accept simultaneous submissions but generally make a decision within a couple of weeks. The deadline for Issue 66 is 20 July 2022.

Rollick is an online magazine focused on “contemporary literature, thought, and opinion about popular culture, society, and everything on the periphery”. They accept fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry for themed issues. Submissions are currently open for their “Brave New Epoch” issue, which will run through 30 June 2022. The editors aim to respond within 2 months.

Overland publishes a quarterly print journal of essays, short stories and poetry; an online magazine of non-fiction articles, personal essays and creative nonfiction “directly and consistently linked to political concerns”; and occasional online editions of fiction and poetry. Contributors are paid upon publication – for the online magazine, 120 AUD (~80 EUR) per article/essay and for the print journal, 500 AUD (~325 EUR) per short story/essay/article and 150 (~100 EUR) for poems. The editors prioritise submissions by subscribers.

Griffith Review is a quarterly themed magazine available in print and digital formats. They publish essays of all kinds (personal, lyrical, research-based, analytical), memoir, and short stories in the range of 2,000 to 5,000 words as well as poetry. Once accepted, contributors are paid upon receipt of the final version of their piece. Submissions just closed for Issue 78: A Matter of Taste, but check back for their July 2022 poetry call.

Quadrant is a long-running journal of “ideas, essays, literature, poetry and historical and political debate”. It is published 10 times per year in print, digital formats and online. They accept and pay for short stories, essays and articles (1500 – 5000 words) as well as poetry.