WesterlyMagazine

Submissions for 2023 are now closed. Submissions will open again in 2024.

In partnership with the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre and with the support of the Copyright Agency‘s Cultural Fund, Westerly Magazine is excited to announce the seventh year of our Writers’ Development Program and the third of our Mid-Career Fellowship!

The Westerly Writers’ Development Program began in 2016, supporting emerging Western Australian writers with mentoring and publishing opportunities. The Program has now been offered and delivered on six occasions, and we have been delighted and impressed with the quality of the participants’ work featured each year in our print issues and on the Westerly website. We have also loved seeing various past participants go on to further successes and publications! We’re equally excited to see what our seventh cohort might offer us.

Now in its third year, the Mid-Career Fellowship is open to mid-career writers from Western Australia, and runs concurrently with the Writers’ Development Program. The Fellowship is offered annually to two participants, who receive a $2,000 bursary aimed at supporting and advancing their careers, as well as the publication of their work as a stand-alone feature in one of our print issues for the year.

Writers’ Development Program

Commencing in February 2023, the Program will offer support to three emerging writers, aiding them in developing work for publication in Westerly. Three writers from Western Australia will be selected for the Program from applications, with selection based on merit. The Program will aim especially to engage with writers in rural and regional areas, as well as writers of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.

Each writer will be provided with:

• Mentoring guidance and full editorial feedback on up to two short fiction or four poetry manuscripts, from a relevant professional author/editor,
• A supporting two hours of consultation with that author/mentor,
• Opportunities for career development with Westerly’s editors and a network of professional writers/editors,
• The publication in Westerly Magazine’s print issue of a piece or pieces of writing developed in the Program,
• The chance to publish further work and a reflection piece on Westerly Magazine’s blog, with an online reach of several thousand,
• The opportunity to participate in Westerly events, including professional development workshops specific to the Program,
• And the opportunity for a short residency, including accommodation, at Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre.

As part of their commitment to the Program, each participant will be expected to:

• Engage in a professional working relationship with their mentor, including through email and one-on-one consultations (the Program will offer consultations via Zoom or similar for writers from rural and regional areas, if necessary),
• Work with us to organise and take up (as feasible) their residency with Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre to develop their writing,
• Work to deadline for their publication in the print issue and on the Westerly website (both in 2022).

Alongside, please note:

Writers in the Program will be recompensed for all material published in Westerly, both in print and online, as per Westerly’s general payment policy. Each participant will also be awarded a modest stipend for use in contribution to their writing development as they choose.

Mentorship will need to take place over the first half of the year, though timing within that can be arranged to suit prior commitments.

Mid-Career Fellowship

Over the year, Westerly’s Mid-Career Fellowship will offer support to two mid-career writers in advancing their careers through featured publication. Writers will produce an original prose work or poetic sequence for print and online publication in Westerly. Participants will be chosen based on merit and the submission of a concept for publication.

Each writer will be provided with:

• A Fellowship bursary of $2,000 to produce a substantial piece of writing, to be published both in print and online,
• The opportunity for a discounted residency, including accommodation, with Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre.

As part of their commitment to the Fellowship, each participant will be expected to:

• Craft a substantial, bespoke original prose work or poetic sequence, to be published both in print (in Westerly 67.1 or Westerly 67.2) and online.
• Engage with Westerly‘s broader activities and the community of Writers’ Development Program participants,
• Participate if possible in Westerly workshops, including professional development workshops with the Writers’ Development Program participants,
• Work to deadline for their publication in print issue (either 68.1 or 68.2), according to the timeline mutually agreed at the commencement of the Fellowship.

Submission Requirements

Please note:

Only one submission will be accepted per applicant.

An application fee of $10 for both the Program and the Fellowship will be applied to cover administration costs. This fee will be waived for any current subscribers, and the option to take out a discounted subscription (instead of paying the application fee) is offered at the submission point.

Submissions for the Writers’ Development Program must include:

1. A curriculum vitae: maximum of one page.

2. A sample of your writing as either: poetry (maximum two poems with 50 lines each) OR prose (maximum 1000 words).

• Genres published in Westerly include fiction, creative nonfiction, personal essay, memoir and scholarly writing.
• Manuscripts and poems should be 1.5-spaced and typed in Times New Roman font size 12, with margins no more than 2.5cm. You must ensure that all titles, headings and textual breaks are clearly marked.
• All pages should include the name of the author. Your CV must include full contact details including your best email contact, a postal address and a phone number.
• Contributors are urged to retain copies of all work submitted.
• Please collate both your CV and writing sample into a single Word or PDF document for submission.

Submissions for the Mid-Career Fellowship must include:

1. A curriculum vitae: maximum of two pages, including both publication history and an outline of any relevant professional and/or professional development activities, as a demonstration of the manner in which you are establishing your professional career. (This might include activities such as employment/employment history within a related field.)

2. A pitch or proposal for a feature to be published in both print and online format, as either: a suite of up to three poems; or a single prose work in any suitable genre of up to 5,000 words. This proposal should be no more than 500 words total, and should indicate your intentions both in theme/topic and in creative approach.

3. A sample or excerpt of your writing in the same form as the work proposed, maximum two pages.

• Forms/genres published in Westerly include poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, personal essay, memoir and scholarly writing. We welcome proposals for hybrid/experimental work, and work outside this context of form/genre, as long as context is provided for this within the pitch.
• Applicants are expected to be familiar with Westerly‘s general style and remit, and propose works which would sit within that.
• Work outlined for submission to Westerly in the pitch/proposal for the Mid-Career Fellowship must be new writing, ie. it should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration elsewhere.
• The proposal should be 1.5-spaced and typed in Times New Roman font size 12, with margins no more than 2.5cm.
• All pages should include the name of the author. Your CV must include full contact details including your best email contact, a postal address and a phone number.
• Contributors are urged to retain copies of all work submitted.
• Please collate all elements of your application into a single Word or PDF document for submission.

Style Guide

• Westerly follows the current edition of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook on all style matters.
• Westerly also follows the MLA style of referencing, with in-text citation and a list of works cited. Please conform to author/page citation, with dates only supplied in the case of multiple texts under a single author’s name. For a referencing guide, click here.
• Westerly uses endnotes, not footnotes. Endnotes should be used only where absolutely necessary.
• All pages of the application should include the name of the author. Your CV must include full contact details including your best email contact, a postal address and a phone number.
• All application materials should be saved as a single Word or PDF document and uploaded as such in submission.
• Work outlined for submission to Westerly in the pitch/proposal for the Mid-Career Fellowship must be new writing, ie. it should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration elsewhere.
• All work submitted or proposed must be entirely original and under the author’s sole copyright.
• For any questions on style, consult the Style Guide in full, on our Contribute page.

Terms and Conditions

• Applicants to both the Writers’ Development Program and the Mid-Career Fellowship must be Western Australian. This could mean they are living in Western Australia, writing in Western Australia, have a significant connection to Western Australia and/or consider themselves to be Western Australian. We ask applicants to establish their link to Western Australia within their applications, especially if the postal address listed is outside the state.
• Applicants for the Writers’ Development Program must be emerging writers, ie. must not have published a book or collection of their own.
• Applicants for the Mid-Career Fellowship must be writers in the process of establishing a professional career, who have published at least one full-length work or collection (or an equivalent, significant body of short works) and no more than four.
• Should you wish to clarify which category you fit into, please contact us.
• Previous participants of the Writers’ Development Program are not eligible to apply to the Writers’ Development Program again, but are eligible to apply for the Mid-Career Fellowship (provided they meet all other criteria).
• Applicants for both the Program and the Fellowship will be assessed by a panel of assessors, with selection based on merit.
• Work must be submitted in either Word or PDF format. Work that has been published elsewhere (in any form) will be eligible to be considered within the sample of work submitted, but publication details in this instance should be cited. The pitch/proposal for the Mid-Career Fellowship must not include work which has been previously published or which is under consideration elsewhere.
• An entry fee of $10.00 will be required to submit an application to either the Program or the Fellowship. This fee will be waived for any current subscribers, and the option to take out a discounted subscription (instead of paying the application fee) is offered at the submission point.
• The decision of the assessors is final; no correspondence will be entered into and no individual feedback will be provided.
• By submitting your entry you agree to these Terms and Conditions.