Underground Writers is pleased to welcome Lauren Pratt and Grace Wholley to the team as Junior Editors for the next six months. They will be part of the editorial team for Issues 32 and 33, while also producing listicles, interviews with Australian authors, and reviews of Aussie debut books. Get to know our new editors…
Category: Announcements
Issue 31: Sci-fi has arrived!
Cover art by Lola Issue 31: Sci-fi can be downloaded for FREE here Issue 31: Sci-fi features short stories from Jake Dean, Rachelle Erzay, Rob Johnson and Kirstie Nicholson, exploring themes of futurism, technology, space, voyages, and robots, but also families, friends, communities, and living beyond survival. Inside you’ll also find a book review of…
Issue 30: Thriller is here!
For your reading pleasure we are pleased to present issue 30: Thriller, hot off the virtual press! Interview Coordinator Shelley Carter compiled and edited the issue, which contains new original creative writing by Underground debut writers Justine McGinnis, Tara O’Brien, and Camille Booker, and we’re pleased to welcome back Esme Lee Wilmot, who was also…
Meet Our New Junior Editors: Max Vos & Ebony Bryant
Underground Writers is excited to welcome Max Vos and Ebony Bryant to the team as Junior Editors for the next six months. Max and Ebony will be part of the editorial team for Issues 30 and 31 while also producing interviews with Australian authors and reviews of Aussie debut books. Get to know our new…
Issue 29 release!
Cover art by Liana Wright The first edition of the Underground Writers zine for 2020 is here! ‘Romance’ is special because, apart from being our 29th issue, it marks the first issue since 2015, that Jemimah has not compiled the issue, instead mentoring another editor on how to assemble it. Since Underground is about expanding…
Underground is Seeking Junior Editors
Due to the increasing number of requests we’ve received from emerging editors looking for opportunities to learn, in 2020 Underground will be trialing 6-month rotations of Junior Editors to help emerging editors gain experience. Every six months, two editors will be invited to join the editorial team to edit issues and produce content for our…
Issue 28: Invitation
Cover art by Frank Candilaro ‘Invitation’ is special because, apart from being our 28th issue, it is being released on the 10th birthday of Underground’s conception in a coffee shop in Perth, way back in 2009. We’re incredibly proud of the work we do at Underground, and we look forward to growing, reaching new audiences,…
Underground Writers 10 Years On
On Friday, November 1st 2019, Underground Writers held a birthday party at PICABar in Perth to celebrate 10 years supporting Australian emerging writers. Our full team of editors were in attendance, and we were joined by a large crowd of supporters. What follows is the speech given on the night by our Editor-in-Chief, Jemimah Halbert…
Underground Turns 10
We’re turning 10 and we want to celebrate with you! Our editor-in-chief is flying in from Melbourne to help us get the party started at this special birthday celebration. We’ll be launching our 28th issue ‘Invitation’ and we’ll have hard copies of previous issues available too. If that wasn’t enough, Underground Books will have a…
Issue 27: Case
Cover by Jess Gately Issue 27: Case is here On page 6 you’ll find this issue’s book review by yours truly, then our fabulous fiction begins on page 8, continuing with our Case theme until you reach the bumper selection of opportunities for writers down on pages 22-25. We hope that this issue will help…
Issue 26: Ashes
Cover by Ari Moore Issue 26: Ashes is here for your reading pleasure. This month we bring you a tasting plate of short fiction, flash fiction and poetry by writers from around Australia, including Sophie Roberts, Elaine Mead, Nadia Kim, W.D. Farnsworth and Ash Leonard. Editor Shelley Carter gives us a run-down of Gus Henderson’s…
Issue 25 is here!
It’s a new year and we’re happy to be presenting issue #25 of the Underground Writers zine, featuring more fantastic work by a selection of creative writers from around Australia. Our work this issue includes poetry from Ion Corcos, Jasmin Seabrook-Benson, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, and Wendy Lichtenberg. Our short stories comes from Christos Sevastidis and Paul…
Issue 24 has arrived!
Issue 24 has arrived! The cover this issue was designed by WA-based artist Jonathan Park, whom you can find on Instagram at @fresh_kb Our Editors shone throughout this year, and they’ve worked hard on the short stories and poems you’ll find within the pages of issue 24. Download the issue for a fresh assortment of short…
Bedtime Story Project winners!
We are very excited to announce the winners of our Bedtime Stories competition in collaboration with the Kaleidoscope Festival! Congratulations to: Sioban Timmer with ‘It’s Hard to Hug with Wings’ Kaitlin Pradhan with ‘Finding Courage’ Chris McRae with ‘Thieving Thackeray’s Toffee Turmoil’ Sioban, Kaitlin and Chris have won a $50 book voucher each to Underground…
TAG Hungerford Award Shortlist announced
Congratulations to this year’s TAG Hungerford Award Shortlist! These six WA writers are in the running for $12,000 and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press! Yuot Alaak, Zoe Deleuil, Alan Fyfe, Holden Sheppard, Julie Sprigg and Trish Versteegen came out on top after the award’s most competitive year ever. Past winners and shortlistees include Gail…
Underground Books is now open for all your Australian debut reading needs
Underground Books, the new online bookshop from Underground Writers, officially launches this weekend. The online store will only stock debut titles from Australian or Australian-based authors with all profits from the sales going towards funding the group’s projects to support emerging Australian writers. Operations Manager and Editor-in-Chief Jemimah Halbert Brewster said the store had ‘already…
Issue 23 is here!
Issue 23 is here! This issue features our first ever visual storytelling piece: South Pacific by Louise Falconer. Our short stories are from Bayveen O’Connell with The Sun on the Snow Grave and Tea With a Bun by Margaret Pearce. Our poetry comes from repeat author Allan Lake with Winter Sunshine, and newcomers Wendy Lichtenberg with how beauty feels, Sara Morgillo’s Bugs Taught, and…
Underground Writers announce bold new initiative to support debut Australian authors
Underground Writers have announced that they will launch an online bookstore called Underground Books which will only stock debut Australian titles. All profits from the store will go towards supporting the group’s projects which provide information, education, and encouragement to emerging Australian writers. Underground Operations Manager and Editor-In-Chief, Jemimah Halbert Brewster, said the bookstore will…
Issue 22 release!
Issue 22: Pop! is here! This issue we’re very happy to have our cover designed by the talented Perth-based Alisa Dempster—you can follow her work on Instagram @trexia.art. We have both new and familiar authors this issue, hailing from Australia and further afield: our poetry is brought to you by Pat Tompkins of the San…
Issue 21: Mythological Figures
Issue 21: Mythological Figures is here! This issue is packed full of poetic goodness form MTC Cronin & Peter Boyle, Alys Jackson, Elise Kelly, and Maddie Godfrey; with room to sink your teeth into short stories from Jude Bridge, Sian Tondut, and Antony Millen. There’s a whole lot of re-tellings, re-visitings, revisions, and cheeky adn…
Issue 20: Nostalgia
Issue 20: Nostalgia is here! This issue you’ll find some excellent poetry by Allan Lake, Jan Price and Bradley Baronner, a few delectable short stories by Sarah Widdup, Jane Downing and Caitlin Farrugia, and a whole lot of fond and bittersweet Nostalgia: from places and people to time and things. We’re especially excited about our…
Underground Writers is part of the Digital Writers Festival!
We are excited to announce that Underground Writers is a part of the 2017 Digital Writers Festival! You can read issue 17: The Hitchhiker and a small interview with editor Jess Gately at the link below
Issue 19: The List is here!
Issue 19: The List has arrived! Featuring a book review by our own Shelley Timms, poetry from Eileen Chong, Genevieve Deeds-Page, Kristin Martin, Anna Jacobson, and Pat Tompkins, an album review by Nick Crameri, and short stories from Ian Adams, Edward Palumbo, Angela Hooks, and Meesh Feraud. Also featuring our June Writing Challenge winning entry: The Road…
Writing Challenge June 2017
Underground is proud to present the 2017 mid year writing challenge! In honour of upcoming issue, The List, this challenge utilises lists to help us develop settings, characters, plots and style. The rules are simple. Each day this week (Monday 12th – Sunday 18th June) at 5am (AWST) we’ll post the day’s list challenge. You’ll…
Issue 18: Black Hole is here!
Issue 18: Black Hole is here! Featuring a review by our very own Jessica Gately, poems from Anthea Yang and Jan Price, and short stories from Carmenn Alexander King Kocznur, Nerissa Marcon, Mai Nguyen, and our feature piece from Fleur Brown-Beeby, as well as the usual monthly round-up of writing opportunities. Also revealing the theme for…
We are seeking an illustrator for issue 18!
Underground is searching for artists to illustrate issue 18 “Black Hole”. If you’d like to submit your idea for our cover, send a mock up to submissions@underground-writers.org by Sunday 16th April. We pay the same rates for artists as we do our writers. If we choose your idea we will need a final product by…
January Writing Opportunity Round-up
Every month we will be doing a round-up of opportunities for writers. Read on for motivation! Local Opportunities Opportunities in Australasia and New Zealand Kat Muscat Fellowship An annual fellowship that offers professional development up to the value of $3,000 for an editorial project or work of writing by a young female-identifying or non-binary conforming…
Again, the Pozible campaign
The campaign ends To all of our supporters, Our campaign ended last night, and unfortunately we did not reach our target amount. I would like to thank everyone who pledged to us, and say that although we have been unsuccessful in reaching our monetary goal, we have achieved our goal of reaching more writers and…
Our Big Plan
All of the books, plays, movies and albums reviewed by Underground’s editors up to 2016! Underground is undergoing some big changes in 2017! The first change is that Jessica G., one of the original and founding members of Underground, has returned to us and, much like Gavin Kavanagh in The Boat That Rocked, is ready to…
The Pozible Campaign
We have just launched our very first venture into crowdfunding with a Pozible campaign, which can be found here. You can read more about it on the campaign page, but basically Underground has always run on the generosity of passionate creatives, and now we are asking for a different kind of generosity: monetary generosity! We…
Submissions for issue 16 are now open!
Submissions for issue 16 of Underground are open! We accept poetry, short fiction, flash fiction and reviews, and as always the theme is open and submission is free! For an idea of what we publish, and to learn more about us, you can download our older issues for free on the Issues page. For specs on…
Issue 15 submissions are now closed
Submissions for issue 15 of Underground are now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted; issue 15 will be released in the next few weeks!
The official Underground Goodreads page is here!
Underground now has its very own Goodreads page! Find us on Goodreads at Underground Writers and you’ll see our collection of monthly reviews. Subscribe to our feed and you’ll be notified every time a new review is released. Find our Goodreads page here
Submissions for issue 15 are open!
Submissions for issue 15 of Underground are open! We accept poetry, short fiction, flash fiction and reviews, and as usual the theme is open and submission is free! For an idea of what we publish, and to learn more about us, you can download our older issues for free on the Issues page. For specs…
Issue 14 submissions are now closed
Submissions for issue 14 of Underground closed on 20th March, thank you to everyone who submitted. Issue 14 will be released on Sunday the 10th of April; watch this space!
Submissions open for issue 14!
Submissions are open for issue 14 of Underground! Send us your best poetry, short fiction, flash fiction and reviews, and you could see your work in our next issue, due out in April. Consult our Submissions page for what we accept and how to get it to us!
Submissions for issue 13 closed
2nd January, 2016 The first news of 2016 is that submissions for issue 13 are now closed! A hearty thank you to everyone who sent us their surviving darlings! We’ve had a lot of submissions for this issue and it is partly due to you, our lovely readers and writers, spreading the word to your…
Submissions for issue 13 are open!
Submissions for issue 13 are open! 8th November, 2015 Issue 13 will be released in January 2016. As always it is an open theme and we are accepting poetry, short stories, flash fiction and reviews. Read through our submissions page, make sure your submission/s follow the guidelines, and send on over your best creative pieces! Submissions close end…
Issue 12 is here, and it’s Small and Potent
Issue 12 is finally here, and it’s small, potent and comforting, like a short black at the end of a long night. This issue features poems by Dean Meredith, short stories from Taia Jones and James Kay, October’s review by our very own DylanQuent, and introduces ShellShock, editor number 9, whose biography you can read…
Submissions for issue 12 closed
13th September, 2015 Submissions for issue 12 are now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted, and keep an eye out here for the release of issue 12!