For Writers
Submissions
We run open calls for submissions throughout the year:
- Non-fiction call-outs are open four times a year and invite full submissions in response to a loose edition theme.
- Fiction call-outs are open four times a year and invite full submissions for short fiction on any subject (short fiction doesn’t need to align with edition themes).
- Poetry call-outs are open four times a year and invite full submissions for poetry on any subject (poetry doesn’t need to align with edition themes).
- We occasionally open call outs for specific projects such as the Griffith Review Emerging Voices competition.
Griffith Review in 2023
Our 2023 edition themes are:
- Griffith Review 79: Counterfeit Culture (Feb): lifting the curtain on fakes, frauds and forgeries – CLOSED
- Griffith Review 80: Creation Stories (May): exploring the stories we tell ourselves about our place in an uncertain world – CLOSED
- Griffith Review 81: The Leisure Principle (Aug): revisiting the utopian ideal of the leisure society – CLOSED
- Griffith Review 82: Animal Magic (Nov): examining our complex relationships with creatures great and small – OPEN
Animal Magic
Whether it’s man’s best friend or the king of the jungle, animals occupy a central place in our social, emotional and cultural lives. We’re happy as clams or pigs in mud; we hold our horses or take a lion’s share of what we want; we avoid the elephant in the room or try not to open a can of worms.
This edition of Griffith Review visits habitats near and far, wild and domestic – the backyard and the dog park, the jungle and the desert, the field and the farm – to examine our complex interactions with creatures furry or scaled, four-legged or eight-limbed, winged or feathered. How has the human–animal bond evolved over the centuries? Is it ethical to have a pet? Why are so many of us averse to insects when their extinction would spell the end of life on Earth? And what truly separates us from the creatures we share the planet with? Griffith Review 82: Animal Magic lets the cat out of the bag to answer all these questions and more.
Things for you to note:
* We're looking for non-fiction that responds to the theme – we're not accepting fiction submissions for this edition.
* We'd prefer pieces that are no longer than 4,000 words (they can, of course, be much shorter than this).
* Attention poets! We'll be opening a separate poetry call-out on 24 July – keep an eye on our social media and newsletter for more details soon.
* We'll let you know the outcome of your submission within eight weeks of the call-out closing date.
Full submissions only – no pitches, please.
Publication date: 7 November 2023
Writers’ guidelines
Griffith Review is a literary and current affairs journal that’s aimed at a general readership – although we’re part of a university, we’re not an academic publication. We publish work by established and emerging writers – most from Australia, some from overseas – and we curate each edition loosely around a particular theme.
We like writing that’s erudite yet accessible, provocative yet persuasive – but what’s most important to us is that our writers have the space to express their own voice.
