A few things coming up

Here’s a few things that have come across my desk in the last little while that I thought might be of interest to you writer types (as I understand some of you may be ably described by such an epithet):

Clouds of Magellan are running a competition to source submissions for an anthology of writing to be published as part of the City of Darebin’s Northern Notes writers festival. Poetry or short stories are both being sought. Full details here (note that their site is asking for stuff themed around Melbourne’s northern suburbs, but they’ve since opened the theme up to general submissions). Get your stuff to them by July 10.

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, the online arm of the McSweeney’s empire, is looking for some new columnists to write regular features for them. The theme is open – they’re considering pitches of all stripe. Full details here. Submissions are due by July 10, which I reckon would be their July 10, so you might be able to get something to them on July 11, given our position relative to the International Dateline.

Realise your Dream is an annual mentorship program run by the British Council. Basically the deal is you could score yourself a paid trip to London and an artistic mentorship with some of the UK’s best and brightest, tailored to your specific needs. It’s open to all artforms, including writing and literature. Applications are currently open until 3 July, so quick sticks I reckon. Full details here.

Voiceworks have started up a readers group for people 14-18 years old. Every time an issue of Voiceworks comes out they’re going to run one of these, a sort of networking event for young writers to meet each other and to get some tips and advice about making your way in the world of writing. Full details here.

Finally, Michael Farrell is looking for poems for a John Ashbery tribute volume. He’s after writing by Australian poets who are influenced by or interested in Mr. Ashbery’s work in some way. There’s no publisher attached at the moment, but Mr. Farrell reckons the idea’s got legs. If you’re interested, ou can chat to him about it, or submit something to MF at limecha SPRECKEN hotmail DONNER com.

So there you go – some opportunities that might be worthy of being taken advantage of in some way or another. If you decide to explore any of these enticing avenues, I wish you bon chance, mes amis.