Theme:
Celebrating the notion that Verge was conceived as a means of providing publication opportunities to people on the verge, the 2013 theme of the anthology is ‘Becoming’. We’re looking for work that engages with this theme in a unique an interesting way. For example, French Post-Structuralist thinkers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari hold that humans are not confined to an essential humanness distinct from our environment, but rather through experiencing our environment we become with it: “We are not in the world,” they remark, “we become with the world. … Everything is vision, becoming. We become universes. Becoming animal, plant, molecular, becoming zero” (What is Philosophy? 169).

Submission Details:
1. Submissions are open to everyone, both internationally and within Australia.

2. All submissions must be unpublished. This includes online and self-published pieces.

3. People submitting poetry may submit up to seven poems. People submitting fiction or non-fiction prose may submit two pieces and those submitting art may submit up to three pieces.

4. All prose, whether fiction or non-fiction, must be no more than 3,000 words.

5. No more than 5% of an entry may be in a language other than English.

6. All entries must engage with the theme of ‘Becoming’. Unthemed submissions will not be considered.

7. All submissions must be sent as an attachment to vergeannual@gmail.com. Please include your full name, the category of your submission and the title of your first piece.

8. Please send all work as either a .doc or .docx (written entries) or .pdf (visual entries). All visual entries must be at least 300 dpi at actual size and all cover entries must be created using InDesign.

9. Please note that this is not a paid publication. It does, however, provide a rare opportunity to have your work refereed by academics and writers.

Submission Deadline:
The deadline for all submissions is the 31^st of March 2013

Good luck everyone!

For those who missed the launch and would like to grab a copy of Verge 2012: Inverse, the anthology is available at Readings, Monash University Press online, Monash Bookstore (both in store and online), The Co-Op Bookshop at Melbourne Uni, or Footprint Books. Our amazing prize sponsor’s Collected Works and The Grumpy Swimmer will have copies available too.

Many thanks to all the people who made this year’s edition possible and happy reading!

In the meantime put 2 September in your diary because that is our launch! We will be in the Yarra Room at the Melbourne Writers Festival for an 11.30am launch. There will be readings, food/drink and a very celebratory atmosphere, so come on down and introduce yourself!

Sam and Ros

(Editors 2012)

1. We are open to all Australian residents, not just Monash students.

2. Our submissions for this year are closed, but we will open them again soon for next year’s edition. If you would like to be kept in the loop please follow us here or send us an email at arts-verge@monash.edu.

3. Our launch is being held at 11.30am on the 2nd of September at the Melbourne Writers Festival. We would love to meet you all, whether you are a prospective submitter, a prospective editor or simply interested in what we do!

Thank you to all who submitted and we will be in touch soon to announce which pieces have been selected for the journal in this year’s issue. 

Please direct any queries or comments to our email vergeannual@gmail.com

….submit now! all you budding writers, poets, critics & artists have less than four days until all submissions close, so now is the time to send us your pieces to vergeannual@gmail.com

and we’ll see you all in August for our launch at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival!

Short fiction: $80 Voucher from The Grumpy Swimmer Bookstore (Elwood)

Poetry: $50 Voucher from Collected Works Bookstore (City)

Other genres are still to be confirmed, however we hope to have a prize in each category.

Further, upper word limits on all prose shall be set at 3,000 words, with all poems not to exceed three pages single spaced.

Good luck and keep sending those submissions in! We have now extended the deadline, so our new deadline is Monday March 19th, 5:00pm AEDST.

Proposed Genres:
This year the genres will include short stories, poetry, creative non-fiction, essays, photography and comics. There will also be a competition to determine the cover design.

Who Can Contribute:
Entry is open to all Monash students, including those at campuses in India, Italy, Malaysia and South Africa, while outside entries will be allowed from all those holding either Australian citizenship or permanent residency. The majority of the publication will consist of submissions from Monash students, however in each genre the editors will select the best entry overall and this competition is open to all the submitters identified above. Prizes for the open category to follow.

Theme:
Verge 2012 will carry the theme “inverse” and good entries will engage with the theme, but often in playful and interesting ways and not let it overshadow the work. Some examples of this could include Australia’s position in the world as the supposed “upside-down” country, the image of oneself in the mirror and the opposites/doubles this implies, the mathematical inverse function, things that are not usually considered poetic “in verse” or even inverse logic. Unthemed submissions will not be accepted.

Submission Guidelines:
1. All work must be previously unpublished. In this instance “published” includes international and online appearances, whether self-published (e.g. on a blog) or not.
2. Monash students may submit two entries per genre. Outside entrants may submit one per genre.
3. No more than 5% of an entry may be in a language other than English.
4. All entries must engage with the theme of “inverse”.
5. All submissions must be sent as an attachment to vergeannual@gmail.com. Please include your full name, your Monash student number if applicable (if not please just put “open entry”) and a bio of 30 words or less.
6. Please send all work as either a .doc (written entries) or .pdf (visual entries). All visual entries must be at least 300 dpi at actual size and all cover entries must be created using InDesign.

Some things to consider:
This is not a blind submission process, however all work shall be refereed by reputable sources who are not the editors.
This is not a paid publication. All successful submitters shall receive a complimentary copy of the journal and an invitation to the launch.
If submitting a cover design, please make sure to include “Verge” “2012” and “Inverse”. If chosen as the cover, designs may be modified by the editors or Monash University Press depending on production issues, however as designer you shall be consulted.

Deadline for submissions:
Monday, 12th March 2012 at 5pm AEDT.

Good luck!

Submissions for short fiction, poetry, essays, creative non-fiction (& other genres still under consideration) will be accepted following the announcement of this year’s theme… Watch this space!