Submit

Submissions to Mascara Literary Review are by e-mail. Our editors work on a voluntary basis. We only consider previously unpublished work, ie first serial rights, electronic and print. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as we are notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Apply for the Mascara Varuna Writers’ and Editors’ Residency 2023 here. Submissions open 12 September–5 December 2023.

[CLOSED] Submissions are open for Mascara Literary Review’s very first print anthology, to be published with Ultimo Press.

We seek writing that addresses and explores the theme of RESILIENCE through fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

Resilience looks upwards to the ever-changing, ever-present skies, where fingers and fist touch the horizon. Resilience is often deeply imagined and hard won. Resilience, by turn, is fervent, supple, rhizomatic, generative. Like the beguiling evenness of an orchid, resilience is enduring and delicate.

Against the odds, the impediments and rigid boundaries that may limit our lives, we channel resilience as our guide and our key to rejuvenation and regeneration. Resilience offers a futuristic and promising gaze into the future: What does it look like? How did we get here? What have we lost and/or inherited?

In its 15th year, Mascara continues to survive in a tempestuous climate. In this anthology, we hope to explore the multiplicity of resilience. May it be rebellious and experimental. May it pave the way for us to reclaim, rewrite, and amplify our voices.

Resilience will be edited by Anthea Yang, Monique Nair, Michelle Cahill.

This project is funded and supported by Creative Victoria and the Australia Council for the Arts.

Submissions close: 20 March 2022 11:59PM AEST

Submission guidelines

Please send all submissions to submissions@mascarareview.com with ‘Resilience [Your Name & genre of submission]’ in the subject line.

Formatting must be in 12 point Times New Roman, 1.5 spaced. Please submit in Microsoft Word doc format and identify your attachment by surname. Please include a short bio and your social media handles in the body of the email or in your submission document.

Poetry: Please send 1–3 poems for consideration
Fiction: Please send one short story up to 3000 words, or for flash fiction send no more than 1000 words
Nonfiction: Please send one piece of up to 3000 words

Payment

Each contributor will be paid $200 and receive a copy of the anthology upon publication.

We encourage you to read at least one or two issues of the journal before submitting your work.

Reviews

Send your review pitches to reviews@mascarareview.com

Covid19 Policy: Book Reviews:

Our Covid-safe policy for correspondence with publishers is as follows:

During the pandemic we are asking publishers to help us by sending electronic copies of their books for review as well as a publicity image for social media. We will commission reviews on social media and by email to our cohort of reviewers. Our reviewers include specialist readers, early career researchers, academics and book lovers. Once we commission a review we will write to ask publishers to post books directly to reviewers. This will minimise unnecessary social movement and assist the industry with postage costs. We look forward to working with publishers electronically in creative co-supportive ways.

Manuscript Appraisal

We are unable to give detailed feedback on your work but manuscript appraisals may be applied for. There is a fee of $500 for 3000 words or for 3 poems.