Splinter issue five is published by Writers SA with support from Adelaide University,  Flinders University, and the Don Dunstan Foundation.

We are really enthusiastic about publishing diverse and intersectional voices and welcome submissions from writers based anywhere in the world. 

We accept submissions in English (or in other languages with an accompanying English translation, but please do not submit AI translations).

What we are looking for 

Splinter is always looking for writing that considers how reality is made and how it can be broken. We are particularly keen on writing that acknowledges that existence is silly and absurd and also, somehow, really serious. Beyond this, we don’t ask for submissions to be on a specific theme. 

While we don't want writers to feel limited by the below list, these are some topics and voices we are particularly interested in for issue five:

• Regional First Nations voices 
• Housing and homelessness
• The climate crisis (and its more optimistic cousin climate justice)
• The fate of progressive politics (if it exists?) in so-called Australia
• Literary criticism that engages with the above themes

If considering the themes listed here, please remember that you don’t need to address them directly or literally in your writing. We are looking for work that brushes up against these prompts in interesting and unexpected ways. 

For style and tone, the best way to understand what we're after is to read our published issues. But in short, please don't give us the directive, the didactic, or the overly earnest – give us the feeling of things breaking and the weight of the destructive forces. Make us feel strange. Every now and again, maybe some pieces should give us reason to resuscitate our hope. We like big, complex ideas and the intimate and funny things in between – pieces with a sense of humour that still respect our readers.

We do not put a word count limit on our submissions, but please don't send us your whole book. As a guide, the longest piece we have ever published was 8,000 words, but we are willing to consider longer works.

Formats and pay rates

Please pitch ideas for these formats:

Profiles - $900/piece

Writing that examines our communal and one-sided relationship with complex public figures.

Essays - $900/piece

Creative non-fiction and reportage that explores ideas about the world beyond the self (although the ideas might intersect with the self). We are particularly interested in pieces that bend form in interesting ways, and also those that are simultaneously informative and emotionally-affecting. 

Writing about writing - $500/piece

Essays on writing as the weird and idiosyncratic pursuit that it is.

Each edition, we will also publish one column from a writer analysing the worst piece of writing they’ve ever published. Send us an idea for an essay deconstructing your lowest writing moment.

Criticism - $700/piece

That deconstructs a relatively new-ish literary work (or works) within a bigger context - whether that be of your own life, within history, or within a larger conversation. We only publish twice a year, so our criticism needs to feel new because of a strong writers' voice and an original lens turned upon the work it is critiquing.

Please submit completed work for these formats:

Poetry - $250/poem or $450/collection of up to four poems

The absolute best medium for exploring the cracks in reality we all fall into.

Fiction - $900/piece

Don’t worry about length or genre (although we’re not going to publish a book). Long or short, we want hugely compelling pieces of fiction that make us feel and think about the stuff pointed at in the meandering paragraphs above.

Memoir - $600/piece

Let us peer into your life so we can understand something more about ourselves.

Nuts and bolts

For profiles, reportage, writing about writing, and criticism, we are looking for pitches of ideas (not full-length works).

For memoir, poetry, and fiction we are looking for submission of completed works.

We only accept a total of one submission per writer, with the exception of poetry. We will accept three poems per writer, or one poetry collection of up to four poems.

Unfortunately, because of the volume of submissions we receive, we are unable to accept re-submission of works we have previously declined. 

We are looking for work that has not been previously published.

Due to demands on our time, we aren’t able to provide feedback on every submission. But you will be notified of the outcome of your submission via Submittable by late April, 2026. 

For successful submissions, copyright of each work will remain with the author, although we may negotiate a period of exclusivity (of three months maximum) where appropriate. Each writer will be sent a contributor’s agreement outlining all terms and conditions prior to commissioning.

We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please contact us on hello@splinterjournal.com to withdraw your work if it is picked up elsewhere. 

Submissions close at 11:59pm (Australian Central Daylight Time) on January 19, 2026. The best place to track the progress of your submission is here on Submittable.