Update: Submissions for the 2024 Fiction Edition are now closed. You can pick up a copy of the 2024 Fiction Edition from your local vendor or our online store.

Got a short story?

Australia’s biggest-selling fiction magazine is turning 20!

The Big Issue’s annual Fiction Edition is now taking submissions for our milestone mag. We are looking for short stories of all kinds – literary, comedy, romance, sci-fi, crime and everything in between.

Previous editions have featured stories from Jane Harper, Tony Birch, Matthew Reilly, Melanie Cheng, Christos Tsiolkas, Alice Pung, Graeme Simsion, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Trent Dalton, Bruce Pascoe, Claire G Coleman and Michael Mohammed Ahmad.

Submission details

• Entry is FREE, and open to writers based in Australia.
• Every author published is paid $500.
• Stories should be between 500 and 3000 words.
• Stories must be previously unpublished.
• Submissions are limited to one story per person.
• Please submit as a Word Doc attachment, double-spaced with 12-point text.
• Your name, email, full postal address and phone number MUST be included in the body of the email, separate from the story, as the submissions are judged anonymously.

To enter, email your story to fiction@bigissue.org.au
Entries close 11:59pm AEST Monday 3 June 2024