We are currently looking for submissions of pieces of creative writing for our second issue of the magazine. All students currently home educated in Australia are eligible to submit their work.
Artworks are also invited. Please send a photo of any artwork you would like to be included in the magazine. You are also welcome to submit artwork specifically to illustrate your own writing.
DEADLINE for Submissions is Friday 12th September 2025.
All submissions must be typed and saved as a Word document (jpegs for images please), then attached to an email and sent to wordoyster@protonmail.com
This will be a general issue (i.e. without a specific theme). Your writing can be about anything.
We accept all kinds of creative writing including, for example: poetry, prose poems, short stories, biography/autobiography, debate, journalism, journal entry, short play/monologue, song lyrics, and anything else you can think of!
Issue 2 will contain a special themed ‘Reports and Debates’ section: Home Education. You are invited to submit writing to be included in this section. Your work can discuss any aspect of the home education experience in whichever format you choose. This could include: personal diary entries, poems, fictional homeschool reports, persuasive essays, responses to official debates, regulations or events, accounts of educational excursions, recorded or part-fictional conversations about important issues, biographies of significant personalities, and so on.
Please Note: Your email should include your name, age, email address, and the full title of your written piece. Please also confirm that you are currently resident in Australia and are a homeschooled student. You are also welcome to include any other ‘short bio’ details you would like to share about your writing experience.
General Guidelines for submissions
Poetry: Poems should fit on two sides of A4 (typically in Times New Roman, 12pt)
Short stories (or other general prose pieces): should usually be a maximum of 2 – 3,00o words. Typically this would be up to 8 sides of A4 (Times New Roman, 12pt with double line-spacing).
Please note that these really are guidelines, and shorter or longer pieces will generally be accepted.
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Suzy, the editor, at wordoyster@protonmail.com
Word Oysters 