Outer Space, Inner Minds Digital Anthology

Calling all "self isolating" artists (& others)

We think it's time to blast off from this virus-fuelled 'hot spot' to the fresh air of inspiration to be found in the cosmos.

So we're calling for entries to our first-ever digital anthology, which will have the theme/title Outer Space, Inner Minds. Any work that touches on our relation to the cosmos and its impact on our thinking or creativity is eligible.

Our idea for this took flight from the success of Dark Sky Dreaming: an Inland Skywriters Anthology, which brought together creatives and scientists from regional New South Wales and elsewhere in Australia. Check it out to see the types of work that were accepted.

The anthology will be published online in 2021 and be comprised of the best poetry and prose that are submitted, but also audio and short films. Artists from anywhere on or slightly above Earth are eligible, but any text must be in English (ETs, please note).

Previously published work is eligible, but you must have clearance from any licensee to the work for it to be published in our anthology royalty-free.

As well as text-based works such as poetry and prose (up to 1500 words per entry), we're open to:

• audio files

• moving poems / prose

• short films

Format:

• text: Word (.docx) or Pages

• images: .jpgs @ 300dpi resolution, preferred

• audio as .mp3s (5 minutes playing time maximum)

• video as .m4v, .mov or .wav (5 minutes playing time maximum)

Entry fee is AUD20 for each group of up to three poems, each story or non-fiction work, or each audio or film entry.

Entries, with the required fee, must be submitted via our online form. Extended deadline due to COVID-19 and other considerations: 31 July 2020.

Full-time students, people on a pension or people under-employed due to COVID-19 are eligible for a fee waiver for one entry. Please apply to info@ipoz.biz with your details.

As a special bonus, all entrants will receive a free eBook of David P Reiter's Time Lords Remixed.

We look forward to seeing, reading and publishing the best work out there. 

May the Cosmos be with you!

Come a-Waltzing with us this Australia Day!

As the country gears up for Australia Day and the long weekend, a new wonderful review has arrived for Christina's Matilda by Edel Wignell and Elizabeth Botté.

'With Australia Day almost upon us, what better opportunity to review this fascinating title by Edel Wignell focussing on the story behind the story of our unofficial anthem, ‘Waltzing Matilda’?  As Wignell asks, why is Paterson’s role in the creation of this song so well-known when that of Christina Macpherson is almost unknown, even though it is just as vital?   Wignell then tells us the story of Macpherson beginning with an encounter with bushranger Daniel ‘Mad’ Morgan at the family home of Peechelbar in Victoria, her childhood in a large wealthy Melbourne household, and her eventual meeting with A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson at the home of her brother on a station on the Diamantina River about 128km from Winton, Queensland. Evenings were a time for entertainment – Paterson sharing his poetry and Macpherson playing the piano, including a tune called “Craigielee” that she had heard at the Warrnambool Races some time before and which had stuck in her mind.  Paterson was well aware of the plight of many shearers displaced by the Great Shearers’ Strike in 1894 and the stories accompanying the hardships they endured, and it wasn’t long before he penned the words of  ‘Waltzing Matilda’ to fit the tune. Wignell then traces the story of the song through to its place in the Australian identity today, including the work of Richard Magoffin who relentlessly tracked the song’s origins, eventually being able to identify Christina’s contribution in 1983.

The story is accompanied by a variety of illustrations including paintings and drawings, maps, photos, posters and programs, letters and sheet music, each adding to the authenticity of the story and providing insight into the times that inspired the lyrics and the history of the song.  Perhaps the most interesting is a facsimile of an extract from a letter from Christina which explains how the song came to be. Each sepia page is bordered with exquisite line drawings by Elizabeth Botté which enrich and enhance the story. 

While it is written in a style and language accessible to a newly independent reader, its use of primary sources to support the text would be a great way to introduce the importance of these sorts of sources to support research and provide evidence, an integral element of the historical skills strands of the Australian History Curriculum for Year 7.   

This is a resource that needs to be on library shelves and a story that needs to be known by everyone old enough to sing the song!'

- Barbara Braxton, Librarian Teacher, M.Ed. (TL); M.App.Sci. (TL); M.I.S. (Children's Services)

And we couldn't agree more!

Add a lot more Australiana to your Australia Day with your very own copy of Christina's Matilda and come a waltzing with us!