Below Earth

What is Below Earth?

Are you a writer✍🏻, artist🎨, performer🎭, musician🎵, or an all round creative🪅 who wants to showcase your craft? Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be an award-winning artist?? Or maybe you just like a bit of a challenge?!🌈

Enter your works into Below Earth competition for a chance to win exciting prizes and be published!🔮

Below Earth is a new creative competition hosted as a collaboration by the Media Department and the Creative Literature And Writing Society (CLAWS) of the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU). 2024 is its inaugural year and we're all about showcasing the best creative work UniMelb students have to offer in the fields of writing, art, photography, music and multimedia.

We have an exciting lineup of a print anthology, exhibition, awards night, and smaller workshops and events in between all aimed at:

🦋spotlighting best creative works UniMelb students have to offer

🦋building a community of passionate creatives 

 

Submission Guidelines

Theme: Spring 

A spasmodic jerk, unbreakable coil, enwrapping roots that dig six feet under to a depthless well where blossoms sprout. What grows deep below the surface? What lurks within the ripples of a stream or shards of grass or the cracks between walls?  

Winter is over, the world is coming out of hibernation. This is the season for growth, for rebellion and shining. As the snow melts, the unknown is finding its way out of the ground, with an irrepressible urge to spring to life…

...

Submit all pieces to belowearth@farragomagazine.com by Monday August 4, 11:59PM AEST. You must be a current student at the University of Melbourne to enter.

NOTE: the theme is meant to serve as a springboard and is not comupulsory. Pieces will not be judged based on adherence to theme but purely on quality.

Entrants can submit up to three works per category.

For all submissions please ensure that you include:

  • Your name

  • Preferred name for piece to be published under

  • Your student number 

  • Submission category 

  • Title/s of your work/s 

  • Word/Line counts if applicable

 

Fiction

  • All forms of creative writing, including fiction, poetry, prose poetry, creative nonfiction, and works that blur the boundaries of form and genre, are welcome.

  • Bilingual submissions and submissions in languages other than English are encouraged.

  • Poems must be 75 lines or less.

  • Prose must be 2000 words or less, though we recommend a maximum of 1500 words to be competitive.

  • Submissions should generally adhere to Farrago’s Style Guide (though this is flexible when it comes to poetry and experimental prose).

  • Please submit works as an attached Word doc. or docx. file.

  • In the body of the submission email, all entrants must include their full name, student number, the type of work(s) being submitted (e.g. poem, creative nonfiction), the title of the work(s), and any content warnings.

  • Since judges will be marking blindly, please ensure the author’s name does not appear anywhere in the submission or in the file name.

  • Entries must be the writer’s original work and must not have been published or under consideration for publishing elsewhere.

  • All entrants retain copyright over their work, but agree that, by submitting, they grant the UMSU Media Departments and CLAWS a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to publish their work in any format or platform.

  • All shortlisted fiction pieces will be published in the anthology. 

 

Nonfiction

  • All forms of nonfiction writing, including memoir, personal essay, review, travel writing, essay is welcome.

  • Bilingual submissions and submissions in languages other than English are encouraged.

  • Prose must be 2000 words or less, though we recommend a maximum of 1500 words to be competitive.

  • Please include relevant references if applicable. (Any style is fine as long as it’s consistent)

  • Submissions should generally adhere to Farrago’s Style Guide (though this is flexible when it comes to poetry and experimental prose).

  • Please submit works as an attached Word doc. or docx. file.

  • In the body of the submission email, all entrants must include their full name, student number, the type of work(s) being submitted (e.g. poem, creative nonfiction), the title of the work(s), and any content warnings.

  • Since judges will be marking blindly, please ensure the author’s name does not appear anywhere in the submission or in the file name.

  • Entries must be the writer’s original work and must not have been published or under consideration for publishing elsewhere.

  • All entrants retain copyright over their work, but agree that, by submitting, they grant the UMSU Media Departments and CLAWS a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to publish their work in any format or platform.

  • All shortlisted nonfiction pieces will be published in the anthology. 

 

Art & Photography

  • All forms of 2D artwork are welcome, including illustration, painting, photography, graphic narratives and comics.

  • All forms of 3D artwork are accepted, including sculpture, body art, installations and crafted goods. These forms must be sent as high-resolution photographs, scanned images or other such files. Keep in mind how flattening 3D work can change the design intention.

  • Please ensure comics and art/photography series will fit within a maximum of 4 A5 pages.

  • In the body of the submission email, all entrants must include their full name, student number, the type of work(s) being submitted (e.g. illustration, photograph of sculpture), the title of the work(s), and any content warnings.

  • All artwork must be submitted with the following file specifications:

    • 300dpi (dots per inch)

    • CMYK colour

    • One of the following formats: .jpg, .png, .pdf, or .psd.

  • All shortlisted visual art and photography will be exhibited in an exhibition open to public voting as well as included in the anthology. 

 

Music

  • We welcome all music submissions that are original compositions. These can include lyrics or be purely instrumental; solo performed or group performed; and be any genre (rock, soul, musical theatre, classical, etc.).

  • Music must be no more than 5 minutes long. 

  • Music must either be an unreleased & unpublished piece, or unofficially released over personal socials within the last 12 months. 

  • Music should be the sole (or primary) work of the student entrant (i.e. cannot be composed by a student and have lyrics written by a non-student, etc, but can be performed by an instrumentalist who is a non-student).

  • All collaborators on the production must be acknowledged. 

  • Music can be submitted either as audio only or in the form of a music video. However only the music aspect will be assessed, not any other production elements (eg) choreography, lighting, cinematic elements, etc). If you wish for the entire music video to be assessed, please enter the experimental/multimedia category.

  • Submissions can be attached as audio/video files, or as links to a digital streaming service (e.g. YouTube, Spotify) or a file sharing service (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive).

  • In the body of the submission email, all entrants must include their full name, student number, the type & genre of work(s) being submitted (e.g. jazz, rap, etc.), the title of the work(s), and any content warnings

  • All shortlisted music submissions will be played at the launch party as well as included in the playlist in the anthology (accessible via QR codes). 

 

Experimental/Multimedia

  • We welcome all forms of art which are incompatible with the printed page. This might include, but is not limited to short films, video games, animations, music videos, body art, wall art, fashion design, etc.

  • We are especially looking for works that challenge the very notion of art and defies the status quo (even better if it is something we cannot even think of!) 

  • Video submissions and performance submissions must be no more than 5 minutes long.

  • Print submissions fit within a maximum of 4 A5 pages.

  • We welcome group submissions but require all entrants to be current UniMelb students.

  • Submission should be the sole (or primary) work of the student entrant.

  • All collaborators on the production must be acknowledged. 

  • In the body of the submission email, all entrants must include their full name, student number, the type of work(s) being submitted (e.g. short film, video game, etc), the title of the work(s), and any content warnings.

  • All shortlisted experimental/multimedia submissions will be exhibited in an exhibition open to public voting as well as included in the anthology (accessible via QR codes). 

 

Other Information:

In the body of the submission email, all entrants must include their full name, student number, the title of the work(s), and any content warnings. A brief statement of intention (no more than 100 words) is encouraged.

Since judges will be marking blindly, please ensure the author’s name does not appear anywhere in the submission or in the file name.

Entries must be the creator’s original work and must not have been published or under consideration for publishing elsewhere.

All entrants retain copyright over their work, but agree that by submitting they grant the UMSU Media Department and CLAWS a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to publish their work in any format or platform.

All artists will be credited by the name submitted. If you wish to assume a persona or pen name, this must be included in the body of the submission email.

Please direct any queries to belowearth@farragomagazine.com.

 

–– Below Earth 2024 Editors: Angus, Farrell, Gunjan, Jessica and Marcie

 

Below Earth UMSU Media
Below Earth UMSU Media