Sunday 2 December: Deadline for Adaptable. The inaugural Adaptable Program seeks material for film or television adaptation. Open to writers Australia wide, the contest accepts any genre, fiction or non-fiction, published or unpublished.
Sunday 2 December: Deadline for EWF Artist Call-Out. The artist call-out for the 2019 Emerging Writers’ Festival is now open! Whether you have a specific idea or would just like to be involved, enter for your chance to be a part of the festival.
Sunday 2 December: Siobhan Coleman’s Pink Book Launch. “It’s 1969. Pocky, is seven. Her family isn’t like the other families in her street. They live on the roof. But their life seems ordinary, until 
their new neighbour moves in.” Join Siobhan Coleman to launch her new book on one girl’s discovery of how to be brave. 2pm at Better Read Than Dead, Newtown.
Monday 3 December: Deadline for the Peter Porter Poetry Prize. Australian Book Review welcomes entries in the fifteenth Peter Porter Poetry Prize, one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected awards for poetry. The Porter Prize is worth a total of AU$8500.
Thursday 6 December: Larry Boyd’s Choice Boy Book Launch. Join Larry Boyd, the director of disability theatre company Different Degrees Theatre Ensemble, for the launch of Choice Boy. In this new book on manhood and fatherhood, follow Josh as his life spirals out of control, bringing him and his father to the brink of self-destruction. 6:30pm at Better Read Than Dead, Newtown.
Monday 10 December: The 2018 Grand Slam. In the mood for some poetry? Head over to the Bankstown Poetry Slam’s Grand Slam at 6:30pm for a showcase of poetic talent. “8 teams. 2 rounds. 1 Night. Join us for the largest and best team-based poetry slam-off in the cosmos on December 10 featuring Alysia Harris!”
Monday 10 December: Celebration of the 2018 Bicentenary of Emily Brontë. This virtual tour will explore elements of Emily Brontë’s life through her poetry, letters and prose, and will show visitors around her Parsonage. 2-4pm at WEA Sydnay.
Saturday 15 December: Sydney Poetry Bookers Picnic. The Sydney Poetry Bookers Picnic is a celebration of poetry. The reading event recognises the coordinators of poetry who organise the regular readings in Sydney.
Thursday 20 December: Deadline for the Overton Poetry Prize. In memory of Professor Bill Overton (1946-2012), Loughborough University offers this prize for a sequence of poems on any subject, up to 300 lines. The first-placed entry will be published in chapbook form.
Monday 31 December: Deadline for the Buzzwords Short Story Prize. A new annual prize of $1,000 awarded to recognise excellence in short story writing for children. The story must be suitable for readers 8 to 11 years.
Ongoing submissions:
The 2019 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award. If you have a manuscript of maximum 30 000 words and you would like to give it a chance, check out Spineless Wonders’ Literary Award! Entry fee $25. Submissions close Sunday 3 February.
Southerly. Southerly is open for online submissions of short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and academic essays.
Francis House. Francis House is open to poems of all shapes and sizes, especially the oddly-proportioned and under-appreciated.
StylusLit. StylusLit is accepting poetry submissions from 1 November to 31 December.
Rabbit Journal. Rabbit is currently accepting submissions of nonfiction poetry for Issue 27: The TENSE Issue, to be guest co-edited by Brisbane-based poet Pascalle Burton and Northern Rivers-based poet David Stavanger.