AntipodeanSF is devoted to 'down under' science/speculative fiction stories of about 500 words or less.

Yet while its intent is in part to highlight and promote Australian/NZ writers (who are, after all, resident in the antipodes), the meaning of antipodean is not limited by the editor to a mere description of locality. Thus AntipodeanSF is open to submissions from anywhere in the world, as long as the story has a surprise ending, twists normal notions of SF/F/H upside-down, is especially humorous, takes an oblique perspective on otherwise 'normal' events, or attempts to subvert the foundations of Western capitalist ideology (for example).

At this time AntipodeanSF is an online publication. It 'pays' its writers with web-space for published stories and short biographies (including links to the author's web pages; if any exist). All material accepted for publication in AntipodeanSF will remain online for approximately four weeks, and will be available as an audio podcast in the following month. Subsequently, all material is archived by the National Library of Australia (see below), and the audio may be aired at any future time on community radio. Copyright and all future rights are retained by the author/s at all times, although archiving at the NLA means that every published story will remain accessible in perpetuity on the net.

Material accepted for publication will not be altered or edited for online presentation without the consent of the author/s. Reprints, as long as they are about 500 words, and subject to editing, will also be considered for publication.

All material first published in AntipodeanSF by Australian authors is eligible to be submitted to the convenors of the Australian Aurealis Awards to be considered for an award in its year of publication.

Similarly, Australian works will be indexed by Austlit <www.austlit.edu.au> for scholarly citation purposes, and listed at the Australian SF site.

AntipodeanSF is considered to be of 'cultural significance' here in Australia and it is archived at the National Library of Australia. You may view past issues by visiting the library's PANDORA pages on the Internet. <http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/10063>.

Material appearing in AntipodeanSF is also converted into Braille by the Royal Blind Society so that blind readers might experience the pleasure of reading SF.

Material appearing in AntipodeanSF may also be converted into palmtop and mobile phone formats and be distributed via various other service providers so that it can be easily read by all SF lovers.

Material appearing in AntipodeanSF will also be converted into audio format for distribution as a podcast/community radio broadcast under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives license.

Please note that the editor, Ion, is liable to make suggestions about how to make your story fit the theme of this website, or to improve it (in his subjective opinion). In other words, he might edit it. But please don't be afraid of that. Submit those stories. AntiSF needs them!

AntipodeanSF 'online' is firmly devoted to the shorter forms of SF. The editor believes that nobody wants to spend hours reading a computer screen. It's bad enough having to read these guidelines. Right? Therefore, all submissions must be of about five-hundred (500) words or less. Longer works by authors with a publication history at AntipodeanSF will be considered for inclusion in the radio show and electronic reader version of the magazine, but these longer stories are still restricted to around 2000 words. Please query the editor for more information. Contact form is here.

Such dire restrictions on story size mean that character development and in-depth treatment of complex subjects are almost invariably precluded. In short-short (flash) stories such as those AntipodeanSF 'online' seeks, the idea is paramount.

Don't be fooled — writing fiction such as this is not as easy as it might seem — less words does not equal easier writing. Even so, AntipodeanSF urges you to take the challenge and "'ave a go".

Antipodean SF may also publish science-fact and science-fiction oriented cartoons, limericks, anecdotes, cryptic problems, rebuses and other 'trivia' of a shorter nature from time to time. Imagination and laconism are the keys to publication. But remember, our focus is on short-short stories.

Please do not submit more than one story at a time without seeking permission from the editor first (i.e. no multiple submissions).

Submissions are collected once or twice per week, and will be acknowledged soon after receipt. AntipodeanSF no longer accepts submissions via snail-mail on deceased trees.

AntipodeanSF will occasionally publish an anthology of material gathered from the best of the stories that have appeared on-line. These books will be available 'on-demand'. AntipodeanSF in itself will remain a non-profit entity, and aims only to promote excellent short-short speculative fiction. Longer works of fiction may also be published in future anthologies, but submission for that purpose will be restricted to those who have had stories published online by AntipodeanSF.

Don't forget — have fun! And keep them around five hundred (500) words.

All queries and submissions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it via email as a file attachment preferably in Rich Text Format (RTF) < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >

Alternatively, you can paste your story into our online contact form and send.