upcoming editions
Every year, we aim to publish three themed editions. We choose topics based on subjects we think are most engaging to students. Previous magazines have explored sex and health, the environment, and artificial intelligence. There’s prompts below to inspire your pieces, but submissions are by no means restricted to these lists. It’s important the magazine reflects a broad range of perspectives, so dive into the theme below and send your work to us at curieux@canberra.edu.au.
GENERAL GUIDELINES:
Articles / Essays / Creative Writing / Reviews – 1500 words max.
Poetry – 40 lines max.
Lists – 15 items max.
Visual Art / (Photos of) sculpture / Photography – 4 images per submission max.
Film – 20 minutes max.
Original Music – 10 minutes max.
Note: If you can’t meet the guidelines, get in touch and we may be able to accommodate your piece.
SUBMISSIONS: NOW OPEN, CLOSING JUNE 18th 2026!
The story of Eden is often used as a metaphor for beginnings. Whether understood as myth, symbol or cultural story, it invites us to think about what comes after.
For this themed edition, After Eden, we invite UC students to explore life after whatever they believe is our beginning. What does it mean to live in a world shaped by human hands? How have we changed the landscapes around us, and how have those landscapes changed us in return? What do we carry forward from the past and what are we leaving behind?
We welcome submissions that engage with ideas of transformation, consequence, memory, environment, community, and the evolving relationship between people and the world they inhabit.
Submissions are open in any genre or format and you’re welcome to respond to our prompts, but we also encourage interpretations that take the theme somewhere unexpected.
Submit to curieux@canberra.edu.au
PROMPTS FOR After Eden
ARTICLES:
How protests have influenced change and how change has influenced protests.
Dissect feminism through the ages and how the world has (or has not) evolved for modern women.
Research climate change and write an article about its impact (past, present and future).
Discuss Indigenous knowledge systems, particularly focusing on the land.
Using a sociological viewpoint, discuss how society has been impacted.
Write about examples of perversion (distorting original meanings) and their impact on historical interpretations.
Explore political events that have shifted the concept of the ‘American Dream.’
Discuss interpretations of historical disasters and how opinions of their origin have changed over time. For example, how women were blamed for the Black Plague.
Analyse the timeline of protests, their development and their impact. For example, the Civil Rights Protest, Women's Suffrage and Black Lives Matter Movement.
CREATIVE:
Using a feminist lens, create a story from Eve’s point of view in the Garden of Eden.
Create a story from the perspective of a natural element, such as a tree, rock or water.
Go on a walk and describe your setting, introducing fictional elements and fantasy creatures.
Create a world pre/post a natural/manmade disaster.
Write from the perspective of someone from a historical event.
Write using traditional fantasy elements, including faeries and elves.
Create a story that explores how Karma can impact individuals.
Write a story about how one person can create a ripple effect.
Write from the perspective of ‘Mother Nature’.
Take inspiration from a real-world, turning-point event but change the narrative.
Design:
Create your own interpretation of the Garden of Eden, using its original description as your prompt.
Portray the sociological transformation to conformity.
Create a film on karma and its manifestation.
Visually portray Indigenous ecological systems.
Using nature as your prompt, find and illustrate a unique perspective.
Draw or paint your interpretation of self-expression.
Create a film of the industrialisation and technological transformation of the world.