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 and angles, 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 JULY 20TH 2025!

If there’s anything inescapable in this world, it’s our own minds. As our window to reality, our minds shape what we tell ourselves is true. What could be more important than what determines reality? But as many of us are painfully aware – the mind isn’t a simple reflection of the world. Instead, it’s a complex web of perspectives, experiences, emotions, interpretations, and of course, our physical brains.

In the next issue of Curieux, we’re delving into everything about the mind. What have you learned from managing your own mental health? How do you find a community, especially in times of homesickness? Is mind control possible? What is consciousness and how separate are our minds from our bodies?

PROMPTS FOR Matters of the Mind

ARTICLES:

  • Why do we love to do personality tests? Is there any truth to Myers-Briggs?

  • Is it helpful to categorise personality?

  • What do you think of the way AI is being used for mental health? How do you envisage it being used in future? How should it be used if at all? What are the implications for privacy?

  • What do philosophers – ancient and contemporary – have to say about happiness? What approaches do you agree or disagree with and why?

  • Write about a time when you were struggling – what got you through it?

  • How much of human success can be attributed to neurodiversity? What are the amazing aspects of conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia and ASD?

  • At some points in history, doctors have wrongly labelled certain behaviours and states as illnesses. What does it mean to ‘pathologise’ someone? Write about the history of women being diagnosed with ‘hysteria.’

  • What is the ‘sick role’ in sociology? Do people with mental health issues get access to this role in society?

  • From a uni student themselves: what’s the best way to stay motivated and avoid procrastination?

  • How do you find a community, especially in times of homesickness?

  • Is mind control possible?

  • What is consciousness and how separate are our minds from our bodies?

  • What causes personality changes? What events in your life have been instrumental in shaping your personality? How significantly has the culture you come from impacted your personality?

CREATIVE:

  • If the dialogue in your head was a real person - a close friend - what kind of friend would they be?

  • The recurring dream that finally makes sense

  • A letter to your younger self

  • In the isolation of lockdown, an unexpected source of comfort

  • Pick one of the 16 personality types defined by the Myers & Briggs personality test. Use it as a basis for an original character (https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types)

  • Her friends describe her as "the calm and collected one", she can't understand why

  • A conversation in a therapist's office

  • The moment they discovered they'd been manipulated

  • You read my mind

  • Coping in the aftermath of a traumatic event

  • He could no longer tell who was brainwashed, himself or everyone else?

  • The realisation that you don’t perceive the world as others do

  • The unhealthy habit she had come to rely on

  • Diary of a narcissist

  • The underground community where she finally found acceptance

  • The day his anxiety got the better of him

  • The struggle to adopt healthy habits

  • The things she learned from grief

  • An irrational but very real fear...

Design:

  • Mind as landscape

  • Portrait of an emotion

  • Create a visual diary page from a hard day

  • Peace in the chaos

  • Recreate the imagery of your dream

  • Draw your emotional support creature

  • Create a visual representation of your inner dialogue using found imagery and text

  • A series of self portraits to depict your varying inner states

  • Use only black, white, and one colour to depict an intense emotional state