As one of our goals is the general advancement of Malaysian literature, the Malaysian Writers Society publishes anthologies of Malaysian works approximately every two years.
Oftentimes, new writers argue that it is a challenge to breakthrough into the publishing industry, even through writing competitions, because established writers have the upper hand. The Emerging Malaysian Writers anthology aimed to provide a platform for unpublished writers to stand a chance for publication among emerging writers like themselves and was only open to Candidate Members.
Initiated by MYWriters Penang, the anthology was curated to support and celebrate writers from and based in Penang as part of their 5th anniversary celebrations. As a regional project, the anthology was open to both Members and Non-Members.
Curated by editors Zhui Ning Chang and JY Tan, The Best of Malaysian Short Fiction in English 2010–2020 presents a decade of quality short stories spanning genres, from speculative to realist, from thrillers to drama. It explores the bold new directions of contemporary Malaysian writing and hints at the new heights that our future national literature will reach.
The sea is a wild and wonderful place. The sea is dangerous, yet beautiful; familiar, yet mysterious. The sea overwhelms us with its beauty and waters; we drown in her beauty, just as we suffocate in her salt. The sea opens pathways to other lands, trade routes and cultures, enriching our language, stories and experience.
In counterpoint, the mighty sea is filled with complex worlds, monsters that rise from the deep, flashes of beauty and colour. We reached to the sea for sustenance but we have also irresponsibly poisoned its depths with our plastics and waste, threatening and destroying its fragile ecosystems.
The Malaysian Writers Society calls for submissions about the sea and our relationship with it. This anthology aims to spread awareness about our beautiful ocean and the work in and around it. We especially would like works that highlight new and ongoing conservation efforts, or share with us startling new science about the sea. Fascinate us with a tale that make us go, “huh, I never thought about marine life in that way before!” Remind us of the nightmares that invoke awe in our hearts. Give us a slice of life from volunteer work; tell us a story about bioluminescent plankton; wax poetic about brave policy makers; tell us tall tales based on mythology of the sea: we would love to hear it all.
The world is your oyster, let the pearls of your writing shine!
Guidelines:
Short stories should be between 2500 to 5,000 words.
Flash fiction should be no more than 1000 words
Essays/creative nonfiction pieces should be no more than 4,000 words.
Poetry should be no more than 50 lines, or up to three poems, no more than 50 lines in total.
You may submit twice, not including revision requests.
All submissions must be in Times New Roman, font size 12. Essays and short fiction should be double-spaced. This also applies to work in Bahasa Malaysia. Poetry should be submitted in the line-spacing intended.
Write a short bio about yourself in the cover letter.
You may also submit works previously published elsewhere (reprints). Please state in your cover email where they have been published before. Please provide prior publication details (name of publication; editor; publisher; year; ISBN if any).
No part of your submission may be produced by generative AI. Please protect your submissions by refraining from uploading it to databases for spelling and grammar checkers.
Deadline for submission: September 30, 2025
Payment:
For originals, we will pay RM200 for short fiction, RM150 for essays, and RM40 per poem. Originals are works that have never been published before. We ask for First World Publication Rights (i.e., the right to be the first in the world to publish this work).
For reprints, we will pay RM150 for short fiction, RM100 for essays, and RM20 per poem. Please ensure you have the rights to the work, as we want to pay the author and not some other entity.
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Panggilan Karya:
THE LUSHNESS OF THE SEA: A MARINE CONSERVATION ANTHOLOGY
Lautan adalah alam yang luas dan liar. Berbahaya, tetapi mengagumkan; dikenali, tetapi tersembunyi. Laut membanjiri kita dengan keindahannya, dan kami lemas dalam kemasinannya. Ia membuka laluan ke alam dan budaya baharu, dan membentuk bahasa, cerita dan pengalaman kita.
Lautan sarat dengan kata-kata rumit, raksasa misteri, dan kelipan warna luar biasa. Tetapi apa yang memelihara kehidupan di bumi ini telah kami racuni dengan plastik dan sisa lain, yang mengancam dan membinasakan ekosistemnya yang rapuh.
Persatuan Penulis Malaysia inginkan karya anda tentang lautan dan hubungan kami dengannya. Antologi ini bertujuan menyebarkan kesedaran tentang lautan dan menonjolkan kerja pemuliharaan atau sains marin. Ceritakanlah kisah yang akan membuka mata pembaca kepada kekayaan kehidupan marin, igauan dari dasar laut yang akan menghantui hati mereka. Kongsikan pengalaman anda sebagai sukarelawan, melihat sinaran plankton bioluminesens, tentang penggubal dasar yang mengubah dunia, atau mitos berkenaan laut—kami ingin membaca semuanya.
Jika dunia ini ibarat tiram, serlahkan mutiara karya anda!
Panduan:
Panjang cerpen di antara 2,500 hingga 5,000 patah perkataan.
Panjang fiksyen kilat di bawah 1,000 patah perkataan.
Panjang esei/bukan fiksyen kreatif tidak lebih daripada 4,000 patah perkataan.
Panjang puisi tidak lebih daripada 50 baris, atau tiga puisi yang berjumlah tidak lebih daripada 50 baris.
Karya boleh dihantar dua kali, tidak termasuk permintaan semakan oleh editor.
Penyertaan karya anda perlu menggunakan muka taip Times New Roman, saiz 12pt. Penyertaan prosa (esei atau fiksyen kilat) perlu diformat dalam langkau dua baris. Puisi boleh dihantar di dalam langkau baris yang dikehendaki.
Sila lampirkan biografi singkat bersama karya dalam surat iringan.
Penyertaan yang diterbit semula (reprints) adalah dibenarkan. Sila nyatakan di dalam emel anda butiran terbitan lain, seperti nama terbitan, editor, penerbit, tahun, nombor ISBN, jika ada.
Anda dilarang menggunakan sistem kecerdasan buatan (generative artificial intelligence) untuk menghasilkan penyertaan anda sama sekali. Anda digalakkan mengelak dari memuat naik penyertaan anda ke penyemak ejaan dan tatabahasa atas talian untuk melindungi karya anda daripada menjadi sasaran cetak rompak.
Tarikh tutup: 30 September 2025.
Bayaran:
Untuk karya asal, kami akan bayar RM200 untuk cerpen dan fisken kilat, RM150 untuk esei/bukan fiksyen, dan RM40 untuk puisi. Karya asal merujuk kepada karya baharu yang belum diterbitkan di mana-mana. Untuk karya ini, kami meminta Hak Penerbitan Dunia Pertama (iaitu hak menjadi penerbit pertama di dunia).
Untuk karya reprint yang telah terbit, kami akan bayar RM150 untuk cerpen dan fisken kilat, RM100 untuk esei/bukan fiksyen, dan RM20 untuk puisi. Sila pastikan hakcipta untuk karya tersebut telah dikembalikan kepada anda, kerana kami ingin membuat bayaran kepada penulis dan bukan entiti lain.