Express Media

Applications EXTENDED!

We've given you three more days to apply for the upcoming strand of Toolkits: Digital Storytelling 🌐 This is your chance to meet other digital lit enthusiasts and take your musings to the computer screen in work that whirls and reacts, guided by experienced facilitator Aries Gacutan.

✨ Apply by Wednesday 30 September, 11:59pm AEST
✨ Link in bio

Meet Claire Summerville, the newest Voiceworks designer! 🌼

Claire Summerville is a graphic designer and recent Bachelor of Design graduate based in Naarm/Melbourne. She is interested in the multidisciplinary dialogue that exists at the intersection of design, publishing arts and print culture. You can also find her in the book world, as a seasoned bookseller, library science student, and Collections Coordinator for the Melbourne Art Library, where she enjoys connecting people with printed goodies.

Claire's first issue will be Voiceworks #138 'Jock'—for a sneak preview, drop by the all-hands proofreading session this Sunday at 2pm (more info here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddk9JXWkfJt).

Get to know Claire over on our website: https://www.expressmedia.org.au/news/meet-designer-claire-summerville

“Faced with heavy schedules and growing levels of online abuse, parliamentarians draw on a range of supports and tactics to meet the demands of the job,” writes Harriet Grummet in an article published as part of our Parliament Express program for young writers, conducted with Express Media.

The article features interviews with Georgie Purcell - Animal Justice Party MP, Mary-Anne Thomas MP and Tim Bull MP.

To read it go to our website at: vicparl.news/4iUZSAT

“For members of parliament tasked with scrutinising complex and deeply personal issues, lived experience can be just as valuable as political expertise,” writes Alex Bayliss in an article published as part of our Parliament Express program for young writers, conducted with Express Media.

The article features interviews with Michael Galea MP and Aiv Puglielli - Greens MP for North-East Metro.

To read it go to our website at: vicparl.news/3TifGTU

“Digital connectivity and social media have transformed the way we communicate and access information, fundamentally changing the way in which members of parliament now engage with their constituents,” writes Lucy Slevison in an article published as part of our Parliament Express program for young writers, conducted with Express Media.

Follow the link to read the article, which features interviews with Sarah Connolly MP, David Ettershank MP and David Southwick MP.

Post, like, share: politics in a digital world - Parliament of Victoria Digital connectivity and social media have transformed the way we communicate and access information, fundamentally changing the way in which members of parliament now engage with their constituents.

Post, like, share: politics in a digital world - Parliament of Victoria Digital connectivity and social media have transformed the way we communicate and access information, fundamentally changing the way in which members of parliament now engage with their constituents.

Ever wanted to discover how stories can unfold on a computer screen? Applications are currently open for Toolkits: Digital Storytelling!

Toolkits is a series of 12-week online programs for writers under 30 around the continent. Here is a chance to dive into a world of text-based games, padlet essays, bitsy tales and more. Learn alongside fellow game enthusiasts, led once again by the wonderful Aries Gacutan ariessszz – who also happens to be our first-ever Voiceworks Magazine Online editor.

No existing coding knowledge required! Sessions will run on Wednesday evenings beginning on 14 October.

✍️ Applications close 27 September, 11:59pm AEST
✍️ Link in our bio

Aries M. Gacutan is a Filipino poet, editor, and digital writer living and working on stolen Wurundjeri Woiwurrung land. They have a passing interest in the end of the world. They were a recipient of Red Room Poetry's Emerging Poets Residency in 2024, and currently facilitate Toolkits: Digital Storytelling with Express Media. They have written for Meanjin, Voiceworks, Going Down Swinging, Liminal Mag, Crawlspace, Archer, and more. Find out more about their staggering feats of bravery at .

Aries says: "Get stuck into stories that beep and boop, that shift and slough behind the screen. Learn how to craft your own digital works from like-minded peers, and apply today!"

Young poets around Australia, hear ye! Applications are currently open for Toolkits: Poetry 2026.

Toolkits is a series of annual 12-week online programs for writers under 30 around the continent. Explore and expand your poetic craft alongside your peers, guided for a second year by the wonderful Lou Garcia-Dolnik lou garcia-dolnik.

Toolkits: Poetry is presented alongside our friends at Australian Poetry. Sessions will run on Wednesday evenings beginning on 14 October.

✍️ Applications close 27 September, 11:59pm AEST
✍️ Link in our bio

Lou Garcia-Dolnik is a poet living and working on sovereign Gadigal-Wangal lands. Their work has been awarded Second Prize in Overland's Judith Wright Poetry Prize, a place on the shortlist for the Blake Prize, Val Vallis Awards, LIMINAL Non-Fiction Prize, the Kat Muscat Fellowship, and an Academy of American Poets University Prize from the University of Texas at Austin. An alumnus of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity's Emerging Writers Intensive, Lou was the 2023 recipient of the Australian Poetry/NAHR Eco-Poetry Fellowship and attended Tin House's Summer Workshop in the poetry faculty. They are a 2026 Wheeler Centre Next Chapter Fellow.

Lou says: ""Hey poets! Together, we'll be building a toolbox of theory, creative stimulus and writing to vibe with in service of creating a poetic practice that feels genuinely nourishing (all for free!). This is a space for your weird, specific and obsessional writing - chuck an app in!"

Calling young creative essayists and memoir writers across Australia... it's time to apply for Toolkits: Nonfiction for 2026!

Toolkits is an annual series of 12-week online programs for writers under 30 around the continent. Connect with fellow writers to explore the forms and functions of nonfiction writing, facilitated by the wonderful Isabel Greenslade Izzy Greenslade.

Toolkits: Nonfiction will run on Wednesday evenings beginning on 14 October.

✍️ Applications close 27 September, 11:59pm AEST
✍️ Link in our bio

Isabel Greenslade is a writer, editor and painter who lives on unceded Wurundjeri country. Her writing has appeared in publications like Island, Cordite and Voiceworks, where she also edits nonfiction. This year she placed third in the Furphy Literary Award for her short story 'Saint Kilda'. She holds a master's degree in writing, editing and publishing from the University of Melbourne.

Isabel says: "Nonfiction is a slippery thing to write. It makes a claim to truth but uses the same narrative devices as fiction, relying heavily on the unstable machine of human memory. This course is an opportunity to work into, not against, these tensions."

Applications are NOW OPEN for season 2 of Toolkits 2026!

Express Media rounds out this year’s Toolkits program, presenting three streams: 
~ Nonfiction with Izzy Greenslade
~ Poetry with lou garcia-dolnik
~ Digital Storytelling with ariessszz

Over 12 weeks, you'll develop and expand your craft alongside a cohort of other young writers in weekly online sessions, guided by your facilitator. Explore what makes a nonfiction piece tick, experiment with poetic potentials or whirr away at digital storytelling. If you're a writer or artist under 30, we want to hear from you. 🌟

📝 Apply by September 20
🔗 Link in bio