Griffith Review 85: Status Anxiety

Like the answer to a riddle, status is all around us, but it can’t always be seen or heard. The silent switchboard behind our professional and personal interactions, status dictates our place on the guest list, in the room, at the table; through its connections to class, race and gender, it affords some of us power and wealth and others empty promises. But why does status so often go unnoticed? How does it influence everything from social inequality to personal relationships? And what changing forces have come to bear on the high or low status we’ve ascribed ourselves and others over the centuries?   

This edition of Griffith Review grapples with the fallout of our status anxiety and explores what happens when we don’t measure up. 

Submissions are open from Monday 22 April to Sunday 5 May.  

You can submit up to four individual poems, each no longer than two pages.

Submissions close: 11:59 pm AEST, 5 May 2024

Publication date: August 2024

Calling all First Nations writers: Griffith Review is on the lookout for some fresh online content, and we want to hear from you!  

We’ve teamed up with our friends at the black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project to run a special GR Online pitch call-out for First Nations wordsmiths. If your pitch is successful, you’ll work with the GR and black&write! editorial teams to develop it for publication in the second half of the year. 

GR Online is Griffith Review’s online publishing platform, where we showcase short (1,000–1,500 words) pieces of commentary, analysis and critique on subjects as diverse, esoteric or topical as you like (check out the GR Online homepage to get an idea of what we’ve published over the last year). We pay $500 per article. 

We want new perspectives, original thinking and a healthy dose of stylistic flair. If this sounds like you, here’s what to send us by the call-out closing date:  

• a short (no more than 100 words) biographical statement  
• up to three short pitches (no more than 150 words each) for potential pieces 
• a short (no more than 500 words) writing sample that shows us what wordsmith wizardry you can bring to GR Online.  

If you’re successful, we’ll notify you by the end of June 2024. (Please note that we’re only accepting pitches from First Nations writers for this call-out.) 

Submissions close at 11.59PM AEST on 9 June and should be made via Submittable.  

This project is supported by Arts Queensland. black&write! is supported by the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.