Category Archives: Expression

NWG Inc NEWS July 2026

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VENUE UPDATE:

Our gathering on Saturday 25th July, 3-5 pm,
will be at 41 Hunter Street Parramatta not
at Old Government House as we first thought.

We will move to Old  Government House for our monthly events from 8th August.  NB by 1st August, you will find WestWords admin  at the Caretakers Cottage, Experiment Farm which like Parramatta Park is a delightful location.

 

PUBLISHING NEWS: At last, Expression 2025 has been lodged at the National Library of Australia – see via TROVE.  Pdfs of the first five are are also on this site .

Pop Up Zine 2026 (most of which will appear in Expression 6) has the theme of Distance – interpreted widely we hope.  A collection of ZineWest 2026 writing will also feature. Please note that this publication is only open to invited writers with Western Sydney connections. Due 27 September.  Pop Up Zine_ Distance_EntryForm

Pop Up Zine 2026 Image entries entry form available soon.

ZineWest 2026 print publication List. (Art work will be announced in August.)Launch 12 September 11:30am for Noon start. UNE Parramatta Campus, 28 George St Parramatta. More details soon, meanwhile …

ZINEWEST PUBLICATION LIST 2026.

(NB Additional entrants will contribute to a digital publication)

Myra A. – Overcome

C.A. Broadribb – Don’t Read This Story

Peter Cartwright – The Gate

Sarah Cupitt – I Said Desire Bleeds

Marie Dustmann – Last Walk in the Rain Forest

Edie – High Heels

Norm Fairbairn – Irvine’s Foot

Zoe Gangell – My Fashion that She Wore

Nelson Groom – Little Coogee

Jondarr – Conquered

S L Jones – Temporarily Untranslated

Gregory Kenny – Reflection

Artelle Lenthall – Unquestionable

Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan – Puffers

Jessie McDowell – Rice Cooker Song

KT Major – Untold

Kristof Mikes-Liu – A person Stumbles on Infinity

Adriana Mucea -Happiness

Renata Mueller – Homespun Cloth

C E. Mutya – The White City

K.L. Quah – What will you do the day before the world ends

Charnel Rizk – She Hugs the Trees

Niko Satria – The Observatory

Dannielle Viera – Off the Market

Rosanna Yahya – Photographer

Dona Samson Zappone – New Dark Forest

 

NWG Inc in 2026

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First gathering for 2026 – Saturday, 14 February 3-5pm
At WestWords Western Sydney Centre for Writing.
41 Hunter Street (Red brick house, corner Marsden St.) Close to Parramatta station.
Image above: Mihaela Cristescu.

We start 2026 with a presentation of works published online  in the 2025 Pop Up Zine – prose, poetry and images. The images will be shown on a ppt. Writers are invited to read from one of their 2025 pieces. Most are on the theme How Things Change. Contributors writing on an ‘open theme will also take their turn at the mic. 
This event is the wrap up of our 2025 Creative Project supported by the Australian Cultural Fund.

We will add a short open mic for writers not involved in PUZ 2025 and we will dream up a new theme for Pop Up Zine 2026

Reminder: Entry is $5 (to help us cover insurance) but free for first time attendees, under 16’s and financial members. Children may attend with a responsible adult but cannot participate in the program.

March Gathering: 14 March 3-5 pm at WestWords. We will be preparing for ZineWest Entries, in a session of workshops which can be useful for seeking publication in general. 

 

Expression 4 Celebration

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Our annual digital anthology Expression collects works from our online Pop Up Zines. On 8 Feb 2025 we celebrated Expression 4 with readings and an art PPT, rounding up with a Valentine open mic. Most works in Expression (edition 4) were on our 2024 Somewhere Else theme plus some antholgy pieces. See below the gallery for more detail and Please check out the writing and art currently on this site.

 

Gallery: From top left: Carol Amos, NWG Inc President. Readers: Mihaela Cristescu, Augusta Supple (reading for  Norm Fairbairn and Danny Draper) Marina Robins, Anisoara Laura Mustetiu, C.A.Broadribb, Greg Kenny, Michelle Huynh and Marina Robins with her winning art entry Barely There and her book award choice. Sue Crawford (Expression editor) and the ppt of Somewhere Else images and photos from Mihaela Cristescu’s Vivid 2024 collection. Danielle Catherine gave the group info on her picks of local opportunities for writers offered by our amazing venue host, WestWords.

Awards: Marina Robins won the Somewhere Else book award for her image Barely There. Peter Cartwright (unable to attend) won the Somewhere Else writing award for his poem Sophia and the River. Mihaela Cristescu won the Valentine Open Mic for her poem The Man who told me I was Beautiful.  Please check out the writing and art in the Pop Up Zine 2024.

Expression 4 Launch

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Expression 4 will be launched at WestWords 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta, Saturday 8 February,
3-5pm. Readings/Images plus an Open Mic on matters Valentine!
Image: Mihaela Cristescu

Please join our writers and artists presenting their work from Expression 4 and share your own work at the mic.  2 mins max for your original Valentine reflections:  woes, throes and  delights. You need to be 16 years or over. We appreciate a wide range of interpretation. Book awards and afternoon tea. Entry $5. Free entry for financial members, children 12 and under, and first time visitors to a NWG Inc gathering. Expression is NWG Inc’s digital anthology. We will be seeking contributions for 2025 soon.

Somewhere Else: Pop Up Zine

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NWG Inc’s Pup Up Zine 2024 is now open for your short works of prose and poetry. Our theme ‘Somewhere Else’ was initially inspired by a colleague’s poem written when overseas but we all agreed that we want a very open door for your interpretation.
Due date 28 April SomewhereElse__WritingEntryForm

 Please read the guidelines before sending.

We are also inviting local artists to send images they can link to the theme with a short piece of writing. SomewhereElse__ArtEntryForm   

Parramatta Expression Launch

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Saturday 17 June, 2023, we will launch Ambiguous Loss, an anthology of stories and poems by Western Sydney Writers who are award winning contributors to NEW Writers Group Inc’s projects. We will also present ekphrastic collaborations between local artists and writers. Parramatta Expression 2023 has been supported by a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.

Level 4, 100 George Street Parramatta (UNE premises)
Entry $5 Ambiguous Loss $15 (1st copy free for anthology contributors).
11:00am for finger food including Sahtein Lebanese Feasts.
11:30am for readings and book awards
Please note the building will be open for guests to enter between 10:45 and 11:30am
Image on cover – Mihaela Cristescu

 

Parramatta Expression Ekphrasis update

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Our second round for Ekphrasis writing in response to Parramatta images is due 20th April. Writers new to the project can offer responses to 1-3 of the ten images. Writers who entered work in the first round, are welcome to send additional writing related to the three new images: Maria Constantinescu’s abstract – acrylic and Lake Parramatta sediment and water; Michaela Simoni’s painting of a lone canoeist inspired by Parramatta River (the project’s motif image); and the gallery’s only night scene, by Marina Robins. Full Gallery and entry form 

 

Maria Constantinescu
Marina Robins
Michaela Simoni

Parramatta Expression 2023 – Ekphrasis – Writing

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During January we were offered images of Parramatta by local artists. It is now the turn of writers from Parramatta, and anywhere in Western Sydney, to respond with poetry or prose. You can write a response for up to 3 separate images in the gallery. Book awards.

PARRAMATTA EXPRESSION GALLERY (1)

Parramatta Expression Ekphrasis Writing Entry Form

Image by Michaela Simoni

Please read the entry form before you write. There is a brief statement of what we’re hoping for – more than just a good description of the image… Plus details on maximum words/lines.
All contributors retain full copyright. Launch is on 17 June in Parramatta. This project has been supported by a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.

NWG Inc Venue 2023

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FutureCampus Parramatta

With heart-felt thanks to UNE Sydney. Starting on 4th February, we will meet once a month on a Saturday 3-5 pm, at 211 Church Street Parramatta, for tutorials, workshops and open mic – except when we launch Parramatta Expression in June and ZineWest in October at 100 George Street.

Saturday Gathering Dates:

February: 4
March: 25
April: 15
May: 13
(June: 17 Parramatta Expression Launch)
July: 8 
August: 12
September: 9
(October: 14 ZineWest Launch)
November: 11 – Includes AGM 

These events are open to the public but please introduce yourself first by email at and visit our About page to see our charter and other info.

 

 

Parramatta Expression 2023

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In 2023, NWG Inc will publish Parramatta images by local artists and invite Western Sydney writers to respond with an *ekphrastic poem or short prose. We are looking for images that have a hint of story, movement or mood. Here is an example by Michaela Simoni (first published in ZineWest 2022). Your work might be in a very different style, but we hope this image gives you a clue to the depth we are looking for.

 

The Ekphrastic project is open to all creatives in Parramatta and Western Sydney generally. These works will be published in a Pop Up Zine 2023 and some will also be republished in our digital Expression which is a good place for images. In January we will be sending around an entry form for writers, but art entries are open now, to help get the project underway by January:  Parramatta Expression:  ENTRY FORM (ART)

Parramatta Expression will also publish a print edition of our journal Expression which will include the works of a small 2022 NWG Inc workshop group that focussed on stories longer than we can usually print publish plus some poetry from ZineWest award-winning poets.

*Ekphrasis: “Description” in Greek… An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.”https://www.poetryfoundation.org/

 “Basically, an ekphrasis is a literary description of art. Like other kinds of imagery, ekphrasis paints a picture with words. What makes it different from something like pictorialism is that the picture it paints is itself a picture: ekphrasis stages an encounter between representations in two mediums, one visual and one verbal.” https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/

Parramatta Expression 2023 has been supported by a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.