Writers’ gathering Saturday 15 April 3-5pm, upstairs at UNE Sydney, 211 Church St Parramatta. We will discuss tropes, stereotypes and POV. Open Mic for short pieces or excerpts of your original work. Don’t forget ZineWest and our Ekphrastic project!
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
ZineWest’s 2023 edition is open
for entries 1st March – 14th May.
Entry is free. Up to three entries. Please read the entry form carefully for guidelines. Entry Form.
Cover image: Kathryn Munroe
ZineWest is NWG Inc’s longest lasting special project which has been a valuable stepping stone for many writers, including some very successful ones. Every year we offer publication to aspiring poets and story writers 16 and over who have a connection with Western Sydney. Comics and cartoons also welcome. Local artists do a great job of helping us produce an attractive anthology. (Art Entry form available in May.)
Queries: ZW2023_WRITING ENTRY FORM
Click here for ZW 2022 details and earlier ZW editions.
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.
Blast from the past at 211 Church Street (UNE Sydney) with Sue Chamoun, Luke Carman, Sue Crawford and Carol Amos. Will be great to return in 2023!
Photo: Mihaela Cristescu
First gathering for 2023 with NEW Writers’ Group Inc Saturday 4 Feb, 3-5 pm UNE Sydney 211 Church Street Parramatta – enter at ground floor reception, let them know you are attending our event, then head upstairs to sign in. Entry $5. Free for financial members.
Program!
Introductions; Updates on our calendar and key projects for 2023; Open Mic
OPEN MIC details:
Note re Venue:
We do not use the kitchen or student/staff equipment.
Guests at UNE premises are allowed only bottled water on site and no food.
(We sometimes go for a drink/snack afterwards.)
Wheelchair access. There is a wheelchair lift near main entrance and internal lift.
NB Some scooters might be too large. Please contact us at least three days beforehand at re options.
COVID: Please comply with social distancing requests. Do not attend if feeling unwell or testing positive.
New to us? You are most welcome but suggest you check our About page to see our charter and other information.
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.
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.
Saturday, 12 November at UNE, 28 George St Parramatta
3-5 pm Please sign in downstairs 2:50-3:00
Masks please, and no food or drink except bottled water.
We always bring wrapped sweets. No obligation to eat them.
Open Mic – short work or extract
Survey on your suggestions for 2023
*Ekphrastic writing – discussion and exercise
Afterwards, join us at the Woolpack for a quick drink/snack
*Ekphrastic Writing – one among many definitions – “describes or pays tribute to a piece of visual art”.
Here is an artwork we will include in the exercise: Meandering City by Kathryn Munro
ZineWest 2022, our 16th edition, was launched at the Harry Todd Band Hall on Sunday 16 October on a sunny day in Parramatta. Around 15 writers read from their works, Luke Carman gave his usual amazing response to the writing, prizes were won and raffle tickets drawn. Food featured Sahtein Lebanese Feasts thanks to Sue Chamoun. Carol Amos (NWG Inc President) gave us a quick summation of our twenty years and we celebrated with cake! Congratulations to all with a special cheer for our visual artists whom we love to publish. Cover image: Kathryn Munro. Gallery photos here.
You can purchase a copy or two from our shop!
PRIZES AND AWARDS:
Writing: 1st and Best Prose ($400) Danielle Catherine; 2nd ($300) Nic Lesley; 3rd and Best Poem ($200) Peter Cartwright; Highly Commended (Giramondo Titles) J. Marahuyo, Norm Fairbairn, Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan; Editors’ Writing Award (Australiana by Yumna Kassab) Marion Claire
Art: Best Image ($100) Sandra Borri; Runner-up (Book Award) Erin Macnaught
The cash prizes are great but here are some of the terrific Australian titles to be won too as awards – or by luck in the door prizes and giant raffle. All three of these authors once won ZineWest. Joins us on Sunday 16 October for the launch of ZineWest 2022.