Category Archives: Open Mic

Open mic 9 May 2026

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Saturday, 9 May at WestWords
41 Hunter Street, Parramatta
Open Mic plus invited readers
3-5 pm.

Saturday 9th May we welcome you to an open mic – share a short piece or excerpt of your own writing. 2mins max preferred.At WestWords 

Special invitation also to writers who contributed to DIALOGUES, Mihaela Cristescu’s tenth and final edition of her Romanian and Australian Anthology of Contemporary Poetry and Prose. We would love to hear you read from your work considering the limited time for reading at the Awards event on 2 May

 

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. 

 

NEW Writers Group @ Parramatta’s Lit!

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On 27 September, we wrapped up our annual ZineWest project with a Spoken Word event that follows the launch of the 2025 ZineWest print zine. Both events were proudly presented as part of Parramatta’s Lit! in partnership with the Sydney Fringe festival.Some NWG Inc colleagues also participated in Mihaela Cristescu’s Parramatta’s Lit! event, Meaning and Structure in Art.

 

To be invited to present your work in a festival is a remarkable creative booster for local writers and their creative colleagues. Special thanks to Parramatta’s Lit! festival director Augusta Supple  for  filling Parramatta’s month of September with memorable grass roots,  literary events, honouring the amazing spectrum of  Parramatta’s vibrant and inclusive literary life.

Thanks to all the ZW participants, with a big shoutout to our committee, volunteers, special guests and  judges.Thanks also to our kind venue providers: University of New England for their Parramatta venue, 28 George Street, and our always supportive home base, WestWords – Western Sydney Centre for Writing, 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta.

NWG Inc ZineWest WORD

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NEW Writers Group Inc Open mic (AKA ZineWest WORD)  had a great time on 27 September, our second event proudly presented as part of Parramatta’s Lit! in partnership with the Sydney Fringe festival.This event was also supported by the Australian Cultural Fund.

Spoken Word for invited ZW writers:

1st place: Joanne Macias for My Old Band Tee
Runners-up: Judith Edwards for Pillar of the Church 
Belinda Curby for Confession of a Feathery Kind

Open Mic
1st Place: Tammy Bartaia for An Unopened Envelope
Runner-Up: Karen Quah for Excerpt from The Five Marys

Be assured all our presenters made the decisions very difficult.
Congratulations evryone!

Thanks to our judges and MC’s (three past ZW Award winners):
Michelle Huynh, Danielle Catherine, Nelson Groom 

 

Judges: Michelle Huynh, Danielle Catherine and Nelson Groom
Joanne Macias at the mic
Anisoara Laura Mustetiu reading from her book, Letters for my Soul
Judith Edwards reading from her story, Pillar of the Church
Nelson Groom with Joanne Macias
Dona Samson Zappone
Karen Quah Open mic runner-up, Nelson Groom, Danielle Catherine, Tammy Bartaia Open Mic winner and Michelle Huynh
David Mitchell (left) Writing Winner of ZW25 Print zine awards and Peter Cartwright who came third – finally collecting their awards…
Peter Cartwright at the mic
Our NWG Inc President Carol Amos
Open Mic Winner Tammy Bartaia with her prize: The Theory of Everything by Yumna Kassab
Danielle Catherine
Victoria Cartwright read for Lisel Herrmann
Belinda Curby
Mihaela Cristescu

Some book awards….

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW Writers Group Inc Open Mic

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Having just enjoyed ZineWest 2025 launch, we are proud to present a second writers event as part of  Parramatta’s LIT! in partnership with the Sydney Fringe festival.

SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 3-5PM
1. SPOKEN WORD mini comp for invited ZineWest 2025 writers.
2. OPEN MIC  first ten to sign up from 2:50 pm (your own work, no props,no music, just you and the mic!)  2 mins max!!

Participants need to be 16 or over.

BOOK AWARDS! Tea/coffee/snacks; FREE ENTRY

VENUE: WestWords Centre for writing at 41 Hunter Street Parramatta

 

 

ZineWest 2025 Workshop

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Saturday 22nd March 3-5pm at WestWords 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta.
Topic: How to prepare writing entries for competitions, projects, publications …

  • Discussion with writers who have some competition experience. 
  • PM Tea break
  • Workshop in small groups
  • Open Mic Theme: Autumn. 2 mins at the mic. Book prize

Meet past ZineWest winners and other writers with prize or publishing success to discuss how we best approach opportunities. We want to optimize the time (and often money) we have to spend, so how do we best match our work to a specific publisher, competition or mentorship program. What are the key things to do before hitting send… And how are we being evaluated amongst other writers? 

Workshop: You are asked to rank several small pieces of writing and then to share with a group why you made your decisions. This is not aimed at gaining empathy for the gatekeepers but rather to help us see what works from a different angle. 

Entry is $5 to help cover our insurance. Free entry for first time guests, financial members and children 12 and under. 

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.

ZineWest WORD Highlights

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ZineWest WORD 9 November 2024 at WestWords Parramatta. See list of participants and award details below gallery.

ZineWest WORD: From Top Left: Carol Amos (President NWG Inc), Marian Claire,  Ishmael Parker, Guest poet Peter Cartwright, Ally Burnham (WestWords Creative Producer), Victoria Cartwright, Group: Ishmael Parker, Jake Tarasenko & Michaela Simoni;  C.A. Broadribb, Danny Draper (MC), Michaela Simoni, Peter Cartwright, Sue Crawford (Ed. ZW), Guest Poet Norm Fairbairn, Mihaela Cristescu, Jake Tarasenko, Marian Claire. 

MC Danny Draper read a poem by Lisel Herrmann in the Open Mic; Michaela Simoni read a ZW24 poem by Mitch Browne and a ZW24 poem by Marie Dustmann.

Special shout out to Ally Burnham (WestWords Creative Producer) for introducing us to a multiude of wonderful programs coming up with WestWords our venue host. 

AWARDS: ZW Entrants comp was won by Michaela Simoni; Open Mic was won by Victoria Cartwright. Congratulations to all the writers at the mic; they shared creations from their independent visions, each one different from the next.

Book Awards included: Bad Western Sydney: The Second Case published by WestWords; Written Off  1st Edition, published by Vitagraph; Limits of Forgetting by Arna Radovich;  Un torpedou numai al lui  (A Glovebox of One’s Own) by Luke Carman – Romanian translation by Mihaela Cristescu, published by eLiteratura.

Judges: Sue Crawford (ZW editor) and Marian Claire (ZW2022 Editors Award; ZW2024 Highly Commended).

Photos Credit: Mihaela Cristescu.

ZineWest WORD 2024

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We welcome you to the mic and the audience for short poems and prose from inspired writers! Prizes for Content and Presentation. Free Entry and afternoon tea.

ZineWest WORD is back! Some intriguing ZineWest entries did not make it into ZineWest this year due to our tight publishing budget. They are worth hearing!

Saturday 9 November 3-5pm at WestWords 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta. Free Entry.
(1) Spoken Word: Invited ZineWest writers,  Winner Book Award

(2) Open Mic compered by poet Danny Draper, Winner Book Award 
RULES! 
1. Solo Only
2. English Only 
3. No music
4. No props 
5. Your original work
6. No gratuitous swearing/shouting
7. TWO MINUTES ONLY!!!

At NWG Inc we ask the judges to consider content as well as presentation.