Category Archives: Parramatta

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 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

 

 

NEW Writers Group Creative Program 2025

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NEW Writers Group Inc is seeking donors who believe in the literary talent that exists in Western Sydney! We love to help new  writers develop their creativity, get their work published, workshopped, celebrated. This year our committee set up an Australian Cultural Fund (ACF) campaign to support ZineWest and the flow on of activities we offer all entrants in 2025.  NWG Inc does not have Deductible Gift Recipient Status but via ACF, financial donors can claim their monetary gift as a tax donation.  

Any queries email us:  



ACF  LINK  NEW Writers Group Creative Program 2025 

 

We will never ask individuals, people help us in many ways, but if you wished to donate, you must not materially gain from the project. For instance if you entered and won ZineWest you would keep the award for sure, but not the cash prize that goes with it. The cash would be used to directly benefit other writers during the Creative Program. The ACF advises if uncertain, contact your tax adviser.
 Images: ACF poster; our April attendees going public with the project at WestWords.

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. 

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.

 

 

ZineWest 2024 Awards List

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ZineWest 2024 Launch was dedicated to the memory of our esteemed colleague, Trish Jean, who has a poem in this edition plus an image on the awards list. We will write more about Trish in Expression 2024, to be launched in early 2025.

ZineWest 2024 Launch report

On Saturday 12 October NEW Writers Group Inc. launched ZineWest 2024 at a UNE Sydney Parramatta venue. Many thanks to UNE for their support of local creatives! And thanks to our judges, volunteers, and everyone who came or sent their best wishes.
ZW24 on sale at our shop. NB Contributor’s 1st copy and Contributor’s 1st copy plus one.
We will post images and launch photos soon.

ART AWARDS – Judge Maria Constantinescu
Best Image: Sandra Borri for In Two Minds
Best Image Runners-up: 
Trish Jean for I am the Cathedral Too
Shakira Piggott for Sacred Land

WRITING AWARDS – Judge Luke Carman
1st Place and Best Prose:
Michelle Huynh for the story When in Kowloon

2nd Place: Tyswan Slater for the story Hallway 
3rd Place: Adam Byatt for the story Erosion

Highly Commended (and Best Poem)
Mitch Browne for the poem Outta Utero

Also Highly Commended
Marian Claire for the story Jane Doe
Mona Elhassan for the story Bougainvillea

Editors Award Joint Winners
Lauren Maher for the poem Uncle Jack
J. Marahuyo for the poem Sheet Lightning

Launch Image photo credit: Baiames Ngunnhu Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps: Barwon River NSW. One of three images sent to us for ZineWest 2024 by Trish Jean.

 

 

 

Met In Translation at WestWords

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At WestWords, on 6 July, 2024,enthusiasts of literature and the importance of translation, listened to the journey that culminated in Dr Luke Carman, Australian award-winning writer and academic, traveling to Romania to launch a bi-lingual collection of his stories translated into Romanian by writer, editor (and translator) Mihaela Cristescu. Writer, producer and cultural strategist, Augusta Supple, with her warmth of charm and skill, drew from Carman and Cristescu the difficulties, the delights, insights and surprises during the translation and launching of Un Torpedou numai al lui – A glove box of one’s own published by eLiteratura in Romania, editor Vasile Poenaru.

Many thanks from NWG Inc to Luke Carman, Mihaela Cristescu and Augusta Supple for such a memorable conversation. Thanks also to WestWords director Michael Campbell, who shared an enlightening perspective on the value of intercultural creative works. As ever, we appreciate the support from WestWords creative producer, Ally Burnham, for setting up the venue and recording the event and likewise gratitude to our colleague, photographer Luminita Lenuta, for travelling to Sydney to make her generous contribution of photo records.

Photos by Luminita Lenuta 
1.Mihaela Cristescu, Augusta Supple, Luke Carman
2. Michael Campbell, Sue Crawford, Augusta Supple, Luke Carman, Mihaela Cristescu.

ZineWest Art due 21 July

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ZineWest 2024 Art Entry Form   Entries due 21 July.  ZineWest always includes artwork by local creatives in our annual print zine for aspiring writers of Western Sydney. You can send us up to three images in colour or greyscale (we need both). Our judge Maria Constantinescu will see every entry. We publish works by about 10 artists each year. Best image:$100 plus book awards. Launch in Parramatta in October (date to be confirmed). Image on last year’s front cover by  Sandra Borri.