Category Archives: Poetry

Without the Mic…

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Saturday, 26 September at the Welcome Room,
Old Government House with NEW Writers Group Inc

Bring a short piece or two of your writing and practice reading it aloud to a friendly audience. We will have coffee/tea/biscuits in the break. 

Recently we had a small issue with a mic and noticed how some people could project their voice. One of them said, “I was always too shy, then I found my volume!” 
But people with a strong voice can also learn from a soft and expressive speaker. 

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF TIME
We meet from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.

Re purchasing copies of our latest ZineWest edition. If you are attending this gathering it will be cheaper for you to buy one direct instead of ordering online.
First Contributor’s copy $10. Regular price $15.

Entry $5 to help our basic costs eg insurance.
Free for first time attendees and financial members. 

Photo by Mihaela Cristescu

 

NWG Inc September Updates

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SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
ZineWest 2026 Launch – 20th Edition:
Readings, judges reports, awards, raffle & door prizes plus cake!
12 September 11:30am for Noon start – wrap up around 2pm.
Entry $10; Free for under 16’s and carers.
Zines $15; Contributors’ 1st copy $10.
Venue: University of New England’s Parramatta campus –
28 George Street Parramatta 1st floor
Presented as part of Parramatta’s Lit! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day and Night a Narrative Photography Discourse for Writers.
 A partnership between Artist Photographer Luminita Lenuta & Poet Mihaela Cristescu
Old Government House – Upstairs bedroom (via downstairs back door)
26 September 2026 11:am-2pm  Presented as part of Parramatta’s Lit!
See Code-mixing Poetry (FB) for more info.
May be an image of text

NWG Inc Gathering at Old Government House 
26 September “Welcome Room” 1:30 – 3:30pm  PLEASE NOTE NEW HOURS 
We will have an open mic and make plans for creating our upcoming digital anthology
NB This event will overlap with Day and Night (see above).
Image of WestWords Executive Director Michael Campbell, onboarding our team for our our first event at Old Govenrment House. 

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

 

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

 

Haiku & other brief Lit

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What we can acheive in very short writing. Elegance? Clarity? Action?

NEW Writers Group Inc invites you to join us at WestWords, Western Sydney Centre for Writing on Saturday,11 April, 3-5pm, 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta (corner Marsden St).

We ask for $5 entry to help us with our insurance.
Free entry for first visit, financial members and under 16’s. 
Bring some paper and pen.

 

ZineWest 2025 Writing Publication List

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Thanks to all the writers entering. You sent us talent and style in abundance. If you are not on the list, check your email for an offer to present at a spoken word event and/or be published online. Both the Spoken word event and the print zine launch are part of Parramatta’s Lit! 

ZineWest 2025 Writing Publication List

Myra A. – In the Mountains 
Nosheen Alam – The Loud Neighbour 
Linda Atkins – Ya Never Know 
C.A. Broadribb – People Expo 
Mitch Browne – Pendulum 
Adam Byatt – What is the Depth of the Ocean’s Breath 
Peter Cartwright – Jo 
Z. Cedar – Sub 
Ezra Christensen – A Phone Call from Mum 
Helena Citroni – Recipe for Disaster 
Marian Claire – Love and City Streets 
Jelena Curic – Gringo 
Norm Fairbairn – Mrs Simmonelli is in Mourning 
Zoe Gangell – At Eleven past Four 
Nelson Groom – The Turtle 
Nix Hamilton – Without Fail 
Joshua Heylin – Where else to bring the end of…
Ganesh Bahadur Khatri – From Gulmi to Grit 
Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan – The Welcome Mat for Aliens
Louise Loomes – The Pool 
KT Major – Potage/Patronage 
Kristof Mikes-Liu – The Year of Grass Trees 
David Mitchell – The Great Uldono 
Marta Morawiecka – Connections 
Renata Mueller – Room for One 
Claire Russell – Your Writing 
Rayan Shatnawi – Chromatic Consciousness 
Tyswan Slater – Table Setting 
Lina Sun – The Scattered Memories of Stitch Art 
Dannielle Viera – Transient Prophecy

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 2024 Launch 12 October

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Join us at at 11:am, UNE Sydney, 100 George Street Parramatta, to hear from Western Sydney writers and see the work of local visual artists, all published in this year’s ZineWest.

ZineWest’s 18th edition will be celebrated on Saturday, 12 October
UNE Sydney’s Parramatta campus,  Level 4, 100 George Street Parramatta.
11:00 am Morning Tea; 11:30 am – 1:30 pm: Judges’ comments, Readings, Prizes. 
$10 Entry with Door Prize. (Free entry for carers and children 12 and under.)
Zines $15; Contributors’ first copy $10 (If you can’t attend, zines will be available post launch on nwg-inc.com website.)

Please note all awards are announced at the launch – not beforehand.
Writing 1st: $400; 2nd: $300; 3rd: $200; Highly Commended: Book awards
Art 1st: $100; Runners-up (2): Book awards

ZineWest 2024 Publication List

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Congratulations to the writers who reached the ZineWest 2024 list. It has been a tough year. The ZineWest selection team works hard to give every entry (and every writer) a fair review and if you don’t have an entry on the list, we wish you to know your work is in good company with well-ranked pieces. When we trialled the short list in a draft publication we exceeded our budget and could not extend further.

Thanks to the reiviewers: J. Anne DeStaic, Mihaela Cristescu, Ruth Wyer, Chris Sammut and ZW Editor Sue Crawford. Also, to Carol Amos (NWG Inc president) and Felicity Amos who tracked and documented our progress. Any entrants not on the list below should have received an invitation to present their work at ZineWest WORD later this year. We are firming up the details and will post them soon. 

Zine West 2024 Publication List

Amy Anshaw-Nye – Saltwater Girls
C.A. Broadribb – Land of Lost Time
Mitch Browne – Outta Utero
Adam Byatt – Erosion
Peter Cartwright – I’m a Poet
Z. Cedar – Muslim Ghost Stories
Marian Claire – Jane Doe 
Bill Collis – Winter’s End
Sarah Cupitt – Skin and Bone
Danny Draper – Marine Life not Seafood
Marie Dustmann – Tea Land
Mona Elhassan – Bougainvillea
Norm Fairbairn – Winter’s End
Nelson Groom – The Text
Nix Hamilton – Together We Fall …  
Sam Herzog – Friends
Michelle Huynh – When in Kowloon
Trish Jean – A Lover’s Lament
Gregory Kenny – Leaving
Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan – Love at La-de-da
Lauren Maher – Uncle Jack
KT Major – Blue Jeans and Pop Music
J. Marahuyo – Sheet Lightning
Kristof Mikes-Liu – Moving In Day
Tyswan Slater – Hallway
Augusta Supple – The Reason You Didn’t …
Paul Traynor – Invocations
Dannielle Viera – Bright Divergence

Image by Mihaela Cristescu who also supplied the cake.