Category Archives: Prose

NWG Inc at WestWords

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In 2024, NEW Writers Group Incorporated will be based at WestWords, 41 Hunter Street Parramatta, for monthly events.

An outstanding opportunity for NWG Inc members and colleagues to foster inspiration and creative skills at this remarkable hub of Western Sydney literary programs and events.

NEW Writers Group Incorporated  committee has accepted the gracious invitation made by WestWords Executive Director Michael Campbell to base NWG Inc’s regular monthly events at the delightful WestWords venue, 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta in 2024. 

“How do we condense what we do at WestWords into a simple message? In a nutshell, it’s about telling stories that represent the people of Western Sydney.”

NWG Inc will shortly post a calendar of dates but our first event will be a Saturday in February, 3-5pm: Afternoon tea – welcome & introductions; author interview; invited readers; and an open mic on the theme of Valentine. NB: we hope for varied interpretations! Please write for 16 years and over. You will have two minutes at the mic … Book awards.
$5 entry. Free for financial members. First visit to NWG Inc? Free entry. Check with us in January for more details. 

ZineWest 2023 Awards

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At UNE Sydney in Parramatta, on Saturday14th October, we were delighted to launch ZineWest 2023.
Our judges, Luke Carman (Writing) and Maria Constantinescu (Art),  announced their awards.
Cover Image by Sandra Borri.

We honour the judges for their dedicaton and thank the contributors and friends attending –  supporting their colleagues, volunteering, reading. For those unable to come, you can order a contributor’s copy and more copies At our Shop.

Luke Carman gave his annual commentary on all the writing pieces and announced the following awards:

1st Place and Best Prose:
The Sound of Water by Adam Byatt
2nd Place:
The River is a Mirror by Trish Jean
3rd Place and Best Poem
Amity by Mitch Browne
Highly Commended 
Dawn by Lisel Herrmann
A Way from where you live by Kristof Mikes-Lui
1942 by Geneva Valek

Editors’ Award
Joint winners –
The Feasting by Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan
Her vs Him by Paris Rosemont

Maria Constantinescu gave her commentary on the images published in the zine and announced the following awards:

Best Image:
Pelican at Dusk by Trish Jean
1st Runner-up 
A Girl and Her Dog by Erin Macnaught
2nd Runner-up
Going Places by Marina Robins

Photos to come!

We thank our sponsors and supporters including the Writing and Society Research Cenre at WSU, and our generous private donors.

 

ZineWest 2023 Launch

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Dr. Luke Carman will launch ZineWest 2023 on Saturday, 14 October, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm at UNE Sydney, Level 4, 100 George Street, Parramatta.
Also attending is art judge, Maria Constantinescu.

All welcome. $10 entry includes door prize ticket and morning tea. Carers and children under 13, free entry. Please note: Ground floor entry will be accessible from 10:45 – 11:30 am. If you expect to be late please advise before the day.

Zines $15, Contributors’ first copy $5

Morning Tea 11:00 am
Launch 11:30 am – 1:30 pm 
Commentary by Luke Carman 
Art PPT with Maria Constantinescu
Readings, prizes and awards
Giant Raffle & Door Prizes

Prizes announced at the launch
Writing: 1st $400, 2nd $300, 3rd $200; Highly Commended awards; Editors Award
Art: Best Image $100; Runners-up book awards

Writing co-sponsor for 1st place – Writing & Research Society Centre
Other prizes – Private donors

 

 

 

 

ZineWest 2023 – Art List

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Maria Constantinescu is an Australian artist based in Sydney, who has collaborated with NWG Inc on projects in Parramatta. She is our ZineWest Art judge for 2023. Maria will announce the winner of Best Image ($100) and Runners-up (book titles) at the ZineWest launch, 14th October, 11:00 am, UNE Sydney, 100 George St. Parramatta. Below, see the Art publication list and Maria’s bio.

ZineWest 2023 Art 

Sandra Borri – Autumn Pickings 
Mihaela Cristescu – The Way of the Water 
Trish Jean – Pelican at Dusk & Face in the Billabong
Erin Macnaught – A Girl and Her Dog 
Kathryn Munro – Floral Bouquet 
Marina Robins – Going Places 
Karla Schindler – The Garden Visitor
Michaela Simoni – Near Wentworth Falls 
Dannielle Viera – Ebony_Devil & Still Life 

Note: Most entries were in colour. We have sought  permission from several entrants to publish one of their colour images in greyscale for the zine’s inside pages. We will update the list accordingly.

Maria Constantinescu is an Australian artist based in Sydney, NSW. Her work investigates different modalities in which information about the universe and related theories of the sublime are translated into contemporary works of art, as a continuum of an artistic tradition nascent in the 18th-century Romanticism. Through a range of media including painting, drawing, digital video, and clay, Constantinescu’s studio practice explores connections between imagination and reality, and focuses on modes of making the unseen visible, presenting the unpresentable, and transformation metaphorically linked with alchemy. Constantinescu’s work has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions and is held in private collections in Australia and overseas. For more details and artwork images, please visit her website www.mariac.com.au or her Instagram page @maria.constantinescu.art.

 

 

 

 

NWG Inc gathering 12 August

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Saturday 12 August, 2023, 3-5 pm, we meet at UNE Sydney, 211 George St. Parramatta (upstairs) to discuss our next Pop Up Zine theme: writing about places outside our usual spheres: a change in routine; an adventure; an unfamiliar location; a change of heart or mind …

You are welcome to bring a short piece of your own writing to share at the open mic. And for those who like homework: Write a short poem or a story (max 500 words) on an unusual person – real or imaginary. Free entry for first time attendees and financial members. Others: $5 to help cover our insurance cost. 

ZineWest 2023 Publication List

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We thank all our entrants. You create a challenge every year. There is a readership for every piece we receive but we are limited by space.
See ZW2023 list below. 

ZineWest 2023 Publication List

C.A. Broadribb – Mineral Water with Extra Minerals
Mitch Browne – Amity
Adam Byatt – The Sound of Water
Peter Cartwright – Existence Suite – excerpt
Neil Collis – Suburban Boy
Marie Dustmann – Moon Festival
Danny Draper – Moment’s End-full Bliss
Lee Ekstein – To Have a Body
Norman Fairbairn – To Bunyah One Last Time
Lisel Herrmann – Dawn
Trish Jean – The River is a Mirror
Myra Koch – RIP My Friend
Ilona Krueger – The Shapes of Stress
Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan – The Feasting
Alle Lloyd – Cast in Silver
Kristof Mikes-Liu – A Way from where you live
Alison Miller – It’s been…
Benjamin D. Muir – Fashstralia
Jo Mularczyk – Save our Souls
Marina Robins – Train Connections
Paris Rosemont – Her vs Him
Rayan Shatnawi – Everything, everywhere, all at once
Michaela Simoni -Two Types of Human Species
Tyswan Slater – Above and Below
Augusta Supple – A Case of You
The Tropics888 – Made in the Factory
Geneva Valek – 1942
Dannielle Viera – Crossroads
 
Copies of ZineWest 2023 will be available at the launch on 14th October, 2023, at UNE Sydney, Level 4, 100 George Street Parramatta, 11:00 am. They will also be available via our online shop on the same weekend.

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

 

ZineWest 2023

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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. 

 

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.

Street Musicians – Launch

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Romanian/Australian Anthology

Experiment Farm Cottage, Parramatta

11 March 2023, 11:30am – 1:30 pm

Launched by Luke Carman

Readings, Live Music, Refreshments

Free Entry

Street Musicians is Volume 7 of Mihaela Cristescu’s bilingual anthology series for Romanian and Australian writers, illustrated by Luminita Serbanescu and edited by Mihaela Cristescu and S.E. Crawford. The anthologies are first published and launched in Romania and then launched in Australia. Due to renovations at the State Library of NSW, which has hosted past launches, we will welcome you to the historic venue, Experiment Farm Cottage, at 9 Ruse Street, Harris Park, in Parramatta, NSW. 

This Romanian/Australian annual series is supported by NEW Writers’ Group Incorporated which is based in Parramatta. Many Western Sydney writers have contributed to one or more volumes, together with Romanian writers from Romania, Australia and other countries.
See also Code-Mixing Poetry on FB or our Rom/Aus page on this website for updates.

NB. This is a smaller venue than at the State Library so please RSVP  or to Mihaela via Code-Mixing Poetry by 12 February.