Category Archives: UNE Sydney

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. 

ZineWest 2026 Launch 12 September

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ZineWest Launch: Saturday, 12th September at University of New England Parramatta Campus,28 George Street, Parramatta.
11:30 am for Noon – 2:00pm or earlier (bump out 2:30pm)
Entry: $10, Free for under 16’s and carers.
Zines:$15; Contributors 1st copy: $10
Readings; Judges’ comments and awards
Door prize and raffle draws
Cake!
This event is part of Parramatta’ Lit! Check out the other events!


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.

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.

 

 

 

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 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. 

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