Without the Mic…

Posted on September 21, 2026 by nwginc

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

ZineWest 2026 Launch 12 September

Posted on August 17, 2026 by nwginc

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!

NWG Inc at Old Government House

Posted on August 7, 2026 by nwginc

Saturday 8th August 3-5 pm will be our first gathering at Old Government House.
We are delighted to be in such a significant Parramatta venue.

We will hold our gatherings in specific spaces as arranged between WestWords and OGH.

There will need to be some onboarding on 8th August, but we still aim to do the following once settled in.

Writers can bring 10 copies of one page of their writing – a short piece or excerpt and we can group together to give some feedback. Writers bringing work are most welcome to also act as reviewers. The approach is positive and the writer is not told how to write! But they can often pick up on ways of strengthening their work by listening to readers’ various responses.

If you’d like to read at the mic – please keep it to around two minutes.

Topic is Specificity (following our discussion on POV in July).

GETTING TO OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE IN PARRAMATTA PARK

Old Government House is located in Parramatta Park, Parramatta NSW.

By public transport: Old Government House is an easy walk from Parramatta and Westmead train stations. For ferry services, catch the Rivercat ferry and alight at Charles Street wharf – from there it’s a short walk along the riverside.

If you are on foot, the best entry points to Parramatta Park are the George Street or Pitt Street gates on the east, Queens Road gate or Park Avenue to the west.

By car: Drive into Parramatta Park and follow the loop around the park until you reach Old Government House. There is limited parking available in Parramatta Park.

Re car parking – We suggest you google for the nearest public carparks and check what is the best price and convenience for you. Westfield Parramatta offers a good deal to their members btw.

NWG Inc news

Posted on February 18, 2026 by nwginc

Writers and artists on Saturday, 14th February, at our first gathering in 2026, at WestWords see more below ….!

NEXT Gathering – Saturday14 March, 3-5 pm at
WestWords – Western Sydney Centre for writers, 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta.

Preparing our work for publication: This is an annual event! We discuss how we prepare our work so we can learn from each other. We read some short works (already published by NWG Inc) and express what we think about the writers’ intentions, style and skills with an open mind. We also ask do we have any suggestions for the writers’ ongoing success. We try hard to not impose our own taste or style or genre on the writer. This workshop might help your ZineWest Entry! Entry forms will be available from 15 March.

….. On Saturday, 14th February, at our first gathering in 2026, at WestWords, we heard great stories and poems by Western Sydney writers who contributed to our Pop Up Zine 2025 – or who joined us for the open mic. Plus beautiful and intriguing images from local visual artists. This was the final event in our 2025 Creative Project supported by the Australian Cultural Fund which made 2025 such a successful year for NEW Writers Group Inc.

NEW Writers Group @ Parramatta’s Lit!

Posted on October 8, 2025 by nwginc

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

Posted on September 28, 2025 by nwginc

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

Some book awards….

ZineWest 2025 Writing Publication List

Posted on July 18, 2025 by nwginc

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

NEW Writers Group Creative Program 2025

Posted on April 7, 2025 by nwginc

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.

Expression 4 Launch

Posted on January 12, 2025 by nwginc

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

Posted on November 12, 2024 by nwginc

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.