Writing with Peter Polites

In 2022-2023, we ran a fortnightly multilingual writer’s workshop group with award-winning novelist Peter Polites called The Writers’ Room, funded by The Copyright Agency.

For more on that, see our rationale below.

This year, we’re changing things. Now, our emerging writers, led by Peter Polites, know what they want and unsurprisingly, that is: to write. So that’s what we’re going to do.

Every week, on Thursday, we’ll be hosting writing (write-in) sessions. Bring your laptop, or your notebook, and we’ll bring the coffee. We’ll read together, write together, and get caffeinated together.

These are not workshops, there’s no exam to pass, no judgment. This a space for community, conversation, and making art. We want to make the writing road a little less lonely, and more accessible.

I have never ceased to be amazed by the brilliant sparks that rub off at language contact points, creating a new language.
— Quoteuyang Yu, quoted by Wenche Ommundsen, “Multilingual Writing in a Monolingual Nation”, Sydney Review of Books (24 July, 2018)

The Writers’ Room 2022-2023

The Writers’ Room is about cultural democracy - who gets to read, write and share stories, and cultural innovation - how those stories are told.

The Writers’ Room is an invitation to join a supportive group for writers in Greater Western Sydney who write in languages additional to or other than English.

This program runs for a year (during school term time) and offers emerging writers the opportunity to work with an established writer.

Peter Polites

For the 2022-23 program our mentor is Peter Polites.

The Writers’ Room creates a space for people to be free to write regardless of form, language or publication history, and to gain the support of peers and insights into the craft of writing from experienced writers.

The Writers' Room is an affirmation of linguistic plurality, and an exploration of what the creative domain of multilingualism can enable.

Our starting point is creative play and experimentation, including an exploration of the exciting possibilities that the mixing of language can create.

The Writers’ Room is developed for writers living or working in Greater Western Sydney regardless of the language(s) in which they write.

We invite writers interested to join The Writers’ Room to complete an expression of interest by clicking on the button below.

To find out more, please make sure you join our newsletter here and follow us on social media here and here.

The Writers’ Room began at the end of May 2022. We meet on the first and third Tuesday of the month, during school term. Applicants will be provided with further details upon selection.

This project was supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.