Ally Burnham is the Creative Producer at Westwords, Western Sydney’s centre for creative writing. She completed a Master’s in Writing for Performance at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and won an AWGIE in 2020 for her short film screenplay ‘Metropius’. She is a screenwriter, comic writer and novelist, most well known for her feature film, ‘Unsound’.
She has worked with Westwords for three years, striving to build a sense of community among Western Sydney writers. In an interview with W’SUP News, Ally has detailed the opportunities presented by Westwords, and how they support emerging writers.
Access part 1 of this interview here
One of the opportunities for emerging writers in 2025 is the WestWords-Varuna Emerging Writers’ Residency – could you explain what it is?
Hosted in partnership with Varuna, once a year WestWords puts out the call out for Western Sydney emerging writers interested in a weeklong residency at Varuna National Writers’ House to work on their major project. More than just a residency, the four chosen writers work with two live-in mentors across the week. We’ve seen in the past that these residencies help ‘super-charge’ a writer’s project, as they have no distractions for a week, they can put their project first and can develop it under the guidance and feedback of their mentors and fellow writers. It is fantastic for community building, as writers can leave Varuna having formed life-long friendships.
My advice for writers looking to apply for the WestWords-Varuna residency – in your application, be very clear about how you plan to use your week at Varuna. Tell us where the project is at now, tell us what the next level in its evolution will be, and tell us the steps you will take to get it there. We need to know you’ll be there to work hard, not be on holiday. And in terms of your pitch, make sure you’ve given thought to why this project should exist. What makes it different to the others? Articulating that well will help your application stand out in a very competitive pool.
What is the application process for the opportunities Westwords offers?
A part of our arts advocacy, we believe that applications shouldn’t put too much of a time burden on writers. As such, attempt to keep the application as brief as possible. Typically, we will ask for a writer’s bio (written in prose, third person). We ask for a one-page synopsis on a major project that will be the focus of the program being applied for. The sharper, more succinct the synopsis, the better, and always remember to tell us the genre! Ensure this is formatted with correct margins. Widening the margins to cheeky degrees just tells us you don’t know how to edit.
Then there is the cover letter, which I would say is one of the most important parts of the application! This is your chance to tell us why you are applying for the program, what you plan to use if for, and how it will further you as a writer.
Then of course there is a writing sample. Doesn’t matter where you choose in your story, but the start is always a good place, as it should naturally give a reader the who what where why really quickly. The writing sample is there for you to put your best foot forwards. We want to see what you’re capable of. Always submit in the industry standard double space, 12-point font. This will prove you are here to take your writing career seriously.
Can you give insight into other opportunities offered through WestWords, such as attending the BAD Sydney Crime Writers’ Festival 2025, and how those experiences can benefit writers?
Much of our programming involves partnering with other organisations to bring about opportunity for emerging writers that wouldn’t otherwise exist. For the past three years we have partnered with the BAD Sydney Crime Writing festival, allowing a handful of emerging writers free tickets to the festival, with a structure program of panels and author talks, pitching session, workshops, and green-room private chats with featured guests. It’s incredible to be behind the scenes at a writers’ festival and feel you are getting the most out of it. Each year I highly encourage our Academy members to put their hands up for it, even if they aren’t crime writers. It’s an opportunity to absorb craft skills, learn about how the industry works, and network as a writer.
Other opportunities include our partnership with FirstDraft, for writers to submit with the chance of their work being showcased in an art gallery. Likewise, we work frequently with other writing festivals, such as the Rose Scott Women Writers Festival and the Mudgee Readers and Writers Festival.
As so many of these opportunities pop up across the year, we can’t necessarily advertise them as a part of the Academy ahead of time. But it’s the Academy members we come to, when they do arise.
(During Academy Lives, writers can stand on stage and read their work aloud, helping to improve not only writers’ confidence, but also providing them with feedback from fellow writers | Photo by Nataša Aster-Stater).
What are some of the other ways WestWords supports emerging writers?
Down the Creating path, starting with children, we program into the schools. These are often a variety of author talks, workshops, or authors-in-residence programs, all presented by professional authors. These are designed to encourage children to write creatively and learn these skills. Throughout the school term we also host After Schools, an online creative writing program designed to make writing fun for kids, and not feel like schoolwork, as a way to develop both creativity as well as literacy skills.
- Writing Competitions:
We also run several writing competitions for children and adults throughout the year, including the Living Stories Writing Prize, the Blacktown Mayoral Writing Prize, and Fisher’s Ghost-Writing Prize. All these competitions result in a publication of all the winning and highly commended entries across each age category.
- Partnering with Libraries of Western Sydney:
Alongside these competitions, we partner with the libraries of Western Sydney to deliver free creative writing workshops, masterclasses and author talks. We program 45+ free creative writing workshops and author panels into libraries over the calendar year. We also host masterclasses, and author talks at our Western Sydney Centre for Writing throughout the year.
- Writing Groups:
For emerging writers looking to take the next step beyond stand-alone classes, we have our dedicated programs and writing groups. We run two writing groups with Campbelltown Library and our online Illuminated Ink writing group for writers who identify as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Our on-going programs include the WestWords-Varuna residency.
We also promote reading across all ages as part of our “sharing” arm, for without readers, there wouldn’t be writers. A lot of this work we do through our yearly Read-a-thon, Booktober.
- WestWords is a Publisher:
On from this, WestWords is also a publisher. We have three imprints, WestWords community, which publishes books that are created from the competitions, schools’ programs, or writing groups. We also have WestWords Children’s/Dirt Lane Press, which for two straight years has published a picture book that has been recognised on the CBCA shortlist. Finally, we have WestWords Books, our adult trade imprint, which publishes fiction novels, poetry collections and non-fiction. A relatively new publishing arm, we are expected to publish, in 2025, two poetry collections, two fiction novels, and two non-fiction essay collections.
- Call Outs:
Writers are welcome to make their work known to us through our call outs. In the past, this has included our Belonging Children’s Book Prize, the WestWords Prize, The WestWords Accelerator, and Bad Western Sydney, as these programs are designed to be a pathway to publication.
Physical publication isn’t our only avenue of ‘sharing’ a writer’s profile and their work. Across the year, we will likely host 25+ open mic events and poetry slams, that allow writers to share their written work aloud, both prose and poetry, in front of an encouraging audience.
- Online Corner:
We also have a robust online audience to which we share digital content, such as Poet’s Corner interviews, author readings, and author talks. We also have a podcast channel, the WestWords Podcast, that features interviews with local writers, emerging and established. Last year, in partnership with FirstDraft, WestWords ran a callout for works for exhibition display. This is similar to our exhibition of the Blake Poetry Prize shortlisted poems every two years, at the Casula Powerhouse.
All of this in underpinned by the idea that we are here to support our established writers as well. It is established writers we program back into the schools’ program and employ to run the workshops and masterclasses and invite in to speak at author panels and events.
What WestWords aims to create is an ecosystem of supporting writers at every step of their career.
For more information, please go to the WestWords website: https://www.westwords.com.au/
