Author

  • Israa Merhi

    Israa Merhi is a Muslim writer, poet, student, and editor. She is currently writing and editing for the student-run and funded magazine, W’SUP News. She has briefly worked with an independent publication, Wolfbound Books, in Parramatta. In her early career, she’d performed in multiple poetry slams across the country like Enough Said Poetry Slam and Saltwater Poetry Slam. Also, in the 2025 Grand Slam hosted and facilitated by Bankstown Poetry Slam, Israa, along with her team, won the People’s Choice award. Now, she is hoping to expand her career and include other forms of creative writing. She is also aiming to write and publish reflective articles, analyses and essays, on neocolonialism inherent to Western cultures from the perspective of a Muslim.

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2025 Student Election Live Updates

2025 Student Election Live Updates

22nd September 2025: On Monday, the 15th of September 2025, Western’s student elections opened for the positions on the Board of Trustees (BoT), Student Representative Council (SRC) and the National Union of Students (NUS).   Each enrolled Western student received an...

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Let’s Teach Consent with Chanel Contos

Let’s Teach Consent with Chanel Contos

On May 26, 2025, Teach Us Consent – a movement founded by activist Chanel Contos, advocates to dismantle rape culture, launched the Promoting Consent Initiative. The initiative aims to provide young people with online content communicating the importance of healthy...

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Western’s Student Union is almost here!

Western’s Student Union is almost here!

W’SUP News has been closely following news regarding Western Sydney University’s student union that is set to be established in the upcoming months with operations to begin early 2026. We recently asked SRC President Laine Fox for union updates. Laine’s Statement:  ...

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Traumatised By Maths? Same – You Need MESH!

Traumatised By Maths? Same – You Need MESH!

As a writer, and definitely NOT a Mathematician, I freak out when I just get close to numbers. It takes me back to school days when I used to have a meltdown over equations and shapes. I still don’t know why I needed to prove how something was a triangle, to be...

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What’s On at WSU

Filmmaker Prudence Bernadette on Doctor Who fandom!

(Caption: Subculture: The Whovians title card. Photo credit: Prudence Bernadette, 2025)  Australian filmmaker and musician Prudence Bernadette (aka TheArtGirl) is stepping into the spotlight to debut her documentary Subculture: The Whovians. Produced under her new...

Zines Taking the World by Storm!

(Caption: Zine Fair stall workers and attendees. Photo credit: Garish (Luci) Kugathasan, 2025)  On the 20th September 2025, School of Zines hosted Parramatta Zine Fair, an event encouraging zinesters to show off their talent and content to the community. Printed media...

Indigenous Sovereignty: Right-Wing Extremism Rises

  Read Part 1 here — Indigenous Sovereignty: Welcome to Country Explained    A 2024 report from the Australian Reconciliation Barometer found more than half (54%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience racism in Australian society. This...

Western Alum Annie McCann on her Author Journey

  Annie McCann is a published author and a Western Sydney University alum. As an Indonesian-Australian Muslim emcee and writer, she is deeply passionate about diverse voices.    ‘My Harimau King’  McCann’s debut Middle-Grade novel, published by Melby Rose...

Indigenous Sovereignty: Welcome to Country Explained

  On the 31st of August 2025 NITV’s Bronte Charles and Yasmine Alwakal reported a ‘brutal, terrifying and traumatising’ Neo Nazi attack at Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty.  The peaceful protest with a smoking ceremony on sacred land turned into a violent, hate...