Tash - The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon This fictional story is the fourth in the Bone season which is a dystopian and paranormal thriller. Being in the centre of a planned seven book series means that this is the integral part of the storyline. Compelling,...
Off Campus
The Secret Lives of Women Sydney Writers Festival
On May 24th, at the Sydney Writer’s Festival, a panel titled “The Secret Lives of Women” featured three cross cultural novelists. This panel discussed the inner worlds of their characters, where aspirations that are obscured by duty and expectations of the world. The...
Creating a Monster at Sydney Writer’s Festival
The Creating a Monster event, held at the Sydney Writers Festival on the 25th of May, had three 'Masters of Monsters'. C.S. Pacat, author of Dark Rise, Vanessa Len, author of Only a Monster, and Sarah Street, author of A Curse of Salt discussed their process of...
Samantha Shannon: On the Roots of Chaos Series
Samantha Shannon, speaking at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival, with Shelley Parker-Chan. Photo credit: Nataša Aster-Stater The Roots of Chaos event, which was held at the Sydney Writers’ Festival on May 25th, showcased the author, Samantha Shannon, speaking to a...
The Great Debate in Retrospect: Is Artificial Intelligence Better than the Real Thing?
I recently had the honor of attending the ‘SWF Great Debate’ at Town Hall, on behalf of W’SUP News, one of the many incredible events organised as part of the 2024 Sydney Writers Festival events on May 23rd . The topic for this year’s debate, “Artificial Intelligence...
Gami Chicken – now in Penrith!
(Pictured: The facade of Gami Chicken’s new branch in Penrith located in the Nepean Shopping village) Korean cuisine is relatively new to Penrith and as such, Gami inherently stands out from the crowd. While Gami is known for its fried chicken, it also offers a range...
Review: Peter Pan the musical
I have a confession to make. In my 20 years of life, I'd never watched Peter Pan. Should I be ashamed of this childhood failure to become equipped with one of the most beloved and well-known stories of all time?...
Holi: The Festival of Colours
Image Caption: Keeyon Ankaraju | Members of the WSU Indian Society celebrating Holi 2024 Holi is a festival of colours, and it also has profound historical roots, celebrating the victory of good over evil. Hindus celebrate Holi by gathering around bonfires, chanting...
Lacquer Art and Me
Author: Junhaoran Li (Oliver) - Edited by Nataša Aster-Stater (Credit: Junhaoran Li (Oliver) Before studying arts and crafts, Oliver wasn’t aware of what lacquerware was - though his home had items made through the lacquer technique, he was unaware of it due to my...
“Beyond the Rainbow”: a reflection on the Mardi Gras experience
Credit to @jordankmunns Good morning/evening readers, especially to the girls, gays, theys, and all those in between and allies! Earlier this year, I joined Western Sydney University as a dancing marcher for the 46th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras...
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Bianca’s breakthrough: How WSU helped her find her voice in the newsroom
When Bianca Tropiano started studying a Bachelor of Communication at Western Sydney University, she hadn’t picked a major. She undertook the ‘Introduction to Journalism’ subject. Whilst she didn’t really like it, she's now set to graduate with a major in journalism, a...
Western’s Annual Lifeblood Challenge, Now Open to More Donors!
The Lifeblood Challenge is a yearly competition organised by the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood where each team attempts to collect as many blood donations as possible in a set amount of time. From August 1st to October 31st, Western Sydney University (WSU) is working...
Queer Social Club Celebrates 2 Years
Josh Bouman (he/him) is the Queer Social Club (QSC) co-founder. The QSC runs events such as, picnics, hiking, queer trivia, beach days, game afternoons, brunches, trips to a café, craft-days, karaoke and craft-days. ‘[The Queer community] is very important...
Penguin Fantasy Fest Comes to Sydney
July 2025 saw Penguin’s ‘Fantasy Fest’ arrive in Australian cities, readers enjoying exclusive previews of upcoming fantasy novel releases and extensive author panel discussions. In 2023, Penguin Random House Australia, one of Australia’s ‘big five’ publishing...
Diversity Fest in Jeopardy: An Absent Crowd, but a Present Message
Diversity Fest was once the booming heart of Western Sydney University’s social life. This year, the campus was silent, with attendees few and far between. This begs the question: Has Diversity Fest lost its spark or has a shift occurred with how students...










