Australians are notoriously agnostic, if not outright atheistic. The stats from the most recent census in 2016 show that almost one third...

SWEET RAIN Gerdette Rooney Sweet rain is falling heavily - and I emigrated to escape it! I would never have called it sweet. In Ireland...

Gerdette Rooney As a native of Ireland, I first moved into the inner west of Sydney in January 1988, just in time for the Bicentenary...

AN SSOA WRITING EXERCISE Holding back details of character is a technique often used in the crime genre – but what details are essential...

Not an easy task, you might say. But the owners of what is a global business, nothing more, can easily make the honest decision that...

The stories of suffering and loss are almost overwhelming ... BEFORE THE FIRE AFTER THE FIRE More than 150,000 evacuations and almost...

The last writing prompt for the year from Sydney School of Arts & Humanities (SSOA) - responses from writing group members Cat Davey,...

by Gerdette Rooney Brexit has been dominating the airwaves for the past three years and talk of hard and soft borders bandied about in a...

When Nymboida in northern NSW was severely hit by bushfires last month, with homes blasted by the ferocity of flames and residents...

After seven years in Papua New Guinea, at last Behrouz Boochani is free from the torment he has suffered under Australia’s abusive...

Five hundred grams of tiny toes and fingers, his chest rising every few seconds, validating the fleeting blossom of his arrival. Three...

The Part of Me that is Always There It is what defines me, the thing that another recognises when I walk into the room. The same thing...

It might be argued that all stories - whatever the genre - follow a similar pathway, an opening up of an event or series of incidents...

by Lawrence Goodstone The suggestion that homilies don’t work is far too broad a statement because much depends on the audience that the...

Award-winning poet Syam Sudhakar has sent us a new cache of his poems and we're pleased to share one with our readers. Following the...

Nicky Gluch’s latest book launched in a spirit of reconciliation and universality at Ariel Bookstore this week.

The prompt for this week's writing groups: what are you striving for in your writing?

THE STAFF OF LIFE means many things to many people. Here are some original creative writing responses that go beyond a hunk of bread.

Last year in Japan, artist Deidre Keenaghan, visited a calligraphy shop in Kyoto.

Stewart Adams discusses the most fundamental and core task in writing is writing itself