2025 WestWords Varuna Emerging Writers Residency
We are excited to announce the recipients of this year’s WestWords Varuna Emerging Writers Residency.
The fellowship offers four emerging writers from diverse backgrounds from Western Sydney the opportunity of a week-long residency at Varuna from 15-22 September. Joining them will be live-in mentors who will be chosen in response to the successful candidates so that the mentorship offered is tailored to the people and their work.
Creative Producer of WestWords, Ally Burnham says:
"The scope and skill on display from Western Sydney's emerging writers made this year's selection particularly difficult. All our assessors were so impressed by the level of craft, and the range of genre and topics that were the focus of this year's applicants.
The four selected writers this year are an effortless snapshot of the diversity of voices in our region, and the quality of writing these emerging writers are producing. There are two poets, both of whom have demonstrated a keen eye for the world around them, a sharp analysis of selfhood, and provided a vision for their emerging poetry collections. There are also two long-form writers, one of whom is working in historical fiction, and the other in crime. What these two works both displayed is a strong authorial voice, intriguing creative concepts, clear vision for their development process, and end goal for their project.
Over the past eight years, recipients of the WestWords residency at Varuna who have experienced the joys, productive seclusion and mentorships the residency has offered, have gone on to receive major publication and receive awards. We are excited and honoured, and are looking forward to mentoring and facilitating these writers through their creative developmental journey.”
Congratulations to the four writers Jasmine Baker, Christina Faulk, Neen Ramos and Marianna Saran who have been selected to continue refining their writing projects at Varuna.
We look forward to welcoming them to the House soon.
Jasmine Baker is a bilingual storyteller, performer, and educator who has captivated audiences across Sydney with performances showcased at major festivals like Sydney Vivid, SSI New Beginnings, and WOW Festival, as well as on SBS World News and in schools and libraries. With a background in Creative Arts, Health and Well-Being, Journalism and Public Relations, Jasmine brings a unique perspective to their work. A domestic violence consultant and student of child psychology and education, she is dedicated to creating stories that inspire and empower. As a 2021 WestWords Alumni and award-winning storyteller, Jasmine is currently working on two books of poetry, children’s stories, and fiction set in Western Sydney. Born and raised in Western Sydney, she draws from her Lebanese-Australian heritage and multilingual, multifaith upbringing to craft bilingual children's stories in Arabic and English, bringing them to life through dynamic performances.
Christina Faulk was born in Sri-Lanka and started as a cadet-journalist on the Courier Mail in Queensland but her real writing love has been the lovingly-researched novel or non-fiction project. Her 2014 memoir about her childhood in Sri Lanka 'The Island of Singing Fish' (available on Amazon) sold out in Colombo bookshops and on line, and was snapped up by diaspora readers in Australia, US, UK and Europe. Tina's current project however is a world away from Sri Lanka, a history of Sydney's first mental hospital, the grimly austere Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, sited at Bedlam Bay on the banks of the Parramatta River. She is eagerly looking forward to a time to write and just write, at Varuna.
Neen Ramos is an emerging poet residing on Dharug land. Her body of work explores the complexities of the immigrant experience. With a background in marketing, Neen brings a thoughtful and layered approach to storytelling, weaving themes of resilience, displacement, and belonging into her poetry and creative nonfiction. Her writing invites readers to reflect on the nuances of language, the quiet sacrifices of migration, and the vibrant yet bittersweet ties to home.
She is currently developing a poetry collection, gods of the margins, which navigates the liminal spaces of cultural identity, colonial inheritance, and the act of becoming in a new land. Through this work, she explores what it means to write from the edges—linguistically, politically, and emotionally—while reclaiming space and voice.
Marianna Saran is a TV reporter and writer with a passion for sharing stories that are informative, inspiring and bring connection to communities. Writing crime fiction is an extension of her reporting and she looks forward to sharing and working on her debut crime fiction novel at Varuna, some of which has been inspired from stories she has covered.
This program is presented in partnership with WestWords
