We started out as a mentorship program that targeted emerging women writers in western Sydney, with the goal of improving their skills to become professional practitioners. You can read about some of our many achievements in ‘What we’ve been up to’. Our core directorship is currently Felicity Castagna, Hajer, Eda Gunaydin and Sheila Ngoc Pham but we work with a wide section of female writers both from western Sydney and beyond and also many of the writers who were involved in our orginal mentoship program. We try to be as least territorial as we can - our writers move in and out of working with our collective and we don’t ask them to brand themselves as being part of the collective. We believe this enables a healthier literay community where we can hopefully work with rather than compete with each other.
Writers who were part of The Finishing School origanl mentorship program:
Rawah Arja, Claire Nemorin, Zralasht Sarwari, Joanne Kee, France Gai Pung An, Ailsa Liu, Brittany Searle, May Ngo, Michele Freeman, Eda Gunaydin, Ruth Mooney, Kelly Cheung, Faith Chaza, Felicity Castagna, Sheila Pham, Hajer, Chloe Higgins, Peta Murphy.
In 2021 we are working on projects with:
A host of other writers including Yumna Kassab, Masako Fukui, Vivian Pham, Deniz Agram and Tanya Vavilova.
As well as:
Visual Artists Sheila Ngoc Pham, Shireen Taweel, Mehwish Iqbal, Linda Brescia, Maria Abboud and the all-female electonica group, New Age Noise Collective.
In 2022 we are working with:
Laura La Rosa, Anwen Crawford, Alison Whittacker, Kim Pham, Gary Lonesborough, Bina Bhattacharya, Zharlasht Sarwari, Zhora Aly and May Yousif through many of our public events.
As well as:
Sound artists Ilhan Abdi and Faith Chaza and visual artist Marian Abboud
In 2023 we are working with:
Deniz Agram, Mohammad Awad, Felicity Castagna, Lanneika Denne, Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu, Eda Gunaydin, George Haddad, Sarah Malik, Smitha Peter, and Geneva Valek.
As well as:
The Seed of Hope Collective from The Think + Do Tank and Marian Abboud
So far in 2024 we are working with:
Jumanaa Abdu, Ellen O’Brien, Max Easton, Fiona Murphy, Anney Bounpraseuth
Our core directorship:
Eda Gunaydin
Eda Gunaydin is a Turkish-Australian essayist and researcher whose writing explores class, intergenerational trauma and diaspora. Her collection Root & Branch: Essays on Inheritance (NewSouth Publishing) won the 2023 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Matt Richell Prize for New Writer of the Year at the 2023 ABIAs. Her essays have been published in the Sydney Review of Books, Cordite, Liminal, Meanjin, and others.
Hajer
Hajer is a writer, actress and founder of the 'Iraqi Diaspora Creatives Network' an Instagram page showcasing Iraqi creatives across the globe. Hajer's writing explores the experiences of womanhood, messy friendships and everyone’s favourite topic--dysfunctional families.
She is currently writing a novel that has been long listed for the Richell Prize.
Hajer produces an arts event called Sahra Salon. She is also part of the core directorship of the Finishing School Collective. In 2023, she will direct the inaugural SWANA Film Festival.
Felicity Castagna
Felicity Castagna has published four novels for adults and young adults including her most recent book, Girls In Boys’ Cars (2021, Pan Macmillan) which received The Victorian and Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for YA and was adapted into a stage play by Priscilla Jackman for The National Theatre of Parramatta. It is soon to become a major film. Her previous novel, No More Boats (2017, Giramondo) was a finalist in the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Awards and is published internationally by Europa. Her young adult novel The Incredible Here and Now (2014, Giramondo) received The Prime Minister’s Award for Young Adult Literature. She has worked with artists in many different fields to produce cross-artform collaborations, theatre and installation for major festivals including The Sydney Festival, The Sydney Opera House and The Adelaide Festival. Her creative non-fiction and critical responses to literature and art are published both here and internationally on platforms such as The Sydney Review of Books, Electric Literature, LitHub, The Griffith Review and ABC radio and television.
Castagna is a highly experienced teacher, speaker, writing mentor and teacher educator who has facilitated workshops everywhere from schools to community arts centres to correctional centres. She has helped to establish, promote and run many writing and storytelling programs. She is currently a Senior Lecturer with The Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University where she is the course convenor for Creative Writing.
Sheila Ngoc Pham
Sheila Ngọc Phạm is an independent writer, editor and producer. She has written for a wide range of Australian and international publications and is currently a Contributing Editor for diaCRITICS, the online journal for the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network. Sheila is an Advisory Board Member for Sydney Review of Books and has twice judged the NSW Premier's Literary Awards' Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction as well as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards' Multicultural NSW Award. In 2023, she was runner-up in the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize and in 2021, she was a finalist for the Walkley-Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism and the Woollahra Digital Literary Award. She is currently finalising a PhD at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation and casually lectures in public health ethics at Macquarie University.