On Western Sydney (edition 2012)

http://shawjonathan.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/western-sydney-on-western-sydney/

Western Sydney is often characterised in the press as all about drugs and violence, especially sexual violence. Islamophobic stereotypes and class-based contempt often enter conversation about the region.

Westside Publications exists to create a counter-narrative: to provide a platform for Western Sydney voices and, at least in part, to undermine the stereotypes, less by denying them outright than by seeking to paint a fuller picture. ‘I don’t mind a story that makes us look bad,’ writes Michael Mohammed Ahmad, chief editor of Westside, in his introduction to On Western Sydney, ‘so long as it’s honest and complex.’

On Western Sydney is their twelfth anthology featuring established and/or emerging writers and artists connected to the region. It’s a good read, and not at all the dry sociological collection the title might suggest. It includes short stories, poetry, absurd parables, a photo essay; there’s lyricism, satire, rap, stinging social commentary, domestic observation, fantasy, memoir (I think), travel writing … from as culturally diverse a bunch of writers as you’re likely to find anywhere.