Welcome to The Illuminated Ink

The Illuminated Ink is a writing intensive program designed to hone and develop the craft of a cohort of LGBTQ Writers in Western Sydney. 

Participants will meet fortnightly at 6.30-8.30pm at WestWords Centre for Writing in Parramatta. There, writers will work on their selected projects under the facilitation of Orlando Silver. Additionally, there will be four masterclasses with guest writers. 

This program is ideal for writers developing larger projects, such as a poetry or short story collection, or long-form prose. 

This program will conclude with a showcase displaying and celebrating the participants work. 

As a part of the application, we ask for the submission of a word document or PDF with up to three to five pages of your best writing. This can be up to five poems, for poetry submissions. As part of the application please let us know what project you plan to work on.

Applications for a place are now open and close June 11th. There are limited spaces in this program. Sessions will be held in person in Parramatta, so applications are open to the Greater Sydney Area, but applications from Western Sydney will be prioritised. 

This is an in-person group but online participation is available as an accessibility option. 

All information you enter when applying will remain private. 

The program begins July 16th  and ends November 19th.

For any questions please contact Isabelle: isabelle@westwords.com.au

 

Apply here

Meet the Facilitator

Orlando Silver (he/ they) is a transmasc non-binary queer writer, living and working on Darug and Gundungurra land. He is a playwright, fiction writer and poet.

Orlando often focuses on the intersections of desire, transgender identities and embodiment. He has two self published books on trans masc desire, “Soft Fruit” and “Relent”. He is the editor of “I Write the Body”, an international anthology of queer and trans writers published by Kith Books. His next anthology, “Take it Outside” is currently open for submissions. At present Orlando is working on a play commissioned by the Q Theatre, which is scheduled for the 2025 Season. His novel “Scratch” is under development.

Orlando created the “Write Hard” writing program in late 2022 and since that time has worked with over 200 students in online group classes, masterclasses and as one-on-one mentorships. He recently taught as part of the creative writing program at the University of Washington.

Orlando is proud to be a Westwords Academy Alumni, and the recipient of the Westwords Varuna Residency 2023. He can be found here: https://orlandosilver.substack.com/ 

and on instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/orlando_silver_/

 

Meet the WestWords Rep

Isabelle Quilty is a non-binary creative (they/them) from regional NSW with a love of all things books and poetry. Most of their work is based around LGBTQ+ topics, working towards a greener future and works inspired by their Fijian-Indian Identity. They have a wide range of publications, including Resilience (2022, Ultimo Press), Kindling and Sage (2022, Joy Issue), Verge (Monash University, Defiant Edition.)

 

You can find more of their work here: @thecoffeecryptt on Instagram