Rashida Murphy has published her short fiction and poetry in various literary journals and anthologies, in Australia, India, U.K and U.S.A. The Historian's Daughter was shortlisted in the Dundee International Book Prize in 2015. I am writing to express, along with hundreds of others, my deep regret and grief at the impending closure of UWA Publishing. Without UWA Publishing, I, as a young immigrant in the mid 1980s, would not have known my place.The books I bought from the Press showed me an Australia I could inhabit in my own skin. More than 20 years after I began buying this imprint, UWAP published my debut novel, which was straight out of a university writing program. UWAP gave me a platform to add my own voice to the multitudes that had informed mine. As Roanna Gonsalves has already pointed out, debut and migrant writers are regularly published by this publisher, which surely adds to “internationalisation as much as possible” to quote your own words back at you, Mr Shah. Further, if you are really invested in creating “real world impact” and are serious about “contributing to our cultural foundations” you would be working to ensure that UWA Publishing continues and prospers, rather than presiding over its demise. I hope you will reconsider your decision and ensure the continuing presence of our state’s cultural curator, custodian of our stories and an exemplar of ethical and forward-thinking publishing. Enticing international fee-paying students to the university need not come at the cost of writing and publishing in this state. Sincerely Dr Rashida Murphy https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/collections/rashida-murphy https://rashidawritenow.com/ *** ***** Support UWAP by signing the petition at Change.org On Thursday the 7th of November, we heard the news that UWA Publishing will be shut down, a decision which threatens the future of Western Australian publishing. Below is the copy of a media release (November 8, 2019) offering our response to this situation.
A petition calling for this decision to be reversed can be found here: http://bit.ly/34AHgga. We urge you to sign, and to show your support for UWA Publishing in any way possible. We at Westerly are shocked and dismayed by the announcement of the closure of UWA Publishing (UWAP). UWAP is a vital part of the Western Australian publishing sector and the literary life of Australia more broadly. Losing the press would come at great cost to Australian literature. UWAP has made enormous contribution to the culture of Australian writing in its 85-year history. It has a rich heritage and an essential back-catalogue. As Publisher, Professor Terri-ann White has supported writers who articulate the many varied experiences of life, culture, and forms of writing. We have long applauded her work, and admire the vigour and integrity with which she has always supported Australian literature. Under Terri-ann, UWAP has displayed immense courage in its editorial direction, publishing a new generation of poets, Miles Franklin Award winners, and scholars from Western Australia and further afield. They have published a diverse and inclusive list, championing voices who might otherwise go unrecognised. As one example in many, we have long been in awe of UWAP’s commitment to supporting Indigenous cultures, shown in its partnership with the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project, and the promotion of many talented writers including amongst others Lisa Bellear and Kankawa Nagarra Olive Knight. More... **** ***** Support UWAP by signing the petition at Change.org Writing WA has been distressed to learn that the University of WA this week announced plans to close UWA Publishing in its current form. UWAP is one of Western Australia’s oldest and most important publishing houses, responsible for bringing some of Western Australia’s most acclaimed authors to publication and readerships. While Writing WA’s vision is for Western Australia to become the State of Opportunity for writers and publishers, this decision by UWA is a huge blow, certain to reduce opportunities for local writers to emerge and to tell WA’s stories. The subsequent loss to our culture will be significant. Here in the State Theatre Centre this weekend, where Writing WA is currently presenting the Quantum Words Perth Festival – a writers festival exploring science, art, innovation and the spaces in which they intersect – and in an environment where people have come together specifically to celebrate the enormous value of writing and books in our social, cultural and scientific worlds, Writing WA stands with UWA Publishing and our many colleagues in the sector who respectfully call for UWA to reconsider its position. *** Join Writing WA in supporting UWAP by signing the petition! https://www.abc.net.au/radio/greatsouthern/programs/mornings/mornings/11671310
Reneé Pettitt-Schipp is an award winning writer and educator who lived in the Indian Ocean Territories from 2011 until 2014. Renee’s work with asylum seekers in detention on Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) islands inspired her first collection of poetry, ‘The Sky Runs Right Through Us’. This manuscript was shortlisted for the inaugural Dorothy Hewett manuscript prize and released by UWA Publishing in February 2018. In 2019 The Sky Runs Right Through Us was awarded the Western Australian Premier's Emerging Writer Book prize, Reneé’s work has been recognised through many literary awards, including the ACU literature prize, the Ros Spencer Poetry Prize, the Grief Poetry Prize and the Trudy Graham Biennial Literary Award. ****** Support UWAP by signing the petition at Change.org Support UWAP by signing the petition at Change.org ** As managing editor of Plumwood Mountain journal, I would like to add my support to the campaign to ask University of Western Australia to continue to support UWAP. The petition on change.org has close to 6500 signatures and they are aiming for 7500 and more. International as well as local support is very welcome. We are proud to have published reviews of many UWAP titles, including books by Michael Aiken, Annamaria Weldon, Philip Neilsen, Paul Hetherington, Carolyn Abbs, Rachael Mead, David Adès, Phillip Hall, Tony Hughes-d-Aeth, Susan Fealy, Amanda Joy, Rose Lucas, Anna Wickham, Martin Harrison, Paddy Roe, Lisa Jacobson, Steve Armstrong, David Ritter. Just a few of the authors published in recent years by UWAP. Let’s keep support for this fine Australian publisher going. More ... Dear Vice-Chancellor, I am sure you had the best interests of UWA at heart when you made your recent decision to substantially close down UWA Publishing, but as one of its authors, I strongly urge you to reconsider immediately. UWAP, under the superb leadership of Terri-ann White, is a leading voice in Australia's literary community. It has developed and facilitated the work of countless creative writers, and innovative researchers and thinkers, including Australian poets like myself, whose work has been widely read and critically acclaimed. As Ms White points out in a recent radio interview, the profile of UWA is not particularly high in the rest of the country, or the rest of the world, but through this publishing house it has come to be seen as a centre of enlightened best practice, a beacon of how culture should be practiced and disseminated. Shutting it down would not only limit the potential of this ongoing expansion of interest in what the university has to offer through this highly esteemed publishing house (and, undoubtedly, numerous other programmes). It will most likely create a cultural backlash which will send perceptions of UWA (and unfortunately, very possibly, by association WA culture generally) back to the way Queensland was seen at the time of Bjelke-Petersen. Please reverse your decision immediately. In fact, I would encourage you to expand your support and funding for UWAP as one of the most successful public faces of your educational enterprise. With all best wishes, Richard James Allen I **** Support UWAP by signing the petition at Change.org As the national representative body for poetry in Australia, Australian Poetry (AP) wishes to expresses its deep dismay at the decision this week by the University of WA to axe its 84-year-old publishing arm, UWAP, with operations set to cease imminently. Led by UWAP’s brilliant, indefatigable publisher and poetry publisher, Terri-ann White, this decision not only leaves in limbo forthcoming poetry books (15 in total), it significantly impacts negatively the future landscape of Australian poetry overall. As one of the poetry majors in Australia, Terri-ann and UWAP have earned universal respect for their vision and lists – at this point, a 320 back-list includes 60+ individual poetry collections by Australian poets, alongside UWAP’s iconic Collected series, featuring the likes of Francis Webb, Lesbia Harford and Fay Zwicky. And in terms of recent contributions to the flourishing of contemporary Australian poetry, they have published 40 individual collections alone in the new series they began in October 2016. This is an incredible achievement, and if UWAP is able to continue, via this axeing decision being reversed, this series would continue to offer essential pathways for so many emerging and established poets. Without it, our art-form palpably suffers. Poets whose collections have been scheduled for February are David Stavanger, Jill Jones, Thuy On, Nadia Rhook and Graeme Miles.More.... ***** Support UWAP by signing the petition at Change.org |
ArchivesCategories |