Westerly Magazine

02/06/2026

Amongst other awards, 'G-d, Sleep, and Chaos' by Alan Fyfe walked away with the the Book of the Year AND the Poetry Book of the Year awards at the WA Premier’s Book Awards in 2025.

Read our review of this fantastic, award-winning collection to find out why!

Find it now on the Editor's Desk through our link in bio.

29/05/2026

Our friends over at Magabala Books have put together a reading list of books by First Nations writers that inspire, challenge and invite reflection on this year's Reconciliation Week theme: 'All In!'.

Find it here: https://bit.ly/4wKuedT

The theme is "All In', which is a reminder that true reconciliation for First Nations people in Australia will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us. We've put together a reading list of Blak books that inspire, challenge and invite reflection on that theme. Which book are you reading this National Reconciliation Week? 📚

Go for Reconciliation Week: https://bit.ly/4wKuedT

27/05/2026

Head over to Walyalup Fremantle Library with your little ones this Friday 29 May for a special Reconciliation Week session to hear stories from their kindy collection, enjoy dot painting and other cultural activities!

See their website for more.

26/04/2026

Everyone at Westerly was saddened to hear of the death of David Malouf, one of the giants of Australian letters.

In remembering Malouf, we thought that sharing some of his work—a speech to the Australian Short Story Festival, published in Westerly 63.2—and some engagements with his writing by critics in the Magazine, would allow readers to enjoy the pleasure Malouf himself articulates: the way stories let us ‘step free of the bounds, the bonds, of chronology, and the ways in which we are bodily subject to it, into another version of chronology altogether, where the past is forever “once upon a time” and the future “ever after”.’

These works are available to read in the latest post on the Editor's Desk now, found at our link in bio.

21/04/2026

Our website is getting a makeover! As a result westerlymag.com.au is temporarily unavailable. We expect to have the new site up and running shortly and we can't wait to share it with you! In the meantime, thank you for your patience.

17/04/2026

Curious to go behind the scenes of publishing with Fremantle Press?

Join them on 24 April as they open the doors to their new offices on Parry Street in Fremantle and celebrate fifty years of independent publishing in WA!

Enjoy a tour of the building and hear from WA’s emerging arts and publishing professionals as they connect with Fremantle Press and partner organisations across three industry panels.

Guided tours are available by gold coin donation, commencing from 9.45 am at 1/10 Parry Street, with the last tour ending at 1.45 pm. Fremantle Press books and merchandise will also be on sale throughout the day.

View the program and book your tickets on the 'Event's page on the Fremantle Press website.

16/04/2026

ICYMI: Multi-award winning author Kathryn Heyman is hosting a Books in the Brewery workshop at State Library of Western Australia on 13 May!

Tickets are $50, which includes a copy of Heyman's novel 'Circle of Wonders'.

Book your ticket here:

Learn to make your words and characters sing with wonder in this creative writing workshop hosted by Kathryn Heyman.

15/04/2026

Join our friends Pelican Magazine for the launch of Issue 97.2!

The launch will be at Pigface Bookstore on 19 April from 4:30pm. Enjoy an afternoon of readings and the joy of being surrounded by books!

Tickets are free, but, booking is essential. Ticket link here: https://shorturl.at/WDWRz

10/04/2026

Take a deep dive into the 2025 winner of the Tasmanian Literary Awards' People's Choice Award on the Editors Desk!

Read Justcallme Jackson's review of 'Ways to Say Goodbye' by Anne Kellas (Liquid Amber Press)!

'[T]hese poems reach beyond metaphor and into the realms of dream and imagination—without falling into triteness or sentimentality or resorting to self-conscious artifice—to portray a scanning, searching, singularly creative locus of awareness'.

Find this review, along with many (MANY) others, on the Editor's Desk of our website through our link in bio.

09/04/2026

Submissions are open for The Suburban Review issue 42: NOISE!

They want your most raucous and resonant fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics and art for this Issue.

Think love poems that go bump in the night, odes to birdsong, and sonnets inspired by protest chants, artwork that marches to the beat of its own drum and comics that remix the classics. Have you penned a pop-punk manifesto, an uproarious essay, or a short story that’s bound to wake up the neighbours? Rock on! They're all ears!

Australian submissions are open from 6 April to 3 May.
International submissions will open from 27 April to 3 May.
Subscribers have until 10 May to submit their work.

Learn more and submit here: https://shorturl.at/sb40I