The Finishing School is a collective of women writers dedicated to creative excellence and exploration. We are inspired by and responsive to the communities and concerns of western Sydney, where we are based, but our gaze extends far beyond its psychogeographic boundaries.
We have a radical commitment to making honest work. We individually pursue our own projects as well as collaborate with other writers and artists on literary projects, cross-artform installations and performances.
Our work is guided by curiosity and informed by the complex and multifaceted world we live in. We value self-reflection and critique, as well as deep listening to our contemporaries and our elders. We value process and not just product, and believe experimentation is valuable in itself to work out how to express our concerns.
We are driven to tell stories which create connections, propel conversations and encourage reflection. We believe ongoing engagement with our communities keeps us accountable and makes us better at what we do.
Over the years western Sydney as an idea has become shorthand for many issues in the arts, and literature specifically; as a site it has become a focus for artistic support and amplification. We aim to build on this valuable work by promoting a plurality of voices.
Previously we have functioned as a highly successful metorship program. We are now moving towards being a cross-disciplniary arts collective. We’ve recently worked on a number of projects including collaborating with Marian Abboud in order to create a multi-story installation of text, which playfuly explores the subject of architecture at UTS library. We have also worked with The Griffith Review and PAS in order to collaborate on a series of essays which explores western Sydney’s best visual artists. In addition to this we’ve been running Sahra Salon at The Riverside Theatres and a number of other public events, which provide safe spaces for dangerous conversations.
Here are some of the other great projects we recently worked on:
Eat Your Words
At night of eating, storytelling and community held at The Parramatta Artists’ Studios in Granville for The Sydney Writers Festival.
Space and Light, UTS
Space and Light is a textual installation across four levels of UTS library which responds to the architecture and people inside it. Featuring Marian Abboud and The Seed of Hope Collective.
Provocations
A night of provocative stories for The Sydney Writer’s Festival featuring Mohammad Awad, Felicity Castagna, Lanneika Denne, Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu, Eda Gunaydin, George Haddad, Sarah Malik, Smitha Peter, and Geneva Valek.
Artists for Türkiye and Syria
Turkish Australian writer Deniz Ağraz has curated this intimate event, which will feature live performances by musicians, writers and artists to raise funds for earthquake victims in Turkiye and Syria.
Art Lives Here
In an innovative collaboration between The Finishing School, Parramatta Artists’ Studio and Griffith Review, five writers explore the work of five artists in a series of conversations about creation, imagery, imagination, power and more.
Holding The Space
Place is one of our makers. It shapes who we are and helps us form friendships, our politics, sense of community and identity. For our last Sydney Writer’s Festival event we hosted poet, legal scholar and essayist Alison Whittaker; writer, critic and visual artist Anwen Crawford; and essayist Eda Gunaydin for an evening of stories, provocations and talks about what it means to be here. MC’d by Maeve Marsden. We were also held an afterparty hosted by DJ and performance artist Ilhan Abdi.
Sounds/Words Project
Five writers. Five electronica artists. Five different spaces. Listen. Move. Talk. Featuring sounds by The New Age Noise Collective and words by The Finishing School and special guests.
Books and Books and Books and More Books
Rawah Arja’s book The F Team is killing it everywhere, Chloe Higgin’s The Girls is being shortlisted for everything. Eda Gunaydin just released Root and Branch, her much anticipated collection of essays. Faith Chaza, Sheila Pham and Felicity Castagna are putting the finishing touches on their collective novel and there’s more to come.
The Long Table
A collaboration with Parramatta Weave for Art Month. This event was a finalist in The Imagine Awards for best project in an art gallery in NSW.
Sahra Salon
An intimate event focused on complicated and nuanced stories of the diaspora.
Mudgee Readers’ Festival
We were featured in many panels in this great regional literary festival. We love Mudgee and all the great conversations we had there!
Eat, Talk, Dance
A multi-site performance for The Sydney Writers’ Festival in 2019.
Proudly supported by The Parramatta Artists’ Studios.