Sweatshop Literacy Movement: Panel and Workshop

In 2016, award-winning author and director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement, Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad wrote a highly controversial and widely acclaimed essay for the Sydney Review of Books called 'Bad Writer', which examined some unhealthy attitudes towards creative writing within the Australian literary industry. The essay also detailed some of the practices and skills developed in the Sweatshop Writers Collective, which Ahmad has been running for the past decade. Join us for this double-billed event of panel and workshop! First Nations writers and writers of colour are encouraged to attend.

Panel -  Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Winnie Dunn, 4-5pm

The session will begin with a panel with Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Winnie Dunn moderated by Sandra Kallarakkal and Valerie Chidiac (Honi Soit) followed by a Q&A with the audience. They will cover the importance of self-representation, own-voices narratives, writing through intersectionality, and the importance of craft, education and training in order to develop great writing. 

Workshop -  Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad 5-6.30pm

Then in a workshop, Ahmad will offer a Sweatshop-style masterclass, giving participants a first-hand experience of the kind of full-intensity creative writing model involved in being a 'good writer'. The workshop will include a series of creative writing and reading exercises and live critical discussions. 

About Michael Mohammed Ahmad

Michael Mohammed Ahmad is the founding director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the author of three award-winning novels: The Tribe (Giramondo, 2014), The Lebs (Hachette, 2018) and The Other Half of You (Hachette, 2021). He is also the editor of several critically acclaimed anthologies, including After Australia (Affirm Press, 2020). Mohammed received his Doctorate of Creative Arts from Western Sydney University in 2017.

About Winnie Dunn

Winnie Dunn is Tongan-Australian writer from Mount Druitt. She is the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the editor of several critically acclaimed anthologies, including Sweatshop Women (2019) and Another Australia (2022). Winnie's debut novel is Dirt Poor Islanders (2024).