Centre for Stories receives funding for new journal

Perth’s Centre for Stories has received funding for a new online journal and two-year project to support and develop writers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

The Centre received $42,465 for its new online journal Portside Review as part of the most recent Arts 15k-plus funding round from the Western Australian government, and $83,708 from the Australia Council in its latest round of funding, with 100% of the Australia Council grant going towards payments to writers.

Funding for Portside Review follows the closure of the Centre’s online Journal column, which was developed in response to Covid-19. The column featured writing by local, national and international writers, ultimately publishing more than 60 pieces with funding from the Copyright Agency and the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries.

‘Journal taught us the value of editing in house and continuing to provide opportunities for our local community,’ Centre for Stories creative director Robert Wood told Books+Publishing. ‘But [Portside Review] builds on other projects like Lintas Laut, Five Minutes With and Singapore Hot Takes.

‘Portside Review is inspired by our geographic reality from being based on Noongar Country and looking westward across oceans. It engages with the Indian Ocean as a concept while being firmly rooted in the city of Boorloo as one island in an archipelago that includes Penang, Kochi, Cape Town, Karachi and elsewhere.’

Wood said the publication will include reviews, creative pieces and interviews. Editorial committee members are located in Singapore, Indonesia, India, Melbourne and Perth, and include Sampurna Chattarji, K G Ng, Ashwani Kumar, Camha Pham and Tiffany Ko.

The submissions process for the journal will be a mix of invitation and open call out, and selections will emphasise WA-based writers from FNPOC backgrounds, as well as those from international countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

Category: Local news