Sweatshop is a literacy movement based in Western Sydney which is devoted to empowering culturally and linguistically diverse communities through reading, writing and critical thinking. Our movement provides research, training, mentoring and employment opportunities for emerging and established writers and arts practitioners from Indigenous and non-English speaking backgrounds. 

 

Sweatshop’s annual program includes workshops and residencies in schools and universities throughout Australia and ongoing masterclasses in Western Sydney, which are facilitated by a collective of award-winning authors and artists. Sweatshop initiatives result in publications, films, podcasts, plays, performance readings, exhibitions and cultural seminars. Our movement aims to create new and complex forms of artistic representations which counteract negative stereotypes and centre 'own-voices' narratives. 

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Sweatshop is run by a team of culturally diverse arts practitioners, including general manager, Winnie Dunn; founding director, Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad; creative producers, Phoebe Grainer, Hannah Donnelly, Shirley Le and Diana Chamma; commissioning editor, Adam Phillip Anderson; and graphic designer, Duane Leewai.

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Sweatshop Literacy Movement is supported by PYT (Powerhouse Youth Theatre) and the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body. Sweatshop proudly works in partnership with Campbelltown City Council, Sydney Writers’ Festival, Affirm Press, Red Room Poetry, Diversity Arts Australia and NewSouth Books.