From 20-26 May the 2013 Sydney Writers' Festival tagline is Have we got a story for you. Parramatta writer Felicity Castagna definitely has a story for you, it's about how Western Sydney writers can get the information they need if they're interested in being published.

1. Who is Felicity Castagna?
I'm very lucky because I get to be a lot of things that I love. I was a high school teacher for several years but now I work on writing and educational programs throughout western Sydney and beyond I've worked for organisations such as Powerhouse Youth Theatre, SWEATSHOP, the Priority Schools Program, Arts Access, BYDS, the KSP Writers Centre and the NSW Writers' Centre.

I also teach writing at The University of Western Sydney where I'm a doctoral candidate with the Writing and Society Research Centre. When I'm not teaching, I'm editing books or I'm working on my own writing. I'm mostly a short story writer so I write for magazines, literary journals and radio. If you want to know more about me check out my website felicitycastagna.com.

2. What has she been doing?
Lots and lots of everything. I'm busy working on the final drafts for my second book, The Incredible Here and Now (Giramondo), which is being released in September. I'm really excited about this one because it's a young adult's book set in my favourite neighbourhood, Parramatta. I'm also about to travel to the Emerging Writers' Festival in Melbourne in order to take part in a performance of Western Sydney stories called Sweatshop Stories, which is directed by Michael Mohammed Ahmad.

On 19 May 2013 I'll be facilitating a panel and book launch called So You Want to be a Writer? at Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) in Parramatta. The panel involves lots of people who will give great advice on how to get your writing career started such as Shiela Pham from the ABC and the literary agent Sophie Hamley. The afternoon also involves the launch of a free ebook of resources for Western Sydney writers, called So You Want to be a Writer?.   MORE