A huge thanks to these fabulous people who participated in a fantastic conversation at the Willy Lit Festival.
The Westsider hosted a panel at this year’s festival titled Food Writing with Feeling.
Steered by the incomparable Gary Lee (award winning community builder and writer for The Westsider), the other panelists were Kon Karapangiotidis (CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and co-author of A Seat at My Table: Philoxenia By Kon & Sia Karapanagiotidis), Besha Rodell (James Beard Award–winning food writer and author of Hunger Like A Thirst), and Deborah Ong (head chef and owner of Masak Masak in Yarraville, and writer for The Westsider).
The conversation celebrated food and explored how food writing fosters cultural understanding and brings communities together. It also emphasised the importance of stories, diversity and inclusion in the food/writing ecosystem.
While we didn’t get the definitive answer on where to find the best banh mi in the West, everyone left the event feeling very hungry and headed straight to Footscray to sample some of our finest.
If you’d like to try your hand at writing food reviews of some of the West’s hidden food gems, get in touch via editor@thewestsider.com.au.
