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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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Varuna c2012

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Varuna c2012

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Varuna The National Writers House

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Varuna

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Literature Residential building

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Varuna

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Katoomba

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Mifsud, Bette

Varuna The National Writers House

Varuna, the National Writers House is a creative retreat and writers's network for Australian stories and ideas. Varuna supports bringing rigour and commitment to the writing craft; building a respectful and inclusive community; valuing of heritage and place; and making writing and creativity matter.

Varuna

Varuna, in Katoomba, was the home of Eleanor and Eric Dark. In 1989, with one of the most generous individual philanthropic gestures in Australia's literary history, their son Mick Dark gave the house and land to the Eleanor Dark Foundation so it could be used as a place for writers to work, and to discuss ideas around the fireplace, as it had been in his parents' time.

Literature

Residential building

Varuna

Large Katoomba house built by Eleanor and Eric Dark in the 1930s and donated to the New South Wales government as a writer's retreat in 1989.

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Katoomba

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Chief town of the Blue Mountains with a name which means 'falling together of many streams' or 'waters tumble over hill'. It grew after the construction of the western railway from Sydney enabled a prosperous coal and shale mining industry and brought tourists to see the scenic beauty of the area.