This was published 4 months ago
Meet the author who wrote a dictionary about Parramatta
Yumna Kassab had a vision.
The first Parramatta Laureate in Literature knew it would be impossible for one piece of art or writing to capture the essence of Parramatta.
So instead of trying to dilute it, she decided to go for something different, something bigger: an entire dictionary dedicated to the suburb.
It’s an unconventional approach, but one that makes sense when considering the complex web of cultures, histories, politics and economies that make up Parramatta.
And Kassab’s work attempts to capture it all via small vignettes organised into a dictionary. There are entries that are deeply personal, entries based on football, cafes, specific buildings, streets, translated sayings and even essential bus routes.
Kassab, a renowned western Sydney-based novelist, said the dictionary provided her with a “very flexible structure”, allowing her to reach beyond traditional narratives and character arcs.
“A novel or a book of essays is actually quite limiting compared to a dictionary. A dictionary has a known structure, and it literally gave me the space across a year to sit and write all these fragments.
“And when I assembled, it captured a year of living in Parramatta, as well as a lifetime of connection to the area.”
Kassab was announced as the laureate in December 2023, as part of a collaboration between the Sydney Review of Books and Western Sydney University’s Writing and Society Research Centre.
As part of that appointment, Kassab has developed Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory, with an event on Thursday celebrating its completion.
The dictionary has been partly uploaded online, with letters C, S, T and W already viewable on the Sydney Review of Books website. M, N, O and P will be uploaded in coming months, with the full dictionary to be printed by Giramondo Publishing in 2026.
An entry titled “Scarves”
All the problems of the world have been solved and all that’s left to discuss is the reason a woman chooses to put a scarf on her head.
All the entries are linked to life in Parramatta, including reflections on popular cafe Circa (“There’s a community around this cafe. Years and years, and it’s the same faces”), the Parramatta Square light rail stop (“The benches are new and comfortable and I can see where the metro is being built”) or seasonal changes (“My favourite season to walk in Parramatta Park is winter”).
An entry titled “Thirty-Two Smith”
This building on Smith Street is golden-hued. There’s the Willo restaurant on the ground floor and I get the impression that aspects of Parramatta have gone a little flash.
There’s an entry on the 2021 lockdowns (“That whole period takes on a sense of unreality”), an entry on skateboarders outside Parramatta Courthouse (“The quietness of Sunday makes it the ideal day for skateboarding”) and one on Parramatta Westfield (“A nightmare would be forgetting where I parked my car. A headache would be needing something on level 1 while being up on level 5”).
Kassab said most entries were written in a notebook while she was physically in Parramatta, where she has lived for most of her life.
An entry titled “Trophy”
There, in the trophy cabinet, at the Wanderers headquarters, is the trophy for winning the Asian Champions League.
A recurring theme is her love for the Western Sydney Wanderers, the A-League club that joined the competition in 2012 to much fanfare.
“Before they came into the picture, I was a little ambivalent [about Parramatta]. But once they were established, they gave the area a bit of pride. It was a nudge to ask, why can’t my stories be set here?”
She describes the club as reinvigorating her connection to the area, where she has lived for most of her life. And her knowledge of the suburb shines through the many entries on daily life.
An entry titled “WRX”
This Subaru was favoured by the young men in the community, a car that acted as an immediate flag for the police.
It’s a distinctive way to capture life in a suburb, but it makes complete sense for a place as layered and central as Parramatta.
And Kassab leans into those layers in a way that feels satisfying for anyone who’s spent any time in Sydney’s second city.
The Sydney Morning Herald has opened a bureau in the heart of Parramatta. Email parramatta@smh.com.au with news tips.
Mostafa Rachwani is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously the Community Affairs reporter at Guardian Australia.Connect via email.