By Malek Chalhoub On Friday, 30 October, WLCU Sydney will present Fairouz: The Turquoise of the East, an evening dedicated to the woman whose voice became one of Lebanon’s most enduring treasures. Beginning at 6:30 pm at Lemnos Belmore, the event will bring together members and friends of the Lebanese community to celebrate the music, memory and extraordinary cultural legacy of Fairouz. More than a tribute to a beloved singer, the evening will honour the place she occupies in the heart of Lebanon…
By Marcus Khoudair It’s a prolific season for Lebanese Australian artist Nicole Issa. In addition to managing and facilitating socially-driven arts workshops for young people across Sydney’s west, and co-producing a short film proof-of-concept for an upcoming feature film—Nicole launched her career as an indie-pop singer and songwriter with her debut EP Bring It Back to Me, released on July 31st 2026. The result is an honest voyage through years of love, heartbreak, mourning, illness, and self-discovery, powered by layered harmonies, hand percussion,…
By WLCU Sydney Editorial Team ‘From its beginning, modern Australia has been a place where only the very unlucky have missed out on a decent life. As the early convicts, then migrants from all over the world, and eventually even the descendants of the original inhabitants have largely found, people prepared to ‘have a fair go’ have normally been abundantly blessed with ‘getting a fair go’ in return. As a society, we are still less stratified than Britain and less individualistic than the…
By Joseph Khoudair Pistachio… this humble and ancient morsel for me has always been synonymous with Middle Eastern cuisine, by virtue of its myriad of uses. It is nestled between two supporting flavours and is the core of my Lemon and Pistachio Almond cake, which remains one of my favourites. Lemon and Pistachio Almond Cake Serves 8-12 Ingredients 3/4 cup castor sugar 2 tablespoons lemon zest 3 eggs (room temperature) 2/3 cup light olive oil 1/2 cup full-fat greek yoghurt 1/4 cup…
By Malek Chalhoub Lebanese food has never been only about what is placed on the table. It is a memory made edible: the scent of garlic warming in olive oil, the sound of leaves being rolled by hand, and the familiar instruction to add “just enough” of an ingredient whose quantity no one ever thought to measure. Our recipes have survived because they were shared. They travelled from village kitchens to family homes across the world, passed from grandparents to parents and…
By Malek Chalhoub WLCU Sydney is proud to announce that entries are now open for the 2026 Dr Charles Malik Literary Awards, an annual celebration of writing, imagination and the enduring relationship between Lebanon and its people across the world. Named in honour of one of Lebanon’s most distinguished intellectuals and diplomats, the Awards invite writers to explore Lebanon not merely as a place on a map, but as a history, an inheritance, an idea and a living presence carried across generations.…
By Malek Chalhoub On Friday, 14 August, WLCU Sydney will host The Lucky Country, a special luncheon celebrating Australia, its people and the opportunities it has provided to generations who have come from every corner of the world to call it home. The occasion will feature the Hon. Tony Abbott AC, Australia’s 28th Prime Minister and author, in conversation with Dr Shane Geha, President of WLCU Sydney. Rather than a political discussion, the afternoon will offer a warm and thoughtful reflection on…
By Charbel Moujalli In the Nabatieh district of Southern Lebanon, a ruined fortress stands on the lip of a cliff that falls some three hundred metres to the water below. I looked upon it myself in 2018. Unlike its surrounds, the castle struck me as rather unassuming. The Crusaders who held it in the twelfth century called it Beaufort – the “beautiful fortress”. To locals, it is known as ‘Qal‘at al Shaqif’, the Castle of the High Rock. A stronghold married so…
By Paul Shalhoub – VP and Chief Editor Our new signature event “From Tyre to Tripoli – a Phoenician Boat Journey” debuted on 10th October 2025. Our sold-out event with 450 guests was universally lauded as our greatest event ever – superb food, Lebanese dancing, insights into our shared Phoenician history by an archaeologist, opera by sopranist Amelia Farrugia, attendance by the WLCU World President and World Secretary General (both visiting from France), the introduction of the Phoenician God: Adonis (courtesy of…
