Creative Writing Opportunities

During the assessment period this term I was fortunate enough to be able to see a number of incredible creative and persuasive presentations: interrogations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by Year 9, reflections on their favourite novels from Year 7 and creative poems and presentations from Year 8. Reading creative work from Year 10 and students in a number of our Senior courses, the English Department and I have often been impressed by the initiative and talents of so many of our students.

We are always keen to encourage our students to submit their work into external competitions, and I know that many teachers have been sharing information with their classes about some of the upcoming opportunities. As we move towards the holidays, we wanted to share some of the links below as we know there are many keen writers who may want to work on pieces over their break. Many of these websites also have incredible resources for passionate poems and writers. The English Department wishes everyone all the best for the Winter – what a wonderful time to read a book and get back to writing for pleasure!

The Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers is open to secondary school students across Australia. Students are invited to submit Fiction, Creative Nonfiction or Poetry pieces. This competition offers exciting opportunities for winners to be a part of workshops in Melbourne. Entries for this competition are due on Friday 4 August. More information can be found here.

The Dorothea Mackellar Writing Competition is one of Australia’s most prestigious poetry awards for young people. This year’s theme is “A Winding Road.” Year 8 students who completed poems in Term 2 may be particularly interested in submitting their poems. The school has registered an account for this competition and your daughter will be able to check with her teacher about entering before the due date on Friday 30 June. More information can be found here.

Red Room’s Poetry Forest Competition encourages students to compose poems which have a positive message on climate change. This competition is open until Friday 22 September. More information can be found here.

The Insight Writing Competition is open to students in Years 7 – 12. Students are invited to compose creative pieces of up to 1,400 words. The theme for this year is “Promise.” This competition is open until Friday 1 September. More information can be found here.

Jenny Bean 
Head of English