The next chapter for NSW's Young Writers
Nineteen of New South Wales’ highly talented young writers from 2024 HSC English Extension 2 have been recognised at a special event at NSW Parliament House, to celebrate the publication of their work in Young Writers 2024.
This year's collection of works highlights the diversity, depth and originality of student writing across NSW, featuring a wide range of formats, including poetry, critical essays and podcasts.
NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) CEO Paul Martin said Young Writers offers an insight into the voices, concerns and creative vision of the state's emerging literary talent.
"Each year, I'm so impressed by the range of ideas these students explore - from deeply personal to the critical and conceptual.
"Their work reflects not only individual talent, but engagement with and a curiosity for the world around them - and highlights the strengths of the English Extension 2 course," Mr Martin said.
The selected works explore complex themes such as identity, trauma, history and belonging - often informed by lived experiences and shaped through extensive research and refined by literary craft.
A country of many names, a people of many faces, by Tam Dinh from North Sydney Boys High School, explored identity and cultural representation in literature, examining how narratives can both uphold and resist cultural stereotypes.
Witness, by Liam Tannoury from Mount Carmel Catholic College, presents a poetic conversation between parents' wartime histories in Lebanon and Vietnam, navigating cultural inheritance and generational trauma.
Mangarrayi, by Jaiah Wallace from St Ignatius' College, Riverview offers a moving exploration of identity, history, reconciliation and self-discovery.
"What stands out in these works is not just the originality of the ideas, but the care with which the students explore them.
"It's clear that many of these writers are only at the beginning of their exciting creative future," Mr Martin said.
Young Writers 2024 features a selection of exemplary major works chosen from some 1,500 students from the English Extension 2 course. The anthology is a platform for emerging literary talent in NSW, with many past contributors going on to careers in writing, journalism, film, education and the arts.
This year, Young Writers alumni and acclaimed actor, writer and comedian Jenna Owen joined recipients and penned the anthology's foreword.
The collection of work is available in digital form and for the first time free for download from NESA’s Showcase Hub.