Young Writers Showcase 5
Paperback and DVD from 2005 HSC
- Young Writers Showcase 5
- paperback and DVD from 2005 HSC
ISBN 1 7414 7305 5
Young Writers Showcase 5 is an exciting anthology of new audiovisual and printed works. It is a book and DVD package that contains new fiction and new non-fiction in the form of fresh and energetic short stories, short films (videos), poetry, critical responses, performance poetry, a play script and a radio drama.
Each year the Board of Studies NSW publishes a selection of the highest scoring major works that Higher School Certificate English students presented as part of the English Extension 2 course. And each year it is a lively, diverse and thought-provoking collection that appeals to readers and viewers of all ages. Young Writers Showcase 5 is crammed with innovative and inspiring material.
The authors are young adults looking at cultural and social issues with intelligence and compassion. Their works contain wit and insight, and each work is accompanied by a Reflection Statement that describes the author’s influences and research and explains how their ideas changed during the composition process.
The book contains six short stories, four critical responses (critical essays), a play script, the works of three young poets and all the authors’ Reflection Statements. The authors and works in the book are:
| Author | Title | Work type |
|---|---|---|
| Zoe Adams-Lau | A Contentious Axiom | Critical Response |
| Ariel Bogle | Der Platz | Short Story |
| Nicholas Burdekin | A Love Less Divine | Short Story |
| Matthew Ji Xing Cai | Surface Simplicity | Poetry |
| Satu Chad | Of Tea and Tempests | Short Story |
| Bianca Chang | Poetry-shaped Photographs | Poetry |
| Madeline Delves | Remark the Cat | Short Story |
| Alison Fleming | Marshmallows and Perenti | Script |
| Lucy Geddes | The Bliss | Critical Response |
| Matthew Gibson | Orphans of the Empire | Critical Response |
| Leah Hannam | On the Brink | Poetry |
| Sarah Mulcahy | A Critical Investigation of JM Coetzee’s Liberal Humanist Discourse | Critical Response |
| Amelia Schmidt | A Very Original Detective Story | Short Story |
| Michelle Swainson | Death of the Short Story | Short Story |
And on the DVD are three video films, two performance poetry pieces, a speech and a radio drama. The authors and their works are:
| Author | Title | Work type |
|---|---|---|
| Amy Christiansen | Artifice and Art | Speech |
| Stefania Cox | Indicted, Right Angles, Cutting Cut | Performance Poetry |
| Luke Dockrill | Feet Of Clay | Radio Drama |
| Amy Nazloomian | Requiem for Porphyria | Video |
| Maya Newell | Lacuna | Video |
| Jacob Taylor | Alterity | Video |
| Chance Waters | The Global Playground | Performance Poetry |
Professor Gordon Stanley, President of the Board of Studies NSW, wrote in the Foreword to Young Writers Showcase 5:
This is the fifth year that a selection of works presented by students in the HSC English Extension 2 course has been published by the Board of Studies. I always find it heartening to read, listen to, and view these works; to see young adults engaging with ideas and enthusiastically striving to find the best way to express their thoughts and feelings.
This year a DVD is included rather than a CD-ROM. This will make the audiovisual material easier and more pleasurable to experience. The DVD contains beautiful and intriguing videos, a very polished radio drama in which TS Eliot vies with Raymond Chandler, and performance poetry and a speech in which the authors display not only their writing ability but also their performing ability.
In the book, literary theories and techniques are examined in a range of styles and tones: from the first story’s lampooning of Roland Barthe’s statement that the author is dead, to the final work’s heartfelt questioning of the way in which JM Coetzee has written about torture. In between, there are an in-depth analysis of Shakespeare’s rhetorical devices, an exploration of the ‘divine feminine ideal’, and a study of what portrayals of children lost in the bush mean in post-colonial Australia.
Important cultural issues are also tackled. The play script is intelligent, compassionate and refreshing in its examination of the different ways in which Aboriginal cultures are perceived. There is poetry looking at dementia in old age, the way society often stereotypes people, and philosophy. The short stories cover a wide range of subjects and are thought-provoking and often delightfully surprising.
All in all, Young Writers Showcase 5 is a fine presentation of the products of some very fine young minds. To everyone involved in that process I say, ‘Congratulations.’
To students of English I say, ‘You will gain insights and draw inspiration from these works.’
To other readers and viewers I say, ‘Enjoy!’
Addenda to the 2005 Young Writers Showcase
- Zoe Adams-Lau
- Critical Response - Annotated bibliography (PDF - 7 pages - 124 KB)
- Nicholas Burdekin
- A Love Less Divine - Short Story - Bibliography (PDF - 6 pages - 148 KB)
- Matthew Ji Xing Cai
- Surface Simplicity - Poetry - Bibliography (PDF - 3 pages - 125 KB)
- Satu Chad
- Of Tea and Tempests - Short Story - Annotated bibliography (PDF - 3 pages - 79 KB)
- Bianca Chang
- Poetry-shaped Photographs - Poetry - Bibliography (PDF - 3 pages - 104 KB)
- Amy Christiansen
- Artifice and Art - Speech script (PDF - 14 pages - 156 KB)
- Stefania Cox
- Indicted, Right Angles, Cutting Out - Performance Poetry script (PDF - 9 pages - 89 KB)
- Luke Dockrill
- Feet of Clay - The Last Words of Alfie Prufrock - Radio Drama script (PDF - 24 pages - 170 KB)
- Lucy Geddes
- The Bliss/La Gioia/La Jouissance - Critical Response - Bibliography (PDF - 3 pages - 119 KB)
- Matthew Gibson
- Orphans of the Empire - Critical Response - Bibliography (PDF - 4 pages - 133 KB)
- Sarah Mulcahy
- Waiting for the Barbarians - Critical Response - Bibliography (PDF - 5 pages - 156 KB)
- Amy Nazloomian
- Requiem for Porphyria - Video script (PDF - 9 pages - 139 KB)
- Maya Newell
- Lacuna - Video script (PDF - 5 pages - 57 KB)
- Jacob Taylor
- Alterity - Video script (PDF - 7 pages - 147 KB)
- Chance Waters
- The Global Playground - Performance Poetry script (PDF - 10 pages - 85 KB)