12 August 2020

Nazareth College, Noble Park North, is celebrating a budding young writer. Year 8 Laurel English teacher, Mish Mackay shared the news.

Ms Mackay: ‘There was very exciting news last week when the winners of the Jacaranda Writing Competition were announced. This competition was open to all current teachers and students in Years 7–12 of Australian secondary schools. Julie, from MacKillop 1 class at Nazareth, chose to enter this competition as an extension project in the Year 8 Laurel, English Creative Writing Unit. Julie has been awarded a winner’s certificate, a $200 cash prize and her story will be published in next year’s Year 7 Jacaranda textbook. We are incredibly proud of Julie and congratulate her on this wonderful achievement.’

Julie: ‘It was an honour to win First Place for the Short Story (Years 7–9) category of the Jacaranda Writing Competition. This was my first writing competition and I am glad I gave it a go despite the intervening tests during the week of writing that story. My short story details the journey of a young Northern Vietnamese girl looking for her father after he disappears to go to war. This story was very close to my heart as I am Vietnamese, and both of my grandfathers went to war. Some of the main character’s experiences are actually inspired by my own experiences during my trip to Vietnam, last December. In conclusion, I am just grateful to win this prize and would really like to thank Ms Mackay, my English teacher, because this would not have been possible without her advice and encouragement.’