litlinks 2021

A creative writing competition for ACT school students and their teachers

Year 7 & 8 Category, 2021

Image: Two students, one is using her laptop and the other is writing in his notebook.

The 2021 year 7 and 8 entries encompassed a broad range of topics reflecting the somewhat bleak times we are living in. The students’ relatively limited life experience proved to be no barrier to what could be conjured to create an engaging narrative.

The judges were impressed by all the young writers who entered. They wrote about a myriad of events and circumstances and demonstrated an unexpected maturity through imagery, structure and word selection.

Click on the images and links below to explore the winners in the Years 7 & 8 Category:

Click here to read End. Beginning. Again. by Lea Oberst
Click here to read I’m Still Here by Rose Sheehan
Click here to read The Metaphor by Izzy Nicolson
Click here to read The Heart in the City by Daniel Kipling

Winners:

Shortlisted Awards:

  • Anvi Gupta, Radford College – abuse
  • Charlotte Reynolds, Lanyon High School – The Girl in Yellow
  • Liam Smilie, Campbell High School – The Alley

LitLinks Achievement Awards:

  • Eman Abdine, Harrison School – Who Cried Wolf
  • Anaya Abdullah, University of Canberra High School Kaleen – Finding a Rhythm
  • Liliane Alblas, Radford College – Web
  • Madison Barancewicz, Alfred Deakin High School – Invisia
  • Lucy Birtles, University of Canberra High School Kaleen – The Association
  • Angelina Celeska, Daramalan College – Nature Poem
  • Liam Cook, Harrison School – The Chicken that Laid the Golden Egg
  • Lillian Cowper, Melba Copland Secondary School – Untitled
  • Magdalena Donovan, Harrison School – Chips and Metal
  • Rebecca Elphicke, Alfred Deakin High School – I’m Dead to Them
  • Daniel Flynn, Radford College – At Journey’s End
  • Eleanor Graham, Mount Stromlo High School – White Smoke
  • Abhinav Grama, Mount Stromlo High School – How to NOT spend 1 million dollars
  • Thomas Greig, Daramalan College – The Unexpected Bond
  • Tabitha Hayes, Namadgi School – S is for Sonder
  • Charlie Henderson, University of Canberra High School Kaleen – High School Drama
  • Ernie Hodgkinson, Radford College – The Burgundy Jacket
  • Charlie Howard, University of Canberra High School Kaleen – Nowhere
  • Sally Johns, Calwell High School – Spirito Cattivo
  • Jasmine Kukulka, Lanyon High School – Nightmares
  • Gaia La Penna, Mount Stromlo High School – Yet These Walls
  • Chloe Law, Melba Copland Secondary School – My Little Pony: The Sequel
  • Chloe Law, Melba Copland Secondary School – Suicide
  • Alice Livermore, Daramalan College – The Hidden Hour
  • Callum Milea, Daramalan College – Virus
  • Alexa Norris, Mount Stromlo High School – Ninth League
  • Tobiash Novak, Namadgi School – Repercussions
  • James Parascos, Lanyon High School – The Beginning of an End
  • Jaya Pitchford, Canberra Girls Grammar School – Falling Out of Time
  • Kayla Reimitz, Daramalan College – The Burning
  • Clare Russell, Campbell High School – Let Her Go
  • Zoe Spindler, Mount Stromlo High School – Dead Inside
  • Alyssa Taliano, Harrison School – Flocking
  • Harry Wenholz, Harrison School – The Man in the Mist
  • Ryan White, Lanyon High School – The Traveler
  • Demi Yu, Canberra Girls Grammar School – 1943

Judges

ACTATE thanks the year 7 and 8 category judges, Janet Rickwood and Dennis Flannery, for their time and expertise.

Janet and Dennis are both English teachers, ACTATE life members, and former ACTATE presidents and school principals.