Earlier this year, Jacaranda put the call out for Australian teachers and students to put their writing skills to the test with the Jacaranda Writing Competition! For the first time, Jacaranda will publish select winning stories in our new English 7 title, making this a truly once in a lifetime opportunity to have your work published while helping teach future students the art of writing. The competition had a broad range of categories to suit all writers (short story, essay, poetry, flash fiction or micro-fiction) and there were plenty of prizes to be won.
We had such an amazing response to this competition. There were so many talented writers who submitted creative and thought-provoking entries. Our judging panel told us just how much they enjoyed reading each and every one of them. To everyone who entered, we would like to thank you for getting involved and congratulate you on your work.
While every submission was fantastic in it’s own way, with any competition there must be winners. So without further ado, here are our well deserving winners.
Short Story Winners
Students Years 7-9
1st Place: Julie Hoang, Nazareth College
2nd Place: Moses Ocaya, Merewether High School
Honourable Mention: Lee Spada, Lalor North Secondary Collage
Students Years 10-12
1st Place: Bridget MacKay, Emerald State High School
2nd Place: Sienna Darling, Burgmann Anglican School
Honourable Mention: Naomi Leszczynska, Burgmann Anglican School
Teachers
1st Place: Justine McGinnis, St Mark’s Anglican Community School
2nd Place: Jennifer Mangan, Sirius College
Honourable Mention: Michael Metzger, Beechworth Secondary College
Essay Winners
Students Years 7-9
1st Place: Andrew Byrne, St John’s Anglican College
2nd Place: Zari Stanton, St Josephs Coomera College
Honourable Mention: James Jones, Lesmurdie Senior Highschool
Students Years 10-12
1st Place: Georgina Rutland, Kenmore State High School
2nd Place: Shirley Wang, Emmanuel College
Honourable Mention: Eleanor Smith, Emmaus Christian School
Teachers
1st Place: Louise Hume, Shalom College
Poetry Winners
Students Years 7-9
1st Place: Rahee Sandhu, St Johns Anglican College
2nd Place: Ella Jarick, Pacific Lutheran College
Honourable Mention: Hannah Shaw, Lindfield Learning Village
Students Years 10-12
1st Place: Sinchana Mahesh, Macarthur Girls High School
2nd Place: Shree Baskar, Burgmann Anglican School
Honourable Mention: Amelia Smith, Camden High School
Teachers
1st Place: Sam Gianni, Belmore Boys High School
2nd Place: Dean Mercer, Leeming Senior High School
Honourable Mention: Mark Markovic, St Ursula’s Kingsgrove
Flash Fiction Winners
Students Years 7-9
1st Place: Charlotte Landherr, St John’s Lutheran School
2nd Place: Alice Maycock, Loreto College
Honourable Mention: Isabella Johns Beaudesert State High School
Honourable Mention: Finley Robertson, Sydney Road Community School
Students Years 10-12
1st Place: Sophie Shao, James Ruse Agricultural High School
2nd Place: Wenting Han, Prebyterian Ladies’ College Melbourne
Honourable Mention: Sarah Zacharia, Hornsby Girls High School
Teachers
1st Place: Dan Hagan, Rosehill Secondary College
2nd Place: Lane Thornton, Ormiston College
Honourable Mention: Matt Oates, Phoenix P12 College
Micro-Fiction Winners
Students Years 7-9
1st Place: Katie Freeman, Macarthur Girls High Schoo
2nd Place: Sophie Hutkin, Lindfield Learning VIllage
Honourable Mention: Jordan Derwent, Nowra Christian School
Students Years 10-12
1st Place: Tanika Brown, St Columban’s College Caboolture
2nd Place: Charlotte Hutchinson, Kenmore State High School
Honourable Mention: Winnie Zhang, Danebank
Teachers
1st Place: Lydia Xu, Bonnyrigg High School
2nd Place: Fay Vaitsas, Danebank
Bonus Pandemic Prize Winners
Tahmeed Alam, Homeschool
Donovan Ho, East Doncaster Secondary College
Bruce Clark, St Peters Lutheran College