Hero photograph
 
Photo by Rowan Taigel

Yr 10 Writers Publish Anthology

Rowan Taigel —

The year 10 Writing for Publication module have produced and professionally published a collection of their poetry and writing. Sample available for viewing in the Business Centre.

It has been an absolute privilege to launch and teach the year 10 Writing for Publication module in 2022 (re-branding to Guerilla Publishing from 2023).

Students who signed up for this course range from experienced writers who regularly write in their own time, to students who enjoy writing and want to develop their skills and grow in confidence, to students who chose or were placed in the course because other options weren’t available.

The wonderful thing is, everyone has produced writing they can be (and I am also) incredibly proud of! Sharing your writing with a public audience takes courage and requires vulnerability. These students have learned how to “feel the fear and do it anyway”. The aims of the course are: To explore a variety of written genres, to build familiarity and confidence with writing in different genres, and to experience risk-taking in writing, and failing forward.

The students focused on developing the following skills:

How to analyse other authors’ writing in order to understand how they construct their texts for a purpose, how to use language powerfully, with precision in order to achieve a purpose, how to craft and edit their writing so that it is efficient and effective, and how to embrace vulnerability, explore their flaws in order to engage their reader, and find their authentic voice.

These young writers have all worked outside their comfort zone at some point during this course, and have all demonstrated significant growth in their writing craft.

Special mention should go to Finn Kerby-Pinguet for placing 3rd in the New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition, and Joelle Noar, who entered the same competition, as both of their poetry will be included in the upcoming NZPS poetry anthology.

We would also like to acknowledge and thank the student artists who agreed to their stunning artwork being published alongside the student writing.

You can pre-purchase a copy of this beautiful collection from our school business centre for $15.