18 Feb 2019
Two Dubbo College students have topped the 2018 Patrick White Indigenous writing competition run by the NSW Aboriginal Education Council.
With encouragement from college English teacher Bec Brown, three students from Delroy Campus entered the competition last year, with two winning their sections and one receiving an encouragement award.
Year 10, now Year 11 student, Amanda Bateup took out the short story competition based on the theme “the long walk”.
“When Ms Brown told us about the competition, I was immediately interested and decided to use a part of a story I had already written for homework,” the 16-year-old said.
“I expanded the story, which focused on a young girl’s journey through life and the influence of her dreams.
“Among other things she had to cope with life without a mother. She went through a time when she was bullied and she lived with her dad, who ran a bookstore.
“The 1,000-word story culminates with a fire, which destroys her family home, but effectively opens the door to paradise.”
Amanda was the recipient of a $300 voucher as the result of her win.
She said she had a strong interest in creative writing prior to entering the competition and hoped to pursue an arts-based career.
Ms Brown, who taught English at Dubbo College Delroy Campus for three years, is now teaching English at Senior Campus.
She said Amanda was one of several students at Delroy who had been part of the 2018 WestWords program, which focused on developing creative writing skills.
The program saw students work with children’s author James Roy to develop ideas, write drafts and ultimately publish their works.
Former Year 8 student Tanisha Lovett, who is now in Year 9, took out the poetry section of the Patrick White competition, also based on the theme of “the long walk”, while current Year 10 student Shannon Kassell won the Year 9 encouragement award for her short story.
Ms Brown said the college’s success in the 2018 Patrick White Indigenous writing competition was likely to promote strong interest again in 2019.
