More than 650 Australian school students participated in the 2020 Pens Against Poverty Writing Competition – with Western Australian students joining the competition for the first time!
The Pens Against Poverty competition encourages schools, teachers and students to become educated in the important issues of poverty and homelessness in our communities in Australia, while developing unique creative voices through writing.
Jackie French OAM, award winning Australian writer and Pens Against Poverty competition judge says “this competition can be seen a starting point for young people to begin to study, understand and empathise with the many different forms of poverty and the complexity around its issues.”
This year the Pens Against Poverty Awards Ceremony was hosted online and broadcast to classrooms of 50 participating schools in ACT, NSW and WA during Anti Poverty Week. Prizes were mailed to award winning students.
Below is an excerpt from Emily Rock, a Year 10 student from Telopea Park School, ACT. Emily was awarded the John Foulcher Young Writer’s Encouragement Award for her entry, Lost & Found:
Your words make it feel like a wave has crashed upon the shore that I call my home, It sucks me out into the dark swirling water, your anger reflected in the crashing chaos of the sea. As much as I know it’s tearing the clothes off bones, I’ve lost the urge to fight, I’ve lost the urge to swim against the rip back to shore. So I simply let it take me, let you take me, down, down, down, into the swirling mess of the sea and the sky. Just as you allow the waves to slow, I’m lost. I see my very core floating away with the tide, waving goodbye with an absent minded smile.
Find out more at www.pensagainstpoverty.org
