Digital Programs

Story Factory Digital Workshops are the ideal solution for teachers looking for extra creative writing resources to build literacy and engage students. 

Our online programs are interactive and easy to implement. Our educators enter your classroom via Zoom and work with you to create a fun but meaningful writing environment. We will take  students through a series of scaffolded activities that lead to a substantial piece of writing, and share ideas and resources that you can use to continue your students’ writing journey after the program ends.

We offer:

  1. One-off workshops: a one-off blast of inspiration and writing fun. These programs offer exciting and immersive ways for students to engage with creative writing, exploring everything from fantastical scenarios to their own experiences
  2. Short series. Students will participate in an hour-long workshop once a week for three weeks, and be supported step-by-step to craft a substantial piece of original writing, from poetry to prose.

Enrolments are now open for 2024. Reach out today to find out more about how we can engage and support your class.

Workshops are FREE for schools with an Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) under 1000.

REQUEST A DIGITAL WORKSHOP

Fried Lies

Years 3-4

One-off Program

Truth might be stranger than fiction, but most of the time lying is more fun. In this workshop, students will play around with the truth to compose a short poem made up of false statements designed to amuse the reader...

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Flash Fiction

Years 9-10

Three Week Program

In this series students will plan, write and edit a suite of very short short stories, also known as flash fiction, that will be published in a class anthology. Flash fiction provides young writers with a short, flexible medium to...

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Fan Fiction

Year 7-8

Three Week Program

Okay, look, we’re kinda obsessed with stories. Books, movies, tv shows, webcomics, whatever. How do they make such awesome stories? And the CHARACTERS - I want to be their best friend. So sometimes we, kinda, sorta… just write stories...

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Video Vortex

Years 5-6

Three Week Program

Students imagine they have travelled through a vortex and are now trapped inside the world of a retro video game called (you guessed it!) Video Vortex. They choose their own avatar who progresses through the strange and different levels of...

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Who Ya Gonna Call?

Year 3-4

Three Week Program

Calling all young ghost hunters and master storytellers! Students unleash their imagination as they create spooky stories and characters that will give you goosebumps! Students will learn how to build suspense, conjure eerie settings, and bring their characters to life...

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Freedom Machines

Years 5-6

One-off program

What is freedom to you? It means different things to different people at different times. What if you could build your very own freedom machine? What would it look like? How would it move? Where would it take you? In...

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Monster Under the Couch

Years 3-4

One-off workshop

Students imagine a hungry monster living under their couch and write about their first epic encounter with it as a narrative poem. Students will be guided through key aspects of the form and the use of various poetic devices including...

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Secrets of the Stars

Early Literacy (Years 2-4)

Three Week Program

First Nations people have tens of thousands of years of knowledge sharing the unique shapes and stories of the stars visible from this hemisphere. In this workshop series, students will explore the Star Stories of the Dreaming and consider the...

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Art Alive

Years 3-4

Three Week Program

In this workshop students will explore the artworks of artists including Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, using their quirky and colourful pieces to inspire poetry. Students will reimagine the stories and characters behind the works, expanding their vocabulary to bring art to...

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Food, Glorious Food

Years 3-4

Three Week Program

Through different workshops week to week, all themed around food, students will be introduced to different literary devices, work with model texts and scaffolds, and bring their own tastes and passions to the table to write a collection of poetry...

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Secret Life of Stuff

Years 3-4

Three Week Program

In this workshop Story Factory guides students through an exploration of the creative techniques used by cartoonists to anthropomorphise objects and animals. Students will bring objects from their daily lives to life, creating unique characters, imagining daily activities and drafting...

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Deadly Lyrics

Years 5-6

Three Week Program

Looking to share contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices with your students? Each week students will explore a track by Indigenous artists and use it as inspiration for their own lyric writing. They will learn about Indigenous cultures and...

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What in the World

Years 5-6

Three Week Program

Ever heard of Cheese Rolling in Coopers Hill, or Worm Charming in Willaston, or the Wife Carrying Race in Dorking? In this program students act as news reporters, sent to investigate the weird traditions of small towns with odd histories...

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Haunted Computer

Years 7-8

One-off workshop

Experimenting with style? Considering the audience? Finding it all a little dry? This workshop gives students a chance to practise these specific English skills while engaging in a fun and interactive experience, drawing from two clashing formats - horror movies...

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Creature Feature

Years 9-10

One-off workshop

Have you ever had a nightmare you can't quite explain? In this workshop students explore prose poetry and surrealism as they prepare to write their own short horror narrative based on an alien invasion. They learn strategies for ideating and...

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Inside Out

Years 7-8

Three Week Program

Have you ever judged a book by its cover? Ever felt that someone judged you? This workshop gives students an opportunity to look beyond our everyday appearances and imagine other people's experiences. Students will develop a portfolio of writing including...

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Odes & Anti-odes

Years 7-8

Three Week Program

In this short series students will have the opportunity to both rant and celebrate! Students will learn about the form, language features and history of the ode as well as some useful strategies for idea generating, using mentor texts and...

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The Art of Protest - featuring the painting of Blak Douglas

Years 9-10

Three Week Program

In this workshop series students are introduced to the ideas of protest of art, with specific reference to work of Blak Douglas. Students will complete writing in various text types, responding to elements in the work of Blak Douglas and...

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InstaPoetry

Years 9-10

Three Week Program

So, as you may or may have not noticed, InstaPoetry is pretty big. These workshops introduce students to the genre, exploring the inventive ways the multimodal nature of Instagram is being used by young poets. Students will be led through...

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To learn more or to book a workshop please fill out the enquiry form here

School Programs

We work with selected schools across Sydney, Western Sydney and the Greater Sydney region to deliver one-off, term-long, and year-long, curriculum-aligned writing programs.

In consultation with partner schools, our storytellers and volunteers turn up every week, building relationships and trust with students, taking them through a fun and engaging writing process. At the end of the term the students have completed a piece of writing which is often the most significant piece of writing they’ve ever done. We celebrate their achievement by printing a beautifully-designed publication for the students to take home and show their loved ones.

We work with schools across different time-frames. Some schools take part in special one-off workshops and visit us in our fabulous writing centres in Redfern and Parramatta. At others we deliver a writing program across a term. We commit to working with our Residency Schools for at least a year, working across multiple grades, to create a culture of writing.

What’s better than a confident writer? A whole school of them! We see the power of this approach every day. The pride and delight kids have in discovering their ideas and voice is important and worth listening to.

Click here to see the workshops on offer.

Special Projects

Our special projects bring students together from different schools to create an exciting public outcome.

Often run in collaboration with other arts organisations, these projects are a rare opportunity for students to take part in something big. All projects have big finishes – culminating in books, exhibitions, publications, films and events. We love them and most importantly, so do our students

Parramatta Creative Circle

Young adults (15-25)

Story Factory Parramatta

The Creative Circle is a new Story Factory initiative aimed at young creators (aged 15-25). Story Factory Parramatta will host a series of events bringing together experienced creators (think artists/writers/filmmakers/musicians) with early career writers and creators. Participants...

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Gratitude Banners

Years 5-6

Gratitude Banners workshop will create a space in which students will be encouraged to think of the ways they are connected to, and grateful for, the community they live in. In these workshops, students will explore different ways of expressing...

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Memory River

Stage 5

Term 3 (term-long)

Memory River was a project that combined Indigenous history, stories and art with the voices of young people from Western Sydney. The project took place at The Parramatta Female Factory Institutions Precinct, a location with a long and complex history...

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Sunset in My Heart

During Term 3 and 4, 2022, students from James Cook Boys Technology High School, Birrong Girls High School and Doonside Technology High School completed Story Factory's Sunset in my Heart program. In this workshop series students created personal essays and fragments that explored...

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Art Write Light

Art Write Light is a free creative writing project curated by Story Factory, that connects Australian artists with young people in an explosion of creativity over three colourful years. This project creates opportunities for students to creatively respond to the...

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CineVerse

CineVerse is a Story Factory Big Project spanning four high schools in Western Sydney, five emerging film-makers, over 80 poems and up to 20 short films. Cinematic in both scope and vision, CineVerse allows teenagers from widespread communities to use the language...

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Marvellous Birds

Marvellous Birds is a creative writing and storytelling project for Years 5 and 6 students. It investigated the feathered beauty of some truly incredible birds. Through carefully scaffolded creative writing activities, students explored themes such as community, camaraderie, displacement, environmental change, migration...

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Our Collections, Our Stories

In this Story Factory partnership with the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy (NASCA) and the State Library of NSW, students are immersed in a world of books and history. In site visits to the Library, students will create a collection...

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A User's Guide to a Pandemic

A User’s Guide to a Pandemic was an idea that started during the national lockdown in 2020. The idea was simple – that young people needed to write about this. Four writing centres for young people across the country joined together...

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Art and the Institution - Female Factory

The Parramatta Female Factory is an important site in the colourful history of colonial New South Wales. Since 1821 it’s been an orphanage, prison, asylum, medical facility and school. In Art and the Institution, Story Factory has partnered with the...

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Writers Teaching Teachers Writing

Writers Teaching Teachers Writing is a special program that allows authors and educators to interact in a way that is meaningful and beneficial to students. The program has two parts, student workshops running over six-seven hours, and teacher workshops running...

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In a Flash

In a Flash is a Story Factory project, inviting you, (yes you!) to become a published author. All you have to do is follow the writing challenge instructions and submit your writing!

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Instahope

For thousands of years people have known about the beneficial effects of reading and writing: bibliotherapy. But what about Instagram therapy? And what happens when you combine the two? In a Story Factory Big Project for 2019-20 teenagers are writing...

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We're Writing to Say

We’re Writing to Say... is a Story Factory project that aimed to creatively document the lived experience of young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the shared experience of a truly unprecedented year, the project connected young people with...

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I would like to know more.

In Person Programs

All Story Factory programs align closely with the syllabus to support teachers achieving their goals.

We work with schools in many ways:

  1. One-off workshops: bring a class to visit us for a two-hour blast of creative writing inspiration at our beautifully-designed creative writing centres in Redfern or Parramatta.
  2. Term Programs: book us to come to your school. We can work with you to deliver a writing program once a week for a term, or multiple terms.
  3. Residency Programs: once you’ve tried the above, apply to become a Story Factory Residency School. We’ll commit to working with your students for at least a year, working with multiple classes, to create a culture of writing throughout the school.

All programs, whether they run for two hours or a term, end with the publication of students’ writing in a handsomely bound book which they can take home to share with their family and community.

Enquire for a free writing workshop series via: info@storyfactory.org.au

Surreal Prose

Stage 5

Term 3 (One off)

In person

Have you ever had a nightmare you can't quite explain? In this workshop students explore prose poetry and surrealism as they prepare to write their own short horror narrative based on an alien invasion. They learn strategies for ideating and...

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Inkblot Poetry

Stage 4

Term 3 (One off)

In person

In this one off workshop participants will be inspired by the fascinating tradition of Rorschach inkblots and the possibilities they offer to explore individual perspectives and create rich and playful metaphors and symbols in writing. They will use the award...

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Reading To Write

Stage 6

Term 3 (One off)

In person

Looking for practical and engaging ways to enrich your students' understanding of the relationship between reading and writing? In this two hour workshop students will be exposed to diverse and appealing mentor texts (including contemporary poetry, multimodal and digital texts...

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Craft Of Writing

Stage 6

Term 3 (One off)

In person

Looking for a way to inspire and motivate your Year 12 students as they tackle Module C? In this two hour workshop students will engage with a rich mentor text by a contemporary Afro-American music writer and draft short and achievable...

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InstaPoetry

Stage 4 & 5

Term 3 (One off)

In person

So, as you may or may have not noticed, InstaPoetry is pretty big! This workshop introduces students to this rich and exploding new genre, explores the interesting ways its multimodal nature is being used inventively by contemporary poets, and leads...

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Waffle Man

Stage 3

Term 3 (One off)

In person

We know the story of the Gingerbread Man. We know how it ends. But what about how it begins? Students from Willmot Public School (Baran, Lachlan, David and Jonathan) present an unusual take on the classic fable: the first few...

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Creature Feature

Stage 3

Term 3 (One off)

In person

Want to give your reader the ookie spookies? Leave them a bit… freaked out? Then this workshop is perfect for you! Students will aim to develop a short piece of horror prose poetry about an alien invasion in their very...

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Freedom Machine

Stage 3

Term 3 (One off)

In person

What is freedom to you? It means different things to different people at different times. What if you could build your very own freedom machine? What would it look like? How would it move? Where would it take you? In...

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My Little Universe

Stage 1

Term 3 (term-long)

In person

Come to outer space with us! This term students will use poetic scaffolds and frameworks to write poetry and stories about different aspects of space. Students will practise observation, integrate sensory descriptions, and imagine communications with the outer reaches of...

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Olfactory

Stage 5

Term 3 (term-long)

In person

“Smells like teen writing…” In this workshop series students will learn about features of discursive writing and create a series of short responses or segments that will accumulate to become a personal essay about the olfactory world. From surveying their...

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(Im)moral Compass

Stage 4

Term 3 (term-long)

In person

Short genre narratives and monologues "Have you heard this story? It happened to a friend of a friend of mine..." Using Jess Bellamy's script Compass as a starting point, students will imagine their own class trip to the bush. Students...

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My Life On A Plate

Stage 4

Term 3 (term-long)

In person

You are what you eat! In this workshop series students develop and share their personal voice as they build their skills as writers of memoir, short narratives and poetry. Over eight workshops students engage with a delicious and diverse range...

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Oz Odyssey

Stage 3

Term 3 (term-long)

In person

Have you ever wondered about your future, your destiny? Students this term will explore geographical storytelling, character development, narrative obstacles and more as they write an adventure story that allows them to discover who they are, and who they want...

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Pixie Power

Stage 2

Term 3 (term-long)

In person

Do you know how toasters work? What about laptops? What about your school bus? Or an ocean liner?! It turns out a lot of the everyday machines we interact with don't run on electricity, or petrol, or microchips - it's...

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Magical Minds (early literacy)

Who hasn’t wished magic was real? This program invites participants to imagine the fantastical realms of magic; students will develop spells, incantations, potions, and more. Expect to write unusual incantatory verse, scaffolded text types such as poems and recipes, all exploring the magical and natural worlds. These workshops will have a particular focus on the phonological (sound-based) skills that underlie spelling, to build students’ confidence as independent writers.

Amusement Park Stories

This workshop gives students the opportunity to imagine and write a narrative exploring the dream first job…working at an Amusement Park! Each week students write a new chapter based on writing prompts which focus on different narrative or literacy skills. Activities will encourage students to explore elements such as cause and effect, descriptive language, using sensory language, and shifting perspective.

Dinoscussions

Welcome to the world of dinosaurs! Students will explore similarities and differences in the dinosaur kingdom, and the wants and needs of creatures. This program allows students to explore the importance of interpersonal relationships, use language to describe emotions and serves as an introduction to script writing, all in a dynamic dino-package.

Video Vortex

This program will use a video game structure to engage students and scaffold their creation of a narrative. Beginning from the idea that students have become trapped in a video game world, students will create characters, the world of the video game and the challenges that enable their character to advance through the various levels of the game. Writing activities invite students to consider story structure and the use of textual concepts such as narrative, character and character creation, point of view and use of imagery in writing.

Plant Powered

From a flower that resembles a brain to a three-metre-tall plant that smells of bin juice, sometimes nature is stranger than any fiction. In this workshop series, students will dive into the world of plants and explore a range of tools and techniques designed to help their writing come alive on the page. They will create plant-inspired characters and tell tales of how they came to be. Through writing a series of short texts, students will build valuable skills in narrative writing and have the opportunity to explore the wonderful world of nature.

Robots vs Locals

We’ve been wondering how we’d survive if a robot invasion occurred. No really, we have! In this workshop students will consider the consequences of a robot invasion in their school and town. Students will create a collection of text pieces, including annotated maps, short narratives, and tips and guides about how to survive the invasion. This will enable students to think about the ways they might use a variety of different texts to communicate with their audiences.

Heroes and Villains

What would it be like to be The Invisible Man on his first day of Year 7? How does Medusa order coffee without turning the barista to stone? In this workshop series students will reimagine and retell the stories of villains and heroes from fairy tales, mythologies and popular culture. Students will rewrite familiar stories from different perspectives and gain experience in creating such forms as dramatic monologues, letters and free verse.

Cli-Fi Diaries

Students consider the impact of climate change and imagine what their survival skills will be like come climate disaster. They will explore this through the lens of speculative fiction, a sub-genre of sci-fi that investigates alternative futures and realities. During these workshops students will learn about genre conventions, various ways to create first person narratives and the ways to balance dialogue and exposition in their writing.

Protest Poetry

In this fast-paced workshop, students will explore the world of protest poetry, exploring various examples both performances and written. Working individually and in small groups, students will develop ideas for their poems, explore language features, line breaks, and a variety of poetic forms.

After-School & Holiday Programs

Our after school writing workshops are a free space where young people can write, create and dream big.

All workshops are facilitated by our Story Factory Storytellers and are designed to support writing, development of ideas, and for young people to access support in creating a piece of writing from both professional writers and your fellow students. 

We’re running in-person and online workshops during term on Monday – Thursday for both primary school and high school students.

Check out the options and apply using the links below or email us at students@storyfactory.org.au

Sign up to our After-School Workshops

Send an enquiry

Yarn Ya

Grades 6-12

25 July - 12 September

Tuesdays, 4:00pm - 5.30pm

Story Factory Redfern, 176 Redfern St, Redfern NSW 2016

Everyone has a great story waiting inside of them! Story Factory wants to make yours into a book - we'll help you make all your amazing ideas into a story people can read and talk about and say, "Hey, this...

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Year of the Novella

Years 7-12 (High School)

26 April - 28 September 2023

Wednesdays, 4:30pm - 6:00pm

Story Factory Parramatta, 90 George St, Parramatta, Burramattagal Land, NSW 2150

Year of the Novella is our open programs for High School aged young people who love to write and want to stretch themselves creatively. In weekly writing workshops in the course of a year, students commit to writing a novella...

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Photo shows a number of books produced by young people from previous Year of the Novella and Year of Poetry.

Year of Poetry

Years 7-12 (High school)

27 April - 29 September 2023

Thursdays, 4:30pm - 6:00pm

Story Factory Parramatta, 90 George St, Parramatta, Burramattagal Land, NSW 2150

Year of Poetry is our open programs for High School aged young people who love to write and want to stretch themselves creatively. In weekly writing workshops in the course of a year, students commit to writing a collection of...

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Ink Society

Years 7-12 (High School)

31 July - 29 September 2023

Mondays, 4.00pm - 5.30pm

Story Factory Parramatta, 90 George St, Parramatta, Burramattagal Land, NSW 2150

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Scribble Society

Grades 3-6 (Primary School)

25 July - 12 September 2023

Tuesdays, 4:00pm - 5:30pm

Story Factory Parramatta, 90 George St, Parramatta, Burramattagal Land, NSW 2150

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Just Add Ink

Grades 3-6 (Primary School)

24 July - 11 September 2023

Mondays, 3:30-5:00pm

Online

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Control Alt. Edit

Years 7-12 (High School)

1 August - 19 September 2023

Tuesdays, 3:30-5:00pm

Online

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This is Canon

Years 7-12 (High School)

2 August - 20 September 2023

Wednesdays, 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Online

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Unreal Writers

Grades 3-6 (Primary School)

27 July - 14 September 2023

Thursdays, 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Online

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Apply for an after-school workshop now.

Year of Poetry and Year of the Novella

Year of the Novella; and Year of Poetry; are our open programs for High School aged young people who love to write and want to stretch themselves creatively. In weekly writing workshops in the course of a year, students commit to writing either a novella or a collection of poetry for professional publication at the end of the year.

2023 programs are full, but get in touch at students@storyfactory.org.au if you're interested in taking part in 2024.