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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Story Factory 10th Anniversary Writing Prize ‘Voices in the Wind’ Supported by UBS Entries open 1 April - Close 31st May

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...

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...

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. Students will develop...

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...

This workshop series gives students opportunities to creatively respond to the work of artists, and to use this to inform and enrich their approaches to writing and storytelling. Students will create written pieces exploring the themes and ideas in artworks...

In this workshop students are asked to imagine how a hungry monster living under their couch might look, sound and act. The first epic encounter with the monster will be written as a narrative poem, with students guided through key...

Are your students finding it hard to write meaningful dialogue in their stories? In this fun and interactive workshop students will meet and help a robot - the SF Chatbot 2000 (Chatty) - have better conversations. They'll focus on three techniques...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

This project aims to encourage the appreciation of quality Australian literature, and to promote creativity in young writers and the wider population. Participating schools will take part in a unique two hour Story Factory workshop which makes use of a...

Let’s celebrate the most delicious things in life! Through different poetry writing activities, all exploring different foods like hot chips, ice cream & even finger limes, students will be introduced to different literary devices, work with mentor texts &...

Spend time exploring the works of artists such as Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran & Rhonda Napurrula Sharpe, & use their quirky & colourful pieces to inspire poetry, through drama & discussion to describe colour, shape & movement, bring each artwork alive...

From a flower that resembles a brain to a three-metre-tall plant that smells of rotting flesh, sometimes nature is stranger than fiction. In this series, students dive into the world of plants & explore a range of tools & techniques...

Imagine you could be a superhero. What would your powers be? What would your vulnerabilities be? How could you turn your real-life strengths & differences into superpowers? From Cleverman to Ms Marvel, Daredevil to El Deafo, we'll look at a...

In this fun, interactive workshop, students investigate the emotional life of a monkey, & learn simple steps to write about characters' personalities, emotions & character traits, learning all about the art of characterisation.

At the Story Factory we’ve wrestled (in a totally gentle & bird-friendly way, of course) birds & poetry into the mechanised, robotic 21st century. Join us as we create a fantastical Robot Bird, a creature that represents some special...

Music is the Meditjin!! Explore & write poetic & lyrical expression as students are inspired by contemporary First Nations songs & poetry, many of which possess historical, social & cultural significance.

What would we do without our GPSs, if we could slow right down & enjoy the scenery? In this hilarious workshop series, students will focus on the narrative element of descriptive writing, exploring how to create setting & atmosphere as...

This playful, hybrid & flexible form of short writing gives developing writers rich opportunities to learn about & experiment with an abundant range of language features as they produce fun, achievable & dense texts. Anthologies will be full of postcard...

Are you ready to defeat pirate overlords, find ancient crystals or discover new species on a Jungle Safari? In this workshop the choice is yours! Get ready to go on an adventure for the ages using the latest and greatest...

Come explore gripping fiction & non-fiction stories, hidden histories & scandals from the world of professional & amateur sport & other competitive pursuits. Students will create a portfolio of short pieces of writing in such forms as poetry, microfiction &...

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...

Presented by the Powerhouse and TAFE NSW, the Creative Studio is a free digital and creative skills workshop for high-school aged students in Western Sydney. In this three-day workshop, high school students (years 7 – 10) will explore storytelling from the past and...

Come join our exciting holiday workshops. We will meet for 2 hours on Zoom with a short break in the middle, staying connected from a distance! These workshops will be run by our wonderful, supportive Storytellers, as they guide you through...

Come join our exciting holiday workshops. We will meet for 2 hours through Zoom, staying connected from a distance! These workshops will be run by our wonderful, supportive Storytellers, as they take you through games and writing activities. Apply Now

Come along to our Just Add Ink program, where we will meet online every Monday to create stories through fun activities and writing games. Our supportive Storytellers guide you in becoming an even better writer. Every week we build on...

Join our Control Alt. Edit program, where we will meet online every Tuesday, to help enhance your writing skills through creative activities and sharing stories. Whether it’s poetry, scripts or short fiction, you will be supported by our Storytellers...

Join our This is Canon program, where we will meet online every Wednesday, to help enhance your writing skills through creative activities and sharing stories. Whether it’s poetry, scripts or short fiction, you will be supported by our Storytellers...

Come along to our Unreal Writers program, where we will meet online every Thursday to create stories through writing activities and stories. As our supportive Storytellers guide you in becoming an even better writer. Every week we build on your...

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...