A User's Guide to a Pandemic
“A User’s Guide to a Pandemic is everything it should be: enlightening, frightening, and containing death-defyingly good writing from Story Factory students. And I should also add, definitely hilarious. In times of need, turning to the writing of children is so often the answer…”
Markus Zusak
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 – Story Factory (NSW – that’s us!), 100 Story Building (Melbourne), The Story Island Project (Tasmania) and StoryBoard (Byron Bay) – and created A User’s Guide to a Pandemic, a writing project that amplified the voices of young people during the uncertainty and disconnection of the pandemic.
Students wrote in their own time or participated in online workshops, and created pieces of writing that investigated the challenges, the unexpected joys, the boredom, worries and hopes of the pandemic.
What they’ve created is truly extraordinary. A book written entirely by Australian young people during the weirdest year of their lives. It’s full of joy, wisdom, imagination and truth – just like them.
You can buy a beautiful printed copy of this treasure-trove of writing in the Story Factory bookshop.
PS Did we say written entirely? Well, almost. We made an exception for the Introduction. Markus Zusak (author of The Book Thief, an international bestseller for over a decade) did the honours. What a legend. Check it out through the link above!
PPS While every student who submitted work was published in the book, not every single thing that they wrote made it in. BUT, it’s all way too good for us not to share, so we’ve compiled every single thing that was submitted at the link below.
“The air around Astrid was infused with an aromatic mist of industrial candy cane, accompanying the grapefruit-tinged tangerine sky. “
Saniah, aged 15
“Nobody enjoys Zoom meetings, including me. All we do is stare at teachers, who talk for hours and hours, later realising that nobody was even listening to their lecture. “
Leo, aged 15
“Freedom is the ringing of bells at any school. A signal that better times are soon to come. Fear is the green slip of an arvo. A sign that you might be better off if you run.”
Ibrahim, aged 17
A User’s Guide to a Pandemic, proudly supported by:
Stories from this Program
Sensations Through Nature
By Eva
A flower blooms, opens up to the sun, breathes in the warm rays of daylight. Nurtured by the moist soil, admired by crawling garden creatures. Brought to life by the...
(Untitled)
By Clarissa
I WAS ALWAYS rushing. Rushing between bed and breakfast, rushing between one bit of cereal to another, rushing for the train in the next two minutes, rushing to live. Life...
(Untitled)
By Herman
Independence is the mice against the unnerving winds. Gratitude is the clouds above us, unreachable and uninterpretable Euphoria is being immersed in the treacherous and daring depths of life. Resilience...
Untitled
By Ruya
THE SUN FLOATED through the window and stirred the dust as it lit up the pages of her book. It lit up the folds in the pages, the sagging spine,...
I Survived Online School!
By Leo, Year 9
‘More online school…I really hate it.’ I opened my eyes and stared at the usual old white ceiling. It is always the same ceiling, no colour change, no added texture, just the same old boring one. I groaned.
A Zap of Illuminating Cyan
By Saniah, Year 9
With a zap of illuminating cyan Astrid’s cognitive implants summoned a platinum-glazed automobile; levitating, luminous and in all its glory.
@SydneyStoryFactory on Instagram
Come and visit our Prescription Poetry booth at the @sydwritersfest at @carriageworks this weekend 27-28 May! Our Story Factory Poetry Doctors will be on hand to dispense prescriptions to cure all manner of modern ailments. 😷❤️🩹 These bottles of joy contain rays of sunshine and pearls of wisdom from our creative writing students…100% made with love at the Story Factory, all packed and ready to be shared with the world. 🫶
Entry is free. No appointment required! Bring your friends and family. Share snaps of your scripts 📸 @sydneystoryfactory
📸 Richard Short & Aph D.
#SydneyWritersFestival #PrescriptionPoetry #StoryFactory
Witnessed the incredible talent of @zeadalamusic at Story Factory`s Parramatta Creative Circle last Friday! 🙌🏽🎤🎶 This singer-songwriter, rapper, and poet from South West Sydney blew us away with her mesmerising performance. Thank you Z for coming to Story Factory Parramatta to connect with and inspire our community of young creators.
The Creative Circle is a series of events run by @storyfactorypublishing bringing together experienced artists with early career writers to inspire young creators (aged 15-25). Events will run on selected Friday evenings at Story Factory Parramatta from April to September 2023. DM @storyfactorypublishing to learn more.
#Zeadala #ParramattaCreativeCircle #StoryFactory #SouthWestSydney #SingerSongwriter #Rapper #Poet #LivePerformance #CreativeProgram #FridayNightFun
We had a blast hosting a special black out poetry event with our volunteers. To say thank you, we gave out special badges to our Community Heroes and World Changers! 🙌 We`re so grateful to our community of dedicated volunteers. Thank you for all the work you do! 🫶
Interested in volunteering with Story Factory? Sign up here: https://www.storyfactory.org.au/volunteer/
#NVM2023 #TheChangeMakers #storyfactory #volunteer #westernsydney
Photo: Thuy Giang
Are you a parent or teacher of a young writer? ✍️ Have you ever wanted to see their work published in a real book? 📕
Story Factory is offering FREE creative writing workshops for students to help them write and publish stories on their own. Our after-school workshops are facilitated by experienced educators who are passionate about helping young people improve their literacy and storytelling skills. We`ll also give them access to resources and support from professional writers to empower their creativity. 📝 📚
It`s FREE and easy to sign up. Visit: https://www.storyfactory.org.au/programs/after-school-holiday-programs/
We hope to see you soon!
#storyfactory #creativewriting #freeworkshop #publishing #westernsydney
WE’RE HIRING! We’re looking for an Aboriginal Engagement Manager to develop strong partnerships and understanding between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Story Factory, to help improve outcomes for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in our programs.
If you’re passionate about improving writing skills and educational opportunities for Indigenous young people or know someone who would be perfect for this role, head to our website to learn more: https://www.storyfactory.org.au/about/work-with-us/
Artwork by Danielle Mate.
#sydneystoryfactory #nowhiring #jobopportunity #indigenousjobs #westernsydney
