Today we farewelled 40 of our year 11 English students who are setting out to Storyfest Writer’s Festival at Somerset College on the Gold Coast.

Storyfest was initially known as the Somerset Celebration of Literature and was founded by Gold Coast residents in 1993. These visionaries could see that not only the students at Somerset College would benefit, but the wider community as well, culturally as well as contributing to tourism.

The first festival was made possible by the collaborate efforts of five key people: the then College Librarian Gail Parr, Head of English Lorraine Pilgrim, ABC journalist Karen Berkman, Graeme Gardiner and Wendy O’Regan – and parents of the College.

These founders were able to secure such authors as the award-winning Peter Carey and international best-seller Colleen McCullough. From the huge success of this first festival grew the annual celebration of literature that it has become today, over 30 years later.

In 2022, Storyfest was taken to the regional town of Longreach for a two-day festival called Storyfest Out West, and on the back of that success, the organisation is making plans to extend much further in the years to come.

Our excited students are accompanied this year by English Department Head, Louise Hume, English teachers, George Church and Kylee Johnstone, and Classroom Support Assistant, Sharon Cahill.

Amazing things happen when adults come together to drive projects that support our young people’s enthusiasm for literary excellence!

Keep your eyes out for information regarding the upcoming Shalom College First Draft Writer’s Festival for our 7-10 cohorts in August.

Mrs Denise Harvey
School Librarian
Denise_Harvey@rok.catholic.edu.au