Earlier this year, we tracked down writers who had their first publication with Write On Magazine and we buddied them with current students.
Amelia Kirkness is a Ōtautahi-born, Pōneke-based writer, editor, and student of English Literature and Media Studies at Victoria University. Her poetry has been featured in various publications including Starling, Catalyst, The Spinoff, and Tarot, and her non-fiction work has been published in Victoria University's student magazine Salient.
"The thing I remember most from my time at the School for Young Writers is the friendships.
I attended workshops for almost ten years, and in that time, I made some wonderful connections with other young writers, some of which I still count among my friends today ... As an adult, having a network of writer friends who inspire and influence each other is really important to me and I truly value the opportunity I had to develop similar connections when I was younger."
Amelia
Carly is in Year 9. She loves axolotls.
Star Stories by Carly was inspired by Amelia's piece, Night Poem which was first published in Write On in 2016.
Star Stories
by Carly
I saw the star stories
my eyes read them through my foggy window glass
I should have my eyes closed
My mind takes the stories given
and catalogues them away for another date
The cold night air is calming against my feverish skin
my eyes are blurry from the light of the street lamp outside
The blanket around my shoulders falls to the ground
pooling against the carpet like snow
It’s cold as my mother leads me back to bed
easing my shaking hands and tucking me away
She eases me with stories of her and her sister; her star stories
The star stories are all stories, including this story; my story
I close my eyes
Sleep, the star stories whisper
luring me to bed once more.
You can read more by Amelia and an interview between Carly and Amelia here:
Thank you to Plains FM for support with the recording of the voices and to Copyright Licensing NZ for a funding grant that allowed us to archive 30 years of magazines and to develop this project.
The funding from Copyright Licensing NZ also went towards the redesign of our print magazine Write On 60: Memories and Milestones. It is a beautiful new design for our anthology. Copies are still available to order HERE
(c) Write On 2023