TWO Hastings students have been published in a showcase of the best HSC Extension 2 English major works.
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MacKillop College's Hannah Cutmore and St Columba Anglican School's Sequoia O'Brien were among the elite group of 18 HSC students selected for Word Express.
They attended the book launch of The Young Writers Showcase 18 at the State Library in Sydney on Monday night (August 19) where they were congratulated on their imagination and ingenuity.
Hannah received full marks and ranked fourth in the state for her 5000-word story A Hool's Hope.
NSW Education Standards Authority Chairperson Tom Alegounarias described Hannah's story as distinct with its "searing post-apocalyptic landscape [and] evocatively devolved language for its anguished inhabitants".
Sequoia submitted a suite of poems titled Composure in which, she said, she "sought to capture the experience of merging, to demonstrate viscerally, through poetry, what we cannot intellectually understand: how two people become one, how a body may be fully inhabited, how an organism may be part of a greater whole."
The two young writers were joined in Sydney by their teachers, MacKillop College Leader of English Clare Hayes, and St Columba Anglican School Director of Humanities Elissa Strahley.
Ms Hayes said the girls were extremely talented writers and their success proves regional students can be just competitive as those in the city.
"All MacKillop College's Extension 1 and Extension 2 English students achieved top bands in the 2018 HSC, and I know St Columba produced pleasing results too, so we are very proud of the opportunities we provide locally," Ms Hayes said.
Hannah is now studying Arts/Law (with an English major) at university.
Their book is available for purchase online at the NESA Shop and is a recommended read for prospective HSC Extension English students.
