Anthology the write stuff

Wentworth Courier
24 May 2006

Anthology the write stuff

UTS student compilation Making Tracks the ideal vehicle for getting published
Report Shaun Ellis

Making Tracks, an anthology of creative works written by students at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), in 2006, will be launched on Monday 27 as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival.

The collection contains short fiction, poetry, experimental narrative and scripts penned by 29 budding writers.

Melissa Bruce, from Watsons Bay, currently working towards her Master of Professional writing postgraduate degree at UTS, is one of seven student editors who have had their work selected from more than 300 submissions.

"It's really competitive within the university," Ms Bruce said. "In the past couple of years it has become quite a professional piece that's read by a lot of publishers, and has a national readership.

"It's a real launching pad for a lot of writers who've been published."

Ms Bruce said that the exposure gained by the selected emerging writers "gives tremendous encouragement and great hope".

For the first time, the volume will be published by ABC books, which Ms Bruce said she hoped would deliver broader readership.

Dr Catherine Cole, the supervisor overseeing the anthology, said the book had become increasingly professional and popular over it's more than 20-year history.

"This is terrific for the students who are published, because it gets a wider readership," Dr Cole said.

Jenny Robertson from Waverly, another of the selected writers, took creative writing classes as part of her undergraduate degree in journalism. She has since decided to focus on fiction over fact,

"I love the news and current affairs analysis in journalism, but sometimes you can be more honest in fiction than you can be when writing the news," she said.

At the official launch, contributions to Making Tracks will be read live. Excerpts will also be available for singings - hopefully a taste of success to come.