Georges River Youth Literature Award

This year we launched the Georges River Youth Literature Award (GRYLA), an annual creative writing short story competition that aims to capture the aspirations and experiences of young people in Years 7-12 who live, study or play in the Georges River area.

Entrants were given a quote by Miles Franklin and an image of a girl standing on a train platform as stimulus for their story. Each entry was awarded marks based on four criteria: originality, language, structure, and integration of the writing stimulus, with one winner and one runner-up being selected.

Through the judging process, we were able to select one winner and one runner-up.

Winner:

Pay Grade by Robin Bedward (Year 10)

Pay Grade

After five years of being away from "The Firm", Gurney finds himself pursuing his target, a young woman in her early twenties who had seen something she shouldn't have. As we weave through the crowd of a metropolis train station with the protagonist, Mike Gurney, we learn more about his character with each step and sip of cocoa he takes and question if somebody really can change who they are.

Runner-up:

The Gift of Life by Athena Jiang (Year 10)

Gift of Life

In 2018, Angela Jane Mitchell made a decision that would change her life forever. Angela ignored the "MIND THE GAP" warning screaming at her from the edge of the platform, and determinedly stepped in front of an oncoming train. Incredibly, through strength and determination, Angela survived and now learns how to come to terms with her past. This heartfelt short story is about choices, hope, and second chances.

Thank you to all entrants for their participation and congratulations to the winner and runner-up! To read the winning stories, visit georgesriverreads.blog

Come and explore our Museum & Gallery

Queen’s Theatre in Forest Road, Hurstville, where Don Young the marathon dancer gave special demonstrations of his dancing technique on 4, 5 and 6 June 1928

Marathon dancing craze in the 1920s brought the sport to the streets

Can you imagine strapping on your dancing shoes and ballroom dancing all the way from Hurstville to Martin Place? Well, that’s exactly what 20-year-old Don Young from West Kogarah did in 1928! The late 1920s saw a craze for dance marathons, and Don ballroom-danced a whopping 22km from Hurstville to Martin Place inside three hours on Saturday 16 June 1928, despite being stopped by the police several times. He also set a World Record for Marathon Dancing on 18 May 1928, where he danced for 123½ hours, accompanied by seven pianists and two phonographs, at the Palais Grande in Rockdale. He didn’t stop there, going on to set a record for ‘stepdancing’ for 35¾ hours on 14 July 1928, breaking a record held by an American of 10½ hours. Imagine 35 hours of Riverdance! Understandably, he went on to teach dancing at the Roselands Ballroom in New York.

Later that year another man danced from Strathfield to Bondi, with an orchestra on the back of a lorry supplying the music. The lorry driver was fined 2/6d by police for delaying traffic. A keen marathon dancer also danced the 80km from Geelong to Melbourne that same year.

There was an occupational hazard for the female dance

partners - they wore out their stockings!