There is no such thing as an AVERAGE teenage life

There is no such thing as an AVERAGE teenage life

08 Oct 2017

What matters to teenagers in New South Wales? What memories do they cherish? What hopes do they harbour? What, in short, is their state of mind?

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In 2016 we travelled 3,000 kilometres to run writing workshops with 800+ teenagers in 35 schools across New South Wales, from Bourke to Byron Bay and Mt Druitt to Maroubra. At the end of all that there is one thing we can tell you for sure – there is no such thing as an average teenage life.

And now… the book! 

State of Mind is a simply awesome collection of over 100 poems, stories and memoirs from teenage writers from all over New South Wales, and from all walks of life. You’ll laugh and you’ll shout, you’ll gasp, you’ll cry and your heart will lurch at the worlds they describe and the experiences they share.

To add an extra dimension, we’ve also included guest essays from Benjamin Law, Brodie Lancaster, Ellen van Neerven, and more.

State of Mind is on sale now for just $25 in-store  at Sydney Story Factory and online at The Martian Embassy and Gift Shop.

State of Mind is a terrific classroom resource for any teacher looking for a new way to engage students with storytelling in fresh, meaningful ways. A 10% discount and free 24-page teacher resource pack, including lesson plans and teaching materials, is available with any purchase of five copies or more.

Get  your class writing our famous ‘I Am’ poems with this free sampler from our teacher resource pack.

The State of Mind project culminates this month with return visits to regional New South Wales and an official launch with Western Sydney and Sydney schools in late November. Every school that participated receives a free set of the finished book, plus a class set of handsome journals of the writing created by their students.

We are so proud of what our students have achieved! What amazing writers you are. Congratulations to every single one of you!

State of Mind – Sydney Story Factory’s biggest project to date – has been made possible thanks to the fabulously generous support of Create NSW and the St George Foundation. Our gorgeous book was produced by Sydney Story Factory, typeset and edited by the fabulous team at Hachette, and printed by OPUS. Journals for each school have been printed by Konica Minolta. Thank you all!