Background

To celebrate the stories and experiences of international students in Melbourne, we have been running a storytelling competition as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival.

The theme for 2020 was 'Bold New World' — entrants were invited to write or create a visual work that shared their vision of an ideal future. Members of the public could vote for their favourite story via the People's Choice Awards.

Results

Winners of each category and the People’s Choice award were announced on the 15 October 2020 at a virtual award presentation.

The winners were:

  • English Language Training Category - Luz Serrano
  • High School Category - Winnie Weng
  • Higher Education Category - Gopika Gopakumar
  • Vocational Education and Training Category - Euijeong You
  • Visual Category - Juliet Wong Min.

The People’s Choice Award went to Monineath Seang.

Shortlisted entries were:

  • Higher Education Category - Shaunak Wanikar, Anna Faciejew and Maria Plinia Manrique Sanchez
  • Vocational Education and Training Category - Hung Hsin Ke (Kenny) and Rocio Gardey
  • Visual Category - Han Ngoc Nguyen.

Read the stories below. Experience the birthplace of a bold new world through the eyes of our international students!