Outback Story Generator is an online story-sharing project that engaged young people from the small towns of Hay, Griffith and Deniliquin in southwest NSW. This project reached over 200 young people across 300 kilometres and ran from the 3rd March to the 17th April 2014.

Playwright Jessica Bellamy worked with young people to develop their unique ‘Outback’ stories. The stories were developed in a variety of forms such as monologues, scripts, short stories, radio plays, poems, and songs. We then shared them on the Outback Story Hub. In addition to showcasing student work, the site has created connections between young people to other young people in similar communities who have shared experiences.

Jessica Bellamy spent two full weeks in Griffith; facilitating playwriting workshops and creative writing opportunities for young people in year 10 at Griffith High School. At the end of her residency, a presentation of the works were streamed live to classrooms in Hay and Deniliquin. Then she spent two weeks in Hay and Deniliquin, following the same process. During the process, Jessica identified two exceptional young people from each town who demonstrated high-level writing skills and they took part in a one-week holiday intensive from 14-17 April 2014 in Deniliquin  (a writing Boot-camp!). They were given the opportunity to take their work a step further and formulate their pitch to the Emerge: Riverina Playwright Project commission.

Check out the OUTBACK STORY HUB HERE

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXC4U4P6s1U[/youtube]

WHAT WE ACHIEVED:

• Reached over 200 young people from three different communities spanning 300kms; giving a large amount of young people the opportunity to engage with the project and explore their creative voice
• Identified strong, stand-out young artists from each town and further their skills through creative literacy development workshops with Jessica Bellamy
• Created a dedicated website which will invite a global audience to these local stories and will also serve as a resource for young writers
• Linked participants to like-minded young people in their region