Margins

"She loved to rule up red margins and write in black ink on white - deciphering texts and decoding maths problems."

Marginalia: writing in the margins, around the edges of pages. Students produce a lot of it. It's often critiques or interpretations of the main text; sometimes, it can even form a dialogue between readers as they comment on each other's comments. But here, we'd like to invite you to the main page, the centre stage, in this newest incarnation of the acclaimed Sydney University Student Writing Anthology.

"I have trapped my character within this page, within these margins, within these words, but you, dear reader, are bringing external forces into these words and margins."

And really, margins are just lines - lines on a page, lines we draw between ourselves and another person, or invisible lines on a map. Just lines, but we still find meaning in them. These lines on a page represent the thoughts, lives and imaginations of Sydney University students.

The marginalia is up to you.

Introduction
Craig Silvey

1. A beginner’s guide to writing
   Zachary J. Phillips
2. Acceptance (when the smell of death gets up your nose)
   Ingrid Kesa
3. Aeroplane
   Catriona Daly
4. All quiet on the backyard front
   Kat de Jong
5. Awareness (one day I’m going to get you back for stealing my childhood, you bastard)
   Ingrid Kesa
6. Bonnie
   Melinda Mills
7. Brio
   Amelia Dale
8. Centrifuge
   Pristine Ong
9. City softened
   Ben Daroczy
10. Etiquette
    Diana Quan
11. Feeling nostalgic about events before they unfold
    Ingrid Kesa
12. Frappuccino
    Matthew Ji Xing Cai
13. How ocean stones end up in the city
    Karina Barker
14. I dream of Gaza
    Sarah K. Balstrup
15. India’s hidden civil war
    Chris Brown
16. Journey of the magi
    Jarrah Sastrawan
17. My legato heart
    Julie Thorndyke
18. Napalm
    Sophie Trevitt
19. Saying
    Ian Steep
20. Skies and clouds and such
    Rowan McKay
21. Stop
    Amanda Taylor
22. The balcony
    Vesna Leto
23. The lady and the bird
    Mark Yeow
24. The man in grey
    Amelia Dale
25. The next chapter
    Alison Gibson
26. The radio
    Bronwyn Lacken
27. Wandering eyes and a winter morning at work
    Cipi Morgan
28. Warmer winters
    Elisabeth Murray
29. The end
    Polina Madorsky

Acknowledgements