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EDUCATION: WESTLAKE GIRLS

Talented writer wins publishing deal with “fabulous” novella Westlake’s extraordinary young writer Xiaole Zhan (Year 13) has followed on from her 2018 success with wins in two prestigious writing competitions. Recently Xiaole was named winner of the Editor’s Choice Prize in the Young New Zealand Writers Youth Laureate competition. And she also had a poem displayed at Scott Base in Antarctica as a winner in an international poetry competition. Last year Xiaole was Xiaole Zhan selected by the NZ Society of Authors as one of four students across the country to be given a place on their Youth Mentorship Programme. Since then, this talented soon-to-be-published-author has gone from strength to strength. Her 11,000-word novella “The Extinct” was described as “a fabulous piece of writing” by the judges of the NZ Writers Youth Laureate competition. “I hadn’t written anything as long as a novella before, but I was extremely keen to give it a go,” says Xiaole. As a winner, she received publication and a $200 book contract with Phantom Feather Press. “The email specified that the judges had a strong (their italics) preference for speculative fiction, which wasn’t really the writing style I worked in, but I decided to give my idea of a work of magical realism, The Extinct, a go and try my luck. By the time I’d finished the work, I’d realised that it was quite far from what one would consider speculative fiction, but I handed it in anyway, mostly because I’d worked so hard on it and not because I expected a response.” To her surprise and delight, Xiaole received an email a few weeks later informing her of her win. The email said: “Although we didn't plan to publish two books, and the competition was for novels rather than poetry, The Extinct is better classified as a narrative poem. Because of the high quality of The Extinct, we feel it warrants publication”. Xiaole says, “I’m not sure if The Extinct should necessarily be defined as a ‘narrative-poem’ as it was written entirely in prose and I hadn’t really taken any stylistic freedom beyond what one may increasingly find in modern novels, but I do realise that I’d submitted a work in a style which deviated from what the publishers were expecting, so I’m extremely grateful that they decided my work warranted publication regardless on the basis of its quality, even when they weren’t planning on publishing two student novels.” The book, due for release on 31 May this year, examines what it means to remember and what it means to forget in the “stupidity of days” forever to become yesterdays.

To purchase a copy of the novella, please email cpollock@westlakegirls. school.nz for more details. Xiaole’s second award was for her poem and photography titled “Sympathetic Resonance”, inspired by a childhood fascination with Antarctica. “I remember seeing a world map as a child and coming across the oddly shaped, solid white continent at the bottom of the world,” she says. “A mythic wonder burrowed itself into my mind at that moment, and Antarctica - so isolated, so unreachable - became as magical and impossible a place as Atlantis, or the moon.” Xiaole is keen to continue writing once she leaves high school at the end of this year. “I think it’s always been such a central part of my identity that I’ll have to keep it alive in some way, just to feel like myself. I want to keep creating works that I’m proud of. That’s all I can really hope for, I think. It would be nice to say that one day I’ll be an acclaimed and awardwinning writer, but there are brilliant writers who earn acclaim and awards and there are brilliant writers who don’t, so it’s never really about wanting things like that. I want to continue expressing for my own sake, and for the sake of all that’s beautiful and grotesque about being a human. If I can touch even one other mind through my words, that’s enough of a miracle for me to live by.” “I'm delighted to inform you that your narrative poem The Extinct, has won our Editor's Choice Prize in the Young New Zealand Writers Youth Laureate competition. Congratulations on a fabulous piece of writing. The judges provided the following feedback: It is hard to define this work. More narrative poem than novel, absolutely beautiful imagery occurs on every line of this tale of personal apocalypse. The manuscript zings with originality. A stunning example of magical realism, with nostrilled violins, a brittle-boned home, and a tiger whose fading stripes bear an unknown language, it employs an original structure, ‘a thick wave of words’ to use the author’s own phrase, set out in moving retellings of events told over time by the same narrator. The judges loved the author’s courage in choosing to use a rare second-person perspective. Even the cadence is delicious. Already exceptional, we expect wonderful things for this writer in the future.”

SEE YOU AT OUR OPEN NIGHT! If your daughter is in Year 9 in 2020, then this evening on Tuesday 25 June is for the both of you. Meet the Principal and teachers, tour the school, experience our sports, dance, music and technology departments, take home a goodie bag, and see how Westlake Girls can help your daughter find her passion and discover her potential. We have two sessions, at 4pm and 6pm, so keep the date free and look for more details on our website www.westlakegirls.school.nz