Young Scholars Inspired by Historical Photographs and Realia

Twenty-one students from the National Young Scholars program for gifted students came to State Library on Saturday 16 March for a creative writing workshop organized by the Queensland Writers Centre.

They worked in groups of three, using historical material from State Library of Queensland's collections as their inspiration.   This photograph from the George Jackman Photograph Albums elicited one of the best stories.

A Queensland Police 'wanted' poster from 1980 was very popular.  It still bears the marks of the sticky-tape used to post it up on a wall or notice-board somewhere.

Also popular was a postcard sent by Louis Delpratt to his brother, an Australian soldier captured by the Turks at Gallipoli.  The feet which can be glimpsed hanging out of a window in the left hand image were especially intriguing.

The oldest object shown to the group, a mummy bandage, was more than two thousand years old.   The newest were from the 1970s and included an unexpected hit, this undated brochure showing what are presumably images of Darwin devastated by Cyclone Tracy.

These gifted young students were intensely curious, responsive to everything and a delight to work with.

Young Scholars Program in Queensland