Since 1998, the UNSWeetened Literary Journal has published the finest poetry, essays, and short stories by UNSW students. We aspire to build a community with a shared love for literature and encourage you to get involved and inspired.
This year our online theme is 'Restless'. The submission deadline has now been closed and our editorial process is underway. Keep an eye out for information about our Online Journal Launch Event!
Updates for this year's print edition will come shortly!
Annabella Luu (she/her)
Annabella is a writer, spoken-word poet, and dog mum. She studies English, Creative Writing, and Media at UNSW. Her writing has featured in various publications, including Voiceworks, UNSWeetened, and Diacritics. She has performed at notable venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Town Hall, and State Library of NSW. A failed gym-goer, you’ll find Annabella relieving her restlessness on the netball or badminton court!
Tara Chau (she/her)
Tara is in her final year of a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Creative Writing. She is a lover of the little things—flowers, shells, pretty past times and pretty words. In these, she finds solace from the restlessness mundanity tramples her with. Cherishing the little moments with family, friends, and even (especially) herself, Tara finds that restlessness is rather deterred.
Juliana Di-Cola (she/her)
Juliana is a second-year student completing a Bachelor of Art/Media, majoring in creative writing. One thing she does to settle her restlessness is listen to music. It is the ultimate thing that calms her. She is very into musicals, her favourite one being Hadestown.
Jhaanavi Karunapalan (she/her)
Jhaanavi studies Arts/Law (double majoring in Politics and International Relations & English). To settle her restlessness, she puts on a meditation track and inevitably falls asleep to it.
Kaitlin (Kaity) Lawrenson (she/her)
Kaity is a 3rd-year student studying a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Biology & Biodiversity) / Arts (English Literature & Film). One thing that she does to settle her restlessness is dance! It allows her to shake out energy, tire out her body, and have fun being creative :p
Elizabeth Poulos (she/her)
Elizabeth Poulos (Liz for short) studies a Bachelor of Arts and majoring in English & Creative Writing. One thing she does to settle her restlessness is to journal, writing out whatever is jumping around in her mind and laying it out in a way which brings order to it.
Davina Abigail (she/her)
Abigail is a Commerce student in UNSW. She is interested in media, fashion, and culture, especially how these things create systems from which people define themselves. Opinionated, emotional, and fond of all things beautiful, she insists that life is meant to be felt deeply. When dealing with her vices gets her restless, she indulges in the silliness of looking for a sign. You'd be surprised to find that there's always a song, an excerpt from a book, or scribbles on the bathroom wall that'll reaffirm what you already know!
Anagha Abhilash Kumar (she/her)
Anagha is a first year in a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in Art History and Theory, and Fashion and Textiles. One thing she does to settle her restlessness is drink too many coffees in one day (her go-to is a small mocha with 2 sugars if everyone wants to buy one for me...).
Jasmin Ada (she/her)
Jasmin is a second-year studying a Bachelor of Arts and majoring in psychology and underbaked blueberry muffins. To settle her restlessness, she likes to scribble strange (and occasionally off-putting) characters in her sketchbook.
Marcus Phillip Ming Hong Aspinall (he/him)
Marcus is a second year Law/Arts student. Whenever he feels restless, he likes to lie on his bed, stare at his ceiling and listen to his Spotify Discover Weekly. Sometimes, if he's particularly restless, he'll close my eyes and imagine the layers of music as colourful spinning shapes in his head.
Brendan Boomla (he/him)
Brendan is a first year studying Actuarial Studies / Commerce. When he's feeling restless, he usually grabs some fresh air with a relaxing walk, or if time is tight, he'll listen to some very calming Jhené Aiko tunes.
Yonathan Budi (he/him)
Yonathan studies Marine Science, and when he's restless, he tends to occupy unused lecture theatres in UNSW for academic misconduct and other nefarious purposes (karaoke and dancing terribly).
Imogen Buttigieg (she/her)
Imogen is in her second year, studying a Bachelor of Arts and Science. When she is feeling restless, she loves to (ironically) have an iced latte and go for a drive with her playlist blasting.
Sean Cullen (he/him)
Sean is currently studying a Bachelor of Social Sciences :) When he feels restless and all over the place, he finds that taking a stroll outdoors in the sun, with the breeze and a book helps to calm and focus his mind. Hearing the voice of someone else on the page, their wit and humour, really helps put life into perspective in good times (...and chaotic times as well!)
Kiara Kuchappan (she/they)
Kiara is currently studying Civil Engineering :D. They love exploring creative spaces alongside the technical side of their degree. Their go-to way of settling their restlessness is listening to music! It helps them reset, refocus, and find calm when life gets busy (their go-to is streaming the Rumors album!).
Stephy Lung (she/her)
Stephy is in her third year studying criminology and criminal justice. One thing she does to settle down when she's restless would be reading... being able to open a book and just zone out of real life and into the book gives her a different sort of peace. Baking would be another method for her to relax :)
Sonja Magazine (she/they)
Sonja is completing a Bachelor of Criminology/Psychological Science. They settle their own restlessness by pacing their room in circles, like a shark does when it circles its prey.
Joy Paola (She/Her)
Joy is a third-year student studying marine science and creative writing. To settle her restlessness, she takes long walks in parks or along bodies of water.
Saajidah Reijerink (she/her)
Saajidah is in the 3rd year of her Arts/Education degree, majoring in Education, English and History. She enjoys reading, sewing and writing when she’s not otherwise occupied by University. When she’s particularly restless, you might find her reflecting at her local park, while trying not to seem too pretentious.
Parijat Sanjoy Bujar Barua
Parijat (who also goes by Pari or Prince!) studies Psychological Science with a major in Criminology. Pari is currently the president of English and Creative Writing Society as well! (If you ever want to work on your writing or want inspiration to write, come to our weekly writing workshop!) When they get restless, they like to open a fresh document and start typing, get their fingers and mind distracted, or even just start writing the very thing that bothers their mind so it feels like it's out of them and into the world.
Jasmine Snell (she/her)
Jasmine currently in her first year, studying a Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism)! She's super passionate about learning and providing an outlet for other people to learn, alongside a deep interest in writing. To settle her restlessness, she would generally make my journal privy to her latest rant or make a list of all the things that could be contributing to her restlessness.
Swarnima Sharma (she/her)
Swarnima is a second year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Finance. She writes about memories, lived experiences and things that happed too quick to hold onto. When she is restless, she often takes long walks, listening to her favourite album, and watches the city from her favourite spot and lets time move faster than her thoughts.
Neve Thomson (she/they)
Neve is a second year Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education student studying English Literature and French Language. To settle her restlessness, she likes to go on long drives and write stories about going on long drives.
Aastha Tickoo (she/her)
Aastha is a third year Commerce and Arts student majoring in Marketing, English and Creative Writing. She's always enjoyed losing herself in the realities of the books she creates, so when she wants to settle her restlessness, she likes to find a song or two that captures the mood she's in and imagine herself in a different world (typically inspired by a book she's just read).
Jasmine Trang (she/her)
Jasmine is a third-year Integrated Design student, majoring in Graphics and Interaction design. To settle her restlessness she usually goes for walks or starts random arts and crafts projects. Her biggest drive for design is community and working with creative people so she can't wait to see what UNSWeetened's lovely writers produce and how the design team works together!
Zoya Rathi (she/her)
Zoya studies a Bachelor of Design, and something she does to settle her restlessness would be playing music. She finds when she's extremely stressed or her mind is racing, that picking up the guitar for a few minutes and just playing some songs she knows can calm her right back down and re-centre her. Sometimes, it doesn't even have to be her guitar. She might put her current favourite playlist or artist on and that helps too.
Lauren Michelle van der Oord
Lauren studies Engineering and Arts. She finds horse riding helps reset her restlessness. She can (badly) speak 4 languages and loves drawing and bringing her ideas into the world through art, writing, sewing or any other hobby you can think of—she's probably tried it.
Alastair Ho (he/him)
Alastair studies Science (psychology) and Fine Arts. When feeling restless, he tries to be conscious of his breathing because his mum and dad are Buddhist and they've gotten into his brain.
Annabella Luu
Thierry St Quintin
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