Nostalgia

SUBMISSIONS TO THE 2025 USYD ANTHOLOGY ARE NOW OPEN!

Writers of USYD, we’re excited to announce the call for submissions for the Sydney University Anthology 2025!

This year, we ask that you write about nostalgia.

Nostalgia is inescapable. Wherever you run, it finds you.

A word that takes you to a sunset at the beach. The smell of roses blooming in Spring. The flavour of spices in your grandmother’s food.

Derived from its original Greek roots, nostalgia can be broken down into nostos (homecoming) and algos (pain); a homesickness so painful, it deserved its own definition. And yet, it’s not all so bleak.

While still steeped in pain for many, nostalgia is more often thought of as a sentimental yearning for the past; whether it be our own past, or someone else’s. While it can undoubtedly wound us, it’s also an affirmation of love.

You can interpret this theme as abstractly or literally as you like. From sentimental musings on childhood passing by, to solemn considerations of a world changed by technology, from prose to verse, to fiction and non-fiction, we want to hear it all!

How has nostalgia found you? Submit your piece here.

Words by Nilab Siddiqi and Komal Gupta