When choosing your texts, remember to follow the selection guidelines as outlined by the VCAA. If you want to explore your options, replace a title or are simply curious to see what titles will be listed in 2026, please see below.
March 21, 2025 | 2-3 minute read
When choosing your texts, remember to follow the selection guidelines as outlined by the VCAA. If you want to explore your options, replace a title or are simply curious to see what titles will be listed in 2026, please see below.
NOVELS
Barker, Pat, Regeneration (NEW FOR 2026)
Bronte, Charlotte, Jane Eyre
Franklin, Miles, My Brilliant Career
García Márquez, Gabriel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Harvey, Samantha, Orbital (NEW FOR 2026)
Jackson, Shirley, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Moss, Sarah, Ghost Wall
Ogawa, Yōko, The Memory Police
SHORT STORIES
Hadley, Tessa, Bad Dreams and Other Stories
Malouf, David, The Complete Stories
PLAYS
Harrison, Jane, Rainbow’s End
Shakespeare, William, Twelfth Night
Sophocles, Oedipus the King
POETRY/SONGS
Oliver, Mary, New and Selected Poems, Volume One
Hughes, Langston, Selected Poems (NEW FOR 2026)
FILMS
Johnson, Stephen (director), High Ground
Wilder, Billy (director), Sunset Boulevard
OTHER
Ottley, Matt, Requiem for a Beast
NON-FICTION
Noah, Trevor, Born a Crime
Dank, Debra, We Come with This Place (NEW FOR 2026)
Writing about personal journeys
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, ‘The Danger of a Single Story’
Duong, Amy, ‘The Red Plastic Chair is a Vietnamese Cultural Institution, and My Anchor’ (Click here to read SBS article & Click here to buy book)
Hodge, Maya, ‘bidngen’
López, Matthew, Walter’s speech (end of Part 1) from The Inheritance (See video below or click here to view on YouTube)
Garner, Helen, ‘Dear Mrs Dunkley’ (NEW FOR 2026)
(VIDEO COMING SOON)
Writing about play
Gay, Virginia, 'Monologue from Cyrano' (See below, or click here to view on Youtube)
(VIDEO COMING SOON)
Roffey, Chelsea, ‘An Open Letter to Doubting Thomas’
Russon, Penni, ‘All That We Know of Dreaming’
Winton, Tim, ‘About the Boys’
Huang, Coco X, ‘Impromptu: Fiction for voice and piano’ (NEW FOR 2026)
Writing about country
Chekhov, Anton, ‘Gooseberries’ (Click here to buy book.)
Clarke, Maxine Beneba, Chapter 2, 'The Hate Race'
Kassab, Yumna, ‘The Conquest of Land and Dream’
Lynch, Cassie, ‘Split’ (Flock, includes the short story 'Split')
Dillard, JD, ‘An Open Letter to the Man Who Yelled “Go Back to Africa!” at Me’ (NEW FOR 2026)
Writing about protest
Gillespie, Mark, ‘Friday Essay: On the Sydney Mardi Gras March of 1978’
Pankhurst, Emmeline, ‘Freedom or Death’
Vonnegut, Kurt, ‘Harrison Bergeron’ (Welcome to the Monkey House, contains the story 'Harrison Bergeron')
Wyatt, Meyne, 'Monologue from City of Gold' (See below, or Click here to to watch the Youtube video)
Parry, Jonathan, ‘What’s the Point of Protest? (NEW FOR 2026)
(VIDEO COMING SOON)
The following titles which appear on the 2025 VCAA list ARE NOT listed for 2026:
Arnott, Robbie, Flames
Arnott, Robbie, Flames
Erpenbeck, Jenny, Go, Went, Gone
Papertalk Greene, Charmaine and Kinsella, John, False Claims of Colonial Thieves
Laveau-Harvie, Vicki, The Erratics
Once you have selected your texts from lists 1 and 2, you may want to explore what study resources are available to assist students’ learning and comprehension of their set texts.
The Insight Comparison texts are excellent resources that will help students write comprehensive essays comparing the texts being studied in class. Insight have created a range of comparisons that suit the texts being compared from list 2.
Available ATAR Notes Guides for the following VCAA English List titles:
Atar Notes Text Guide: Jane Eyre
Atar Notes Text Guide: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Atar Notes Text Guide: The Memory Police
Atar Notes Text Guide: Bad Dreams and Other Stories
Atar Notes Text Guide: Rainbow's End
Atar Notes Text Guide: Twelfth Night
Atar Notes Text Guide: Oedipus The King
Atar Notes Text Guide: Born A Crime
Insight Text Guides available for the following titles:
Insight Text Guide: Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Insight Text Guide: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Insight Text Guide: The Memory Police
Insight Text Guide: Bad Dreams and Other Stories
Insight Text Guide: Rainbow's End
Insight Text Guide: High Ground
Insight Text Guide: Sunset Boulevard
Insight Text Guide: Requiem for a Beast
Insight Text Guide: Born a Crime
Insight Text Guide: Ghost Wall
Insight Text Guide: Jane Eyre
Insight Text Guide: My Brilliant Career
Insight Text Guide: Twelfth Night
Insight Text Guide: Oedipus The King
Insight Text Guide: New and Selected Poems Vol 1 by Mary Oliver
Insight Text Guide: Orbital
Insight Text Guide: Selected Poems by Langston Hughes
Bookbook Education Study Guides available for the following titles:
BooBook Education Study Guide: Rainbow's End
BooBook Education Study Guide: Oedipus The King
BooBook Education Study Guide: High Ground
BooBook Education Study Guide: Born A Crime
Other available English/EAL resources:
Insight Framework of Ideas: Writing About Country (Updated)
Insight Framework of Ideas: Writing About Personal Journeys (Updated)
Insight Framework of Ideas: Writing About Play (Updated)
Insight Framework of Ideas: Writing About Protest (Updated)
ATAR Notes Frameworks: Writing About Country
ATAR Notes Frameworks: Writing About Personal Journeys
ATAR Notes Frameworks: Writing About Play
ATAR Notes Frameworks: Writing About Protest
At this point in time the following information is provided to the best of our knowledge. This article will be updated as new information arises.
If your school would like more information on these titles or would like any of the above mentioned titles invoiced or on approval please send an email to info@lilydalebooks.com.au.
The information in this article is cited from the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority.
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