Amra Pajalić is an award-winning author, editor and teacher who draws on her Bosnian cultural heritage to write own voices stories for young people, who like her, are searching to mediate their identity and take pride in their diverse culture. She won the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature's Civic Choice Award for her debut novel The Good Daughter, re-released as Sabiha's Dilemma (Pishukin Press, 2022). The anthology she co-edited, Growing up Muslim in Australia (Allen and Unwin, 2014), was shortlisted for the 2015 Children's Book Council awards and her memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me (Transit Lounge, 2019) was shortlisted for the 2020 National Biography Award. Amra has published non-fiction including opinion and analysis, reviews and memoir pieces, in ArtsHub, Kalliope, The Guardian, The Age, Southerly, Overland, AEU Magazines, Meanjin and 25 memoir pieces in SBS Voices. She writes romance as Mae Archer.
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Website: https://www.amrapajalic.com/

At about the age of eight, Belinda Murrell began writing stirring tales of adventure, mystery and magic in hand-illustrated exercise books. As an adult, she combined two of her great loves – writing and travelling the world – and worked as a travel writer, journalist and public relations consultant. Now, inspired by her own three children, Belinda is an award-winning, internationally published children’s author with a history of writing in her family that spans over 200 years. Belinda has written over 35 books including The Golden Tower and The Silver Sea, her fantasy adventure series The Sun Sword trilogy and her award-winning time-slip adventures, The Locket of Dreams, The Ruby Talisman, The Ivory Rose, The Forgotten Pearl, The River Charm, The Sequin Star, and The Lost Sapphire. For younger readers Belinda has her popular Lulu Bell and Pippa’s Island series. Her new junior fiction series, The Daredevil Princess, is about a brave and bold young girl solving mysteries in the Queendom of Blumenfeld. Belinda won the Society of Women Writers 2023 Di Yerbury award, a three month residency in the UK.
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Website: http://www.belindamurrell.com.au/

Sarah Malik is a Walkley award winning senior investigative journalist, author and broadcaster, with two decades of media experience. She is the creator and EP of the SBS podcasts My Ramadan and The SBS Book Club. She also co-hosted and co-produced Let Me Tell You (winner of the gold Best Arts/Culture podcast at the 2022 Australian Podcast awards, and honoree at the 2023 Webby Awards), and the New Writers Room podcast. Her New Writers Room interview with Larissa Behrendt and Jazz Money was awarded bronze for Best Interview at the 2022 Australian podcast awards. Her work focuses on domestic violence, asylum and in its intersection with gender and race. She has been featured in the Sydney Review of Books, New York Times, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian. She has also produced and presented programs for ABC Radio National and Al Jazeera. Her debut memoir Desi Girl: On feminism, race, faith and belonging was published by UQP 2022. Her second book Safar: Muslim women’s stories of travel and transformation was published by Hardie Grant. In 2023 she was a keynote speaker for International Women’s Day at UTS speaking on the power of education, intersectionality and advancing women’s rights globally.
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Website: https://sarahbmalik.com/

Author, Mentor, Developmental Editor: Jane has worked with many writers at all stages of their careers over the past thirty years. She offers mentoring, developmental editing, writing workshops, and grant writing assistance. Jane has published and broadcast works across fiction, memoir, radio drama, and scholarly essays. Her books include the novels Hopscotch, Provenance, and Night By Night. For over 15 years she led the postgraduate creative writing programs at Macquarie University.
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Website: https://janemesser.com/

Annika Tague is a publishing professional, having worked for Australia's largest independent publisher and as a bookseller for 4+ years. She has both an undergrad and postgrad degree in Creative Writing and currently works as a freelance literary editor and content writer. Annika has worked on editorial projects with a number of major publishing houses in Australia. She helps writers and aspiring authors fine-tune their manuscripts to reach their full potential. Annika works as a copywriter for businesses of all sizes. Annika is currently working on her debut novel, a family drama set in the heart of wine country.
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Website: http://www.polishedprose.com.au/

Kathy Prokhovnik writes fiction (long form, short stories, microfiction) and nonfiction. She is currently finalising her second novel and preparing her social history of Sydney, Seeking Sydney, for a podcast series. She is also a technical writer with extensive training and experience in research, writing and editing expertise. She has worked extensively on the production of examination materials, print books, ebooks, articles, newsletters, media releases, user guides, publicity material, fact sheets, equipment manuals, business reports and websites. She has been successful in many Australian short story writing competitions and has been published in anthologies and online and print journals.
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Website: http://kathyprokhovnik.com/

Michelle Law is a writer and actor – working in print, screen and stage – currently based on Gadigal Land. Her works include the plays, Single Asian Female (La Boite Theatre Company), Top Coat (Sydney Theatre Company), and Miss Peony (Belvoir St Theatre); the television shows Homecoming Queens (SBS) and Safe Home (SBS); and the book Asian Girls are Going Places (Hardie Grant). Her awards include two Australian Writers Guild Awards, the Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award, and the Arts & Culture 40 Under 40 Awards, which celebrates the country’s most influential Asian Australians. Michelle is also a widely published freelance author and a prolific speaker who regularly appears on panels and at festivals.
Website: http://michelle-law.com/

Aleesah Darlison is an award-winning author of over 65 books for children. She is well-known for her books that empower children and champion the cause of animals and the environment. Aleesah has won or been shortlisted for many awards including the Book Excellence Awards, the Environment Award for Children’s Literature, the CBCA Awards, the Speech Pathology Book of the Year Awards, and WAYBRA. Aleesah has written numerous creative fiction and non-fiction titles for the educational and commercial markets including the Space Kids Series, the Super Sloth Series, the Endangered Animal Tales Series, Emerald, The Green Turtle’s Tale, Our Class Tiger, Puggle’s Problem, Warambi, Netball Gems, and the League of Llamas Series. Her 2024 releases include Grace the Amazing, Stella’s Bright Idea, Super Sloth Books 2 and 3, and Coral the Dolphin. She has extensive experience teaching and mentoring both adults and children in the craft of writing and is a regular presenter at schools, festivals, and libraries.
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Website: http://www.aleesahdarlison.com/

Paul Anderson is a freelance editor, a book reviewer, and loves to read literary fiction. He is an active member of the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) and an Editors NSW branch committee member. He has a Graduate Certificate of Editing and Publishing from the University of Technology Sydney (2019) and occasionally publishes in The Newtown Review of Books. Paul was part of the editorial committee for the UTS writers' anthology Empty Sky (Brio Books, 2020) and was a co-editor (with Margrete Lamond) of the Reclink stories collection The Power of a Football (WestWords, 2022).
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