Emma Darragh lives and works on Dharawal Country. Her novel in stories, Thanks for Having Me, will be published by Joan Press in March, 2024. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong and her thesis, The Short Story Cycle in the Twenty-First Century, received the Examiners’ Commendation for Outstanding Thesis. Her writing has appeared in numerous Australian publications, including Cordite, Westerly, Meniscus, TEXT, and The Big Issue Fiction Edition. Emma is an experienced mentor and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong.
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Website: https://emmadarragh.com/

Danielle de Valera is an award-winning writer and the author of two novels, MagnifiCat and Those Brisbane Romantics. Her collection of stories, Dropping Out, was a finalist for the Woollahra Digital Literary Award. Her most recent novel Those Brisbane Romantics is listed in Kirkus Reviews’ 100 Best Indie Books of 2022. Formerly an editor for The Jacaranda Press, she taught fiction writing workshops at Byron College and is a member of IPed, the Institute of Professional Editors. She offers a range of manuscript development services and has been helping writers achieve their goals since 1992.
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Website: https://patrickdevalera.com/

Dannielle Viera has been involved in the Australian publishing industry for over 20 years – first as a copywriter and then as an editor, project manager, proofreader and author. Many of her children’s stories and poems have appeared in anthologies, in The School Magazine and on the Australian Children’s Poetry website. In 2021, her first illustrated children’s book, Amazing Grace, was published by Library For All; in 2023, her debut picture book, The Leftover Lemon Dilemma, was published by Loose Parts Press. She is a member of SCBWI, and she reviews children’s books for the Buzz Words website.
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Website: http://www.dannielleviera.com/

Bronwyn Birdsall is a writer and editor. Her first novel Time and Tide in Sarajevo was shortlisted for the 2023 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Bronwyn is passionate about the power of story and supporting storytellers. She has spoken at festivals, at events and on podcasts about her novel and the creative process. Bronwyn’s writing centres around contemporary life and finding meaning in the everyday, and has been selected for development programs and residencies. As well as working as an editor for over fifteen years, she has also assessed entries for mentorship programs and competitions.
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Website: http://www.bronwynbirdsall.com/

Garry McDougall is a former lecturer and Artist-in-Residence at University of Western Sydney, and tutor at WEA. He is the winner of the Art-in-Unusual-Places Grant, 2022, Peter Cowan Short Story Prize, 2015, and editor of Coming Up for Air, Wonoona Storyteller Workshops, 2022. Garry was a feature poet at Sydney Writers Festival, 2017, and has over thirty published works including six novels, travel, poetry, as well as numerous short stories and poems published in international magazines. Garry is the author of Belonging, Knowing Simone, and is a specialist in general fiction, historical fiction, travel and photography, and the world’s most prolific writer on the Camino de Santiago.
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Ashley Lowe is a freelance writer, editor and content marketing specialist. Having written for some of Australia's top-selling weekly magazines, Ashley now predominantly works brand-side for clients in industries as diverse as health, beauty, law, private equity, psychology and even construction. Ashley also writes a weekly newsletter on the realities of life, In The Thick Of It, which can be found on Substack.
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Website: http://inthethickofit.substack.com/

Lathalia Song is an artist/poet and writer. Her hybrid works appear in Streetcake Magazine, Harpy Hydrid Review, Levatio, The Minison Project, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Authora Australis and Moon Cola zine. Editor for Authora Australis https://www.authora.net/. Hybrid works of illustrated poetic fables, ink designs abstracted and screenprinted at https://www.flywaterleaflight.com.au/. Sharing the joy of creativity each year at https://heffalumpdezign.com. Currently writer in residence for Westwords, Wedderburn and artist poet @flywaterleaflight.com.au. A mid-career designer and artist pivoting into fine art and fiction writing. You can follow her as lathaliahopesong on Instagram and Twitter: Hope Song@flywaterleaf.
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Website: https://www.authora.net/

Virginia Muzik is a copywriter, proofreader and feature writer with a Bachelor of Communication (UTS). Her short-form memoir and features have appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Big Issue, Stereo Stories and Months to Years. She has written for Newtown Review of Books, and the anthologies, Grieve Vol. 10 (2022: Hunter Writers Centre), Product 45 (2015: Murray Bennett) and Dogs that Make a Difference (2014: Penguin Books Australia). Virginia’s writing explores grief, the body and self, music (as a consumer and singer), and living with complex trauma and chronic pain. She’s based in Sydney on unceded Gadigal land.
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Website: http://www.virginiamuzik.com/

Alle’s qualifications: B.A.(S.U.) English/Australian Literature and Language; M.A.(S.U.) Australian Literature; Dip.Ed.(S.T.C.) Library Science and English. She trained English teachers for 25 years in the Teachers’ Education Program (Macquarie University). She taught and marked HSC English at all levels for 25 years leading to expertise in the study and analysis of literature/media, text-types, starting/sustaining writing, copy editing, proof-reading, researching, rewriting and overcoming writers' block. She has experience writing responses to all texts/text-types required for HSC study and in judging written responses at HSC marking operations. She has published poetry, short stories, study notes, and researched for her historical novels.
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