Shannon Barnes is a proud Ngiyampaa woman, First Nations writer and cultural specialist whose work is grounded in cultural lore, lived experience and deep connection to Country. With seventeen years’ experience delivering bespoke cultural education and culturally informed practice across social, business and creative sectors, she brings strong cultural capability to her writing and mentorship. Her fiction explores cultural memory, kinship and truth‑telling, and has been recognised nationally. Her novel Strangelands, published by Bundyi Publishing — an imprint of Simon & Schuster — won the inaugural Bundyi Writing Prize in 2025. Shannon offers cultural sensitivity reads, cultural feedback and creative mentorship to support writers in strengthening cultural representation, narrative integrity and respectful First Nations storytelling.
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Website: https://www.instagram.com/shannon_barnes_boomalliandme/

Jacob Marecic is a Sydney-based speculative fiction writer and former scientist. His writing explores queerness and gender through science fiction, and he applies his work to several forms of media including short form video content. He is the editor for Asta'Violet, a local LGBTQIA+ zine. You can find his work on Substack (jakecreatesworlds).
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Website: https://jakecreatesworlds.substack.com/

Devika Brendon writes poetry, and short fiction, and has just written her first novel, titled ‘Aversion’. She is also a journalist, an editor, a literary mentor and a reviewer. Her first novel is a fusion of genres, a satire and social commentary set in Sri Lanka. Her second is its sequel, titled ‘Oh, My Darling’. Her third is set in pre-Christian Britain, and titled ‘His Sometime Daughter’. Her fourth, titled ‘Largesse’, is set in 1990s Sydney and Melbourne. Her fifth is a love story set in Iceland and Ireland, titled ‘Hard To Love.’ She also writes children’s stories.
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Website: http://sensoryaccentuation.blogspot.com

Julie Ganner is an accredited freelance editor over 30 years’ experience in the publishing industry. She helps writers develop, polish and prepare their manuscripts for submission or self-publication. Her services include manuscript assessment and development, substantive/structural editing, copyediting and proofreading, as well as training in accessible and inclusive publishing. Julie is an honorary life member of the Institute of Professional Editors, and was awarded the Janet Mackenzie Medal in 2025 for outstanding service to the editing profession. She is co-author of Inclusive publishing in Australia: an introductory guide and Books without barriers: a practical guide to inclusive publishing.
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Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-ganner-ae-99095555

Graeme Simsion started writing at fifty. He is the author of ten novels, including The Rosie Project (ABIA book of the year, 65 weeks on the NYT bestseller list) with total sales of over 6 million copies in 40 languages. He has also written a popular guide to writing, The Novel Project, and regularly presents seminars on writing.He and co-writer Anne Buist travelled to 'every bookshop in Australia' in 2024 to promote their No. 1 bestseller The Glass House.
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Website: https://graemesimsion.com

Dr Claire Albrecht is an award-winning poet and editor based on Wiradjuri Country, Australia. She was the 2019 Emerging Writers Festival fellow at the State Library of Victoria, a 2020 Varuna ‘Writing Fire, Writing Drought’ fellow, a resident at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, New Mexico in 2022, and a Varuna/The Bridge Awards Climate Fellow in 2024. Her work investigates connections between mental health, the physical environment, and technology. Claire’s poetry and photography book handshake was shortlisted for the Puncher & Wattmann First Poetry Book Prize.
Website: http://albrechtpoems.com

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Website: http://www.forevertold.com.au/

Michele Connolly is the multi-award-winning author of How to Be Elegant, Chic Minimalism, How to Be an Introvert in an Extrovert World, How to Be Thin in a World of Chocolate, A Chic Year, 10-Day Life Audit, and the Elegant Action Guides series. She writes personal essays on modern life—self-possession, boundaries, and the quiet art of knowing one's own mind—at The Chic Minimalist on Substack.
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Website: https://micheleconnolly.com/

Gabrielle Martinovich is a writer with a background in media, communications and creative writing. Her feature stories have appeared in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, Sunday Life, MindFood and custom publications, and she is a contributing author to Facilitating with Stories: Ethics, Reflective Practice and Philosophies. Gabrielle has also worked as a university public communications educator. She writes at the nexus of environmental and social issues to amplify the voices of those less heard and she is committed to articulating complex ideas in ways that don’t require a PhD in a specialised field.
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Website: https://creativepivot.com.au/services/communications/