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Vivian Pham

ComedyFictionKids and YAPoetryRomanceStage and screen

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Vivian Pham is a Vietnamese novelist, essayist and poet from south-western Sydney. In high school she wrote a novel called The Coconut Children, which was published in March 2020 by Penguin Random House. In 2021, she won the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist Award and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year for her work. She has twice attended the International Congress of Youth Voices, a summit for young activists nominated by nonprofits around the world for their writing and engagement. She is currently perfecting writing the film and stage adaptations of The Coconut Children.
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Website: https://www.instagram.com/long.live.viv/

Rochelle Pickles

ComedyFictionKids and YAMemoirNon-fiction

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Rochelle Pickles is a writer and editor with a background in psychology and education. Rochelle’s writing has been published in the anthologies Soak and Our Selves by Brio Books/Night Parrot Press and she co-edited the 2023 UTS Writers’ Anthology. Rochelle holds a Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing. She has hosted Q&A and book launch events and loves to chat books.
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Katharine Pollock

ComedyFictionRomance

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Katherine is the author of Penguin Random House’s Her Fidelity (2022) - a comedic coming-of-age story of a young woman working in an indie record shop and trying to figure out who she is, and what really matters. It was included in The Age, The Books That Made Their Mark in 2022 list, was shortlisted for the ABA Best Commercial Cover Award, and received great critical and fan reviews, including from Annabel Crabb and Melina Marchetta. Katherine also holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Western Sydney University’s Writing and Society Research Centre.
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Kathy Prokhovnik

FictionJournalismMemoirNon-fiction

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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/

Natasha Rai

Fiction

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Natasha, a Sydney-based Indian-Australian woman, was born in India, migrating to Australia with her parents at the age of ten. She lived in the UK for several years as an adult, and the influence of three homes features in her writing. Her work has appeared in Australia’s first #MeToo anthology, Enough Anthology about gender violence, Overland, Verity La, StylusLit, and New-York based Adelaide magazine. Her first novel, An Onslaught of Light, longlisted for the 2017 Richell Prize, 2018 KYD Unpublished Manuscript award, and highly commended for the Ultimo Press/Westwords 2020 Prize, will be published by Pantera Press in 2025.
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Website: https://www.instagram.com/raiwriting/

Leonie Rogers

Speculative fiction

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Originally from Western Australia, Leonie now lives in the Upper Hunter. She is the author of the Frontier Trilogy (glowing cats, aliens, and a dangerous planet) and The Chronicles of Albatar (Kazari defends her homeland against the Gorgone Horde) - all published by Hague Publishing. She also works part time as a physiotherapist. Leonie has a past life as an emergency services volunteer, and once trekked almost six hundred kilometres with eight camels and several other human beings. She is married with one dog and two cats, one of whom frequently handicaps her ability to use a laptop computer.
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Website: http://www.leonierogers.me/

Paris Rosemont

Poetry

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Paris has worked in freelance copywriting, ghostwriting (for an advice column as well as a major TV network) and editing/proofreading (during her time as a Judge's Associate). Paris's passion is poetry; her niche is performance poetry. She has performed at various events, including the Sydney Fringe Festival and Ubud Readers & Writers Festival, and is delighted to take commissions, both for written and/or performance poetry. Paris has been a judge for writing competitions and enjoys teaching young people and adults about poetry, creative writing, public speaking and the art of performance poetry via workshops and/or private tuition.
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Website: http://www.parisrosemont.com/

Sara Saleh

FictionNon-fictionPoetry

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Sara M Saleh is an award-winning writer/poet, human rights lawyer, and the daughter of migrants from Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon. Her poems, short stories, and essays have been widely published nationally in English and Arabic. She is co-editor of the groundbreaking 2019 anthology Arab, Australian, Other. Sara made history as the first poet to win both the Australian Book Review's 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize and the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize 2020. Sara lives on Bidjigal land with her partner and their cats, Cappy & Lola. Songs for the Dead and the Living is her first novel and her full-length poetry collection, The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat is forthcoming at the end of 2023.
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Website: https://www.saramsaleh.com/

Hayley Scrivenor

CrimeFiction

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I am a former festival director and the internationally bestselling author of Dirt Town. The novel has won a number of national and international awards, including an ABIA for General Fiction Book of the Year, a Lambda Literary award for LGBTQ+ Mystery and the CWA New Blood Dagger. I particularly enjoy one-on-one mentoring with emerging writers and I am also an accomplished MC. I have served as a judge for short story and novel prizes, including the New York-based Lambda Literary Awards. I hold a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong.
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Gretchen Shirm

FictionMemoirNon-fiction

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Gretchen Shirm is the author of a collection of short stories Having Cried Wolf, for which she named a 2011 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist. Her first novel Where the Light Falls, was shortlisted for the 2017 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. The Crying Room was published in 2023. Gretchen has taught in the undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing programs at the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Sydney and Western Sydney University. She teaches the Writing a Novel at Faber Academy. Prior to turning to teaching, Gretchen worked as a public law lawyer for over ten years. Her fiction has been published in Griffith Review, Overland, Meanjin, Best Australian Stories amongst other places. Her criticism is regularly published in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian. Gretchen is interested in novels, short stories, novellas and life writing.
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Website: https://gretchenshirm.com

Lathalia Song

FictionJournalismKids and YAMemoirNon-fictionPoetrySpeculative fiction

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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/

Tracee Spiby

FictionMemoirNon-fiction

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Tracee is an author who writes historical military fiction based on the lives of her ancestors. Her first book, One Hell at a Time, tells of her grandfather’s experiences in World War 1. Tracee also enjoys writing flash fiction and has been published in the Society of Women Writers Victoria anthology, SPARX. Throughout her life, she has pursued a diverse range of vocations, enriching her perspective on life, including community development, running her own business, activism, adult education, social work, and child protection. Tracee, an active member of several writing groups and organisations, lives in central Victoria.
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Website: http://traceespiby.com.au/

Keith Stevenson

Speculative fiction

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Keith is a speculative fiction writer, editor and publisher. His short fiction has appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Aurealis Magazine, Oceans of the Mind and Agog! Fantastic Fiction. His novels include Horizon, an SF thriller, and The Lenticular Series space opera trilogy. He was editor of Aurealis Magazine from 2001 to 2004 and publisher with Australian independent press Coeur de Lion Publishing from 2006 onwards. He also hosted the Terra Incognita Speculative Fiction (TISF) Podcast and edited and produced Dimension6 speculative fiction electronic magazine. His book reviews have appeared in Aurealis Magazine and the Newtown Review of Books.
Website: https://www.keithstevenson.com/

Christine Sykes

FictionMemoirPoetry

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Christine Sykes has three published books: two novels and a memoir. The Tap Cats of the Sunshine Coast was inspired by her aunt’s experience taking up tap dancing in retirement. The Changing Room was based on her experiences at the non-profit Dress for Success. Being raised in Cabramatta provided the basis for her memoir, Gough and Me: My Journey from Cabramatta to China and Beyond. The Changing Room and Gough and Me won awards from the Society of Women Writers. Christine has short stories and poems in several anthologies and runs memoir-writing workshops.
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Website: https://christinesykes.com/

Annika Tague

ComedyCrimeFictionJournalismMemoirNon-fictionRomance

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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/

Julie Thorndyke

FictionKids and YAMemoirPoetry

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Julie Thorndyke is a graduate of the University of Sydney’s Master of Creative Writing program. Her collections of tanka poetry, Rick Rack, Carving Granite and Borrowed Riches were published by Ginninderra Press. Editor of Eucalypt: a tanka journal since 2017, Julie’s books include Mrs Rickaby’s Lullaby (novel) and Divertimento (short stories). Julie’s picture books Waiting for the Night (2018) and Watching through the Day (2020) were published by IPKidz. Her third picture book Alice’s Shoe was published by MidnightSun Publishing in 2023. It tells the true story of deafblind girl Alice Betteridge, who became known as ‘Australia’s Helen Keller’.
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Darcy Tindale

ComedyCrimeFictionKids and YAStage and screen

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Darcy Tindale is an author with Penguin Books. Her debut novel The Fall Between is a captivating and atmospheric rural thriller introducing Detective Rebecca Giles. When not writing, Darcy is a dramatic arts teacher, actor, author, theatresports player, director, and has appeared in television commercials, film and on stage. She has written comedy for radio, stage, media personalities, comedians, and theatre restaurants. Her short stories, articles, plays and poetry have been published in anthologies, magazines and literary journals. Darcy enjoys visiting schools and festivals to conduct creative writing workshops and give author talks. She has a BA in Creative Writing.
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Website: https://darcyleetindale.wixsite.com/darcy-leetindale

Dannielle Viera

Kids and YANon-fiction

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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/

Lisa Walker

ComedyCrimeFictionKids and YA

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Lisa is the author of seven adult and YA novels in the women’s fiction and crime genres. These were published in Australia by HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wakefield Press. Two were also published in the US and UK, and one has been optioned for film. Her YA cosy crime novel was shortlisted for the 2020 Davitt Awards in two categories. She has also had a radio play produced on ABC Radio National and has a PhD in creative writing. Lisa has appeared at numerous writer's festivals in Australia and overseas and has presented writing workshops to adults and teenagers.
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Website: http://www.lisawalker.com.au/

Greg Woodland

CrimeFictionSpeculative fiction

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Greg Woodland leans towards genre writing. Mostly crime, thriller, black comedy and noir. The darker the better. His debut crime novel The Night Whistler was published by Text Publishing in 2020 and shortlisted for the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards, Best Debut Crime Fiction. The sequel The Carnival Is Over was published by Text in 2022. It was shortlisted for the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards, Best Crime Fiction. Greg has won several writing awards including the Eleanor Dark Flagship Fellowship (2004), the Varuna NSW Writers Centre Fellowship (2013) for his novel Pangs, the Varuna Litlink Fellowship (2014), the Bundanon Artist’s Residency Fellowship (2015) for The Night Whistler, and the 2017 ASA Writers Mentorship for Fiction. Greg has previously written and directed several award-winning short films (Tripe, Sharky’s Party, Green, Target Audience, Your Turn) and docos including Chasing Birds. Greg has written ten feature scripts and taught screenwriting at Macquarie Uni, UTS, NIDA, Australian Film Base and AFTRS, both online courses and weekend workshops. As the founder-director of Australia’s leading script development business, Script Central since 2003, Greg has edited many produced scripts including ‘Shayda’, ‘Moon Rock for Monday’, ‘Don’t Tell’, ‘Broken’, ‘Needle’, ‘The Bet’, ‘Cold Turkey' and completed over 2,000 script assessments.
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Website: https://gregwoodland.com.au