Davina Bell is a children’s book editor and a writer for young people of many ages. Her award-winning picture books include Under the Love Umbrella, The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade, Oh Albert! and Hattie Helps Out. A former senior editor at Penguin Books, she now works on the children’s list at Affirm Press in Melbourne. A […]

Brook Emery has published five poetry collections, including and dug my fingers in the sand, which won the Queensland Premier’s Prize. Along with Misplaced Heart and Uncommon Light, it was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Prize. Collusion was shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier’s Prize. Have Been and Are was published in 2016. Individual poems […]

Hilary Bell is a multi-award-winning playwright and lyricist. Her work has been produced nationally by the Sydney Theatre Company, Ensemble, Belvoir, Griffin, Black Swan, Deckchair, La Boite, NORPA, National Theatre of Parramatta, Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne, Vitalstatistix and Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Internationally she’s been produced by theatres including Atlantic and Steppenwolf (USA) and […]

Gillian Polack has six novels published and 18 short stories. Her most recent novel, The Wizardry of Jewish Women, was shortlisted for the 2017 best novel in the Ditmars. Her second novel, Life Through Cellophane/Ms Cellophane, was also shortlisted in 2010. Her study of how writers use history in fiction was shortlisted for the William […]

Anna Campbell has written 10 multi-award-winning historical romances, all set in the first quarter of the 19th century. She has also independently released 17 bestselling novellas. Her work is now published in 18 languages. Since selling her first published novel at auction to HarperCollins US in 2006, she has written full-time. Anna regularly mentors other […]

Ryan O’Neill is the author of The Weight of a Human Heart and Their Brilliant Careers. Born in Glasgow, he lived in Africa, Europe and Asia before settling in Newcastle, Australia, with his wife and two daughters. His fiction has appeared in The Best Australian Stories, The Sleepers Almanac, Meanjin, New Australian Stories, Wet Ink, Etchings and […]

Kate Forsyth is an award-winning author and storyteller. She wrote her first novel aged seven & has now written more than forty books for both adults and children, translated into more than twenty languages and selling more than a million copies. Her historical novels include The Crimson Thread, Beauty in Thorns, The Wild Girl & […]

Fiona is the co-owner of Brisbane’s award-winning bookshops, Avid Reader and Where the Wild Things Are. She has been a judge for the Vogel Award, the Stella Award and the Queensland Literary Awards. Fiona has been presented with the Johnno Award for services to the Queensland writing community and in 2014 the Australian Booksellers Association […]

Michael Gordon-Smith is the CEO of the Australian Publishers Association. He has worked for more than 20 years in Australian media and communications industries, including as a director, a government regulator and the CEO of industry associations. Michael has led projects or policies from media ownership to mobile telephones, from copyright to digital television. He […]