Saman Shad is a writer, journalist, and playwright whose storytelling spans stage, screen, and page. In the UK, she was a scriptwriter for BBC Radio, and after relocating to Australia she created programs for the ABC and became a sought-after voice in journalism, contributing regularly to The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC News, and SBS. […]

Katharine Pollock is the author of Penguin Random House’s Her Fidelity (2022). Her Fidelity was in The Age ‘Books That Made Their Mark’ list in 2022, and was shortlisted for the Australian Book Design Awards ‘Best Commercial Fiction Cover’ in 2023. Her second novel, Starry Eyed, will be published by Wakefield Press in July 2025. Katharine holds a […]

Penelope Janu lives on a farm in the Southern Highlands of NSW with a distracting husband, a very large dog, a herd of cattle and, now they’re fully grown, six delightful children who come and go. Penelope, a lawyer for many years, has a passion for creating stories that explore social and environmental issues, but […]

Clare Fletcher is the author of romantic comedies Love Match (2023) and Five Bush Weddings (2022), both published by Penguin Random House. Clare’s short stories have been prize-winners in the Scarlet Stiletto, the Best Australian Yarn and Roly Sussex Short Story Competition, and published in The Big Issue and The West Australian. Clare also co-hosts That Rom Com Pod with fellow author Karina May, […]

Jeanine Leane is a Wiradjuri writer, poet, critic, and essayist from southwest New South Wales. Her first volume of poetry, Dark Secrets After Dreaming: A.D. 1887-1961 (2010, Presspress) won the Scanlon Prize for Indigenous Poetry, 2010. The manuscript for her first novel, Purple Threads (UQP), won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished Indigenous writer […]

Elena Gomez is a freelance book editor, teacher and writer who has previously worked in-house for Penguin Random House and Text Publishing. She has facilitated workshops for Express Media and Queensland Poetry Festival, and conducts manuscript assessments for Kill Your Darlings. Elena is based on unceded Wurundjeri country.

James McKenzie Watson writes fiction with a focus on health and rural Australia. His novel Denizen won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize and was shortlisted in the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for Best Debut. Denizen also received a 2021 Varuna Residential Fellowship and a 2021 KSP Residential Fellowship. James has written for The Guardian, Meanjin and Kill […]

Melaina Faranda is the author of over fifty YA and Children’s books, published nationally and internationally by ten major publishers. Turning on that creative tap has led to a dozen of those books being written in less than two years. Melaina infuses her teaching with a vitality, generosity, and sense of fun that consistently garners […]

Melanie Saward is a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman. She is a writer, editor, and academic based in Tulmur (Ipswich), Queensland. She’s the author of two novels: Burn and Love Unleashed, and has co-written a new book for young adults with Brooke Blurton called A Good Kind of Trouble.