Presenters

Alex Allan is an experienced publisher and creative leader. She lived and worked in the UK for many years before returning to Australia and was the Children’s Publisher for Welbeck ANZ. Alex is passionate about literacy and reading, especially children’s books.

Amy Soakes has narrated 80 audiobooks for trade publishers and independent authors (including 9 USA Today bestselling authors). She runs http://AussieNarrator.com and http://NarratorList.com and provides information on transforming authors' works into audio.

Queenslander Anna Campbell has written 11 multi award-winning historical romances for Avon HarperCollins and Grand Central Publishing. As an independently published author, she’s released more than 35 bestselling stories.

Ben Hobson is a teacher, and an author, based in Brisbane. To Become a Whale, his debut novel, was released in 2017. It was longlisted for the ABIA Debut Fiction award and shortlisted for the Courier-Mail's People's Choice Award. His second novel, Snake Island, a literary thriller, was released in 2019. He also runs Ben's Book Club, a monthly online book club for libraries. The Death of John Lacey, an Australian Western, was released in 2023, and is his third novel.

Brendan has worked in the book industry for nearly twenty years. As a bookseller and events manager with Angus & Robertson, he worked with authors from Steve Waugh, Warrick Capper to Jane Fonda. As in-house book publicist and publicity manager with prestigious publishers Hachette and Bloomsbury, he promoted and toured luminaries such as Elizabeth Gilbert, Germaine Greer, Robyn Davidson, Richard Ford, A.C. Grayling and Jeff Lindsay.

Cale Dietrich is the YA author of The Love Interest, The Friend Scheme, If This Gets Out (co-written with Sophie Gonzales) and The Pledge, as well as the upcoming romantic comedy The Rules Of Royalty. He was born in Perth, grew up on the Gold Coast, and now lives in Brisbane, Australia. When he's not writing he spends his time playing video games, watching Drag Race or reading queer books.

Callum McDonald is a Brisbane-based editor and publishing coordinator who has worked for and alongside various arts and publishing organisations, such as Queensland Writers Centre, Queensland University Press, and Wiley & Sons. Callum is a shameless fantasy/sci-fi geek and cinephile and is particularly interested in stories that explore themes around sexuality, gender, and religion.

Carleton is the author of the Cities of the Moon science fiction series, and several published short stories. He has been long-listed for the Adaptable award, and received multiple honourable mentions from Writers of the Future.

C.S. Pacat is the New York Times and USA-Today best-selling author of Dark Rise, the Captive Prince trilogy, and the GLAAD-nominated graphic novels Fence, as well as a writer for DC Comics.

David Shield is a writer and professional Japanese interpreter and translator, with a BA in Japanese language and Asian Political Studies, Master of International Studies and Master of Japanese Interpreting and Translation. David writes across genres including fantasy, historical fiction and sci-fi. His middle-grade fiction work My Dad’s an Evil Necromancer was shortlisted for Publishable 2022; his short story translation won the AUSIT New Translator Prize in 2021.

Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Growing up a massive Kylie Minogue and North Queensland Cowboys fan, Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. His debut YA novel, The Boy From The Mish, was published by Allen & Unwin in February 2021, and released in the U.S as Ready When You Are in 2022.

Jake Corvus is a transgender author with seven novels published under a pseudonym. Jake has judged several major literary awards, mentored writers through QWC, and spoken at various conferences on diversity and inclusivity in fiction.

Jason Fischer is a jack-of-all-trades writer powered by Earl Grey and puns. He has received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and the Colin Thiele Literature Scholarship amongst other accolades.

Jodie Webster is a Publisher of Books for Children and Young Adults at Allen & Unwin. She publishes across all age-groups: picture books, junior fiction, graphic novels, middle fiction, YA and selected non-fiction. She enjoys stories with emotional heart, unique voices, assured writing, life-affirming humour, inspired world-building and characters who show young readers that anything is possible.

Julie Janson is a Burruberongal woman of Darug Nation (NSW) and an award-winning novelist, playwright, and poet.

Her latest novel, the crime/mystery Madukka the River Serpent, was longlisted for the 2023 Miles Franklin Award and Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel. Julie’s exploration of Australian colonial history Benevolence was also critically acclaimed, shortlisting for the Barbara Jefferis Award and longlisting in The Voss Literary Prize.

Karen Ginnane is a Melbourne-based author for middle grade and young adult readers. Penguin Random House Australia published her debut novel, When Days Tilt, in July 2021 and will publish the sequel, When Souls Tear, in July 2022. These historical fantasy adventures, set in Victorian London and a parallel city, are part of The Time Catchers series.

Kate Cuthbert has worked with writers for almost 20 years, in several different capacities. A genre fiction advocate, she notably launched the Escape imprint for Harlequin Australia, and remains a proud popular fiction enthusiast. Kate is currently pursuing a PhD examining paratexts in Australian popular fiction.

Kate J. Armstrong is a former high school teacher and nonfiction book editor and author of Nightbirds. She’s also the creator of The Exploress, a podcast about women in history. Originally from Virginia, she now calls Melbourne, Australia home.

Kate is a Western Australian author, who has published five Young Adult novels. She is currently touring schools presenting workshops in Creative Writing, specifically for the Year 12 ATAR exam. She is also working in several different genres from contemporary women's fiction to historical and Middle Grade readers. She lives on the northern beaches of Perth with her husband, daughters, two Maltese Shih-Tzus and a cat called Not-Ruby.

Kate has 15 years' experience in the publishing industry, most recently in books but also in magazines and corporate communications. Kate also writes fiction. Her short stories have been published in numerous Australian journals, and she is currently working on a novel for children.

Kathy George’s short fiction has been published in numerous Australian literary journals. She is the author of the novels Sargasso and Estella.

Kim Wilkins, aka Kimberley Freeman, is the author of more than 30 books of genre fiction and is published in more than 20 languages. She is also a Professor of Writing at The University of Queensland, and researches creative communities, such as writing groups and fan cultures. She uses speculative fiction techniques with researchers across science and technology fields, to help them imagine better futures for their research. Her most recent academic work is Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and 21st-Century Book Culture.

Kylie Chan has been an IT consultant in Australia and Hong Kong. Her works include wrote the bestselling nine-book Chinese mythological Dark Heavens fantasy series and the Dragon Empire science fiction trilogy. Her 2023 speculative novel, Minds of Sand and Light, explores the theme of artificial intelligence.

Lana is an award winning romance author who lives in Perth, Western Australia. When she's not writing the next great action-packed romantic novel, or wrangling the rug rats, or rescuing GI Joe from the jaws of her Kelpie, she fights evil by moonlight, wins love by daylight and never runs from a real fight.

Queensland Writers Centre CEO Lori-Jay Ellis is a creative executive leader, with a diverse and eclectic background in global marketing. She is a skilled builder of brands and a talented business strategist, with a passion for fostering talent and empowering teams to achieve their potential.

She has produced and directed funded short films and has a personal passion for the written word and a genuine love for all things indie. Lori-Jay holds a Bachelor of Arts (Visual – QUT) and has been CEO of a community arts studio in Sydney, marketing director at a large multinational, and managed a New York art gallery.

Australian author Lynette Noni studied journalism, academic writing, and human behaviour at university before venturing into the world of fiction. She is the #1 bestselling author of The Medoran Chronicles, the Whisper duology, and The Prison Healer series. To date, she has won three ABIA awards and a Gold Inky Award, and her books are published in 19 countries across the globe.

Patrick Ness is the multi-award-winning author of books for adults, young adults and children. A Monster Calls, inspired by an idea by the late Siobhan Dowd and which Patrick also adapted for the screen (2016, starring Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones), is published in forty languages. An adaptation of the first in his Chaos Walking trilogy - starring Tom Holland (Spiderman) and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars) - was released in 2021. Patrick has won every major prize in children’s fiction, including the Carnegie Medal twice. He created and wrote the 8-part BBC Doctor Who spinoff Class and as a screenwriter has written for Fox, Lionsgate, Apple, Warner Brothers and Entertainment One. His short novel, Different for Boys, is published by Walker.

Dr. Paul Mason is an award-winning cartoonist, lecturer, and animation concept designer. He has worked as a comic book writer, artist and character designer on the The Phantom series, and was also employed at Gestalt comics (The Eldritch Kid: Bone War, Talgard) and A Stark Productions (The Deep, S4). His comic The Soldier Legacy was featured in a national TV campaign, and his work has been publicly displayed at various international comics and animation festivals. Since 2012, Paul has lectured at Griffith University.

Born in Brisbane, Piéra Forde is an Australian actress known for her work in Harrow (2018), Hoges (2017), multi-award winning web-series; Two Weeks (2016), Maximum Ride Webseries (2013), Lemon Tree Passage (2012) and Afterglow (2011). After making successful book reviews, vlogs and fantasy novel related content, Piera has cultivated an extremely dedicated following, runnings a YouTube channel with over 35,000 subscribers, 1.9 millions views.

Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling crime author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio, and worked in publishing as an editorial assistant. She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction with over 30 crime novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins. A keen traveller and accidental private investigator, Rachel has both Australian and British citizenship.

Sandra has a background as a freelance writer and has worked in film and television production as a writer/producer. Her children’s concept was one of five global projects selected for Kids Live Action Pitch at MipTV in Cannes, 2019. She was a writing consultant for the Regional Arts Development Fund and holds a Master of Arts in children’s and youth writing. Sandra is a recipient of the ASA Edel Wignell Mentorship and a Varuna Residential Fellowship. Sandra is the editor of WQ magazine and aims to provide an inclusive platform for emerging and professional voices.

Siang Lu is the award-winning author of The Whitewash, which won Audiobook of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards. He is the co-creator of The Beige Index and the creator of #sillybookstagram.

Vanessa Len is a bestselling Australian author and educational editor who has worked on everything from language learning programs to STEM resources, to professional learning for teachers. Her first novel, Only a Monster, won the 2022 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and has been translated into nine languages. The sequel, Never a Hero, is out in August 2023.