Presenters

Abigail Nathan has run Bothersome Words Editing & Writing Services since 2004. She has edited for Australian publishers including HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Harlequin, Escape and Hachette, as well as UK publishers including Angry Robot, Hachette and Gollancz. She works regularly with emerging and self-publishing writers as an editor, mentor, and book coach.

Alison Ferguson is the award-winning author of many crime, horror and science fiction short stories. She self-published her historical fiction trilogy The Sisters’ Saga in 2021. Her science fiction novel Grey Nomad was shortlisted for the 2019 Inaugural Fantastica Prize, and was released digitally in 2022 under the imprint of Brio Books.

Alli Sinclair is a bestselling author whose fact-based fiction focuses on obscure historical events. She is currently producing a three-part documentary inspired by the research she undertook for her latest novel, The Codebreakers, about Australia’s top-secret female codebreakers in WWII. Alli has won multiple awards, such as the 2016 AusRom Today Reader Choice Award.

Amo Jones is a USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling romance author whose books have been translated in multiple countries. She resides in Australia with her family, though she's a born and bred Kiwi who more often than not, misses New Zealand.

Archie Weller is an acclaimed writer of poetry, short stories, plays and films. His first novel, The Day of the Dog, won the fiction award in the Western Australian Week Literary Awards and was also made into the film Blackfellas. Archie has also published Land of the Golden Clouds (Winner of the Human Rights Award), short story collections Going Home and The Window Seat, and a collection of poems, The Unknown Soldier.

Bettina Nissen is a storyteller with over thirty years of experience working in the field of Early Literacy in libraries, schools and community organisations. As a storyteller Bettina loves to tell old folk and fairy tales from her Western European heritage. Bettina coordinates Paint Dbay REaD, a volunteer-led early literacy project, in Deception Bay, Queensland.

After leaving behind an Engineering career to tour arts festivals worldwide, working as both performer, producer and festival director, Benjamin squeezed in a Masters of Publishing at the University of Sydney and joined Curtis Brown in 2015. Benjamin enjoys working across the client lists of Fiona Inglis and Clare Forster, and particularly relishes in bringing creator’s stories to life through different mediums – Audio, Film and Theatrical adaptations.

Benython Oldfield is a literary agent and director of the Zeitgeist Agency. He was trained as a journalist and started his publishing life at Random House in the 1990s. Later, he left Random House to find writers to agent in Shanghai. There he met his business partner Sharon Galant, who runs Zeitgeist Brussels.

Bianca Millroy is an emerging Australian writer and editor whose work has been featured in Visible Ink and Writing Queensland. Bianca's unpublished manuscript ‘The Looming’ was a Queensland Literary Awards finalist. As editor, her credits include Steve Capelin’s Paradiso; Wanderer by Fox Rogers; and Lighthouse - An Anthology. Bianca resides in Brisbane and is perilously undertaking her PhD in creativity and neuroscience.

Bryn Smith is an award-winning sci-fi noir author. His debut novel Magnus Nights: The Helios Incident was longlisted in the Hawkeye Manuscript Prize and the Chanticleer International Book Award’s Crime Category. The sequel, Magnus Nights: Leviathan is scheduled for release in 2022. Bryn’s writing is inspired by seven years working across the armed forces, technology and national security.

Cameron is an editor and writer who specialises in speculative fiction. They are the owner of Reed and Storm Editing, through which they edit for new authors and independent publishers. They have edited for and contributed to the Empire Times magazine and have won several competitions for their short stories.

Casey Luxford has edited over 150 fiction novels through her freelance business The Humble Quill, ranging from YA to women’s lit and, her favourite, high fantasy. She is also Commissioning Editor of the APAC region of Rethink Press. Casey’s first full length novel Meet Me at The Front Lines is due for release in June 2023.

Chris Foley is a Melbourne writer of science fiction with a love for old-school adventure stories. His own stories revolve around a spaceship captain-for-hire and his blind astro-navigator who are pursued across the galaxy by ex-girlfriends, gangsters, and the security services of two galactic regimes.

Garth Nix is the bestselling author of fantasy series such as The Old Kingdom, The Keys to the Kingdom, Troubletwisters, and many more novels. Over six million copies of Garth's books have been sold around the world. He has won countless prestigious awards, including multiple Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, the Ditmar Award, the Mythopoeic Award, and the CBCA Honour Book. His latest novel, Terciel and Elinor, was published in November 2021.

Geneve Flynn is a two-time Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Award-winning fiction author, editor and poet. Her works have been published internationally, and she has been nominated and shortlisted for the British Fantasy, Aurealis, Australian Shadows, Elgin, and Rhysling awards. Geneve is best known for her haunting poetry collection Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.

Pomare’s debut novel, Call Me Evie, was critically acclaimed and won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. His bestseller In the Clearing is now being made into a Disney+ limited series, and his #1 Audible bestseller Tell Me Lies was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. He was born in New Zealand and now resides in Melbourne with his wife and daughter.

New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff is the co-author of the Aurora Cycle and the Illuminae Files with his writing partner, Amie Kaufman. He is also the individual author of such series as the award-winning Lotus War trilogy, the internationally bestselling Nevernight Chronicles, the Empire of the Vampire series, and more.

Jenni Cargill-Strong is a nationally recognised storyteller. She tells her stories eye to eye and heart to heart, engaging listeners with her warm, welcoming and expressive style. She toured schools in Australia and New Zealand for seven years, has five award-winning albums, and currently teaches 'Storylines' at Southern Cross University.

Jessica Forsayeth is a researcher and script writer for the award-winning Casefile True Crime podcast. She is also working on her debut fiction novel, which she aims to finish by the end of 2023. Jessica lives in Brisbane, and her love of writing is surpassed only by her love for her family, her three cats and a strong coffee!

Jini Maxwell is a curator at ACMI, with a focus on videogames and digital art. They currently contribute videogame criticism and journalism to The Saturday Paper and ABC Arts. In 2021, they were awarded Best Videogame Journalist at the Samsung IT Journalism Awards.

Josie Montano is the award-winning author of over sixty books, published within a variety of genres. She has over twenty years of experience in the publishing industry. As a storyteller she strives to advocate and give a voice to those who can’t advocate for themselves. Josie is currently working on an international biography, a feature film and two picture books.

Judy Gregory is a Brisbane-based writer, editor, and researcher who specialises in finding simple ways to write about complex ideas. She ghostwrites memoirs and business books, and writes plain English documents for the government, university, and community sectors. Her short story The Desert Rose was published in the 2022 anthology Analogue.

Dr June Perkins is an author, poetry advocate and educator, serving as chair of the Queensland Writers Centre. She has published online, in galleries, environmental centres, print and video with AFTS, QAGOMA, QLD Poetry, Writing QLD, and Baha’i creative collectives. She is presently collecting Magical Maipa stories from her Bubu (grandmother).

Kat is a Nyungar technologist, writer, digital rights activist living on Whadjuk Noongar boodjar. Kat also serves as the Vice-Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia and sits on the board of Overland Literary Journal. Their work explores the intersection of activism, science-fiction, and technology in imagining radical futures and ushering them into existence.

Kathryn Gossow has been the Ring Maiden for the Brisbane Fairy Tale Ring for four years. She has been writing and publishing short and flash fiction in a variety of genres since 2006. Her debut novel Cassandra was a finalist in the Aurealis Awards for Best Fantasy Novel. Kathryn is a co-editor of South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century anthology.

Kathy Carruthers (aka Kat Carr) has been writing musical comedy for community and school theatre for almost 20 years. Moving into the baffling world of novel writing was sparked by an idea that wouldn’t go away, and ultimately brought Kathy to QWC, where she has gained more than she could ever have imagined.

Kylie Fennell has made a 25-year career out of wrangling words, working as a journalist, editor and author of speculative fiction. She is the author of The Kyprian Prophecy series and several other works, and owns the publishing imprint Lorikeet Ink. As an Australian writer of European and Aboriginal (Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung) descent she likes to explore culture and identity through her writing, as well as magic…always magic!

Lauren Elise Daniels is an author and experienced editor with an MFA in Creative Writing. Her novel Serpent’s Wake: A Tale for the Bitten was published in 2018, and she co-edited the 2021 Aurealis Award winning anthology Relics, Wrecks and Ruins with Aiki Flinthart and Gene Flynn. She has edited 100+ titles and directs The Brisbane Writers’ Workshop.

Leanne is an Asian-Australian author of Singaporean and Malaysian heritage who loves writing the diaspora experience into contemporary and fantasy fiction. She is an escape room creator, and has designed internationally recognised games with her partner that weave unique puzzle mechanics with narrative. She currently resides in Sydney for work, but Brisbane is her home.

Lori-Jay Ellis is the CEO of Queensland Writers Centre, a prolific reader and a skilled marketer with global experience. Embodying creativity and innovation, Lori-Jay brings a wealth of experience and a passion for building strong and connected communities. She has produced and directed funded short films, has a personal passion for the written word and a genuine love for all things Indie.

Megan Albany is a proud First Nations woman whose debut novel, The Very Last List of Vivian Walker, was shortlisted for the 2020 Banjo Prize. As a journalist Megan has written for The Guardian (UK), Metro (Ireland), Irish Echo and the Koori Mail. She was a researcher for the SBS documentary Can It Hurt Less? and a regular scriptwriter for The Deadly Awards. She is currently writing her second novel while completing her PhD in Creative Writing at QUT.

Megan Norris is an award-winning author whose stories about some of Australia’s most infamous crimes have been syndicated worldwide. Her first book, Perfect Victim, co-authored with Elizabeth Southall, is now a movie called In Her Skin starring Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, and Guy Pearce. Her area of interest is investigating and writing the stories of survivors of violent crime, particularly women and children.

Melissa Ashley is the author of historical fiction novels The Bee, The Orange Tree, and The Birdman's Wife, which won the Queensland Literary Awards Fiction prize and the ABA Booksellers Choice Award. Melissa is passionate about historical women's forgotten lives, particularly in science. She has also written poetry, short stories, essays, and academic articles.

Dr Mykaela Saunders is a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer and teacher, and the editor of THIS ALL COME BACK NOW, the world’s first anthology of Blackfella speculative fiction (UQP, 2022). Mykaela won the 2022 David Unaipon Award for her manuscript ALWAYS WILL BE: stories of Goori sovereignty from the future(s) of the Tweed, forthcoming with UQP in 2024. Her novel LAST RITES OF SPRING was also shortlisted for the Unaipon Award in 2020, and received a Next Chapter Fellowship in 2021. Mykaela has won prizes for short fiction, poetry, life writing and research, including the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize and the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize.

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh is best known for her paranormal romance series Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter. Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Nalini was first published in 2003, and has since sold over seven million copies of her books worldwide. She also writes contemporary romances, and New Zealand-set thrillers.

Natasha Lester is the New York Times-bestselling author of seven historical novels, such as The French Photographer, The Paris Secret, and The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre. Natasha is a sought-after public speaker and lives with her husband and three children in Perth, Western Australia. When she’s not writing, she loves collecting vintage fashion and practising the art of fashion illustration.

R.W.R. McDonald (Rob) is a kiwi author living in Melbourne with his two daughters. His debut novel, The Nancys, won Best First Novel in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards and was shortlisted for Best First Novel in the 2020 Ned Kelly Awards. His second novel, Nancy Business, is longlisted for Best Novel in the 2022 Ngaio Marsh Awards.

Rowena is the Managing Director of Riveted Press (publisher of the 2021 CBCA award-winning book Aster’s Good, Right Things by Kate Gordon). She has nearly twenty years’ experience in publishing and particularly enjoys working with debut and emerging authors. Rowena also founded The Book Curator magazine, which provides school librarians with reader advisory services, author interviews and much more.

Simon Cleary grew up in Toowoomba before studying literature and law at the University of Queensland. He has worked across fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and has had an abiding interest in the operation of the justice system. His work includes the novels The War Artist, Closer to Stone and The Comfort of Figs.

Stephen is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter and novelist. He is co-creator, co-executive producer and head writer of forensic crime series Harrow starring Ioan Gruffudd. Stephen was also co-creator and head writer of NETFLIX series Tidelands, and wrote the original crime series Secrets & Lies. His critically acclaimed supernatural novels have been published around the world.

Steve MinOn is an author, former copywriter and a child of mixed-race Australia. His short stories and articles can be found on SBS Voices, Mamamia, and on his blog. Steve is currently working on his debut manuscript as a winner of the 2021 Queensland Writers Centre Publishable program for emerging writers.

Sumudu is a part-time fiction editor specialising in literary fiction, romance, chick-lit, YA, fantasy, and crime, with interests in general and historical fiction. Sumudu is constantly developing her writing and editing skills and is a member of Editors SA and Writers SA. She is a book addict with a passion for words and the power of stories.

Tonile lives and breathes the book industry and has over a decade of experience in many areas of the industry, including bookselling, editing, social media management, podcast hosting, digital marketing, product management, and ebook platform management. She is currently the National and Online Accounts Manager for Hachette Australia. Tonile is based in Brisbane, where she shares an apartment with one cat and close to one thousand books.

Will Kostakis is a journalist and young adult novelist, renowned for his novels The First Third and The Sidekicks, for which he was shortlisted for the 2014 Inky Awards, the CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers Award, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, and Queensland Literary Awards. He is currently working on his upcoming novel We Could Be Something.

Zachary Ashford is a Brisbane-based author and educator. His dystopian horror novella When the Cicadas Stop Singing was nominated for the Aurealis Award and his debut novel Polyphemus will be released mid-2023. But when he’s not writing about drop bears, crocodiles, or hostile environments, he’s developing Bildungsroman fiction aligned with the Australian Curriculum.