by Paul Collins
Kerry Greenwood
Kerry Greenwood has written more than 40 novels for adults and young adults, including the crime fiction Phryne Fisher and Corinna Chapman series, the sci-fantasy Broken Wheel series and many historical novels. She works as a duty solicitor for Legal Aid and in her spare time stares blankly out of the window.
Andy Griffiths
Andy is the author of the Just! series, the Bum trilogy, the Bad book and a whole lot of other really stupid books. He has a really bad website, www.andygriffiths. com.au.
Phillip Gwynne
One of eight children, Phillip was raised in country South Australia. He has a degree in marine biology and has travelled the world. His first book, Deadly Unna?, won several literary awards and he has since written Nukkin’ Ya, Jetty Rats, The Worst Team Ever and Born to Bake.
Richard Harland
Richard lives in Wollongong, south of Sydney – so if he fell asleep on the train, he would end up at Bomaderry. He's won Aurealis Awards for Best Speculative Fiction Novel and Best Fantasy Story. His latest books for younger readers are Walter Wants To Be a Werewolf! and Sassycat. More on his website www.richardharland.net.
Steven Herrick
Steven is an author for children and young adults. His books have won numerous awards including the NSW Premier's Literary Award and Honour Book in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. His latest books are Cold Skin – a verse novel for teenagers and his first prose fiction for children, Rhyming Boy.
Simon Higgins
Simon is a former policeman, prosecutor and detective-for-hire who has travelled in Asia, studied martial arts and written thrillers for Japanese newspapers. His seven published novels include the bestselling adventures Thunderfish, Under No Flag, and In the Jaws of the Sea. His latest book, Tomodachi: The Edge of the World is set in medieval Japan.
Leigh Hobbs
Leigh is an artist who works in a wide range of mediums, but is best known for the children's books he writes and illustrates. These feature a number of subversive characters including Old Tom, Horrible Harriet, Fiona the Pig, Mr Chicken and that wretched class of school children in Freaks Ahoy! and 4F for Freak.
Robert Hood
Robert has a particular fondness for tales of hauntings and other monstrous horrors. He has written many of them over the years, especially in a collection Immaterial: Ghost Stories. He is also the author of the novel Backstreets and the Shades series of supernatural thrillers. His website is www.roberthood.net.
George Ivanoff
Author of over 20 books for children and teenagers, George has two books, Life, Death and Detention and Real Sci-Fi, on the booklist for the 2007 Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge. George has also had stories published in numerous science fiction and fantasy magazines and anthologies. His website is www.georgeivanoff.com.au.
Carol Jones
Carol's first novel for young adults was published in 1992. She has written more than 40 books – everything from young adult novels to stories for six-year-olds. Carol's most recent novel is The Losers’ Club. Her most recent non-fiction title is It's True: Women Were Warriors. She is married with two children and lives in Melbourne.
Sofie Laguna
Sofie is an author, actor and playwright. Her books have been named Honour and Notable Books in the CBCA awards and have been short-listed in the Queensland Premier's Awards. Her titles include Too Loud Lily and Bad Buster. Sofie's most recent novel is Bird and Sugar Boy.
Doug MacLeod
Doug wrote the children's classic Sister Madge's Book of Nuns, and the comic coming-of-age novels, I'm Being Stalked by a Moonshadow and Tumble Turn. Doug works part-time as the script editor on the series Kath and Kim and with satirist, John Clarke, co-wrote the stage musical, The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom.
Marc McBride
Marc's first picture book was The Kraken in 2001 written by Gary Crew. Since then he has illustrated many books including the hugely successful Deltora Quest and Quentaris series, The Deltora Book of Monsters, Old Ridley, Journey From the Centre of the Earth and Tales of Deltora. His latest book is called World of Monsters.
Sophie Masson
Sophie is the author of many novels, and is published in Australia, the UK, the US, Thailand, Italy and Germany. Her most recent books are The Maharajah's Ghost and the Thomas Trew series for younger readers.
David Metzenthen
David is a writer who lives in suburban Melbourne, but every day wishes the drought that Australia is experiencing would end. His poem was written in an effort to explain the delicate ecology and fragile nature of this country. And to perhaps suggest that it's a good idea to simply try and enjoy life moment by moment.
David Miller
David was born in Sydney, grew up in Melbourne, studied art then worked in advertising before establishing his own studio. In 1995, You can make paper sculptures was published, followed by Mem Fox's Boo to a Goose. In 2008, Krista Bell's Lofty's Mission will be David's 13th picture book.
Jenny Mounfield
A Queensland writer, Jenny is the author of three novels for kids, Storm Born, The Black Bandit and The Ice-cream Man. She believes in magic, science and pasta and is currently working on several new stories for young adults.
Meme McDonald
Meme's novel Love Like Water is her ninth book, five of which have been written in collaboration with Aboriginal storyteller Boori Monty Pryor including My Girragundji, The Binna Binna Man and Njunjul the Sun. She has won six major literary awards for her writing. Poetry is a private love of hers.
Sean McMullen
Sean's first young adult novel was The Ancient Hero (in The Quentaris Chronicles), followed by a teenage time travel novel, Before the Storm. Sean has over a dozen YA chapter books and stories published, and his 2002 novel, Voyage of the Shadowmoon, featured a vampire who had been a teenager for 700 years.
Sally Odgers
Sally, a Tasmanian, has been writing for as long as she can remember. She writes in many genres, especially fantasy and science fiction, and is the co-author (with Darrel Odgers) of the Jack Russell: Dog Detective series. Sally runs a small manuscript assessment business, and enjoys walking (usually with dogs). Visit her at www.sallyodgers.com.
Michael Pryor
Born in Swan Hill, Victoria, Michael has worked in a scrap metal yard and as a drainer's labourer, a truck driver, a tap salesman, an Internet consultant, a software developer, a secondary school teacher and an educational publisher. He has published 17 novels and over 40 short stories. His website is www.michaelpryor.com.au.
Sally Rippin
Sally is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. She has had over 20 books published and is currently teaching Writing for Children at RMIT. She owns many pairs of red shoes, but life seems to spin by pretty quickly even when she's not wearing them. Visit www.sallyrippin.com.
David Rish
David lives in an okay house next to an oak tree and he writes occasionally. He has never owned a leather jacket. You can check out his life and work on his neglected website www.netspace.net.au/~drish/.
James Roy
James is the author of 14 books for young people, including the CBCA Honour Books Captain Mack and Billy Mack's War, and Town, a collection of short stories for older readers. He lives in the Blue Mountains with his family, and relaxes by bushwalking and playing his guitar, sometimes both at the same time.
Jim Schembri
Jim is a Melbourne author who has written a wide range of young adult novels. His books include Welcome to Minute 16 and Portal Bandits. Jim is a journalist but much prefers writing fiction, watching TV, collecting Star Wars toys and dreaming up new messages for his answering machine.
Lucy Sussex
Lucy's work includes three collections of short stories, most recently Absolute Uncertainty. For teenagers she has written three fantasy novels, and edited two anthologies, The Patternmaker and The Lottery (Altered Voices in the US). She has been short-
listed for the IGHW and World Fantasy Awards.
Shaun Tan
Shaun grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and in school became known as the ‘good drawer’ which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class. He currently works full time as an artist and author, writing and illustrating picture books, such as The Red Tree, The Lost Thing and The Arrival. For more information visit www.shauntan.net.
Keith Taylor
Keith was born in Tasmania in 1946, saw Vietnam service in the 1960s and had his first story published in 1975 (in Fantastic Stories). This was followed by about a dozen novels and various anthology stories, including historical mysteries. He married Anna Caucci, resulting in a son, Francis, now eighteen.
Coral Tulloch
Coral has illustrated over 50 fiction and non-fiction books for children. She researched, wrote, and illustrated her factual work on Antarctica, Antarctica, The Heart of the World, which won The Environment Award for Children's Literature in 2004. Coral lives in Hobart, Tasmania, with her husband, Peter, and daughter, Tully.
Mitch Vane
Mitch is an artist and illustrator. She has worked on many children's books and often collaborates with her husband who is a writer. They have two children who have been the inspiration for many of her drawings. Most of Mitch's work is wonky and messy – she can't draw a straight line, even with a ruler.
Michael Wagner
Since growing up in a housing commission flat in Melbourne, Michael has played in a band that almost became famous, spent ten years as a radio broadcaster with the ABC, written and produced animation for television, and now writes books for children. He's best known for his series about Maxx Rumble and The Undys.
Lili Wilkinson
Lili Wilkinson is a reader and writer of young adult literature. She manages www.insideadog.com.au, a youth literature website run by the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria. She is the author of Joan of Arc and Scatterheart.
