Carolyn Leach-Paholski (Poetry) NSW

As a child the first poem I can remember writing was about trees and read to my father in the back garden as he dug trenches around failing birches during a record drought. Later, although I intended to study archaeology, I took classics and history instead and have since worked as a librarian and publications officer. In 2004 I was awarded the inaugural Watermark Literary Fellowship and in 2005 had my first novel, The Grasshopper Shoe published which was short-listed for a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in the Best First Book Category.

Liz Macnamara (Poetry) NSW

Liz Macnamara was born in Sydney, grew up in the Riverina, and now lives in Leichhardt with her children, dog, cat and a small turtle. To support this entourage she works like a pedant editing law reports.

Liz has been writing poetry for ten years. She won he inaugural Leichhardt Poetry Prize and has been shortlisted for the Newcastle Poetry Prize. Her poems have been published in Tangent and FourW and, strangely enough, her lines were once quoted in Column8. OK this is probably not worth mentioning, but how many poems have made the front page of the Herald?

You can follow the progress of Iced Blonde and a passionate thing on her blog.

Lynette Maguire (Young Adult) QLD

Lynette is studying psychology and creative writing at the University of Sunshine Coast. Her work-in-progress is a young adult novella set on the Sunshine Coast which places a group of Year 11 girls in the path of terrorists. When not writing, Lynette is a very busy marriage celebrant, mother, wife and small business owner. She writes articles for wedding magazines and websites and is about to publish her first Ebook Oi, Swing Us the Ring, a fun look at having a casual wedding in Australia.

Sarah Nugent (Picture Book Illustrator) SA

Sarah works on her stories and art from a humble little studio in the sensational Adelaide Hills. The studio doubles as a dining room table, whose five wonky wooden chairs, can comfortably accommodate her husband and three beautiful children at any one time. To most - the middle of the house is probably not an ideal place to create quality material from - but Sarah has learnt that dreams can 
be created from anywhere!! She constantly surrounds herself with family, kids, beautiful friendships and animals, believing this is what adds the depth, warmth, fun and richness to her work, and her life.

Favel Parett (Fiction) VIC

Favel Parrett is a Victoria writer who loves to surf in the Southern Ocean. She won a place in the 2008 Hachette Livre Manuscript Development program and is currently working on her first novel.

Helena Pastor (Non-fiction)NSW

Helena Pastor’s essays and short fiction have appeared in Griffith REVIEW, Island, Westerly, Hecate and Idiom 23. She holds a Master of Philosophy (Creative Writing) from the University of Queensland and was commended for the 2007 Marian Eldridge Award for aspiring women writers. In 2008, Helena was awarded a NSW LitLink Residency at Varuna Writers’ House. She is currently working on a PhD in Creative Practice at the University of New England, documenting the life and energy behind the Iron Man Welders, a dynamic youth work project for teenage boys in rural New South Wales.

Jenny Prosser (Children's) QLD

Jenny (who uses the pen name Tudi Carmichael) grew up in the Western District of Victoria with childhood dreams of becoming a librarian. Fate stepped in (wearing winklepickers  no doubt) and she found herself in the wildly creative, highly experimental hairdressing industry of the 1980s. However her bookish tendencies never left resulting in the two worlds colliding with Pompadou her childrens book manuscript concerning ... hair . She is currently exploring illustrative technique and researching material for a second  project. Jenny lives in Cairns with her wonderful family, pets and a rather untidy hairdo.

Rachel Standfield (Non-fiction) VIC

Rachel is a historian whose research explores the early imperial history of Australia and New Zealand and race relations in the two countries. She recently completed a PhD at the University of Otago in Dunedin. She returned home last year and lives in Melbourne where she teaches and works in strategic policy for a university. She is working on turning her thesis into an accessible and readable history.

Robert Tait (Young Adult) NSW

Robert Tait was born at Lake Macquarie but has spent most of his life in inner-city Sydney, and currently resides in Woolloomooloo. He has 
owned numerous shops on Oxford Street, writing novels in his spare time. A recent chance encounter with an old school friend reminded 
him of the incredible beauty and strange history of the Lake, inspiring him to write a story for young adults. It centres on the daughter of Lancelot Threlkeld, who established a Mission at Toronto in the 1820's, and her friendship with a local Aboriginal boy.

Michelle Tatam (Children's) QLD

Michelle Tatam was born in Darwin, but now lives in Queensland with her three children, two dogs and a very strange cat. Being vision impaired and living in the bush, Michelle turned to reading and writing at an early age. In 2005 she attended Fantastic Queensland’s EnVision workshop, and decided to ‘start taking her writing seriously’. She mainly writes stories for 8-12 year olds, but has written YA novels as well. Most of her stories are built around a science fiction or urban fantasy theme. She has also been known to write poetry (shhh!) and some short adult stories.