Nicole Alexander
Nicole Alexander’s novels, poetry, travel, creative writing and genealogy articles have been published in Australia, America, Singapore, New Zealand, Ukraine, Germany and Canada. She is the author of ten bestselling historical novels. Nicole’s debut novel, The Bark Cutters was shortlisted for an Australian Book Industry Award and she holds a Master of Letters in creative writing and literature. She is Chair of the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize. Her most recent work is The Cedar Tree. For further information:
Rosetta Allan
Rosetta Allan’s novel, Purgatory, was published by Penguin and was selected by Apple Books as one of 2014’s best reads. Rosetta has received the Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award, the Metonymy Best Poem Award, a South Pacific Pictures internship, a Sir James Wallace MCW Scholarship, a Michael King Writers Centre Writers Residency, and was the 2019 University of Waikato & Creative NZ Writer in Residence. In 2016, she was the St Petersburg Art Resident in Russia, where she researched her second novel The Unreliable People. Her latest novel, Crazy Love, will be released August 2021. For further information:
Melissa Ashley
Melissa Ashley is the author of historical fiction The Bee and the Orange Tree and The Birdman’s Wife, which won the Queensland Literary Awards fiction prize and the Australian Booksellers Association Booksellers’ Choice Award. She has published a collection of poetry, The Hospital for Dolls. Melissa lives in Brisbane with her family. For further information:
Emma Ashmere
Emma Ashmere is the author of Dreams They Forgot and The Floating Garden, which was shortlisted for the Small Press Network Book of the Year 2016. Her writing has appeared in Meanjin, Overland, Age, Review of Australian Fiction, Griffith Review, the Commonwealth Writers magazine adda. She has a PhD in fiction and marginalised histories from La Trobe University, is a finalist in the Carmel Bird Digital Award 2021 and a recipient of Varuna Writers Space Residency. Emma lives on Bundjalung country in northern NSW. For further information:
Jackie Ballantyne
Jackie Ballantyne is an award-winning Australian/New Zealand author. In 2005 her story, ‘I saw them make sausages out of Aldo Falzone’s horse’, was runner-up in the Middlesex University (UK) Literary Prize for Fiction. Her first novel How to Stop a Heart from Beating was published in 2007 by Random House New Zealand and continues to be a favourite with the Book Discussion Scheme in that country. Her second novel, The Silver Gaucho, published in 2014 by The Doby Press, NZ, was shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award in 2015. Jackie now lives in Melbourne and is currently working on another novel. For further information:
Christine Bell
Christine Bell is a Melbourne fiction writer. Her debut historical novel No Small Shame is published by Ventura Press (Impact Imprint) 2020. Christine has been awarded a place in the Katharine Susannah Pritchard 2021 Fellowship Program. She is the winner of the inaugural 2019 HNSA Colleen McCullough Residency for an Established Writer. She is a Varuna Alumni and holds a Master of Creative Writing. Christine served as the Assistant Co-ordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Victoria (SCBWI) 2014-2018. Christine has had 30 short fiction works published for children. No Small Shame is her first adult novel. For further information:
Rachel Bin Saleh
Rachel Bin Salleh is descended from the Nimunburr and Yawuru peoples of the Kimberley. Rachel is passionate about First Nations peoples telling their stories and started at Magabala Books in the 1990s. In 2014, Rachel became Magabala’s Publisher and wrote her first book Alfred’s War (2018). For further information:
Tania Blanchard
Tania comes from a family with rich cultural heritage with a German mother and Italian father who both immigrated to Australia as children in the 1950s. Besides writing and reading, her other great passion is history. Following attendance at Fiona McIntosh’s Commercial Fiction Masterclass in 2015, she completed her first novel, ‘The Girl from Munich’ published by Simon and Schuster in 2017. This was followed by ‘Suitcase of Dreams’ in 2018 and ‘Letters from Berlin’ in 2020. Her fourth book, ‘Echoes of War,’ will be released in September 2021. All her novels are inspired by family stories. Tania lives in Sydney with her husband and three children. For further information:
Laurie Blum Guest
Trained as a historian, Laurie worked in N.Y. publishing with Simon & Schuster and MacMillan as well as a major British house before moving to France where for many years published and distributed English language books in France. Having created and launched Re-Naissance whose first project was the creation of a book imprint for a major literary IP along with Marvel Comics, Laurie overseas a 360 degree agency both in Europe as well as the U.S. which encompasses both translation, co-edition, film and television representation as well as distribution, and marketing. Laurie has been a frequent commentator on CNN television. She has been a speaker with the French publisher’s association (BIEF), has received support from the American Embassy in Paris, as well as has been featured and profiled in numerous publications including Le Figaro Littéraire. She is the founder of the Re-Naissance Agency. For further information:
Alison Booth
Alison Booth has published six novels, the most recent being The Painting (2021). Her fiction has been translated into French and her short stories have appeared in international publications such as Antipodes. Her fiction awards include a Varuna Longlines Fellowship from the Eleanor Dark Foundation and the Highly Commended Award in the 2011 ACT Book of the Year Award. Alison is also Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and recipient of the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Economic Society of Australia. For further information:
Emily Booth
Dr Emily Booth is the Strategic Director at Text Publishing, where she has worked across a number of different roles during the past twenty years.
Geraldine Brooks
Australian-born Geraldine Brooks grew up in Sydney. She worked as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Wall Street Journal, where she covered crises in the mideast, Africa and the Balkans. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her second novel, March. Her novels Caleb’s Crossing and People of the Book were New York Times best sellers. Her first novel, Year of Wonders is an an international bestseller, translated into more than 25 languages and currently optioned for a major motion picture starring Andrew Lincoln. Her most recent novel is The Secret Chord. For further information:
Karen Brooks
Karen Brooks is the author of fourteen books – historical fiction, historical fantasy, YA fantasy, and one non-fiction. She was an academic for over 20 years, a newspaper columnist and social commentator. She has a Ph.D. in English/Cultural Studies and has published internationally on all things popular culture, education and social psychology. An award-winning teacher, she’s taught throughout Australia and in The Netherlands and keynoted at many education conferences. Nowadays, she finds greatest contentment studying history and writing, and helping her husband in his Brewstillery, Captain Bligh’s. She shares a beautiful stone house in Hobart, Tasmania, built in 1868, with her husband, adorable dogs and cats, and shelves brimming with books. For further information:
Sienna Brown
Sienna Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in Canada. But it wasn’t until a move to Sydney that she came across William Buchanan’s story and was struck with a sense of fate – this story of a lost man far from home resonated with her own feelings of displacement. A lifelong storyteller and daughter of Jamaican parents, Sienna was captivated by William’s story and the way it intersected with her own cultural background. She’s been a professional dancer, film editor and documentary director, and worked at Sydney Living Museums, where she first came across William’s story. In 2020, Master Of My Fate won the MUD Literary Award for best Australian debut novel and was also shortlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize. She is currently working on her second historical fiction novel: Heat In The Afternoon. She’s just been commissioned by ABC Radio National to co-produce with Dr Ben Etherington: Where do you come From? Caribbean Convicts In Australia, a documentary podcast for the History Listen series. Research for this project has been funded by the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University. For further information:
Robyn Cadwallader
Robyn is an editor and writer and has published poems, prize-winning short stories and reviews, a poetry collection, i painted unafraid and a non-fiction book based on her PhD thesis about virginity and female agency in the Middle Ages. Her first novel, The Anchoress (2015, Fourth Estate Australia, Faber & Faber, UK, Farrer, Straus & Giroux, US, and Gallimard France) was received with critical acclaim: It was awarded a Canberra Critics’ Circle Award for fiction and the ACT Book of the Year People’s Choice Award, was shortlisted for the ABIA Awards (Debut Fiction), the Adelaide Festival Literary Awards, and longlisted for the ABIA Awards (Literary Fiction and New Author). In response to the government’s policies on asylum-seekers, she edited a book of essays by prominent lawyers and activists, We Are Better Than This (ATF Press, 2015). Her second novel, Book of Colours, was released by HarperCollins in April, 2018. She lives in the country outside Canberra with a lovely man, two dogs, two alpacas, four chooks and a host of birdlife.
Lindy Cameron
Lindy Cameron is the publisher of Clan Destine Press. CDP’s aim is to foster new Australian genre writers and to provide a home where already-published authors can play in new worlds. It publishes the ancient Greek and Egyptian novels of Kerry Greenwood; and Australia’s first-ever mystery novel by Ellen Davitt; and more than 20 contemporary crime/thrillers by a host of Aussie writers. CDP has published two new mystery anthologies this year: Who Sleuthed It? featuring animal sleuths; and The Only One in the World: a feast of Sherlock Holmes stories with a twist.
Lindy is also a crime, historical and sf writer, author of: the archaeological mystery Golden Relic; the Kit O’Malley PI trilogy; and the action thriller Redback. She’s co-author of the True Crime collections: Toxic, with her sister Fin J Ross. Her historical fiction includes – with co-author with Kerry Greenwood – the short story ‘A Wild Colonial’ published in Sherlock Holmes: the Australian Casebook; and ‘The Saltwater Battle’ in War of the Worlds Battleground Australia. She is currently working on a series of historical novellas featuring time-travelling archaeologists, and the great-great granddaughter of Alexander the Great and the Amazon Queen, Thalestris. Lindy is a founding member and current Vice-President of Sisters in Crime Australia.
Ella Carey
Ella Carey is the USA Today and Amazon charts bestselling author of Secrets of Paris series, as well as the standalone kindle bestsellers, Secret Shores, The Things We Don’t Say and Beyond the Horizon. A New York Secret is the first in her new trilogy and published in March 2021. The second book, The Lost Girl of Berlin, is publishing on July 12th, 2021, and is set in the aftermath of the Second World War. Ella has recently signed a nine-book deal with Hachette UK imprint Bookouture and her New York series has been sold for translation into seven languages. For further information:
Steven Carroll
Elizabeth Chadwick
Elizabeth Chadwick is a multi award winning million selling author of over 25 historical novels, including New York Times best-seller The Greatest Knight. Her work has been translated into over 18 languages. Her novel The Scarlet Lion was nominated by HNS founder Richard Lee as one of his books of the decade. Elizabeth is a member of the Royal Historical Society and occasionally gives talks on the academic circuit, but her true passion are the stories behind the stories and what they say about then and now. For more information:
Deborah Challinor
Deborah Challinor is the author of 17 bestselling historical fiction novels, two works of non-fiction about the Vietnam War, and a young adult novel. In 2018 she became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature and historical research. She has a Ph.D. in history, and taught writing historical fiction at university for several years. She writes full time and her books are sold in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and in eBook, audio and large print. Her next book, due out in April 2022, is the fourth in a quartet set in New Zealand, Sydney and Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s. For further information:
Lisa Chaplin
A born and bred Sydneysider with Indigenous heritage, Lisa Chaplin spent four years in beautiful Zurich, Switzerland, gathering ideas for novels around Europe before returning to her native soil. Writing under the pseudonym, Melissa James, she tackles stories about the Stolen Generation, PTSD, and families with challenges. Her latest Melissa James’ novel is Beneath The Skin, a women’s fiction crime novel, with Aboriginal major and minor characters is being released in the US by MIRA HarperCollins in January 2020. After writing 20 books, novellas and online reads for giant Harlequin that sold over 1.65 million books worldwide, she quit to concentrate on historical fiction. Her first historical fiction, The Tide Watchers, was based on a true story. In 2014 the book sold to William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins New York, and to six countries around the world. She’s currently working on the sequel, Blind Fall, as well as a YA sci-fi time-travel (from 2069 San Francisco to Lyon, France, during the Terror), and a historical post-WWI fiction for MIRA Australia. For further information:
Lauren Chater
Lauren Chater writes fiction with a particular focus on women’s stories. After working for many years in a variety of media roles, she turned her passion for reading and research into a professional pursuit. Her debut novel The Lace Weaver was published in 2018. Her new book is Gulliver’s Wife. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two children. The Lace Weaver won the pitch contest at our 2015 conference. For more information:
Catherine Chidgey
Catherine Chidgey is a novelist and short story writer whose first novel, In a Fishbone Church, was a critically acclaimed multi-award winner, and a New Zealand bestseller. Among numerous awards, Chidgey received a Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship in 1998, and is a member of the Sargeson Trust. She was awarded the 2001 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the inaugural Glenn Schaeffer Prize in Modern Letters in 2002, and in 2005 she received the Robert Burns Fellowship. In 2016 Chidgey published her fourth novel, The Wish Child, which was awarded the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the 2017 Ockham Awards. In 2017, The Beat of the Pendulum was published by Victoria University Press.
Anna Ciddor
Anna Ciddor is the author and illustrator of seven historical novels including Runestone, The Family with Two Front Doors and 52 Mondays. Her most recent, The Boy Who Stepped Through Time, was longlisted for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize CYA Category. Anna has also written about 50 non-fiction historical books. Anna’s meticulous work has been recognised by a grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council, three of her novels have been selected as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia, and several have been translated into other languages to be enjoyed around the world. For further information, visit:
Steven Conte
Steven Conte is the author of two historical novels, The Zookeeper’s War (2007) and The Tolstoy Estate (2020). In 2008 The Zookeeper’s War won the inaugural Prime Minister’s Award for fiction and went on to be published in the UK, Ireland and Spain. In 2021 The Tolstoy Estate was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and will soon be released in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. Steven lives in the town of Koroit in southwest Victoria. Currently he divides his time between writing, parenting a child with non-verbal autism and working as a pathology courier. For further information:
Tim Darcy Ellis
Tim Darcy Ellis (BA BSc, MHSc) is a writer, business owner and formerly a professional archaeologist. His critically acclaimed debut, ‘The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives’ is a fast-paced and meticulously researched historical novel. Tim is passionate about bringing his love of history, archaeology and philosophy together: and to express it by writing great fiction. For further information:
Nadine Davidoff
Nadine Davidoff is a freelance book editor / writing teacher with extensive trade publishing experience. She has worked as a senior editor at Random House and a commissioning editor at Black Inc. Nadine conducts regular seminars and workshops for RMIT, Melbourne University and writers’ centres across Australia. For further information:
Irina Dunn
Irina Dunn has more than thirty years of experience working in the Australian writing and publishing industry. She has guided many manuscripts from rough draft to final polished work and on to publication. She was Director of the NSW Writers’ Centre for 15 years, as well as Manager of the Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society and Managing Editor at Booktopia. She wrote The Writer’s Guide: a companion to writing for pleasure or publication, (Allen & Unwin), which was shortlisted for the Australian Publishers’ Association National Education Awards, and was described by the Australian Book Review as ‘a godsend for writers’. For further information:
Wendy J. Dunn
Wendy J. Dunn is an award-winning Australian author, playwright and poet. Her first Tudor novels were two Anne Boleyn novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This? and The Light in the Labyrinth. Wendy’s most recent publications are two novels inspired by the life of Katherine of Aragon: her Falling Pomegranate Seeds duology: The Duty of Daughters (a finalist in the 2020 Chaucer award) and All Manner of Things, published in 2021. Wendy tutors in writing at the Swinburne University of Technology. She’s currently writing a novel set in 2010. Of course, it includes a Tudor story. She is also writing her first full length Tudor biography. For further information:
Colin Falconer
Colin Falconer has written over twenty historical fiction novels that have been translated into 24 languages. ‘Harem’ was a bestseller all around Europe and sold over a quarter of a million copies in Germany alone. ‘Aztec’, about the Spanish conquest of Central America, stayed on the best seller lists in Mexico for four months. He is enjoying current success with the epics, ‘Silk Road’ and ‘Lord of the Atlas’. Colin travels extensively to research his novels, and the international nature of his work has led to invitations to appear at writer’s festivals from Mandalay to Belgrade. For further information:
Nigel Featherstone
Nigel Featherstone is an Australian writer who has been published widely. His war novel, BODIES OF MEN, was published by Hachette Australia in 2019. It was longlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize, shortlisted for the 2020 ACT Book of the Year, shortlisted in the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards, and received a 2019 Canberra Critics Circle Award. A lifelong queer, Nigel lives on unceded Ngunnawal / Gandangara lands, otherwise known as the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. He is represented by Gaby Naher, Left Bank Literary, Sydney. For further information:
Ely Finch
Ely is a translator and consultant linguist who specialises in historical texts written in Literary (Classical) Chinese, Cantonese, and other southern Chinese languages. His main focus to date has been texts that pertain to the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Chinese diaspora in Australia, with respect to which he has undertaken work for historians, archaeologists, universities, museums, family-history researchers, historical societies, doctoral students and others. Being a speaker of English, Mandarin and Cantonese, with some knowledge of Teochew and the See Yip language, and a broad interest in pre-twentieth-century writing of virtually all genres and time periods, as well as in the history of China and the Chinese diaspora, Ely is also happy to consider commissions that relate to Hong Kong, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S.A. and southern and/or pre-modern China. Ely’s largest translation is Australia’s and possibly the West’s first Chinese-language novel, Wong Shee Ping’s The Poison of Polygamy: A Social Novel. For further information:
Kate Forsyth
Kate Forsyth wrote her first novel aged seven, and has sold more than a million copies since. Her novels include The Blue Rose, a story of impossible love set in Revolutionary France and Imperial China; Beauty in Thorns, a reimagining of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ set amongst the passions and scandals of the Pre-Raphaelites; Bitter Greens, a reimagining of ‘Rapunzel’ which won the 2015 ALA Award for Best Historical Fiction; and The Wild Girl, the story of the forbidden romance behind the Grimm brothers’ famous fairy tales. Kate also has a doctorate in fairy tale studies and is an accredited master storyteller. Kate is the HNSAustralasia Patron. For further information:
Rachel Franks
Rachel Franks is the Coordinator, Education & Scholarship at the State Library of New South Wales, a Conjoint Fellow at the University of Newcastle, Australia and is at the University of Sydney researching true crime. Rachel holds a PhD in Australian crime fiction and her research on crime fiction, true crime, popular culture and information science has been presented at numerous conferences. An award-winning writer, her work can be found in a wide variety of books, journals and magazines as well as on social media. For more information:
Linda Funnell
Linda Funnell is co-editor of the Newtown Review of Books, a free online book review founded with Jean Bedford in March 2012. For ten years she was a publisher with HarperCollins, and prior to that Random House. Currently she is a freelance editor and publishing consultant. The authors she has worked with include Colleen McCullough, Geraldine Brooks, Diane Armstrong, Louis Nowra, Karen Brooks and Steven Carroll. Linda has taught courses in publishing, editing and writing for UTS, the ASA and Writing NSW. For further information:
Indrani Ganguly
Indrani Ganguly was born of Bengali-speaking parents in Lucknow, India and migrated to Australia in 1990. Her qualifications include B.A. English Honours (University of Delhi), M.A./M.Phil. in sociology and history (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) and Ph.D. in Asian Studies (the Australian National University). Indrani’s publications comprising both academic and creative works include In My Father’s House (2015) and a historical novel The Rose and the Thorn (2019) focusing on so-called ordinary women in the India’s national movement and social reforms. She is now working on the sequel which continues the story in post-Independence India and explores some Australia-India connections. For further information:
Kelly Gardiner
Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for all ages. Her latest series is The Firewatcher Chronicles. Her other books include Goddess, based on the life of Mademoiselle de Maupin; 1917: Australia’s Great War, shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize and Asher Award; the Swashbuckler pirate trilogy; and a picture book, Billabong Bill’s Bushfire Christmas. Her young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, were both shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, while Act of Faith was shortlisted for the ASA’s Barbara Jefferis Award. A former journalist, Kelly teaches creative writing at La Trobe University. For further information:
Susanne Gervay
Awarded Lifetime Social Justice Literature Award, Order of Australia, nominee for Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, you’ll find Susanne in Istanbul speaking on NO bullying; advocating for UN Vision2020 sight campaign with ‘The Boy in the Big Blue Glasses’ (Vision Australia). Susanne’s loved books include ‘I Am Jack books’ (bullying); ‘Butterflies’ (disability), ‘Shadows of Olive Trees’ (historical novel on second rise of feminism); peace picture book Elephants Have Wings; ‘Heroes of the Secret Underground’ empowering youth to become heroes. Committed to the children’s book industry, she heads the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (ANZ), patron Monkey Baa Theatre, ambassador Room to Read. For further information:
Elena Gomez
Elena Gomez is an experienced freelance book editor and writer. She has previously worked at Text Publishing, Sydney Living Museums and most recently at Penguin Random House as Deputy Managing Editor. Elena is Reviews Editor of Cordite Magazine, and Express Media’s Toolkits Poetry facilitator 2020–21. She is a mentor and researcher, and has experience on both sides of the editorial relationship as a published poet. Elena is experienced in a wide range of genre, including commercial and literary fiction, narrative non-fiction, health and personal development, memoir and biography. For further information:
Roanna Gonsalves
Roanna Gonsalves is the award-winning author of the acclaimed collection of short fiction The Permanent Resident (UWAP) published in India as Sunita De Souza Goes To Sydney (Speaking Tiger). Her writing has been compared to the work of Alice Munro and Jhumpa Lahiri. Her four-part radio series On the tip of a billion tongues, commissioned and broadcast by ABC RN’s Earshot program, is an acerbic portrayal of contemporary India through its multilingual writers. She works as a lecturer in Creative Writing at UNSW, Sydney. For further information:
Alison Goodman
Alison Goodman’s latest novel is Lady Helen and the Dark Days Deceit, the final book in the Lady Helen trilogy, an award winning mix of Regency adventure and dark fantasy. She is also the author of six other novels including EON and EONA, a New York Times bestselling fantasy duology published in 20 countries. Alison is currently working on a new Regency series with mid-life protagonists and is in her final year of her PhD focusing on historical research and the Regency era. For further information:
Anne Gracie
After writing five stand-alone unconnected books, Anne Gracie was contracted by Berkley (PenguinRandomHouse USA) and learned her editor expected the book they’d bought to be the first of a series. A national bestseller in the USA, she’s now written four 4-book series, and has just launched a fifth, starting with The Scoundrel’s Daughter. In this workshop Anne will share her knowledge about the difference writing in a series makes, features of various kinds of series, what makes a series work, how to set yourself up to write a series and discuss the different approaches to series made in different genres. For further information:
Rosalie Ham
Rosalie Ham is a Melbourne writer and retired Literature teacher. She is best known for her first novel, which was adapted to film in 2015 and starred Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving and Liam Hemsworth. The novel, The Dressmaker follows the film across the world and has now been published in 16 countries. Rosalie’s other novels are Summer at Mount Hope, There Should be More Dancing and Year of the Farmer. Rosalie’s fifth novel, The Dressmaker’s Secret, a sequel to The Dressmaker, was published October, 2020. For further information:
Pamela Hart
Pamela Hart is an award-winning, best-selling author of more than 40 books. She writes acclaimed historical novels; The Charleston Scandal is her most recent historical story, set in 1920s London, and she has a Regency romance coming out with Escape in November. She also writes the Poppy McGowan mystery series, starting with Digging Up Dirt.
As Pamela Freeman, she is well-known as a beloved children’s author and fantasy writer. Her most recent children’s book is a non-fiction picture book, Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu. Her adult fantasy series, The Castings Trilogy, ended with the award-winning Ember and Ash. To be kept up to date about Pamela’s next story, you can subscribe to her newsletter here; you even get a free novella! For further information:
Kathryn Heyman
Kathryn Heyman’s acclaimed memoir, Fury, appeared in May 2021. Her novels include Storm and Grace, was published in 2017. Her first novel, The Breaking, was shortlisted for the Stakis Award for the Scottish Writer of the Year and longlisted for the Orange Prize. Her other awards include an Arts Council of England Writers Award, the Wingate and the Southern Arts Awards, and nominations for the Edinburgh Fringe Critics’ Awards, the Kibble Prize, and the West Australian Premier’s Book Awards. Reviewers have compared her work to that of Cormac McCarthy, Kate Grenville, Angela Carter, Peter Carey, William Golding and Joseph Conrad.
Kathryn Heyman received the Wingate award for outstanding historical research (for The Accomplice). Her other historical works include Captain Starlight’s Apprentice (Inspired by the bushranger Jessie Elizabeth Hickman) which was adapted into a ten part radio serial for the BBC, with an audience of over two million. For the BBC she also wrote Moonlite’s Boy, using the letters and journals of the bushranger ‘Captain Moonlite’.
Kathryn Heyman taught Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and is now the director of the Australian Writers Mentoring Program. For further information:
Julie Janson
Julie Janson – Biography Julie is a Burruberongal woman of Darug nation. She is a novelist, playwright, and poet. Her most recent novel: “Benevolence” published by Magabala 2020 – to be published by Harper Collins in USA and UK. While living in remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities in her early years as a teacher, she began writing Indigenous plays and making giant puppets, masks and costumes. Her career as a playwright: productions at Belvoir St Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre and Sydney Opera House. She is co-recipient of the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poetry Prize 2016; Judith Wright Poetry Prize 2019. For further information:
Catherine Jinks
Catherine Jinks was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1963. She grew up in Papua New Guinea and now lives in the Blue Mountains. Catherine is a four-time winner of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year award, and has also won a Victorian Premier’s Literature Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Literature, the Ena Noel Award for Children’s Literature and an Aurealis Award for Science Fiction. Her novel ‘Shepherd’ was shortlisted for the HNSA historical novel award in 2020; she published ‘The Attack’ in September 2021. For more information:
Greg Johnston
G.S. Johnston is the author of three historical novels – Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), and The Skin of Water (2012), and a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011). The novels are noted for their complex characters and well-researched settings. After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels. Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Johnston currently lives in Canberra, Australia. Greg is the Treasurer of the HNSAustralasia. For further information:
Alexandra Joel
Alexandra Joel is an internationally published, best selling author. Her books include Rosetta:A Scandalous True Story, The Paris Model and her latest novel, The Royal Correspondent. She is also the author of Parade: The Story of Fashion in Australia. Alexandra is the former editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Portfolio, Australia’s first magazine for working women. She has an honors degree from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology. Alexandra lives in Sydney and has a passion for history, art, fashion, politics – and many, many books. For further information:
Greg Johnston
G.S. Johnston is the author of three historical novels – Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), and The Skin of Water (2012), and a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011). The novels are noted for their complex characters and well-researched settings. After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels. Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Johnston currently lives in Canberra, Australia. Greg is the Treasurer of the HNSAustralasia. For further information:
Kim Kelly
Kim Kelly is the author of ten novels, including the acclaimed Wild Chicory and bestselling The Blue Mile. Her historical fictions are compelling and whimsical, and driven by strong characters of all kinds. A widely respected book editor and literary consultant by trade, stories fill her everyday – most nights, too – and it’s love that fuels her intellectual engine. Love between lovers, friends, strangers; love of country; love of story. In fact, she takes love so seriously she once donated a kidney to her husband to prove it, and also to save his life. Originally from Sydney, today Kim lives on a small rural property in central New South Wales just outside the tiny gold-rush village of Millthorpe, where the ghosts are mostly friendly and her grown sons regularly come home to graze.For further information:
KM Kruimink
KM (Kate) Kruimink is a novelist and short story writer from southern lutruwita/Tasmania. Her debut novel, A Treacherous Country, won the 2020 Australian/Vogel’s literary award, and was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in the UK. She was one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Novelists for 2020. Kate is currently working on her second novel. For more information:
Ben Kane
Kenya born, Irish by blood and UK resident, Ben Kane’s passion for history has taken him to almost 70 countries, and all 7 continents. During his travels and subsequent research, including walking hundreds of miles in Roman military gear, he has learned much about the Romans and the way they lived. His novels are commonly seen in the Sunday Times top ten; published in twelve languages, they have sold more than a million copies worldwide. A former veterinary surgeon, he lives in Somerset with his children, where he writes full time. For further information:
Meg Keneally
Meg Keneally is the author of The Wreck and Fled. With Tom Keneally, she is co-author of the four-book Monsarrat Series of historical murder mysteries. With Leah Kaminsky she co-edited Animals Make Us Human. Her next historical novel, The Last Queen, will be out in 2022. For further information:
Suzanne Leal
Suzanne Leal is the author of novels The Teacher’s Secret, Border Street and, most recently, The Deceptions , which was shortlisted for the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award and won the Nib People’s Choice Prize. A regular presenter at literary events and co-presenter of the BAD All About Crime podcast, Suzanne is the host of Thursday Book Club, a relaxed, friendly book club connecting readers online. For further information:
Richard Lee
Richard Lee founded the Historical Novel Society in 1997 after trying to join it, only to find it didn’t exist. The society has since developed in many ways, following the enthusiasms of the active membership. Richard has been involved with the organisation of many UK HNS conferences and co-hosted the Cambridge History Festivals. He ran author talks for two years at English Heritage’s flagship Kirby Hall re-enactment event. He has been a judge of the CWA’s Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the RNA’s Elizabeth Goudge Trophy, the RNA’s Pure Passion Awards and has established the HNS New Novel Award and Short Story Award. He’s working (has been working for a while) on a novel set in eleventh century Syria at the time of the first crusade. For further information:
Natasha Lester
Natasha Lester is the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress, The French Photographer and The Paris Secret, and a former marketing executive for L’Oreal. Her new novel is called The Riviera House. Her books have been translated into many different languages and are published all around the world. When she’s not writing, she loves collecting vintage fashion, practising the art of fashion illustration and reading about history. Natasha is a sought-after public speaker and lives with her husband and three children in Perth, Western Australia. For further information:
Elaine Lewis
Formerly a music educator and writer, Elaine Lewis created the Australian Bookshop in Paris in 1996. There she met poet Jacques Rancourt and began translating for the Franco-anglais Poetry Festival and other poets. Her book Left Bank Waltz was published by Random House Australia in 2006. She is currently co-editor and book review editor of The French Australian Review, the journal of the Institute for the Study of French Australian Relations; book reviewer for Loudmouth E-zine (The Music Trust) and is a committee member of AALITRA (Australian Association for Literary Translation). She has translated poetry from Guadeloupe, Haiti, Switzerland, Canada, La Réunion, Belgium and France, published in La Traductière, Etchings (Ilura Press) and Mascara. She recently translated poetry for a UN anthology. For further information:
Kevan Lyon
Kevan Lyon is a founding partner of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. With over 25 years in the publishing business, including over 10 years as a literary agent and 17+ years on the wholesale, retail and distribution side of the business, Kevan brings an informed and unique perspective to her work with clients. Kevan handles women’s fiction, focusing on commercial women’s fiction, with an emphasis on historical fiction. Kevan works with her authors to help them realize their dreams of being published and to build a long term career as a writer. Kevan represents numerous NYT, USA Today and internationally bestselling authors including Kate Quinn, Natasha Lester, Stephanie Dray, Chanel Cleeton, Kaia Alderson, and many more. For further information:
Belinda Lyons-Lee
Belinda Lyons-Lee was born in Geelong, Australia and still lives in the region with her husband and son. She has a BA, a GDip Ed and a MA(WritLit). Belinda has been teaching English and creative writing in secondary schools for nearly twenty years and the nineteenth century has been an obsession of hers for even longer. Belinda has had various articles published that explore writing, vocation, mental health and creativity. ‘Tussaud’ is her debut novel. For further information:
Isolde Martyn
Historian and former editor Isolde Martyn enjoys setting her stories in turbulent times such as the Wars of the Roses or the French Revolution. Her debut novel The Maiden and the Unicorn won top awards in the USA and Australia. She has just completed both her ninth novel, which is set in late Elizabethan England, and an Australian history picture book. She is currently Chair of the Plantagenet History Society of Australia. For further information:
Sophie Masson
Born in Indonesia of French parents Sophie Masson AM is the award-winning author of over 70 books, for children, young adults and adults, many of which are in the historical novel genre. These include the bestselling award-winner The Hunt for Ned Kelly (Scholastic Australia, children’s) and the genre-bending Forest of Dreams(Penguin/Random House, adult). Forthcoming in 2022 is Sydney under Attack(Scholastic Australia, children’s) Sophie is also a founding partner and publishing director of award-winning small publisher, Christmas Press, a children’s/YA specialist, which has published historical novels for children, by established and emerging authors, under its Eagle Books imprint. For more information:
Suzanne McCourt
Suzanne McCourt grew up in a fishing village on the South Australian coast, the setting for her debut novel ‘The Lost Child’, which was longlisted for the 2015 Miles Franklin Award. Her novella, ‘The Last Taboo: A Love Story’, shared first prize in the 2016 Griffith Review Novella Competition. Suzanne’s new novel, ‘The Tulip Tree’, is set in Poland and Russia during the tumultuous wars of the twentieth century. It was published by Text Publishing in June 2021. She has also published a series of gift books on the wise and wonderful ways of old dogs. Suzanne lives in Melbourne, Australia. For further information:
Paula Morris
Paula Morris (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Whatua) is the author of the story collection Forbidden Cities (2008); the long-form essay On Coming Home (2015); and eight novels, including Rangatira (2011), winner of best work of fiction at both the 2012 New Zealand Post Book Awards and Ngā Kupu Ora Maori Book Awards. Her most recent book is False River (2017), a collection of stories and essays around the subject of secret histories. She teaches creative writing at the University of Auckland, sits on the Māori Literature Trust, Mātātuhi Foundation, and New Zealand Book Awards Trust, and is the founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature. Appointed an MZNM in the 2019 New Year Honours, she currently holds the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship. For further information:
Kate Murdoch
Kate Murdoch’s short-form fiction has been published in literary journals in Australia, UK, US and Canada. Stone Circle, a historical fantasy novel set in Renaissance Italy, was released in 2017. Stone Circle was a First in Category winner in the Chaucer Awards 2018 for pre-1750’s historical fiction. Kate was awarded a KSP Fellowship at the KSP Writers’ Centre in 2019 to develop her third novel. The Orange Grove, about the passions and intrigues of court mistresses in 18th century France, was published in 2019. The Orange Grove was a Finalist in the Chaucer Awards 2019 for pre-1750’s Historical Fiction. For further information:
Belinda Murrell
Belinda Murrell worked as a travel writer and journalist before becoming an award-winning internationally published author of over 35 books for children. Her historical novels, including The Sequin Star, The River Charm, The Locket of Dreams, The Forgotten Pearl, The Ruby Talisman and The Ivory Rose, have received many accolades, including Honour Book KOALAS 2013, shortlisted nine times in the YABBA – Young Australian Best Book Awards, CBCA Notable books and highly commended in the PM’s Literary Awards. Her latest books include an adult non-fiction bibliomemoir, Searching for Charlotte and The Golden Tower, set in an Italian Renaissance inspired world. For further information:
Diane Murray
Diane is an interior architect and writer who designs offices by day but writes and reads historical fiction at night. Her recent novel, Printer’s Ink, the biography of Australian newspaper pioneer Marion Leathem and the accompanying exegesis, Unreal Truths: The Lies in Every Story investigate the impact of historical biography on the writer’s unconscious mind and the intriguing psychological transferences which occur between a writer and her subject. Previously a former Deputy Chair of the NSW Writer’s Centre, Diane has been on the executive committee of the HNSA since 2014. Diane was awarded her PhD in 2016. For further information:
Kirsty Murray
Kirsty Murray is a multi-award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Her acclaimed series of historical fiction ‘Children of the Wind’ is studied in schools and universities around the world. Kirsty’s YA novel India Dark won a NSW Premier’s History Award. Kirsty has been a Creative Fellow of the State Library of Victoria, an Asialink Literature Resident in India and an ambassador for the Stella Prize in Schools program. Her most recent release, Strangers on Country, was co-authored with Dave Hartley and is shortlisted for the 2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. Kirsty is a director on the board of both the Australian Society of Authors and the Copyright Agency. For further information:
Gaby Naher
Gaby is a literary agent with over 30 years experience in the book industry. Her clients include Stella-prize-winning, Heather Rose, New York Times #1 bestseller, Candice Fox and Dr Norman Swan. Gaby is one of the directors of Left Bank Literary Agency. She has worked as a publicist in Sydney, London and New York. She is the author of four books and has a Doctorate of Creative Arts. For further information:
Jacqui Newling
Dr Jacqueline (Jacqui) Newling is a social historian who interprets history through the lens of food. She has a Le Cordon Bleu Master’s degree in Gastronomy and a PhD in history, and is author of award winning Eat your history, stories and recipes from Australian kitchens (NewSouth Publishing and Sydney Living Museums) and is ‘the cook’ in The Cook & the Curator’ food heritage blog. Jacqui takes a hands-on approach to food history and heritage, with food and identity at the core. She has hosted numerous workshops on the social meaning of historical cookbooks and recipes, forgotten culinary arts, and food memory. For further information:
Rachel Nightingale
Rachel Nightingale is an author, award-winning playwright, educator and actor. With a passion for storytelling and the theatre, it was only natural that her first fantasy series, the Tales of Tarya trilogy, would centre on both. She has also co-authored Mandala: Journeys Within the Circle, with artist Karen Scott. Having survived improv theatre, travelled the world and immersed herself endlessly in research and creative practice, she often finds herself at the mercy of stories that demand to be written. She lives in regional Australia with her family, a very bossy cat and the cutest dog in the world. For further information:
Kayte Nunn
Kayte Nunn is a former book and magazine editor, and the author of five previous novels, including the international bestselling The Botanist’s Daughter, The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant and The Silk House. The Botanist’s Daughter was the 2020 winner of the Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize. The Last Reunion is based on the experiences of the Women’s Auxiliary Service (Burma) during the Second World War. Kayte lives in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. For further information:
Malla Nunn
Malla is the author of four internationally published crime novels set in 1950s apartheid South Africa. A Beautiful Place to Die, Let the Dead Lie, Blessed Are the Dead and Present Darkness have, between them, received two Edgar Award nominations, a Davitt Award and two Antony Award nominations. Her debut YA novel, When the Ground is Hard was published in June 2019 by Allen&Unwin. Her latest YA novel is Sugar Town Queens published in August 2021 by Allen &Unwin. Born and raised in Eswatini, Malla now lives and works in Sydney, Australia. For further information:
Mary-Anne O’Connor
When she was twelve Mary Anne’s father Kevin Best left his established career in the stock-market to become one of Australia’s best-loved artists which inspired her to follow in his footsteps and pursue her own creative aspirations. A colourful marketing career followed, along with the completion of education/arts degree with specialities in literature, music and environment. During this time she also co-wrote two books with her father, A Brush with Light and Secrets of the Brush. Work then began on her first major novel, Gallipoli Street. This work gained critical acclaim and finished at #3 for debut novels in Australia in 2015. Since then she has released five more novels: Worth Fighting For in 2016, War Flower in 2017, In A Great Southern Land in 2019, Where Fortune Lies, in 2020 and Sisters of Freedom in 2021. Mary-Anne has drawn on her love of the Australian bush, her fascination with her own family history and her deep, abiding respect for the men and women who carried our nation through turbulent, formative times to produce these novels. Mary-Anne still lives in the Bushland Shire with her husband Anthony, their two sons, Jimmy and Jack and their very spoilt dog, Saxon. She is an avid supporter of Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter. For further information:
JL Oakley
Award-winning author J.L. Oakley likes to discover little known history and bring out to readers. Her historical fiction spans the mid-19th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. Her writing has been recognized with many awards, in recent years the 2016 Goethe Grand Prize for The Jøssing Affair, the 2018 Will Rogers Silver Medallion, 2018 WILLA finalist, the 2020 Military Writers Society of America Silver for The Jøssing Affair and 2020 Hemingway for 20th century War Stories. Grand Prize. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th century folkways, gardens, and weaves. For further information:
Thuy On
Thuy On is Reviews Editor of ArtsHub and a freelance arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She’s the outgoing books editor of The Big issue. Her first book, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was published by University of Western Australia Press. For further information:
Renée Otmar
Renée has been a professional editor since 1989 and has worked extensively as an editor/managing editor, researcher, and ethicist. A certified coach, she provides training and professional supervision for editors and writers working with sensitive or distressing content. Renée has served as a board director, and on human research ethics committees since 2013. In 2000 she was awarded Honorary Life Membership of Editors Victoria, a branch of the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd), and in 2008 became a Distinguished Editor of IPEd. Her recent work is Editing for Sensitivity, Diversity and Inclusion: A guide for professional editors (2020). For further information:
Stephanie Parkyn
Stephanie Parkyn is the author of three historical fiction novels inspired by the desire to bring women’s history and experiences into the spotlight. Into the World was published to wide acclaim in 2017 and longlisted for the Tasmania Book Prize. Josephine’s Garden, based on the true story of the woman who became Empress of France, was published in 2019. The Freedom of Birds is her third novel and due out in December 2021. She left a rewarding career as an environmental scientist to become an historical fiction author where she can express her love of travel, art and nature. After ten years living in Australia, she has returned to New Zealand and writes from her home overlooking the sea on the Coromandel Peninsula. For further information:
Gillian Polack
Dr Gillian Polack is a writer, editor, researcher and teacher. She recently won the 2020 Ditmar for best novel and was awarded the A Bertram Chandler Award for lifetime achievement . She has PhDs in Creative Writing and in Medieval History. Her research includes how writers think of history and how they use it in their fiction (published as History adn Fiction: Their Research, Worlds and Stories, 2016), and how other aspects of culture are encoded into novels. Her work on demystifying the Middle Ages can be found in The Middle Ages Unlocked: A Guide to Life in Medieval England, 1050-1300. For more information:
Bram Presser
Bram Presser is a semi-reformed punk rocker, recovering academic, lapsed criminal lawyer and two-time cartoon character. His debut novel, The Book of Dirt, was released to great acclaim and won the National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction (USA), the Voss Literary Prize (Aus) and three prizes in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards: the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing and the People’s Choice Award. For further information:
Felicity Pulman
Felicity Pulman’s fascination with mystery, history (Australian and medieval England) and Arthurian legend are reflected in her award-winning novels for children/teens and adults. Her medieval crime series, The Janna Chronicles, is set in the 1140s at the time of the ‘Anarchy’. Her latest series, the Shalott trilogy, is set in the quasi medieval world of Camelot, England in 1133, and Australia today. Five teenagers set out to change an ancient legend – but are they actually creating it? Felicity has many years’ experience talking about researching and writing her novels, and conducting creative writing workshops for all ages. For further information:
Cassandra Pybus
Cassandra Pybus is an historian and creative non fiction writer, and author of 12 books.
Jenny Quinlan
Jenny Quinlan, aka Jenny Q, is an independent editor and cover designer specializing in historical fiction. As the founder of Historical Editorial, she has helped hundreds of authors achieve their publishing goals and now manages a team of dedicated editors. She earned a degree in history from Virginia Tech and a copyediting certification from the University of California San Diego. Jenny serves as Chair of the Historical Novel Society North America Conference. She lives on a farm in Virginia with her family and a spoiled rotten German Shepherd. For further information:
Kate Quinn
Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” and “The Rose Code.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs. For further information:
Ian Reid
Ian Reid grew up in New Zealand and has lived for many years in Perth. The Madwoman’s Coat is his fifth historical novel. He is the author of 15 books — mainly fiction, poetry and literary criticism — and editor of several more. Ian’s work has been widely published, winning international recognition including the Antipodes Prize and being translated into five languages. He is an Adjunct Professor in English and Literary Studies at the University of Western Australia. For further information:
Kelly Rimmer
Kelly Rimmer is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and worldwide bestselling author of contemporary and historical fiction, including The Secret Daughter and The Things We Cannot Say. Kelly lives in rural Australia with her family and a whole menagerie of badly behaved animals. Her novels have been translated into more than 20 languages. For further information:
Mirandi Riwoe
Mirandi Riwoe’s Stone Sky Gold Mountain won the inaugural 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize and the Queensland Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Her novella The Fish Girl won Seizure’s Viva la Novella and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Her work has appeared in Best Australian Stories, Meanjin, Griffith Review and Best Summer Stories. Mirandi has a PhD in Creative Writing and Literary Studies (QUT). For further information:
Gabrielle Ryan
Gabrielle is a white writer and arts manager based in Melbourne. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, looking at the Gothic in historical fiction by Australian women writers, and is currently completing the novel that was the creative artefact of that PhD. She works as Events Manager at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas. For further information:
Jock Serong
Jock Serong is the author of five novels and the founding editor of Great Ocean Quarterly. His non-fiction work appears regularly in Australian media such as The Monthly and Sydney Morning Herald. Jock’s latest novel is The Burning Island, the second volume in a historical trilogy about true events in Bass Strait’s Furneaux Islands in the early nineteenth century. For more information:
Madison Shakespeare
Identifying proudly as an East coast salt-water First Nation person of Australia, Madison is a multi-disciplinary lawyer, filmmaker, artist and scholar who has developed extensive academic and pedagogical experience writing and coordinating all units of the Indigenous Major at Western Sydney University. Whilst still leading the Indigenous Major she is also engaged in decolonising cultural interface research at Flinders University and is privileged to learn from and collaborate with First Nations Peoples of Australia and globally.
Alli Sinclair
Alli Sinclair is a multi award-winning author who spent her early adult years travelling the globe, intent on becoming an Indiana Jones in heels. She scaled mountains in Nepal, Argentina, and Peru, rafted the Ganges, and rode a camel in the Sahara. Argentina and Peru became her home for a few years and when she wasn’t working as a mountain or tour guide, Alli could be found dancing tango, salsa, merengue, and samba. Alli’s stories capture the romance and thrill of exploring new destinations and cultures that also take readers on a journey of discovery. Her latest release, Beneath the Parisian Skies, is a sweeping saga about love, truth, grief and passion–and what it takes to fulfil a dream. For further information:
Elisabeth Storrs
Elisabeth Storrs has a great love for the history and legends of the ancient world. She is the award-winning author of the A Tale of Ancient Rome saga which was endorsed by Ursula Le Guin, Kate Quinn and Ben Kane. Now she’s hurtling centuries forward to write Treasured, a novel set in WW2 Berlin about stolen art, crazy Nazi archaeology, and a race to save the Trojan Gold. She is the founder and program director of the Historical Novel Society Australasia. In 2020, Elisabeth headed the team that introduced the $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize to the ANZ literary calendar. For further information:
Alison Stuart
Alison Stuart began her writing career half way up a tree in the school playground where she wrote her first (unpublished) historical romance. She writes historical romance for Harlequin MIRA, Escape Publishing and also publishes independently. She has twelve published novels as well as a number of shorter works. She also writes historical mysteries as A.M. Stuart and is published by Berkley Publishing (Penguin New York). For further information:
Josephine Taylor
Josephine Taylor is an Associate Editor at Westerly Magazine and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Writing at Edith Cowan University. After developing chronic gynaecological pain in 2000, she surrendered her career as a psychotherapist. Years later, research into the condition informed her prize-winning PhD thesis, an investigative memoir. Josephine teaches in literary fiction and non-fiction, and presents on disorder and creativity. Her short-form writing has been anthologised and published widely and her first novel, Eye of a Rook, was released by Fremantle Press in 2021. Josephine will be the Emerging Writer-in-Residence at Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre in 2022. For further information:
Peter Watt
Peter Watt’s life experiences have included time as a soldier, articled clerk to a solicitor, prawn trawler deckhand, builder’s labourer, pipe layer, real estate salesman, private investigator, police sergeant and adviser to the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. He has lived and worked with Aborigines, Islanders, Vietnamese and Papua New Guineans. He speaks, reads and writes Vietnamese and Pidgin – and has a reasonable grasp of the English language. He currently lives in Maclean, on the Clarence River in Northern NSW. Australian Institute of Training and Development and the Australian Society of Authors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (University of Tasmania), Post Graduate Diploma of Training & Development (University of New England) and an Associate Diploma of Justice Administration (Sturt University). For further information:
Christine Wells
Christine Wells is the author of fourteen published novels, including THE WIFE’S TALE, THE TRAITOR’S GIRL, THE JULIET CODE, and her new release, SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE. Writing in settings ranging from Regency and Georgian England to World War II England and France, Christine features strong women facing extraordinary circumstances throughout history. A former corporate lawyer, Christine lives with her family in Brisbane, Australia. For further information:
Dee White
Dee White is the author of more than 20 books for children and young adults. Beyond Belief, inspired by the true story of Muslims at a Paris mosque who saved Jewish children during WWII was a CBCA Notable book, a Crystal Kite finalist and a finalist from 1400 entries in the Screencraft 2021 Cinematic Book competition. Dee has presented workshops and talks throughout Australia and overseas including the Amsterdam SCBWI Europolitan Conference and 2018 Sharjah International Book Fair. Her current WIP is inspired by the true story of a 15 year-old boy who escaped over the Berlin Wall. For further information:
Pip Williams
Pip’s first publication was a poem in Dolly magazine when she was fifteen. She is co-author of the book Time Bomb: Work Rest and Play in Australia Today and in 2017 she published One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family’s travels in search of the good life. In 2020, Pip published The Dictionary of Lost Words which was the bestselling debut novel in 2020 and the winner of several awards, including the MUD Prize for debut fiction, the Indie Book of the Year, the ABIA General Fiction book of the year, and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards People’s Choice Award. For further information:
Sue Williams
Sue Williams is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist and travel writer, working in newspapers, magazines and TV in Australia, the UK and New Zealand. Born in England, but settling in Australia in 1989, she’s also lectures on writing at Boston University’s Sydney campus. After 25 non-fiction books, from biography and true crime to travel, her first historical novel, Elizabeth & Elizabeth, about a friendship between Governor’s wife Elizabeth Macquarie and wool pioneer Elizabeth Macarthur in early colonial Australia, was published in 2021 to much acclaim. She’s now working on another novel based in early 1800s Australia. For more information:
Greg Woodland
James Worner
James Worner is a longtime member of Sydney’s Pride History Group, a volunteer community group dedicated to researching, writing about and recording memories of underwritten LGBTIQ histories. Research for a historical novel, set on the New South Wales mid-north coast during World War I, resulted in James pursuing and recently completing a PhD in queer Australian masculinities. His doctoral submission included a number of short stories on masculinities of German internment. His most recent academic publication is a chapter on speculative autobiography, based on the 1934 ‘novel of contemporary life’ written by former internment camp guard, Edmond ‘Eddie’ Samuels. For further information:
Richard Zimler
Richard Zimler’s novels have been translated into 23 languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in 12 different countries. His most recent novel is The Gospel According to Lazarus. The Incandescent Threads, which will be published in 2022, is the latest novel in Richard’s Sephardic Cycle, a group of independent works that explore the lives of different generations of a Portuguese-Jewish family. This series also includes: The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Hunting Midnight, Guardian of the Dawn and The Seventh Gate. Richard has lived in Porto, Portugal since 1990. he was awarded the city’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor, in 2017. For further information:
