Drawing a Line

Mandy Beaumont is an award-winning writer and a researcher in creative writing. Her debut novel The Furies was long-listed for the prestigious Stella Prize and shortlisted for the MUD Literary Prize as well as the Queensland Literary Awards Fiction Book of the Year. Her collection of short stories, Wild, Fearless Chests, was shortlisted for the Richell Prize and the Dorothy Hewett Award. Stories from the collection also won the MOTH International Short Story Prize and were shortlisted for other notable awards. She was a convenor in creative writing and communications at Griffith University for over a decade, and holds a PhD and a Research Masters in creative writing. She is also a regular feature writer and book reviewer for The Big Issue. Her new crime novel, The Thrill of It, will be out across Australia and New Zealand with Hachette Publishing in March 2025. 

Louise Milligan is an award-winning investigative journalist and author. A senior reporter with ABC’s Four Corners, Milligan’s high-profile stories have sparked national conversations on issues like abuse, corruption and accountability. Her acclaimed book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, which won a Walkley Book Award, examines the complex intersection of faith, power, and justice. Her debut novel is Pheasants Nest. 

Michael Robotham previously worked as a feature writer and investigative reporter in Britain, Australia and America, and with clinical and forensic psychologists as they helped police investigate complex, psychologically driven crimes. Hs debut thriller The Suspect (2004) has sold more than a million copies and is now a major ABC TV series. Storm Child is the highly anticipated fourth novel in his globally bestselling Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac series. 

Beejay Silcox is an Australian writer and critic, and the Artistic Director of Canberra Writers Festival. Beejay’s literary criticism and cultural commentary regularly appears in national arts publications and is increasingly finding an international audience, including in the Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. Her award-winning short fiction has been published at home (including in Meanjin, Westerly and ABR) and abroad, and has also been anthologised.