Young Readers' Day

Cheryl Leavy is from the Kooma and Nguri nations in western and central Queensland. She is an award-winning poet and writer who loves to tell stories that celebrate First Nations culture, history and Country. Yanga Mother is her first picture book. Her second, For You Country, will be published in 2025. 

Luke Springer, known by his online followers as internationally renowned internet teacher sensation, Mr. Luke, is a beloved teacher based in Adelaide who teaches children in their first year of school.  With almost a decade of teaching experience under his belt and a passion for plants, Luke shares his experiences and the joys of being a male junior primary educator through engaging content online. 

Chris Kennett has been drawing ever since he could hold a pencil (or so his mum says). But professionally, Chris has been creating quirky characters for just over 20 years. He's best known for drawing weird and wonderful creatures from the Star Wars universe, and his School of Monsters and Nerd Herd series. 

Peter Carnavas writes and illustrates books for children. He has made many picture books, such as The Children Who Loved Books, Last Tree in the City and A Quiet Girl. His novel The Elephant won a Queensland Literary Award and was shortlisted in four other national awards. He has won an Australian Book Industry Award and a SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and his books have been published widely across the world. Peter's latest book, My Brother Ben, won the 2022 Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, was shortlisted at the 2022 Speech Pathology Book of the Year Awards, longlisted for the 2022 Australian Book Industry Award's Book of the Year for Younger Children, and was a 2022 CBCA Notable. Peter lives on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, with his wife, two daughters, a dog and a cat. 

Tylissa Elisara is a children's social worker who lives and works in Meanjin (Brisbane) with her husband and children. She descends from the Narungga, Kaurna and Adnyamathanha people of South Australia and was born and raised on Mamu Country in Innisfail, Queensland - a heritage, alongside her Irish ancestry, that she proudly regards as a long legacy of storytelling. Tylissa is studying a Master of Writing, Editing and Publishing at the University of Queensland. Wurrtoo is her first novel. 

Tania Crampton-Larking is a proud Mirning woman who writes to inspire others to connect with Nature's vibrant, timeless beauty. She seeks to promote caring values that are opposed to destructive ignorance and racism. She is passionate about fighting for the preservation and restoration of Earth's healthy natural systems, and for a future that is safe, magical and sacred for all. 

Claire Mabey is a writer, founder of literary organisation Verb Wellington and is the current books editor at The Spinoff. She has worked at many arts and book festivals over the past 15 years and still feels passionate about the role of festivity in our lives. Her first novel is The Raven's Eye Runaways and is  a middle grade adventure novel about the magic of books, the importance of friendship and the secrets buried deep in families. Claire is mum to Charlie and lives on the wildly beautiful south coast of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. 

Alina Bellchambers grew up in her family’s bookstore and spent a childhood immersed in fantastical worlds. She now writes romantic fantasies featuring fierce female protagonists, morally grey characters, magic and seductive court politics. She has a psychology degree from Flinders University.

Erin Gough is a Sydney-based writer whose award-winning novels for young adults have been published internationally. Her first novel, The Flywheel, won the Hardie Grant Ampersand Prize, and her second, Amelia Westlake, was winner of the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the NSW Premier's Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult Fiction. Erin’s short fiction has appeared in journals and anthologies including The Griffith Review, Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories, and Best Australian Stories. Into the Mouth of the Wolf is her third novel. 

Jane Godwin is a highly acclaimed author of over forty books for children, across all styles and ages. Her work is published internationally and she has received many commendations. Jane spends as much time as she can working with young people in schools and communities, running various literature and writing programs, making books and encouraging students in their own creative ventures.
Jane lives in Melbourne with her family.