Malla Nunn is an Australian author, screenwriter and director. Her latest book is Let the Dead Lie, the second Detective Emmanuel Cooper novel. Originally from Swaziland, she emigrated to Perth with her parents in the 1970s. Her twin passions are English and History and she spent some time in America

Sarah Waters’ 2009 novel, The Little Stranger, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and has received much praise and critical acclaim since its release. Set in 1940s England, it is a chilling ghost story about the Ayres family She is also the multi-award winning author of The Night Watch, and

The Long Song is award-winning author, Andrea Levy’s latest book. It is the story of July – a slave girl on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Set during the time of the Baptist War, when slavery eventually came to an end. Levy didn’t start her writing career until her mid-30s.

PD Martin is an Australian crime writer. Her latest book, Kiss of Death, features Aussie FBI profiler Sophie Anderson. Her academic career started with a Bachelor in Behavioural Sciences. She then went on to study music full time and it was during this period that she rediscovered her love of

Elizabeth Kostova’s second novel is The Swan Thieves, a story of obsession and art. Her first, The Historian, shot to number one on the New York Times bestseller list, becoming the first debut novel to do so. This historical novel explores the history and folklore of Vlad the Impaler, the

Sara Foster’s debut novel is Come Back to Me. Originally from England, she settled in Perth with her husband in 2004. Although she started her career in book publishing and has been working as a freelance editor for the last decade, she has always had an interest in writing and

Christopher Ride self-published his first novel, The Schumann Frequency, after spending 10 years writing it but having no success in finding a publisher. He went on to sell well over the 10,000 copies he was aiming for and the rights to the novel were eventually bought by Random House. They

Penelope Green is a freelance journalist and author. She has published three travel memoirs recounting her time in Italy – When In Rome, See Naples and Die, and the latest, Girl By Sea. It is the story of her life in Procida, an idyllic island looking over the Bay of

Liz Byrski is a freelance journalist and author of 14 non-fiction and fiction books. Her latest novel is Bad Behaviour, a story of three women coming to terms with their past. As a journalist she has over 40 years’ experience in the media, both in England and Australia. She worked

Liz Byrski is a freelance journalist and author of 14 non-fiction and fiction books. Her latest novel is Bad Behaviour, a story of three women coming to terms with their past. As a journalist she has over 40 years’ experience in the media, both in England and Australia. She worked

Tom Rob Smith’s latest novel is The Secret Speech. It is the second book to feature detective Leo Demidov, who first appeared in Smith’s debut novel, Child 44. Child 44 won huge acclaim when it was released in 2008. It was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, won the 2008

Jack Marx is a Walkley-Award winning journalist, blogger and author. His latest book is Australian Tragic: Gripping Tales From the Dark Side of Our History, a book of true stories from Australia’s ‘dark heart’. As a journalist, Jack has written for The Sydney Morning Herald, Rolling Stone, The Times, The

Andrew Griffiths is an entrepreneur and author of ten books. His latest is The ME Myth – a book about how to combat the self-obsession of the modern world. It has been published by Simon & Schuster. He is also the author of the ‘101 Ways’ business building series of

Scott Frost is a screen writer and novelist with some incredibly successful television programs and books to his credit. Before turning to writing he worked for several years as a photographer. His television credits include shows such as Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Babylon Five and Andromeda. He has also written

JJ Cooper’s debut novel is The Interrogator. It is a military thriller made frighteningly authentic thanks to Cooper’s own experience as a Human Intelligence officer with the Australian Army. He spent 17 years in the army, during which time he did two tours of duty in East Timor and one

Lisa Lutz is the author of the Spellman series, the latest of which, Revenge of the Spellmans, has just been released. Other books in the series are The Spellman Files and The Curse of the Spellmans. The books are about a family of private investigators and have sold in over

Michael McGirr is the author of the best-selling books Things You Get For Free, about his trip to Europe with his mother, and Bypass: the story of a road, about Australia’s ‘main road’, the Hume Highway. His latest book is The Lost Art of Sleep and it follows on from

Dr Leah Giarratano has been a clinical psychologist for many years – she’s therefore well placed to write convincing crime thrillers. Her latest book is Black Ice, the third in the series of Jill Jackson novels. Her background in psychology focuses on trauma, sex offences and psychopathology. She has worked

Linwood Barclay is the hugely successful author of No Time for Goodbye, which was the bestselling novel in the UK for 2008. He started his career in journalism in his hometown of Ontario, Canada and went on to become a regular humour columnist in the Toronto Star from 1993 to

Marele Day is the author of 10 books, including the four-book Claudia Valentine series of crime novels. Her latest book is The Sea Bed, about a Buddhist monk who leaves his monastery to carry out a fellow monk’s dying wish. She has won several awards including the Ned Kelly Lifetime

Helen Brown is a newspaper columnist and author originally from New Zealand and now living in Melbourne. She has published 10 books and has written regular columns for papers such as the Christchurch Star, Marlborough Express and LIVE Magazine. This year she was awarded the Qantas Columnist of the Year

In 1992, 18 months after finishing high school, Poppy King set up Poppy Industries. Through her company she sold her own brand of lipstick, and within three years, her business had grown into a multi-million dollar company. She quickly became known as the ‘Lipstick Queen’. In 2002 Poppy Industries was

Susannah Fullerton is a popular literary lecturer and author. She is a leading authority on 19th and 20th century writers with a special interest in Jane Austen – she is president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia. She also leads literary tours to the UK every year. Her latest

Craig Silvey was only 19 when he finished his first novel, Rhubarb. It was published two years later in 2004 and won Craig The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist award. The book was hailed by critics and readers alike and was chosen as the ‘One Book’ for the Perth

Mary Moody has had a long passion for gardening. She moved from Sydney to Leura in late 1970s with her family and there became an avid gardener and self-sufficiency advocate. Her gardening and love of writing led to a number of columns on gardening and eventually many books, including the