I was born in 1975 on the Isle of Man and spent my childhood there, in Sudan, in Papua New Guinea and in Australia. I did lots of my daydreaming in planes, trains and boats including one boat that my dad made with a glass base so my little sister and I could see fish and coral going past underneath us. For a little while I had a mouse and the best present my mum and dad ever gave me (apart from my sister) was my own piano. My favourite books were The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and the Ramona stories by Beverly Cleary. Though I love returning to those stories (especially Wind in the Willows) these days my favourites are anything by bell hooks or Alain de Botton. I live in Melbourne near a river, write books for children, make dolls, nests and the occasional skirt, go to lots of markets and have cups of tea with my friends. I have a special interest in helping people to find the kind of work that is right for them. I don’t spend quite as much time on planes, trains and boats as I used to, but I walk up and down mountains whenever I find a spare moment. And I still have that same piano.

As a child, David Metzenthen was a nature boy; he loved fishing and farm work, exploring the bush, and being outdoors under the stars. He also lived very much inside his own head; feeling that the world was a place of unlimited adventure. He harboured dreams of becoming a cowboy, a fisherman, a farmer, a sailor, or a writer. Instead he left home at eighteen, with a copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road for company, and hitch-hiked his way around New Zealand. Returning to Australia, David worked as a builder's labourer and advertising copy writer before finding success as a writer of books for children and young adults. David Metzenthen now lives with his wife and two children in Melbourne and is one of Australia's top writers for young people. He has received many awards for excellence, including the 2000 CBCA Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for Stony Heart Country, a 2003 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Wildlight, and a 2003 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Boys of Blood and Bone. In 2004, Boys of Blood and Bone also won a NSW Premier's Literary Award and was an Honour Book in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers. His novel Black Water was an Honour Book in the 2008 CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers, and Jarvis 24 won the CBCA Award for Book of the Year: Older Readers in 2010, as well as being shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, WA Premier's Literary Award, Inky Awards and SA Festival Awards for Literature.

Margaret Clark was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia on 20th April 1942. She has written books under the name M.D.Clark, Margaret D Clark and Lee Striker. Now she writes as Margaret Clark. With over one hundred books about relationships, friendships, and social issues under the guise of humour, Margaret's books have become very popular with young readers. She writes for ages four years to sixteen years. Her first book Pugwall was published in 1987 and subsequently made into a TV series, followed by Pugwall's Summer in 1989.

Jane Godwin is the Publisher, Books for Children and Young Adults, at Penguin Books Australia. She is also a highly acclaimed author of many books for children. Her work is published internationally and she has received many commendations. The Family Tree won the 2000 Queensland Premier's Award (Children's Books); Sebby, Stee, the Garbos and Me was shortlisted for the 1999 New South Wales State Literary Award (Patricia Wrightson Prize) and was a YABBA finalist; and The True Story of Mary was shortlisted for the 2006 CBCA Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers. In 2009 her picture book with illustrator Anna Walker, Little Cat and the Big Red Bus, was a notable book in the CBCA Awards and was also shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Awards, Lower Primary division. Jane's most recent novel is Falling From Grace, and her most recent picture book is All Through the Year, illustrated by Anna Walker, due for publication in October 2010. Jane lives in Melbourne with her family. Her hobbies seem to have fallen by the wayside a little since she has taken on the role of publisher, but from what she remembers, they were playing tennis, walking, reading (things other than manuscripts), doing cryptic crosswords, talking about the need to do gardening (and sometimes even doing it), cooking, playing piano, spending time with friends and mucking around with family which consists of partner Michael and two adolescents, Wil (19) and Lizzie (17). She still manages the cryptic crosswords, friends and family. Jane also enjoys working creatively with school students, encouraging them to develop confidence in their own creativity, ideas and abilities.