LoveOzYA celebrates the best of new Australian writing for teenage readers. It has grown from a humble hashtag into a movement, reflecting the important role young-adult fiction plays in shaping our current generation of readers. This anthology collects, for the first time, some of the tremendous work from the #LoveOzYA community.

Michael Earp is a non-binary writer and bookseller living in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). They are the contributing editor of Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories (2019) and contributor to Underdog: #LoveOzYA Short Stories (2019). The next anthology they are editing is coming from Affirm Press in October 2023 with another from Fremantle Press in June 2024. Their writing has also appeared in Archer, The Age, PopMatters, The Victorian Writer and Aurealis. For twenty years they have worked between bookselling and publishing as a children’s and young adult specialist. In 2021, they were awarded the Australian Booksellers Association Bookseller of the Year for their role managing The Little Bookroom, the world’s oldest children’s bookstore. A passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ literature for young people, they established the #AusQueerYA Tumblr to catalogue all Australian young adult fiction containing queer content and characters. Representation of all people in the literature available to readers of all ages is the ethos that motivates their entire career. They have a Masters in Children’s Literature and a Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Teaching and previously served as committee chair for the #LoveOzYA campaign. Tea is the source of all their power. Repped by Linda Epstein at Emerald City Literary Agency.

Sofia Casanova is a writer and editor based in Sydney. Her writing has been featured in Voiceworks, Meanjin, Junkee, Chattr and she frequently tweets @sofiaecasanova. Her short story about friendship and self-discovery in Underdog: #LoveOzYA Short Stories was published in March 2019.