Christina Stead

Rodney Hall is the award-winning writer of of 36 books whose novels have been published across the world to widespread acclaim.

Rodney has twice won the Miles Franklin Award. Many of his books have been published in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia - and in translation into French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Korean. The New York Times hailed him as, ‘A thrillingly smart and juicy writer.’ He was poetry editor of The Australian for 11 years and Chairman of the Australia Council from 1991 to 1994. His latest book is a collection of short fiction called Silence, published by Pier 9.

Ramona Koval is a writer who has worked as a journalist and broadcaster. Her most recent books are A Letter to Layla: Travels to our Deep Past and Near Future, Bloodhound: Searching For My Father, and By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life (all published by Text). She was the editor of two volumes of Best Australian Essays (Black Inc.). Her notable literary interviews are collected in Speaking Volumes: Conversations with Remarkable Writers (Scribe). From 2006 to 2011 she presented Radio National’s Book Show, and before that a series of ABC Radio programs since the 1980s, including the iconic Books and Writing. She has written for the Age, the Australian, The Saturday Paper, and many international literary publications and made radio documentaries for ABC and BBC World Service. She is currently an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University.