Melissa Keil and Dhonielle Clayton at the Wheeler Centre

In a response to a reader’s letter, YA author Malinda Lo once wrote, ‘Diversity is not important. Diversity is reality. Human beings are not all the same.’ If books function as tools of empathy, what happens when we never see ourselves in them, let alone at the centre of a story? How can we support and encourage real representation in our literature, especially for younger readers?

Dhonielle Clayton is a bestselling author of YA fiction, including The Belles and The Everlasting Rose. She’s a former teacher and librarian. And she’s the COO of We Need Diverse Books, the US-based campaign for a more inclusive and representative literary milieu. The movement began as a hashtag, went viral, then formalised into a non-profit in order to methodically press for progress.

Clayton joins host Melissa Keil to talk about her writing, as well as the importance of Own Voices stories, and some of the problems with traditional publishing models. She highlights ways these models can shift while still retaining the crucial ability to connect with readers, and considers how we can create a more equitable and exciting literary culture.

Dark, complex and utterly addictive, Veronica Roth's blockbuster dystopian YA novels have ensnared a generation of young readers. In Melbourne for the first time, this superstar of YA sci-fi talks fantasy worlds, fan fiction and unseen, fate-deciding forces with Amie Kaufman.

Photo: Scott Limbrick

Just 22 years old when she wrote the first book in her wildly successful Divergent trilogy, Roth has gone on to sell more than 35 million copies in the series. The Divergent movies have packed cinemas across the world, too – with fans obsessing over Roth's gutsy heroine, Tris, and her epic journey of courage, sacrifice and coming of age in post-apocalyptic Chicago.

With her latest series, Carve the Mark, Roth again presents a dystopian vision. This time, it's a richly imagined intergalactic setting – replete with tyrants, conspiracies, fascinating technology and a powerful, invisible phenomenon known as 'the current'.