High-flyers and Groundbreakers (Online)

Laura Elvery is a writer from Brisbane. She is the author of two short story collections, Trick of the Light and Ordinary Matter. Laura's next book is a novel called Nightingale that reimagines Florence Nightingale's final hours. 

Women have been flying planes ever since there have been planes to fly, but, with a few notable exceptions, they have not been visible or well known. Tenacious, determined and sometimes fearless, Kathy Mexted shares the stories of ten extraordinary Australian women compelled to take to the skies. You will meet trailblazers like Nancy Bird Walton, Deborah Wardley, who was told by Ansett that women couldn't be pilots, and Gaby Kennard, the first Australian woman to fly solo around the world. Others are perhaps less known, but as flyers of Spitfires, Tiger Moths, Cessnas and fighter jets, their stories are just as extraordinary. Packed with drama, adventure and sometimes heartbreak, this riveting book is a salute to those women who refused to keep their feet on the ground.

Holly Zwalf is a writer and podcaster with a background in screenwriting, performance poetry, cabaret, stand-up comedy, and freelance writing for a variety of online magazines. She's a queer solo parent by choice who lives in the bush in regional Queensland with her wild child. She's recently created a podcast called Dangerous Women, about influential women in Queensland's history, for the Qld State Library. Her queer comedy series Breeders was selected for SBS/Screen Australia's Digital Originals in 2018, and in 2020 she was a Queensland state finalist for AFTRS and Screen Australia’s Talent Camp. Her documentary Tea Change was one of six projects shortlisted for OutHere, a Channel Ten and Screen Australia regional LGBTQ+ documentary initiative. In her spare time, of which she has none, she's also the coordinator of Rainbow Families Qld.