Obsessions and Inspirations

Emily Bitto is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She has a Masters in Literary Studies and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne. Her debut novel, The Strays, was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, and the published novel went on to win the 2015 Stella Prize. The Strays was published in the US, UK, Canada and Portugal, and rights for a television adaptation are currently under option. Her second novel, Wild Abandon, was published in October 2021 by Allen and Unwin. Emily's work has appeared widely in Australian publications including Meanjin, The Age, The Monthly, The Saturday Paper and The Big Issue. She has been teaching creative writing for over a decade, and is currently a teacher and course advisor at the Faber Writing Academy. She also co-owns Carlton wine bar Heartattack and Vine, and a new bar in Brunswick West called Shabooh Shoobah.

Jennifer Down is an author, editor and translator. Her most recent novel, Bodies of Light, received critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award. In 2018, her short story collection Pulse Points was awarded the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and Steele Rudd Prize for Short Fiction in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. She was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist in 2017 and 2018.

Lauren Sherritt is a storyteller whose work spans theatre, podcasts, narrative non-fiction and digital campaigns. She was a resident at The Ethics Centre in 2023-24, exploring the ethics of having children in a world in crisis. In 2020, she was commissioned to co-write eco-feminist play Rising, which was produced by Playlab Theatre and premiered at Metro Arts in 2021. She has produced podcasts and had writing published by Junkee, Writing Queensland, Story City, Australian Stage and the Australian Theatre for Young People.