Hon Sandra Carr MLC

Sandra Carr MLC is the Member of Parliament for the Agricultural Region, a mother of two, sits on the board of Desert Blue Connect and has a profound appreciation for the privilege of living in Big Sky country. She has Bachelor of Arts in Literature and shared her love of words through teaching high school English in Geraldton, prior to becoming a Member of Parliament.

Lorraine Chapman

Trudi Cornish

Cr Peter Fiorenza

Peter Fiorenza is a locally born and bred lad and a City Councillor who loves Geraldton and its people. Peter has been a teacher at Nagle Catholic College for twenty years and since an early age has been involved in media. He hosts his own Sunday morning radio program "Fiorenza" on Sundays and broadcasts local football matches. Peter also writes a regular column for the Geraldton Guardian.

Veronica Lake 

Veronica Lake is a teacher of Literature, and has been since before the dawn of time. In her spare time, she edits the annual student poetry journal Primo Lux, which draws from students in high schools all over the state, and celebrates their distinctive voices and stories. The power and creativity inherent in language are very important to her and she tries hard to pass on and celebrate it with her students.   In 2010 she was awarded a Churchill Fellow for the study of Shakespeare and the way it is brought to new generations.  Veronica’s poems have been widely published and awarded.  In 2019 her first collection of poetry, Dragonfly Wing, was published by Sunline Press.

Linda Liem

Unfortunately Linda is no longer able to appear at Big Sky 2021.  The Festival Team wishes Linda and her family all the very best. 

Susan Smith

Susan Smith, former manager of Geraldton Regional Library, and director of eight Big Sky Festivals, is an avid reader of fiction. She is married to Malcolm and lives in an historic home in Beachlands. She walks and swims most days and is devoted to her garden.

Grant Woodhams

Lives in Geraldton and is studying for a Masters in Fine Arts - Writing, through Lindenwood University in the United States. Not surprisingly his interests are reading and writing. Many books read, no books published. Other interests include walking, football (all codes) and motor cycle and sidecar racing.

The Great Debate

Affirmative team - Kath Jones, Mark Canny and Ruben Wills

Negative team - Glyn Parry, Jackie Gill, Brian Poller

The topic is: 'Reading fiction creates unrealistic life expectations'

Books and storytelling have long been part of our human identity. In fact, storytelling is one of the oldest arts of all and a good fiction novel can transport a person to another world or time. We know the magic of literature has the power to educate, influence, and inspire. But does immersion through fiction lead to unrealistic life expectations?