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Craig Silvey
Craig Silvey is an author and screenwriter from Fremantle, Western Australia. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Rhubarb, was published in 2004. His bestselling second novel, Jasper Jones, was released in 2009 and is considered a modern Australian classic, winning plaudits in three continents. Honeybee is his third novel.
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Robert Drewe
IMPORTANT UPDATE 22/8/21: Due to COVID restrictions on persons entering from NSW, very unfortunately Robert Drewe will no longer be able to attend our Festival in person and will instead deliver the Keynote Address via video. We wish Robert and his family all the very best, Festival Team.
Robert Drewe’s novels, short stories and memoirs have won national and international prizes, been widely translated, and adapted for film, television, radio and theatre. He grew up on the WA coast, the setting for his memoirs The Shark Net and Montebello. A Walkley-award-winning journalist, he turned to fiction with The Savage Crows, followed by The Drowner, A Cry in the Jungle Bar, Grace, Our Sunshine, Whipbird and Fortune. His short-story collections are The Bodysurfers, The Rip, The Bay of Contented Men, which won a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and The True Colour of the Sea, which won the Colin Roderick Prize for the best Australian book of 2018.
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Steve Hawke
Steve Hawke grew up in Melbourne, then lived in the Kimberley for many years before settling in the Perth hills. He has worked with Kimberley Indigenous communities and organisations for over forty years. He has written plays, novels, a children’s novel, biographies and social histories.
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Bill Dempsey
Bill Dempsey was born in Birdum, Northern Territory. At the age of 3 he was placed in Retta Dixon Mission, Darwin. Bill attended school in Darwin and aged 17/18 was recruited to play for West Perth Football Club. He attended Leederville TAFE and studied Accountancy. During his football career Bill started Dempsey Day Scaffolding Company, later also working as a Project Manager for Aboriginal Housing, specifically in the Kimberley Region. Bill retired in 2012.
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Fiona Palmer
Fiona Palmer spends her days writing fiction, working as a farmhand, volunteering and caring for her two teenage children in the tiny rural community of Pingaring, 350km from Perth. Fiona's books contain engaging storylines, emotions and hearty characters. Her novels are consistently Top 10 national bestsellers and some translated into German. She loves to surf, welding and also races speedway.
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Stella Budrikis
Stella Budrikis completed high school in Albany then trained at the UWA medical school. For several years she and her husband were in general practice in Goomalling. She began writing articles for publication when her two daughters were in primary school. After retiring from medical practice, she published her first book in 2017.
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Brigid Lowry
Brigid Lowry has an MA in Creative Writing, and is the author of many prize-winning YA books. Her adult titles are Still Life With Teapot: On Zen, Writing and Creativity and A Year of Loving Kindness to Myself and Other Essays. Brigid believes in op shops, coloured pencils and floral frocks, and in fostering joy and creativity in herself and others.
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Sasha Wasley
Sasha Wasley was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia and is an author of contemporary fiction. She has completed a PhD in feminist theory and loves nature, Jane Austen and puns. She also writes young adult and mystery as SD Wasley. She lives in the Perth hills region with her family, surrounded by dogs, cats and chickens.
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Glyn Parry
Glyn is no stranger to our shores. His earliest novels were written here, and the song of the sea is never far away. A festival treasure, he disarms adults and children alike with his love of story and gracious responses. This will be his only appearance in 2021.
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Steve Twartz
Stephen is an author and artist, sixth/seventh generation Australian, with Irish/English/German heritage. He has worked as a biologist, geologist, engineer and environmental manager over many years across four continents, based in Western Australia, currently residing in Dunsborough, WA. The Veiled Thread, is a debut historical novel, released in March 2020.
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Campbell Whyte
Campbell Whyte creates comics and illustrations, mixing traditional media with digital elements. His graphic novel series, Home Time is a distinctly Australian fantasy series set in Perth that has been met with critical acclaim. When not making comics, he teaches comics making at the Milktooth: Children's School of Art and Stories.
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Peter Ciemitis
Peteris (Peter) Ciemitis is an Australian artist noted for his contemporary portraiture and landscapes. His work has been defined as contemporary expressionism and described by one of Australia’s pre-eminent Festival Directors Robyn Archer as “landscape(s) of humanity rather than an objective portrait or individual study”. He was winner of the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture in 2010 and has been a finalist twice in the Archibald Prize.
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Rosie Sitorus
Rosie Sitorus is a linguist, writer and musician based in Geraldton, WA. Her professional and personal creative practice focuses on sharing knowledge and experiences through storytelling and is always looking for new and engaging ways to do this. A hobbyist polyglot, Rosie splits her time between managing the regional Aboriginal language centre, writing songs with Thiinma elder Peter Salmon, and tending to the whims of her two dogs.
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Amanda Rowland
Amanda trained as a Fine Arts student in Melbourne and practised as an artist (sculptor) for over 20 years. Living in the Southern Rangelands inspired the podcast series www.soilandhumanhealth.com, an ongoing investigation of our agricultural and pastoral practises through the lens of human and ecosystem health.
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