Ali Lowe

Ali Lowe's writing is often labelled ‘suburban noir’, a cross between Big Little Lies and Desperate Housewives. Ali is a former journalist and the author of three books: The Trivia Night, The Running Club and her latest, The School Run. 

Her first, The Trivia Night, about a group of partner-swapping primary school parents in a wealthy Australian beachside suburb, became a global bestseller and was optioned by Paramount TV. 

Ali’s books are published in the UK, Australia and NZ, and she was recently signed by Crooked Lane Books to publish The School Run, a story about parents competing to the death to secure high school places for their sons, in America. 

Ali lives on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with her husband and three young children. 

Eleanor Elliott Thomas

Eleanor Elliott Thomas worked for many years as a human rights lawyer and now writes full-time. Alongside her work as a novelist, she publishes a fortnightly Substack newsletter on books, TV and popular culture (What Is This, Who am I, Please Help), and makes occasional comics about a stressed-out anthropomorphic bear (www.isolationbear.com). She has written reviews for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Limelight Magazine, and published and performed short fiction for the Sleepers Almanac and the Slow Canoe Journal. In 2022, she completed the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course, and was signed by Text Publishing. Her first novel is The Opposite of Success (2023), - a contemporary comedy about failure.
 

Karen Viggers

Karen Viggers is a veterinarian, podcaster, and retired soccer mum. She is also the author of five internationally bestselling novels, her books having sold almost a million copies in France. She writes about lighthouses, country towns, pets and wildlife, forests and mountains, urban families and junior sport. She especially likes to write about modern life and relationships. Being a vet, she can’t help sneaking a few animals into her books. Her latest novel, Sidelines, is a family drama about parents trying to support their kids’ ambitions in sport. But whose success is really at stake here? 

Suzanne Burdon

Suzanne Burdon was the founder and first Artistic Director of the inaugural Berry Writer’s Festival. She is the author of an award-winning novel, Almost Invincible: A Biographical Novel of Mary Shelley, Author of Frankenstein, and a collection of poetry, Socio-Illogical. Suzanne is a sociologist, research consultant and communication specialist living in Sydney and Gerroa. She has also worked in advertising, marketing and education. She served on the Board of The Australian Society of Authors for four years and on the Committee of the Research Society of NSW for three years.