Sydney Writers' Festival

RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH (LOCAL)
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH is the award-winning author of the young adult novels Does My Head Look Big in This? and Ten Things I Hate About Me. She is 28, and has her own identity hyphens to contend with (Australian-born-Muslim-Palestinian-Egyptian-choc-a-holic). Randa is active in the interfaith community and a member of the Coalition for Peace and Justice in Palestine. Randa also works as a lawyer and lives in Sydney with her husband and their two children. Her books have received acclaim around the world. Most recently, Randa was awarded the Kathleen Mitchell Award, a biennial literary award that acknowledges excellence in writers under 30. Randa's latest novel is Where the Streets Had a Name.

also appearing at...
53: Secondary School Days - Parramatta

GARTH NIX (LOCAL)
GARTH NIX has worked as a bookseller, book sales representative, publicist, editor, marketing consultant and literary agent. More than five million copies of his books have been sold around the world and his work has been translated into more than 37 languages. Garth's books include the award-winning fantasy novels Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen, and the young adult science fiction novel Shade's Children. His fantasy novels for children include The Ragwitch, the six books of The Seventh Tower sequence, and The Keys To The Kingdom series that begins with the CBC Honour Book Mister Monday. Garth's most recent titles are Superior Saturday, the sixth instalment of the hugely popular Keys to the Kingdom series and One Beastly Beast, a collection of short stories for younger readers. Garth's books have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, Publishers Weekly (US), The Bookseller (UK), The Australian and The Sunday Times (UK).
 garthnix.co.uk

also appearing at...
53: Secondary School Days - Parramatta
304: The Secrets of Writing Fantasy for Young Adults

JAMES ROY (LOCAL)
JAMES ROY is the author of non-fiction, young adult, primary and middle-grade books. James won the 2008 NSW Premier’s Literary Award for the critically acclaimed Town. His most recent novel, Hunting Elephants, deals with the deceptive nature of truth. A much sought-after presenter, James visits thousands of students across Australia and South-East Asia each year, talking enthusiastically about the writing life and helping young people discover their own talents for creative writing.
 jamesroy.com.au

also appearing at...
53: Secondary School Days - Parramatta

ISOBELLE CARMODY (INTERSTATE)
ISOBELLE CARMODY is Australia's most highly acclaimed author of fantasy titles for young adults. She began her first book, Obernewtyn, when she was fourteen and since then she has written some of our greatest works of fantasy. She is perhaps best known for the Obernewtyn Chronicles and for her novel The Gathering, which was joint winner of the 1993 Children's Literature Peace Prize and the 1994 CBCA Book of the Year. Another of her novels, Greylands, was joint winner of the 1997 Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction - Young Adult Division, and was named a White Raven at the 1998 Bologna Children's Book Fair. The Stone Key, the fifth installment of the Obernewtyn Chronicles, was published last year. With her partner and daughter, Isobelle divides her time between Prague in the Czech Republic and her home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia.

Isobelle Carmody’s participation in SWF is supported by Penguin Australia.

also appearing at...
53: Secondary School Days - Parramatta
304: The Secrets of Writing Fantasy for Young Adults

MAL PEET (INTERNATIONAL)

MAL PEET is a writer of exceptional talent who has established himself as a strong and distinctive voice in young adult fiction, winning the 2005 Carnegie Medal for his second novel, Tamar. His first novel for young adults, Keeper, won the 2004 Branford Boase Award and the Bronze Nestlé Smarties Book Award. An author and illustrator, Mal has produced over 80 books for young children, most of them in collaboration with his wife, Elspeth Graham. His third Paul Faustino novel, Exposure, has just been released.

Mal Peet’s participation in SWF is supported by Walker Books.

also appearing at...
53: Secondary School Days - Parramatta
297: Don’t Tell the Teenagers: Young Adult Fiction That’s "Too Hard" for Young Adults

LENNY ANN LOW (LOCAL)

LENNY ANN LOW is a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald and writes and performs comedy with Frumpus and double-act Hart & Low.

also appearing at...
15: Primary School Days - Sydney