ASA Mentorship Program Mentors’ Register Children’s writing Goldie Alexander St Kilda, VIC Genres: children’s and young adult fiction, picture books, fiction for adults, non-fiction Preferred contact: email, face-to-face, post, telephone Goldie Alexander has written 65 fiction and non-fiction books published both here and overseas, plus many prizewinning short stories and articles. Her latest ‘how-to-write’ text for adults is Mentoring Your Memoir. She writes historical fiction, crime, science fiction, fantasy, magic realism and contemporary fiction. Her best known book, My Australian Story: Surviving Sydney Cove, is now in its 10th edition. Her latest historical fiction for young adults is The Youngest Cameleer. Her books for older children include the crime novel, Hedgeburners – An AZ PI Mystery. Also new is her third collection of short stories, Space Footy and Other Stories, the companion to My Horrible Cousins and Other Stories and eSide: a contemporary fantasy in five parts. Her culinary mystery trilogy for adults, Unjust Desserts, UnKind Cut and UnFair Coverup, are appearing as ebooks under the umbrella title of The Grevillea Murder Mysteries. With over two decades of taking Creative Writing workshops and classes in Writing for young adults and children, Fictionalizing history for both adults and children, Mentoring your memoirs, Creating short stories and Writing crime for all ages, Goldie can offer a wide range of writing experience and marketing to anyone interested in using her as a mentor. www.goldiealexander.com Nicole A Bourke Brisbane, QLD Genres: fiction, children’s literature Preferred contact: email and Skype I am the author of the novels The Bone Flute and The True Green of Hope as well as the children’s picture book What The Sky Knows (illustrated by Stella Danalis). I was lucky enough to be the winner of the QLD Premier’s Literary Award for The Bone Flute, shortlisted for two Children’s Book Council of Australia awards, and shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Award (Australasia). I’ve written a few other books as a ghostwriter: mostly memoirs and general non-fiction, but also a few children’s series books. I have also written a bunch of short stories, reviews and other bits and pieces, contributing to publications like The Australian, Griffith Review and the Courier Mail, as well as Perilous Adventures, where I was one of the editors until late 2012. My next novel, Rupetta, will be released in the UK in early 2013. I have acted as a literary judge for awards such as the QLD Premier’s Literary Awards, The James Tiptree Jr Award, and the Perilous Adventures Short Story Competition. I have a PhD from Griffith University – a Creative Writing and Literature thesis – and a deep and passionate interest in research and writing. Since 2006 I have worked as a writing mentor with Olvar Wood. Before that, I worked within universities for over ten years as a supervisor of postgraduate research degrees in Creative Writing and Cultural Studies (MAs and PhDs) as well as designing and delivering undergraduate courses in literature, cultural studies, research and creative writing. I still examine theses in creative writing, cultural studies and literary studies, and enjoy working with graduate students when the opportunity arises. Mark Carthew Melbourne, VIC Genres: children’s and illustrated books Preferred contact: face-to-face, email and phone Dr Mark Carthew is an award winning Australian children’s author, poet, musician and educator well known for his books and series celebrating language, humour and wordplay. His illustrated playscript series VoiceWorks has sold over one million titles worldwide. Mark’s recent releases include numerous poetry titles including Flabbergaster, Footprints on the Moon & Machino Supremo! Poems about machines co-written with Janeen Brian and the rhyme and riddle books Newts, Lutes and Bandicoots, Wicked Wizards & Leaping Lizards and Witches’ Britches, Itches & Twitches! produced in collaboration with renowned UK illustrator, Mike Spoor. Mark’s picture books include Five Little Owls illustrated Mini Goss and The Gobbling Tree, illustrated by Susy Boyer, winner of Speech Pathology Australia’s Book of the Year 2009. His anthology Can You Keep a Secret? Timeless rhymes to share and treasure illustrated by Jobi Murphy was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book, Early Childhood. Mark has a PhD in Writing from Swinburne University and his latest picture book The Moose is Loose! illustrated by Matt Stanton is published by Harper Collins Publishers / ABC Books. Mark is a current ASA Director and Executive Board Member and he is the recipient of a 2013 May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust CTR Fellowship. www.markcarthew.com.au Sue deGennaro Melbourne, VIC Genres: children’s literature, picture books Preferred contact: phone, face-to-face email, Skype I have a BA in film and Diploma in fine art and a certificate in welding. I have taught art in the pacific islands, worked in the circus as a trapeze artist and in 2009 I received a mentorship for The Pros and Cons of Being a Frog from the ASA. This manuscript was published by Scholastic in 2012. Since 2009 I have illustrated 10 picture books, along with writing and illustrating my own picture book. My books have been translated and sold through the USA, UK, Canada, China, Korea and Germany. I have been shortlisted, received a few CBCA notables and have a wee stack of rejection letters. Since 2010 I have run workshops for children at ‘Artplay’. I have taught writing for picture books at the CAE and am currently teaching writing for picture books at RMIT as part of the professional writers course. ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 2 of 8 Hazel Edwards Melbourne, VIC Genres: fiction for children and YA, as well as adult non-fiction Preferred contact: Skype webchat, telephone, email or face-to-face Best known for There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake, which recently premiered as a film, Hazel writes across media, and has co-authored young adult novels such as f2m; the boy within with Ryan Kennedy using Skype, and non-fiction Difficult Personalities with Dr Helen McGrath and Authorpreneurship: The business of creativity. Hazel mentors gifted students, runs non-boring writing workshops for genealogists, web-chats at literary festivals and lectures in Writing for Children, Non-fiction Projects and ‘Authorpreneurship’. www.hazeledwards.com James Foley Perth, WA Genres: children’s literature and picture books Preferred contact: phone, email, face-to-face, Skype James Foley is a children’s author and illustrator, cartoonist, public speaker and workshop facilitator. He is the author/illustrator of In The Lion (Walker Books, 2012) and the illustrator of The Amity Kids Adventures (2013) and The Last Viking (Fremantle Press, 2011). In The Lion was selected for the International Youth library’s White Raven list in 2013. The Last Viking won the 2012 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Crystal Kite Award, the 2012 WA Young Readers’ Hoffman Award, and a 2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia Junior Judges Award. It was shortlisted for a further four awards. James is a Books In Homes ambassador and the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Australia West. He is in high demand as a speaker at schools and libraries, and has a background in primary teaching. See www.jamesfoley.com.au for more information. Elaine Forrestal Perth, WA Genres: fiction, non-fiction, young adult, children's novels, short stories and picture books Preferred contact: email, phone Elaine grew up in small wheat-belt towns in Western Australia, but has travelled extensively and worked in France, Ireland and Canada. She has been a teacher, university lecturer, writerin-residence, workshop presenter (to adults and children), speaker at conferences and festivals and judge of writing competitions. In 2010, she spent the whole of Term 2 as Writer-inResidence at Duncraig Senior High School where she worked with every student in Years 8, 9 and 10 mentoring and editing their stories for the publication, Tales from the Castle. Since 1999, Elaine has made her living as a full-time writer with 15 fiction and one non-fiction titles published in Australia, UK, Italy, Slovenia and Korea. Her short stories are published in Australia, America and the UK. www.elaineforrestal.com.au Kate Forsyth Sydney, NSW Genres: fantasy and historical fiction for children, young adults and adults Preferred contact: email, face-to-face, telephone Kate Forsyth is the author of 25 books for children, young adults and adults, most of them ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 3 of 8 either Fantasy or Historical Fiction. Her books have been sold in 13 different countries around the world, including the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Russia, Japan and Italy, and regularly feature in the fantasy bestselling lists. She is best known for her Witches of Eileanan books, The Gypsy Crown series for children and her time travel adventure, The Puzzle Ring. She is currently studying a doctorate in fairytales, and is an experienced teacher, lecturer and mentor. www.kateforsyth.com.au Nigel Gray Perth, WA Genres: picture books, children's fiction, adult literary fiction Preferred contact: email, telephone I regard picture books as a particularly important art form. Because of the limitation of length, a good text is closer to poetry than prose (this is not a reference to rhyming texts). Picture books are usually a child’s introduction to the world of books. Books can become a child’s friends, a place they can be at home, and this opens doors to a lifetime of pleasure and opportunity. And children’s stories, without illustration, comprise the next important step in the development of a child's imagination and the ability to empathise. I have published more than 70 books, more than 55 of which have been for children. My books have been published in 25 countries and 22 languages, have won four major awards, been short-listed for 15 more, and have picked up 16 further honours in Australia, Europe and the United States. I have won The Dickens Fellowship Award and The Irish Post Award for Literature. I have previously been mentor to five writers in the ASA scheme. I have had extensive experience in teaching Creative Writing, as well as editing fiction for magazine and book publishing. www.nigelgray-author.com Sally Heinrich Adelaide, SA Genres: children’s writing and picture book illustration Preferred contact: email, face-to-face I started out as an illustrator, but since writing my first picture book about 15 years ago, I now spend about half my time writing and the other half drawing. As well as illustrating more than twenty books for other people, I have written and illustrated my own picture books, junior novels and a non-fiction series on Asian countries. I am an Asialink, Varuna and May Gibbs fellow. I have been running short courses and workshops on writing and illustrating picture books for both adults and children, for more than ten years, and also tutor ‘Writing for Children’ at University level. As well as working in a formal mentoring role, I have informally mentored a number of writers and illustrators over the past few years. I know from my own experience how valuable the right words at the right time can be, and take great pleasure in being able to help other creators on their journey in even a small way. www.sallyheinrich.com Nette Hilton Northern Rivers, NSW Genres: children’s literature Preferred contact: face-to-face, email, post, telephone ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 4 of 8 Nette Hilton’s work includes many short-listed and award winning titles and several of her works have been translated into many languages. Her recent work has been shortlisted for both the 2009 NSW and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards and listed as a Notable Book in the 2011 Children’s Book Council awards. Her work includes White Ravens awards – a prestigious award presented to books selected at the Bologna Children’s Book Festival. Her past life as a teacher has helped to make sure her writing students have a clear understanding of narrative structure which enables them to ask questions of their own work objectively. Her work with editors from major publishing houses enables her to work, in a similar way, with others – being able to ask the right questions empowers writers to take their work further. Nette is well placed to provide realistic and supportive feedback and constructive help for new authors. More mentorship information is listed at www.speakers-ink.com.au www.nettehilton.com.au Lizbeth Klein South Sydney, NSW Genres: fiction, young adult, children’s literature Preferred contact: telephone, email and face-to-face Elizabeth Klein is a qualified Primary School teacher with over 19 years experience in the classroom. She has published several stories for the Yellow Box, a reading kit for early readers in Primary School. She also has many on-line Educational articles and lessons published as well as poetry and stories in two anthologies. She is currently writing a fantasy series and has just completed her third book. She is partway into her fourth book in the series. In 2010, her novel Firelight of Heaven was short-listed in the Caleb Unpublished Manuscript Competition. In 2012, it was accepted for publication by Wombat Books. Her second book in the series, Green Heart of the Forest, was awarded a finalist position in the 2011 Caleb Competition and has been accepted for publication by Wombat Books. The third book in the series, Ice Breath of the Earth, was also awarded a finalist position in the Caleb Unpublished Manuscript Competition. Elizabeth has also judged several children’s competitions in the Sutherland Shire, including the Sutherland Shire Branch of the Children’s Book Council Primary School Writing Competition, the Sutherland Shire Writing Competition in 2011, the Picture Book Competition for the FAW Writers’ Festival in 2012 and the Writers’ Unleashed Picture Book Competition in 2012 and 2013. Stephen Measday Blue Mountains, NSW Genres: junior fiction, young adult fiction and screen adaptations Preferred contact: email, face-to-face, post, telephone Stephen Measday is the author of 17 books for younger readers (junior/young adult fiction) and has been published in Australia, USA, UK, South Korea, France, Indonesia and Germany. His latest junior fiction series is Send Simon Savage. So far, two of his mentored authors have created successful series and stand-alone titles with major publishers. Stephen's novels, A Pig Called Francis Bacon and The News They Didn’t Use, have been listed as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. He conducts creative writing workshops throughout Australia (for all ages) and lectured in scriptwriting for fifteen years at the University of Western Sydney. His scriptwriting awards include an Australian Writers Guild (Awgie) award for radio drama and a United Nations Media Peace Prize for an episode ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 5 of 8 of A Country Practice. Recent television work has included editing the Emmy nominated children's series, Hi-5. Stephen’s strengths in mentoring are one-to-one feedback on turning a concept into a story, plotting, structure, characterisation and dialogue. Jill Morris Maleny, Sunshine Coast Hinterland, QLD Genres: children’s fiction and non-fiction, all age levels; especially picture storybooks Preferred contact: email and posted hard copy I am the author of more than 100 children’s books, both fiction and non-fiction. Several have won awards for Educational Publishing, the Environment Award, shortlistings and Honour books for the Children’s Book Council of Australia; also one title chosen for the prestigious international White Ravens collection. I am a very experienced editor, having packagepublished three series of books for Curriculum Corporation and one for Rigby Education. My publishers have included Methuen, Harcourt Brace, Penguin, Jacaranda, Harper Collins, Scholastic, Pearson Education, Wendy Pye etc. I am the publishing director of Greater Glider Productions, an independent publisher working with 20 authors and 25 illustrators, many of who have achieved their first publication via my editing and mentorship. In 2005, I was given the Dame Annabelle Rankin Award for services to children’s literature in Queensland. I have attended several international book fairs and understand the international and Australian markets for children’s books. I have taught creative writing at all levels: primary, secondary, tertiary and adult students. I am also an experienced journalist, radio & TV scriptwriter and playwright. In 2010, I received accreditation from the Society of Editors as a 'Distinguished Editor'. www.greaterglider.com.au/jill/indexjm.html Jenny Pausacker Wollongong and the Illawarra, NSW Genres: children’s literature and young adult Preferred contact: phone, email, face-to-face, Skype Jenny Pausacker is an award-winning writer for children and young adults, with a PhD in children’s literature. She has published over 40 novels and been shortlisted for awards ranging from the KOALAs to the Children’s Book Council Older Readers Award. Her young adult novel Mr Enigmatic won the Ethel Turner prize in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Jenny has acted as mentor to 23 writers and nine of the novels she mentored have been published so far. Sally Rippin Melbourne, VIC Genres: children's picture books; writing and/or illustrations; junior novels. Preferred contact: email, face-to-face Sally Rippin is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. She has published over 40 children's books and two young adult novels. Sally has taught Writing For Children at RMIT, the Victorian Writers' Centre and the CAE. As well as acting as a mentor for the ASA, Sally runs workshops on making children's picture books and has assessed manuscripts for the Victorian Writers’ Centre. She is a regular speaker at schools and literary festivals around Australia. Her most recent books include the popular Billie B Brown series and Angel Creek. www.sallyrippin.com ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 6 of 8 Robyn Sheahan-Bright Gladstone, Queensland Genres: literary Fiction and Short Stories; YA Fiction, Children’s Fiction and Picture Books Preferred contact: telephone, email, post and face-to-face Dr Robyn Sheahan-Bright has operated justified text writing and publishing consultancy services since 1997, and is widely published in children’s literature, Australian fiction and publishing history. She judges a number of major literary awards and has both mentored and offered editorial advice to many writers over the last 20 years. She writes both reader’s reports and reading group notes for major publishers, has lectured in writing and publishing courses, and regularly assesses post-graduate creative writing for a number of universities. She was inaugural director of and is a Life Member of the Queensland Writers’ Centre, and was co-founder of Jam Roll Press. Her publications include Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia (1946-2005) (2006) co-edited with Craig Munro and Hot Iron Corrugated Sky: A Century of Queensland Writing (2003) co-edited with Stuart Glover. She was a member of the Literature Board (2001–3), and has been Program Manager of the Australian Publishers Association’s biennial Residential Editorial Program since 1999. She is a member of the ASA Management Committee. Julia Stiles Far South Coast, NSW Genres: fiction, general non-fiction, young adult and children's literature Preferred contact: email, telephone Julia Stiles is one of Australia’s most experienced and well-respected editors. She has been part of the ASA mentoring program for a number of years now and has worked with many emerging writers. She is experienced in a broad range of genres, including literary and commercial fiction, children’s and young adults’ fiction, and general non-fiction. Julia started her career with Pan Macmillan and then moved to Random House as Commissioning Editor. When she left Sydney to go sailing she began working as a freelancer and a decade later is still freelancing for the major publishing houses, although on dry land these days. She has taught editing and creative writing and is on the judging panel for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards. She has a BA in English Literature from Leeds University and a Masters in Australian Literature from Sydney University. Dianne Wolfer South-west WA / Perth Genres: picture book, younger readers fiction, YA fiction, short story and adult fiction. Preferred contact: email, face-to-face, telephone I am author of 12 books for children and teenagers with three books in development. My latest title, Lighthouse Girl, won the 2010 WA Young Readers’ Book Award and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's History Awards, WA Premier's Awards and was a Children’s Book Council Notable Book. My earlier picture book, Photographs in the Mud, is used as an international peace reference and has been translated into Japanese. Young adult novel, Choices, was published in Polish in 2011. I've been the Advisor for the WA chapter of the international Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for four years and I present workshops in schools, libraries and at festivals across Australia and internationally. I am a trained teacher, experienced mentor and spend much of my time working with students of all ages. As a mentor, I see my role as encouraging and gently challenging a writer to edit bravely and refine their work. I live in Albany, but travel regularly ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 7 of 8 to Perth. Encouraging a love of books and reading, particularly in young readers, is something I’m passionate about. I can work via phone, e-mail or, if possible, face-to-face. www.diannewolfer.com ASA Mentors: Children’s Writing Page 8 of 8