John is contributing editor to the London Review of Books, and a former Classics editor at Penguin.

Michele is a Melbourne-based author of several books including one on El Salvador, where she lived and worked.

For a decade Terrence Holt taught creative writing as a tenured professor. His fiction was described as 'a work of genius' by the New York Times.

Before writing her bestselling memoir Eat Pray Love, Liz wrote almost exclusively about men.

Based on observation, conversation and her experience as a mother, Celia developed a very clear view of how men and boys think.

Clara is a school chaplain in Western Australia.

On the night of Bianca's first fight she had to sneak out of her mother's house to compete, because of the disapproving Muslim community she was part of.

John is a comedian based in Australia, but he was born and raised in Canada.

As a young man, Jethro joined the Australian Army and trained as a field engineer.

Baz grew up on a petrol station in a tiny coastal town. The petrol station was like a 'fantastical' island, where people from all over the country would pass through.