Youth Online Tutors 2011



		John Heffernan wanted to be lots of things when it came his time to morph into an adult. He wanted to be an inventor who designed things like a People-Making Machine, Hover-Boots or The Genius Thinking Cap. Instead, John went to university and did several degrees in all sorts of useless things like psychology and philosophy. Then he became a farmer with heaps of sheep and cows, horses and dogs, along with wombats, joeys, guinea pigs and giant jungle mice. And then, one day, he morphed into an author, writing more than 20 booksabout horses and dogs, rats and pirates, kids in war, genius mice and mad scientists, ghosts and ghouls, as well as some serious books about growing up and families and trying to work out what life is all about. John reckons it’s the best thing he ever did, inventing stories around whatever exciting ideas happen to leap into his head. Better than growing up, that’s for sure. John has two websites: John Heffernan, and his Charlie Carter website, Charlie's Corner.


		Sophie Masson: Born in Indonesia, of French parents, Sophie came to Australia with her family at the age of 5. All through her childhood years, the family went back and forth between Australia and France, so Sophie grew up between worlds, and between languages, something which has always influenced her work. Sophie has published more than 50 books in Australia and internationally, for children, young adults and adults. Her books have been shortlisted for many awards. In 2002 her alternative history/mystery novel, *The Hand of Glory, won the YA section of the Aurealis Awards. Her most recent novels are The Hunt for Ned Kelly* (Scholastic 2010), *The Phar Lap Mystery* (Scholastic 2010), *The Understudy's Revenge* (Scholastic Feb 2011), and *My Father's War* (Scholastic April 2011). Forthcoming is *The Boggle Hunters* (Scholastic 2011). Sophie has also written short stories, articles and reviews, which have appeared in many publications.


		Michael Sharkey has published, edited, reviewed and otherwise promoted poetry for more than 30 years. His most recent collections of poetry are *History: Selected Poems 1978-2000* (2002) and *The Sweeping Plain)* (2007). He has worked in publishing and the public service and taught literature, writing and cultural history in universities in Australia and abroad. He has conducted poetry and writing workshops in most Australian states in a broad range of institutions as well as readings and seminars at festivals and summer schools in New Zealand, Ireland, England and Germany. Michael is the chairman of the New England Writers Centre and has been a mentor for the Five Islands Press and Australian Poetry Centre Workshops at Wollongong and Bundanoon since 1999. Michael was the editor of the Illustrated Treasury of Australian Humour (published by Oxford University Press, 1988). His biography of the poet & journalist David McKee Wright is due for publication in 2011.


		Linda Jaivin is the internationally best-selling author of six novels, including *Eat Me, Infernal Optimist* (shortlisted for the 2007 ASL Gold Medal) and *A Most Immoral Woman. She has also written a collection of essays, and the China memoir, The Monkey and the Dragon* which offers, among other things, an intimate view of 2010 Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo and the events on Tiananmen Square in 1989. She has published countless essays and stories. In addition, Linda is a playwright, librettist and literary translator from Chinese. Linda Jaivin is a Visiting Fellow at the School of Culture, History and Language of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.


		Miles Merrill combines poetry with theatre, experimental audio, hip-hop beats, stand-up and political confrontation, flinging words in a rapid-fire onslaught of versified emotion. Born and raised in Chicago, now living in Sydney, he has opened for Saul Williams, jammed with Shane Koyczan, written and directed a show in the Sydney International Arts Festival, and performed solo at the Sydney Opera House. Miles created Australia’s first spoken-word festival—the *Night Words Festival—and founded the national literary performance competition: the Australian Poetry Slam*. Internationally, Merrill has performed in Krakow’s Audio Art, at writers festivals in Ubud, Calgary, Beijing and regional China. In Australia he has performed at festivals in Sydney, Perth, Byron Bay, Darwin and Adelaide. Merrill tours music festivals, theatres, galleries, bars and a wide variety of classy joints—anywhere his words will travel. He has toured to schools for the New England Writers Centre several times, and they always want him back.


		Cecilia Dart-Thornton was ‘discovered’ on the internet after she posted the first chapter of her unpublished trilogy to an online writing workshop. Subsequently an editor contacted her, and within a few weeks Time Warner (New York) had bought her three-part *Bitterbynde* series. On publication, the books were acclaimed in Amazon's Best of 2001, Locus Magazine's Best First Novels of 2001 and the Australian Publishers' Association Award: Australia's Favourite Read of 2001. In Australia, they reached the top of the Sydney Morning Herald bestseller list. They have also received accolades in the *Washington Post, The Times, Good Reading Magazine, Kirkus Reviews* and more. Cecilia's books, including the four-part Crowthistle series, are available in more than 70 countries and have been translated into several languages.


		Lesley Sly is a journalist, composer and author. Her music has been used in many soundtracks, won an international award in Berlin, and she has toured and recorded with bands in Australia, UK, Europe. As a freelance journalist her work has appeared in many national and overseas publications, she was a columnist for *Rolling Stone* for 10 years and an arts writer for *The Bulletin, she has worked as a magazine editor, consulting editor, travel writer for BBC Radio and newspapers in the UK, sub-editor for the Sydney Morning Herald* and *The Financial Review. Her 400-page book, The Power & The Passion, A guide to the Australian music industry*, sold out its first print run and is a core text for contemporary music studies. She has taught at TAFE, and has run many creative writing workshops for children.


		Fiona McDonald studied painting and drawing at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney in the late 1980s. After art school, Fiona began developing her life size figurative soft sculpture for which she has become well-known. Fiona has continued to make two dimensional art work as well as her sculpture, puppets and dolls. The year 2010 saw the publication of Fiona’s first two knitting books: *Babes in the Wool* and *Knitted Aliens, both published by Search Press, UK. Next year they will publish her Knitted Fairies* book and then *Knitted Vampires. Pen&Sword, another UK publisher is bringing out Fiona’s first non-fiction title Textiles: A History* in June 2011 under their Remember When imprint. Fiona is currently writing a cultural and social overview of Britain in the 1920s, also for Remember When . She has exhibited widely throughout Australia, Britain, China and the US. Visit Fiona’s website and her blog

The New England Writers' Centre is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW.