Ann Harth

Ann is an established author with over a dozen books and 125 short stories and articles published under her own name. She writes fiction and non-fiction for children as well as adults and is also a freelance ghostwriter. Ann has a BA (Psychology) and two professional writing diplomas. She is the winner of four awards for her children's manuscripts and previously spent 10 years working in various roles with special needs children. Having worked with the Open Colleges Group for over 10 years, Ann is a respected and valued trainer.

Annette Trevitt

Annette teaches a professional writing and editing program in Melbourne and has done for 12 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts, Graduate Diploma in Film and Television, and a Diploma in Vocational Education and Training (VET). She has made animated films and worked as an assistant editor for TV and for film. Her short stories have been published in literary magazines and broadcast on ABC radio and by the BBC. She enjoys giving feedback to students to help them shape their ideas and their stories, and to encourage students to let their sentences sound a little like their voice in life.

Carole Goldsmith

Carole is an international news correspondent specialising in science, technology, finance, health, manufacturing, nanotechnology and engineering. Reporting across the Asia Pacific region for USA, Asian and Australian media for over 25 years, she has written for: The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Herald Sun, CCH across Asia, Reed Business Information, Elsevier, and a wide variety of national and international trade and business publications. Carole also teaches business, journalism and travel courses to adult learners and speaks fluent German, conversational Japanese and French. She has researched and lectured at universities across the USA, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Japan.

Clare Arthurs

Clare is a journalist, broadcaster and educator with a background in radio, print and TV. She’s worked as a foreign correspondent in Asia for the BBC World Service and made documentaries for national radio in Australia and the UK. She has more than 20 years experience in news and current affairs as well as stints working on publications for government, and training not-for-profit groups. Clare has educational qualifications and has worked as a journalism tutor at Monash University. She also designs and leads workshops for media professionals in developing countries, teaching journalism, communication and safety.

Elizabeth Mars

Elizabeth Mars is a respected screenwriter based in Sydney having written the acclaimed feature film, The Tree that closed the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Her previous production was the script for the award-winning short feature, Martha’s New Coat (directed by Rachel Ward and screened on SBS-Television).Elizabeth has a number of scripts and screenplays in development, including the feature film The Fall and the romantic comedy The Ninth Step. She is a graduate of RMIT (Writing) and La Trobe University (History), and is a qualified school teacher and part-time academic in screen writing at Sydney College of the Arts.

Jean Flynn

Jean is a freelance writer, editor, graphic designer and educator, who previously taught design to international students at RMIT University and now works in the writing department at Federation University in Victoria, Australia. Her non-fiction writing has appeared in printed newspapers, magazines and online, and she has had short stories published in anthologies and also broadcast on ABC radio. Jean’s qualifications include: Bachelor of Design, a Certificate IV in Professional Writing and Editing, and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Jean loves to see her student’s work published and always encourages them to submit their work for publication.

John Merkel

John is a writer, producer and director of short films, documentaries and commercial video projects. As an educator, he worked as a tutor in the School of Communication and Creative Industries at Charles Sturt University where he taught screenwriting, camera, editing, and web authoring.

Shortlisted for TropFest with his short comedy, The Garage Sale, he was accepted into the TropNest Screenwriting Mentorship program at Fox Studios, where he completed the first
of several feature film scripts.

As a lover of teaching and mentoring in the film arts, John mentors young filmmakers and assesses scripts for fellow writers and industry collaborators.

June Colbert

June Colbert BA, Dip Ed, Dip TESOL, Cert Writing, Cert Learning Disability is a children's author and tutor who specialises in creative writing, editing, technical writing and short stories. She also works with children who experience reading problems as well as adults who want help with written communication. June is passionate about language and loves helping people to reach their full potential as readers and writers.

Nadine Cresswell-Myatt

Nadine holds a Master of Arts (Monash), a Graduate Diploma in Education, a Bachelor of Education, a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and a Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing. She has worked as a freelance journalist for over 20 years writing feature articles, reviews and travel stories for almost all Australia’s major newspapers, a myriad of magazines and the burgeoning online world. She is currently completing a PhD in History at the University of Melbourne and has 19 years’ experience teaching writing in the TAFE sector. She enjoys helping students with their writing and steering them towards publication.

Robin Copeland

Robin is a graduate of the University of Westminster, (Mechanical Engineering) and is the current Editor at AFLOAT Publications since its inception in 1989. As a keen photographer and travel writer, Robin worked with the Australian College of Journalism for over 20 years before it became part of the Open Colleges Group. 

Tracey Hawkins

Tracey is an award-winning author of children’s books. She also writes as a crime-writing columnist and consultant, with the experience of having worked as a policewoman. In 2012 Tracey’s picture book ‘Nancy Bentley The First Australian Female Sailor’ was shortlisted for Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards 2012 and winner of the Australian Capital Territory Writing and Publishing Awards 2012. Tracey’s picture book ‘Max Meets a Monster’ featured on the BBC Television Program CBeebies in 2012 and was re-released in the USA in 2013. Tracey is a May Gibbs Literature Trust Fellow.