Book Links StoryArts Brisbane Program 2026 Global Change Institute, University of Qld, St Lucia Saturday 17 October 8:00 Registration opens 9:00 – Room 273 - Welcome. Announcement of the winner of the Book Links Mentorship. 9:15 – 10:30 – Room 273 - Publishing with Passion: a panel session with publishers – Speakers: Cathy Vallance (UQP), Siobhán Cantrill (Harper Collins), Marisa Pintado (Hardie Grant), Meg Whelan (Simon and Schuster, Affirm Press (imprint)), Rowena Beresford (Riveted Press), Lorae Fossy (Scholastic), Anna Solding (Midnight Sun) Chair: Lara Cain Gray This session will offer an insight into the publishing process – what publishers are looking for in assessing or commissioning a manuscript, and the key professional aspects of publishing. It will cover some of the ways in which publishers promote their works in the general trade market – via social media for example, and also in schools – how they link books with the Australian Curriculum via teachers’ notes or other materials. What are the trends? What are their recent releases? What has changed in publishing in recent times? What is their ‘top tip’ to being published? This session will also allow audience members to quiz panellists about these and other topics relevant to being published. Register your audience questions before the conference and give questions to chair and speakers beforehand. 10:30 – 11:00 - Morning Tea and display of illustration portfolios at The Atrium 11:00 – 3:45 – Atrium - Manuscript and Portfolio Feedback 1. Siobhán Cantrill (Harper Collins), 2. Marisa Pintado (Hardie Grant), 3. Meg Whelan (Simon and Schuster, Affirm Press (imprint)), 4. Rowena Beresford (Riveted Press) 5. Cathy Vallance (UQP) 6. Lorrae Fossy (Scholastic) 7. Anna Solding (Midnight Sun)
11:00 – 12:00 - Room 273 - Writing and Illustrating with Passion: a panel session with book creators Chair: Claire Monsour Speakers: Pip Harry (options for topics - PB, verse novel, middle grade), Ashleigh Barton (PB, junior fiction, middle grade), Gabriel Evans (picture book author and illustrator), Judy Watson (illustrator) This session will trace four writers’ and illustrators’ creative journeys. How did they get started? What are the main ways in which they have been assisted in their careers? What are the challenges or pitfalls? What drives their passion for writing or illustration, e.g. a quest for the perfect picture book, an interest in non-fiction, digital media, or some other aspect of their craft? How would they describe their writing/illustrating process? What is their ‘top tip’ to prospective writers or illustrators? And as advice to teachers and librarians, what is one good idea with which to engage young writers and readers?
12:.05 – 1:05 – Room 273 – Pip Harry Chair: Yvonne Mes From Picture Book to YA … writing for children of all age groups Award-winning children’s author Pip Harry started her career writing young adult books and has since transitioned into picture books, junior fiction, and middle fiction. She explains why she wanted to write across multiple age groups and her tips for adjusting your writing style to meet different audiences. 12:05 – 1:05 – Room 275 – Gabriel Evans - The Picture Book Process – Chair: Lara Cain Gray What is the process of writing and illustrating your own book vs illustrating for another author? How do you find the character that best fit the story? How many times can you rewrite the same story? Gabriel shares his process behind the development of his books including A Human for Kingsley and Scotty and the Scotties and stories he’s illustrated for authors including Sonya Hartnett and Jane Godwin. 1:10 – 2:20 – Lunch at the Atrium – Portfolios on display with Yvonne Mes (Publishers view portfolios 2:00 – 2:20 in the Atrium) 2:25 – 3:45 –Room 273 – Ashleigh Barton - From in-house to author – publishing insights from both sides of the fence – Chair: Alison McCaffrey Before writing full time, Ashleigh Barton worked in some of Australia’s biggest publishing houses. From manning the slush pile to running multi-platform marketing and publicity campaigns for renowned local and international authors including Shaun Tan, Jessica Townsend, Cressida Cowell and Lauren Child; Ashleigh gained a deep understanding of how the industry works. In this session, Ashleigh shares her insights and knowledge of publishing from both sides of the fence and answers anything you want to know about publishing. 2:25 – 3:45 – Room 275 – Judy Watson - The Evolution of Characters –Chair: Lara Cain Gray In this session, Judy will use examples from her own published work to talk about the evolution of characters for a range of projects, focusing on the finding an authentic voice for each story. She’ll discuss the murky matter of character continuity, and the reasons to be real, not manufactured. 4:00 – 5:15 – Room 273 - ‘First Page’ Pitches – Chair: Lara Cain Gray. The ‘first page’ pitches will be read aloud by a narrator to a panel of publishers and agents who will provide comment. The audience watch on. This is a blind reading, and the audience will not know the identity of the author. Authors will need to submit their manuscripts in advance. The session will also provide other attendees with a chance to learn what attracts the attention of agents and publishers when seeking new books for children’s lists. This session will end with a showing of the Digital Illustration Portfolios. Panel: Siobhán Cantrill (Harper Collins), Marisa Pintado (Hardie Grant), Meg Whelan (Simon and Schuster, Affirm Press (imprint)), Rowena Beresford (Riveted Press), Lorae Fossy (Scholastic) Anna Solding (Midnight Sun)
5:30 – 8:00 – The Atrium – Networking event with all presenters. Drinks and canapes provided. Ticket required.
Book Links StoryArts Brisbane Program 2026 Sunday 18 October 2026 8:00 – Registration 8:25 – 9:35 - Room 273 - Pitch party (author and illustrator pitches) (15 X 3 min pitches) with 1. Siobhán Cantrill (Harper Collins), 2. Marisa Pintado (Hardie Grant), 3. Meg Whelan (Simon and Schuster, Affirm Press (imprint)), 4. Bethany Loveridge (Perentie Press) 5. Rowena Beresford (Riveted Press), 6. Anna Solding (Midnight Sun), 7. Lorae Fossy (Scholastic) 9:45 – 3:10 - Level 3 - 4 - Manuscript and Portfolio Feedback: 1. Siobhan Cantrill (HarperCollins Australia), 2. Marisa Pintado (Hardie Grant), 3. Meg Whelan (Simon and Schuster, Affirm Press (imprint)), 4. Bethany Loveridge (Perentie Press), 5. Rowena Beresford (Riveted Press), 6. Anna Solding (Midnight Sun), 7. Rochelle Stephens (Wombat Books) from noon. (Note: Lorrae Fossy will not be available for manuscript feedback on Sunday. She will only be there for the Pitch Party.)
9:45 – 12:00 - Room 273 – Pip Harry - Writing for MG/YA that sells Chair: Di Taylor Join award winning author Pip Harry as she discusses her journey from celebrity journalist to becoming a bestselling children’s author – including writing for the tricky in-between (“On the way to YA”) age of 10-14, why tenacity is her most important writing tool, and why certain stories (including Pip’s bestselling August & Jones) demand to be told. (including 15 min break @10:45) 9:45 – 12:00 - Room 275 – Gabriel Evans – Crafting a Picture Book Chair: Melissa Elk In this workshop, Gabriel will demonstrate his process of crafting a picture book through a combination of words and pictures. He will discuss the balance between showing and telling, exploring page layouts and acting as a tour guide for the reader. He’ll share his process for character construction and deciding on settings. This session will have you writing and illustrating an illustration spread. (including 15 min break @10:45) What to bring: Paper and pencils 9:45 – 12:00 - Room 271 – Judy Watson – Illustration Chair: Yvonne Mes During this two-hour workshop, participants will explore character design in a free and playful way to discover their unique illustrator voice. Students will use collage techniques and mixed media to rough out, then refine a character. After this they will create a picture book spread, using a sample text or their own text. The workshop will cover some points on page composition, but will focus mainly on discovery, play and authenticity. (including 15 min break @10:45) 12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch in the Atrium 1:00 – 3:00 - Room 273 – Pip Harry – Perfecting the art of picture books Chair: Rebecca Sheraton It took award winning novelist Pip Harry over 10 years to perfect the art of writing picture books and through stumbling through many drafts she discovered these seemingly simple stories can be incredibly complex. Pip reveals the backstories behind her latest picture books – Spare Kisses, The Goodbye Tree and The Fast Lane, tricks for creating picture books that have a timeless quality and the special partnerships she formed with the illustrators on each very different book. NOTE: Katrin Dreiling will be joining Pip Harry during part of Pip’s session on Perfecting the Art of Picture Books as a pop-up presenter. 1:00 – 3:00 - Room 275 – Ashleigh Barton – The Magic of Middle Grade Chair: Annaleise Byrd In this two-hour workshop, acclaimed author Ashleigh Barton will cover the essential ingredients of middle grade fiction including themes worth exploring, developing a strong plot, creating memorable characters and how to speak a middle grade language. Ashleigh will also discuss the origin of ideas, being flexible when an idea won’t let go, and what makes the middle grade audience so special.
1:00 – 3:00 - Room 271 – Gabriel Evans – Illustration Workshop Chair: Linda Murray Gabriel shares a breakdown of his process to illustrate a book, working with publishers to achieve a shared goal and why watercolour can be both a stressful and rewarding experience. This session will see Gabriel develop an illustration and allows for audience interaction and questions about working as an illustrator in today’s industry.