ANDREW BOVELL is a writer renowned for his work in theatre, film, and television. His theatre credits include Song of First Desire (Belvoir), Canción Del Primer Deseo, (Teatro La Abadia, Madrid), Things I Know to Be True (Belvoir St Theatre, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Frantic Assembly, Black Swan Theatre, Teatro Stabile Turino), Anthem (Melbourne Arts Centre, Sydney and Perth Festivals), an adaptation of The Secret River (Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Edinburgh Festival, National Theatre London), When the Rain Stops Falling (Brink, Adelaide Festival, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, Lincoln Centre, NYC) His screen credits include, A Most Wanted Man, Edge of Darkness, Blessed, Lantana, based on his award-winning stage play Speaking in Tongues, and Head On. Andrew has received the David Williamson Prize for The Secret River, and the AWGIE Best Stage Play for Speaking in Tongues, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class, Holy Day and When the Rain Stops Falling. This play won Five Lucille Lortell awards in New York, and was named Time Magazines Nest New Play. Lantana won seven AFI Awards, the AWGIE for Best Screenplay, and five Film Critics’ Circle of Australia Awards.

CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS is the author of five novels: Loaded (adapted into the feature film Head-On), The Jesus Man, Dead Europe (winner of the Age Fiction Prize and the Melbourne Best Writing Award), The Slap (winner of Australian Literary Society Gold Medal, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and ABIA Book of the Year; shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award; longlisted for the Man Booker Prize), and Barracuda (adapted into an ABC miniseries). He is also a playwright, essayist and screenwriter. He lives in Melbourne.

MELISSA REEVES is a Melbourne playwright and screenwriter. She has written over twenty plays and won numerous awards. She has been closely associated with the Red Shed Company, and Melbourne Workers Theatre, as well as having her work performed by all the major Australian Theatre companies. Her plays include In Cahoots, The Emperor’s New Clothes (adaptation), Sweetown - winner of the Jill Blewitt Playwrights Award, The Spook, which premiered at Belvoir and was awarded the 2005 Louis Esson Prize for Drama in the Victorian Premiers Awards, and two AWGIES for best new play, Road Movie, Furious Mattress - shortlisted for two Premiers Awards, Happy Ending, An Enemy of the People, (adaptation) and Archimedes War - Shortlisted for the Victorian Premiers Award. She has co-written a number of plays including Magpie, with Richard Frankland, and Who’s afraid of the Working Class, Fever, and Anthem with Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius and Christos Tsiolkas, composer-Irine Vela. Who’s afraid of the Working Class? won best play in the Queensland Literary Awards, two Awgies for best new play, and the Jill Blewitt Playwrights Award in 1999. Also, Rodeo Clown, and Caravan - co-written with Angus Cerini, Patricia Cornelius, and Wayne Macauley. Melissa also co-wrote the award winning screenplay for Blessed, based on Who’s afraid of the Working Class?

IRINE VELA has worked as a composer on dozens of music theatre productions with companies such as the Melbourne Workers Theatre, Playbox, Canto Coro, IRAA, Arena, the Victorian College of the Arts, Deckchair Theatre and Circus Oz. Some of her credits include The Ballad of Lois Ryan, Opa—A Sexual Odyssey, Black Cargo and Kate ’N’ Shiner. She is a founding member of the Greek-Australian music group the haBiBis.

PATRICIA CORNELIUS is a founding member of Melbourne Workers Theatre. Patricia has a fierce commitment to class and her work often examines the lives of the marginalized. She’s a playwright, novelist and film writer. Cornelius is the recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, the Mona Brand Award and the 2019 Green Room award for Life Achievement. Her prizes for stage work include the 2011 Victorian and NSW Premiers’ Literary Awards, the Patrick White Playwright’s Award, the Richard Wherrett Prize, the Wal Cherry Award and numerous AWGIES for stage, community theatre, theatre for young people. She was awarded the Australian Writers Foundation Playwriting Award in 2015 as well as the Patrick White Fellowship (2012), and a Fellowship from the Australia Council’s Theatre Board. Patricia has won the AWGIE Major Award three times. She has written over 35 plays including: TRUTH, My Sister Jill, Bad Boy, Runt, Anthem, In the Club, Shit, Big Heart, Savages, Do not go gentle…, Slut, Love and The Call. Patricia wrote the adaption of SHIT for film and co-wrote the feature film adaptation Blessed, Patricia’s novel, My Sister Jill (Random House) was published in 2002.