Nova Weetman writes books for both primary and teen aged children, including The Edge of Thirteen, The Secrets We Keep and It All Begins With Jelly Beans. Nova Weetman’s book Sick Bay won the Year 7-9  YABBA  2021 Award.

Hazel Edwards, Ozge Alkan and Serena Geddes discuss their collaboration, Hijabi Girl, and the significance of Harmony Day. The session is suitable for Middle Primary to Lower Secondary aged students.

Superstar Aussie author Andy Griffiths shares his writing tips, tells his favourite jokes and reveals the inspiration behind his YABBA award-winning Treehouse series.

Author/Illustrator Gabrielle Wang reveals the inspiration behind her career of creating over 20 books for children and young adults.

Gabrielle also teaches kids how to draw an incredible mythical Chinese creature – so have a pencil and paper ready!

In this ANZAC Day special, Mark Greenwood and Frane Lessac, explain the inspiration behind their book, Simpson and His Donkey.

Morris Gleitzman is a bestselling Australian children’s author. His books explore serious and sometimes confronting subjects in humourous and unexpected ways.

Best-selling and award-winning author, Jackie French, joins the YABBA team to discuss her creative life in the bush. Jackie was the Australian Children’s Laureate and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. She has written over 200 books, some of which have sold millions of copies and she’s won over 60 awards in Australia and internationally.

Best-selling and award-winning author/illustrator duo, Emily Rodda and Marc McBride, discuss their incredibly successful, long-term creative partnership.

This dynamic duo have worked together on many popular books including the Deltora Quest series, The Three Doors trilogy and most recently on the CBCA and YABBA shortlisted The Glimme.

In the lead-up to ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’, award-winning author Norman Jorgensen answers kids’ questions about writing, research and sailing the seven seas!

In celebration of all types of libraries, the YABBA team is joined by Children’s Laureate, Ursula Dubosarsky, the author of the highly popular books, ‘The Terrible Plop’, ‘Hercules Quick’, ‘March of the Ants’ and many more.

John Marsden has written more than 40 books, mostly YA and children’s literature, including Tomorrow When the War Began, So Much to Tell You, and Letters from the Inside. He shares his best tips to boost kids’ creative writing.

In this ANZAC Day special, author/illustrator Mark Wilson shares the inspiration behind his work and teaches kids how to draw in his unique style.

Award-winning author, Tristan Bancks, explains the inspiration behind his bestselling books, shares writing tips and gives a sneak peek from his upcoming series.

Coral Vass and Dub Leffler, explain the inspiration behind their book, Sorry Day, and perform an incredible reading of the story.

Much-loved author/illustrator, Leigh Hobbs, invites us into his studio to explain the inspiration behind his incredible bestselling books and he also shows us how to draw his iconic character, Old Tom.

Kesta Fleming and Marjory Gardner are the creators of the new series, Marlow Brown. In this session, both Kesta and Marjory give kids useful tips for writing and illustrating.

Bestselling author, Mark Smith, discusses his ‘Winter’ trilogy, shares his writing tips, and reveals the inspirational story of how his life changed forever after a life-threatening incident.

George Ivanoff focusses on three of his popular titles, You Choose, Game On and the Survival Guides, in order to share some of his best writing tips.

Rebecca Johnson shares the inspiration behind her work, such as books like Juliet Nearly A Vet, and explains the value of oral storytelling as part of the creative process.

Illustrator, Heath McKenzie, talks about the inspiration behind his work, gives illustration tips for kids and shows how to draw the lead character from Do Not Open This Book.

New York Times bestselling author, Amie Kaufman, shares her writing tips on world building and creating remarkable heroes.

Australia’s highest selling female author, Sally Rippin, explains her inspiration for creating Polly & Buster and Billie B Brown.

Felice Arena discusses the books that inspired him to become the author he is today, from his favourite childhood picture books, to the compelling contemporary reads that continue to influence him.

Bestselling author, Jacqueline Harvey, shares how encountering two real life spy headquarters inspired her hit series, ‘Kensy & Max’.

Best-selling author, Deborah Abela, shares her inspirational techniques for generating ideas. Deborah also discusses the origins of her YABBA-nominated book, New City.

Bestselling author, Jack Heath, explains his secrets to unblocking creativity and the special techniques he uses to improve his writing.

Bestselling author, Jen Storer, explains that sometimes your best ideas can come from one single word.

Tim Harris explains how to come up with remarkable characters.