BookUp 2023

Arlie Alizzi is a Yugambeh Editor working for Magabala Books in Yawuru Country in Broome Western Australia. Arlie has a practice as a freelance writer, having been published for the Sydney Review of Books, Liminal Magazine, The Saturday Paper, ABC News and The Lifted Brow.  

Editor of Meanjin, Esther Anatolitis is one of Australia's most influential advocates for arts and culture. She is Hon A/Prof at RMIT School of Art and a member of the National Gallery of Australia Governing Council. Across two decades Esther has led arts and media organisations across all artforms, and was a founder of the Emerging Writers' Festival – celebrating 20 years this year. Esther regularly facilitates strategic, creative and political conversations and is a prolific writer and commentator. Most recently, her work has appeared in The Guardian and Crikey, and her book Place, Practice, Politics was published in 2022. 

Photo credit: Sarah Walker

Melanie Barton is a passionate member of the Australian book industry with a bookselling and buying career that has seen her working across all channels of bookselling from Angus & Robertson, Bookworld, Big W to independents, and most recently as Books, Gaming and DVD Buyer at Target Australia. She also had a stint in publishing working for Simon & Schuster in product. 

Patrizia Di Biase-Dyson is Chief of Staff at the Australian Publishers Association. After almost a decade in publicity and marketing roles (Allen & Unwin, Murdoch Books, Black Inc. Books), Patty supports the APA staff and sectoral committees to achieve their many goals for a thriving Australian publishing industry. Patty was a scholarship recipient of Melbourne Business School's For Purpose: Executive Leadership Program, where Greg Harbidge teaches on innovative business practices. 

Susannah Bowen is the General Manager, Marketing at Campion Education and a member of the senior management team for Campion Group. She is also the Industry Associate in Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne, and previously Head of Marketing for Cengage Australia (Higher Education). Recent publications include How to Get a Job in Publishing 2e (Routledge, 2023), Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion (University of Melbourne / Australian Publishers Association, 2022) and How to Market Books 6e (Routledge, 2019).

Mark Campbell is the Creative Director at HarperCollins ANZ where he runs the HarperCollins Design Studio and publishes his own list Harper by Design. He is a past president of the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA) and has worked in design and project management across theatre, film, animation and publishing, for companies like Bazmark Inq., Animal Logic, Hardie Grant Books and Bangarra Dance Theatre. He has been a guest presenter for AGDA, RMIT, MWF and AdobeMAX 2020, a committee member of industry initiatives like Open Book and Australia Reads, and a member of the judging panel for the World Illustration Awards. 

Cat Colwell is the Supply Chain Manager for the Australian Publishers Association. She manages TitlePage, the industry's bibliographic look-up service; is a coordinator of Australian metadata groups; and is passionate about improving the industry's metadata and data infrastructure. Previously she coordinated the APA's international book fair programs, including the launch of the Books From Australia website. Cat has an operations background from children's toys and as a bookseller, and when not geeking out about data and tech she'll take any opportunity to lose herself in books, the bush, or up a mountain. 

Stuart Glover is the Government Relations and Policy Manager at The Australian Publishers Association. Stuart has a background as an arts administrator, cultural industries consultant and academic specialising in editing and literary policy. Stuart is responsible for building relationships with government and stakeholders, and developing advocacy and policy positions for the APA. 

Greg Harbidge is Director of consulting firm Think Different and has spent over 20 years as a consultant, facilitator, and coach on the global stage. Since 2012, Greg has taught and consulted for Melbourne Business School across sectors such as health, technology, government, Olympic sports and professional services. Greg empowers teams to innovate and develop customer-focused business opportunities by integrating proven Leadership Development practices with Human-Centred Design principles, such as CX and Design Thinking. 

Melissa Kayser is the Publishing Director for Hardie Grant Explore, having started as trainee editor for the division in 2007. She published Professor Marcia Langton's bestselling travel guide; Welcome to Country in 2008 and since then has been honoured to work with several First Nations authors including Thomas Mayo, Bruce Pascoe, Corey Tutt, Isaiah Firebrace, Victor Steffensen and Samantha Martin. She also works with many talented First Nations artists, editors and designers. In 2023 Melissa published The Voice to Parliament Handbook by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O'Brien and in 2024 she will publish Dr Terri Janke's memoir The Unwritten Track. 

Shalini Kunahlan is Head of Marketing at Hardie Grant Books & Explore and a former Marketing Manager at Text Publishing. Shalini has worked in publishing for over 15 years. Her interests include digital marketing and bettering diversity outcomes within publishing. She was the inaugural winner of the publishing industry's Rising Star award. 

Kathleen (Katty) O'Neill is the Metadata Manager at Hardie Grant Books and Explore. With a professional background in communications and writing, Katty joined the Hardie Grant team after completing her Masters degree in Creative Writing, Editing and Publishing at the University of Melbourne. Her writing has been published in Dumbo Feather, Voiceworks, Farrago and Antithesis magazines. Katty convened Hardie Grant Book's Spark Prize for narrative non-fiction in 2020 and 2022. She has championed the importance of metadata since the early days of her publishing career.

Associate Professor Sandra Phillips teaches Indigenous Australian Studies and Publishing Studies in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University. Sandra is also Associate Dean (Indigenous Education) in her School. Entering full-time academia after a career in editing and publishing with Magabala Books, UQP, and Aboriginal Studies Press, Sandra investigated the authoring, editing, and reading of Indigenous literature for her PhD. Sandra is Chief Investigator on Community Publishing in Regional Australia and on Reading climate: Indigenous literatures, school English, and Sustainability, both funded by the ARC Linkage Program.Sandra has held leadership roles across arts and culture including deputy chair of the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts, past member of the Library Board of Queensland, and past twice-elected chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN). Sandra is Wakka Wakka and Gooreng Gooreng, and has three adult sons and two granddaughters. 

Photo credit: Mick Richards Photography

Emma Rafferty has been a book editor for more than 20 years and is currently the Editorial Manager at Hachette Australia. She is passionate about providing editorial support to Australian authors and illustrators, and has a special interest in fiction, working with debut writers and mentoring junior editors. She is a workflow 'nerd' and loves nothing more than a good checklist. Her last good read was Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld and she is currently reading Yellowface by R F Kuang. 

Keerthana (Keera) Ravindran moved to Melbourne from the town of Sivaksi, India. Her interest and passion for publishing was fueled by a childhood spent next to her father's offset and digital printing press - Jonthi Art Calenders. Being involved around printing and business has pushed her to combine her passion into a viable career. After finishing up her Bachelor's in History, Keera moved to Melbourne to pursue her Master's in Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing. She is currently one of the 2023 Open Book Interns and she hopes to concentrate and learn more about production and the future of digital marketing in publishing. 

As Regional Manager of Operations at APAC at Wiley Australia, Kate Robertson focuses on business system, process and data improvements across the Trade, Higher Education and Jacaranda school businesses. Prior to this, Kate worked at Penguin Random House Australia and Pan Macmillan Australia as a key accounts manager, business analyst and project manager – including leading the Metadata Project at PRH for three years. Her experience across Sales, Commercial and Operations have given her a broad understanding of the end-to-end business of publishing and a unique outlook on the critical role of metadata within it. 

Stela Solar is the Director of Australia's National AI Centre hosted by CSIRO, with the mission to accelerate positive AI adoption and innovation that benefits business and community. She has previously held roles at Microsoft including Global Director of AI Solution Sales, as well as roles IT distributors and technology startups. Over the past 15 years, Stela has led business model transformations which enable organisations to capture new revenue opportunities and build competitive advantage with emerging technologies such as Cloud, IoT and AI. With a background in sustainability and creative industries, Stela thrives in ambiguity, change and purpose-lead organisations. 

Adele Walsh began her teen advocacy and community engagement work with her highly regarded blog Persnickety Snark while still teaching in high school. Since then, she has held high-level strategic positions running the State Library Victoria's Centre for Youth Literature and working with its innovative StartSpace initiative. Now, Adele continues her reader advocacy and community outreach work at La Trobe University Library where she leads the communications, events and exhibitions team. Outside of her day-to-day role, Adele is an in-demand presenter, writer and teacher. 

Brooke Webb is the CEO of the Sydney Writers' Festival. Spanning 25 years, Brooke's career has seen her travel the globe, working as an executive director, executive producer and artistic director for leading global entertainment and production companies. Prior to joining SWF, Brooke was the festival director for The Taste of Tasmania, injecting her signature energy and passion for shared experiences into a lively program of events. Previous experience includes artistic director for Cirque du Soleil, Mel Brook's 'The Producers', Julie Taymor's 'Lion King', as well as producing internationally recognised festivals and events for the Sydney Opera House, Vivid LIVE, Graphic Festival and the Outdoor Music forecourt series. As executive producer for Universal Music in New York City, Brooke has also toured with some of the most iconic rock'n'roll bands of her generation. 

General Manager of Nielsen BookData Australia, Bianca Whiteley started her career in book publishing at Murdoch Books in 1999 and spent seven years in various roles including inventory management. She joined Nielsen BookData in 2006, initially helping publishers and retailers make the most of the insights the BookScan service provides. She became General Manager in 2019, taking on responsibility for the Australian Nielsen BookData business including its Research and Discovery services. In recent years she completed several long-running projects including establishing Nielsen BookScan's first Australian and New Zealand e-book sales measurement service, and undertaking consumer surveys around book buying and listening behaviour.