To Love The Pen: Our Literary Journeys

Julia Prendergast is an Australian fiction writer, essayist, and prose poet. She is Associate Professor and Discipline Leader of Creative Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Swinburne University and President and Chair of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP), the peak academic body representing the discipline of Creative Writing in Australasia. Julia’s novel The Earth Does Not Get Fat in 2018 was longlisted for the Indie Book Awards for debut fiction. Bloodrust and Other Stories was published in 2022 and was named Fiction of the Week by the SMH and The Age newspapers. Blent was published in 2025.

Julia Prendergast adalah penulis fiksi, esais, dan penyair prosa asal Australia. Ia menjabat sebagai Associate Professor dan Ketua Program Penulisan Kreatif, Sastra, dan Penerbitan di Swinburne University. Selain itu, ia juga merupakan Presiden dan Ketua Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP), lembaga akademik terkemuka yang mewakili bidang Penulisan Kreatif di kawasan Australasia. Novel pertamanya, The Earth Does Not Get Fat (2018), masuk dalam longlist Indie Book Awards untuk kategori fiksi debut. Buku cerpennya, Bloodrust and Other Stories, terbit pada 2022 dan dinobatkan sebagai “Fiksi Minggu Ini” oleh surat kabar Sydney Morning Herald dan The Age. Karya terbarunya, Blent, diterbitkan pada tahun 2025.

Maja Klarić is a Croatian poet, editor, and literary translator, who has published seven books of travelogue poetry. In 2020, she started Bookmobil Croatia, traveling around Croatia in a renovated van to promote literature. For her exceptional contribution to promoting reading and literacy, in 2023 the Croatian Readers’ Association awarded her the Đurđa Mesić Award. In 2024, her book Deset dugih dana received the Croatian Writers’ Association Joža Horvat Award for the best travelogue. Maja also organizes literary events such as the international poetry gathering Wood Poets and the Four Elements Festival in Bahia, Brazil (at the Sacatar Institute).

Maja Klarić adalah penyair, editor, dan penerjemah sastra asal Kroasia yang telah menerbitkan tujuh buku puisi perjalanan. Pada 2020, ia memulai Bookmobil Croatia, sebuah inisiatif keliling Kroasia dengan van yang telah direnovasi untuk mempromosikan sastra. Atas kontribusinya dalam mendorong minat baca dan literasi, pada 2023 ia menerima Penghargaan Đurđa Mesić dari Asosiasi Pembaca Kroasia. Setahun kemudian, bukunya Deset dugih dana meraih Penghargaan Joža Horvat dari Asosiasi Penulis Kroasia sebagai buku perjalanan terbaik. Selain menulis, Maja juga aktif menyelenggarakan berbagai acara sastra, di antaranya pertemuan penyair internasional Wood Poets dan Four Elements Festival di Bahia, Brasil (di Sacatar Institute).

Shinie Antony is an Indian author who has written the novellas The Girl Who Couldn't Love, Eden Abandoned: The Story of Lilith—which won the Wise Owl Prize for Fiction 2025—and Can't, which was longlisted for the Crossword Award 2025. She has compiled the anthologies Hell Hath No Fury, Boo, Why We Don’t Talk, and An Unsuitable Woman, and co-edited The Art of Holding On, Letting Go. Her story A Dog’s Death won the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Asia Prize in 2002. She is also the Founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival.

Shinie Antony adalah penulis asal India yang telah menulis novela The Girl Who Couldn't Love, Eden Abandoned: The Story of Lilith yang memenangkan Wise Owl Prize for Fiction 2025, dan Can't, yang masuk daftar panjang Crossword Award 2025. Ia juga menyusun antologi Hell Hath No Fury, Boo, Why We Don't Talk, dan An Unsuitable Woman, serta menjadi ko-editor The Art of Holding On, Letting Go. Karyanya, A Dog's Death, memenangkan Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Asia Prize pada 2002. Ia juga merupakan pendiri Bangalore Literature Festival.