The Writing Life

Author Tobias McCorkell spent the first 25 years of his life in Coburg, Melbourne. He has taught creative writing at the University of Melbourne and has authored works of non-fiction. In 2018 he appeared at the Melbourne Emerging Writer’s Festival. He is the recipient of a 2019 Varuna Residency Fellowship. ‘Everything in its Right Place’ is his first novel.

Chris Flynn is the author of ‘The Glass Kingdom’ and ‘A Tiger in Eden’, which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The Age, The Australian, Griffith Review, Meanjin, Australian Book Review, The Saturday Paper, Smith Journal, The Big Issue, Monster Children, McSweeney’s and many other publications. He has conducted interviews for The Paris Review and is a regular presenter at literary festivals across Australia.

The State of the (Writing) Nation is an annual address from a prominent Australian writer. It's a chance to reflect on what's happening, and where we're heading, in Australian literature and publishing. 

This year, Maria Tumarkin will give the address. Tumarkin is the author of four books, including the multi-award-winning creative non-fiction work, 'Axiomatic', and is a recipient of the prestigious 2020 Windham Campbell Prize. 

Jannali Jones is a Krowathunkoolong woman of the Gunai nation. She is the author of ‘My Father’s Shadow’, published by Magabala Books. Jannali holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney. She was the winner of the 2015 black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship and in 2013 was an inaugural recipient of Magabala’s Australian Indigenous Creator Scholarship. Her short stories and poetry have been published in Australia and overseas, including in ‘Overland’, ‘Southerly’, ‘The Review of Australian Fiction’ and ‘Westerly’.