Emerging Writers Panel: Taking the Next Step
You’ve written the words — but what comes next? In this practical and inspiring panel, emerging authors share their journeys from aspiring writer to published author.
Event #08 – RACV Torquay Resort
11:00am-12:00pm
Cost: $35
Bonnie Tai
Bonnie Tai writes swoony YA fantasy featuring monstrous girls and “misfit” heroines. Motivated by the lack of Asian representation in her own childhood reading, she began crafting stories inspired by her third-culture background and a love for misunderstood villains. Bonnie’s path to authorship was a global journey; she previously worked as an international travel journalist and magazine editor. After the pandemic shifted her focus, she became an ABIA award-winning marketing manager for a major Australian publisher before finally embracing her calling as a writer. A graduate of the Australian Writers Centre, Bonnie now lives in Melbourne with her husband, Miles, and their two squish-faced cats, Wesley and Beau.
Lisa Moule
Lisa is an accomplished writer and performer who trained at Paris’s École Jacques Lecoq. After a successful career in London as an actor and voice artist, performing at The London Playhouse and Soho Theatre as well as doing voicing work for The Thunderbirds and Skinner Boys, she returned to Australia to focus on writing. Since completing her studies in Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT in 2022, Lisa has become a decorated voice in fiction. She won second prize in the 2022 Furphy Literary Award and the 2023 Australian Short Story Festival’s Emerging Writers’ Prize, with further shortlistings for the Peter Carey and Stringybark Awards. A co-host of 3CR’s Published… or Not, Lisa lives in Naarm/Melbourne with her husband and two children.
Mali Cornish
Born in Geelong, Mali Cornish holds a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. Writing as Mali Waugh, her debut novel, Judgement Day (2023), earned a shortlisting for the Danger Awards Best Debut 2024. Her newest book – The Missing Mother – is due to be released in April 2026. Beyond her fiction, Mali’s insightful writing has been featured in major publications including the Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian. She currently resides in Melbourne with her family.
Moderator – Mark Smith
Mark Smith is the author of five novels: Three Boys Gone, The Road To Winter, Wilder Country, Land Of Fences and If Not Us. Wilder Country won the 2018 Australian Indie Book Award for YA and The Road To Winter is a popular text on school lists around the country. He is also an award-winning writer of short fiction whose work has been published in Australia and overseas. He is the co-curator of Minds Went Walking, Paul Kelly’s Songs Reimagined and Into Your Arms, Nick Cave’s Songs Reimagined. His next book, Where Truth Ends, will be published by Pan Macmillan in June 2026.
Take a look at our other sessions
This year’s line-up also includes bestselling and award-winning authors including Sarah Bailey and J.P. Pomare, who will take to the stage for a special live recording of their podcast, “He Read, She Read”, alongside acclaimed writers Alli Sinclair, Antoun Issa, Melissa Manning, Mark Smith, Tanya Scott, Brendan Cullen and Paul Mitchell, Emma Hardy, Kate Halfpenny and many more.