The Curiosities

Zana Fraillon was born in Melbourne, but spent her early childhood in San Francisco. Zana spent a year in China teaching English and now lives in Melbourne with her three children, husband and two dogs. When Zana isn't reading or writing, she likes to explore the museums and hidden passageways scattered across Melbourne. Zana has won and been shortlisted for some of the most prestigious prizes in children's literature: Her 2016 novel The Bone Sparrow won the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children, the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the Amnesty CILIP Honour. It was also shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Gold Inky and the CILIP Carnegie Medal, as well as the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards, and the Queensland Literary Awards.

Phil Lesnie is a Sydney-based illustrator of children's books. He is also a children's bookseller. It is entirely possible that he hasn't read a title written for adults since he became one. He works primarily in watercolour, because in a watercolour painting even mistakes look lovely. He is the illustrator of Feathers, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards in 2018. His first three books were CBCA Notable books in 2015, 2016 and 2018. But his first cat, Cassidy, is notable all of the time.