When Geraldton-born Olive was a baby, her mother brought her to live in Hedland. And she’s never left, having made a strong connection to the community and the region. An artist at Spinifex Hill Studio, Olive’s paintings often feature the beautiful Pilbara wildflowers. Olive has Noongar/Yamatji and Martu/ Wongi heritage.

Western Australian-born Lauren Greatorex is a proud Malgana, Nyikina and Jabirr Jabirr woman. Lauren is a young creative and currently resides on Kariyarra Country in Port Hedland. Lauren’s cultural connection to country and family is a significant influence for her art. Lauren draws her passion from her salt water and fresh water connections through Country and has a focus on storytelling, education and creating a cultural learning experience through her art.

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Ever been unable to get to sleep because there’s a dragon outside your bedroom window? Or know a dog who thinks he’s the boss? Briony’s award-winning stories include the Kumiko and the Dragon series and We Love You Magoo. Briony loves live drawing challenges, daydreaming and discussing dragons, bunnies and how to tame lions.

Julie has lived in Hedland for half as long as the town has existed, so there’s not much she doesn’t know about the town! She’s written a series of children’s and history books about Hedland, including her latest, Santa Visits Port Hedland.

Verity is an artist living in and working on Kariyarra country in Port Hedland. She has been creating art from a young age, making countless scrapbooks brimming with drawings and watercolours. Verity is currently exploring portraiture in her practice and enjoys abstracting physical features with colour and values to create a distinctive likeness of the subject.

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Ruby is a Yolngu woman and artist from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, who works at Spinifex Hill Studio. Ruby uses traditional and non-traditional mediums in her art, which is strongly influenced by her Yolngu heritage. She often paints the Rirratjingu designs of her mother’s clan, sharing the designs and stories that she has inherited.

Amber is an author, illustrator and poet originally from Aotearoa, New Zealand. She loves using the natural world as a starting point for imagining wild and wonderful things. Her picture book, I Would Dangle the Moon, ponders the possibilities of plucking the moon from the sky, and she hopes that she really will get to taste moon ice cream one day!

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Unfortunately Steve is unable to make the trip to the Pilbara in person, but make sure to check out his books in the official event Book Shop.

Steve’s four decades focusing on children’s well-being has resulted in lots of important conversations, an Order of Australia Medal, and many award-winning books.

What would we do without superhero Captain Hedland, who defends the town from the evil of Crave, The Fisherman and The Bush Mechanic? The Captain Hedland comic book series is the creation of Banjiyima artist Layne, who was born in Hedland and is a Studio Assistant at Spinifex Hill Studio as well as one of its youngest artists.

If you listen to kids’ audio books, chances are you’ll already be familiar with Stig’s voice, because he’s made recordings for just about every famous Australian author! Stig’s also created his own audio book series The Tripp Diaries, in which an intrepid family goes on the road and tracks down some koala snatchers.

Thrilling fantasy worlds, talking animals, and enchanted steam trains! It’s all in a day’s work for Lev, who is the bestselling author of the Magicians trilogy, The Silver Arrow and The Golden Swift. In his previous life as a journalist, Lev met and interviewed J.K. Rowling. He lives in Brooklyn NYC and is an identical twin.

You might have heard Elise’s voice on ABC radio as the ‘Pilbara Poet’, read one of her articles in the local paper, spied her on stage as an MC or perhaps met her as your child’s teacher. Passionate about performing, writing and teaching, Elise loves laughter & connection and puts her hand up for every interesting opportunity that comes her way.

Sophia is a proud Ngarla woman and an incredible portrait painter, recently winning the State’s top portraiture prize for her work. She was born in Hedland in 1985, her ancestors are Makanykarra, and her family is from the De Grey area 80km north-east of Hedland. Sophia took up painting at Spinifex Hill Studio in 2020.

Rekeshia was born in Port Hedland and raised in Nullagine and Hedland. She has Thiin Mah heritage from her grandmother’s side, and Ngoonooru Wadjari heritage from her grandfather’s side. At an early age she was keen to paint, carry on the family name and share her family’s passion for painting and sharing stories. Rekeshia works and paints at Spinifex Hill Studio.

Sher Rill is the Woi-Wurring/ Melbourne-based author and illustrator of Our Little Inventor, about Nell, a young girl who creates a machine to fix the pollution that is choking the big city. Sher Rill was inspired as a nine-year-old by a classmate’s drawings. She acquired a “How to draw” book and became one of the best things ever: “that-kid-inclass- who-draws.”