Blunderbore

Sofie Laguna has written four novels for adults which have won numerous literary awards including the Miles Franklin Award, the Colin Roderick Award and the Indie Award. She has also been shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the ALS Gold Medal, the Voss Award, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Sofie’s many books for children have been published in the US and the UK and in translation in Europe and Asia, and been named Honour and Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. The Underworld, Sofie’s fifth adult novel was published in 2025.

Marc McBride is the illustrator of the New York Times best-selling series Deltora Quest, which has sold over eighteen million copies around the world and has become an Anime TV show. Marc has illustrated more than two hundred book covers including the Dragon Games series by Maddy Mara. He has illustrated thirteen picture books including The Glimme written by Emily Rodda (Honour Book in the 2020 CBCA awards), The Song of Lewis Carmichael (2021), The House on Pleasant Street (2022), The Glow (2023) and A Friend for Ruby (2023). Marc has had work exhibited with the New York Society of Illustrators International Show and has won Aurealis Awards for the Deltora Quest series and World of Monsters, which he wrote and illustrated.