Story Club at the Heartbreak Hotel

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Ben Jenkins is a writer, TV producer and the co-creator of Story Club. His written work has appeared in places like The Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald and anthologies like The Best Australian Comedy Writing and People of Letters. On TV he has written for The Chaser, The Checkout, Tonightly, The Feed and various other ABC and SBS ventures. He also has a Dungeon and Dragons podcast called ‘Dragon Friends’ and a baby son not called that. 

Holden Sheppard is an award-winning Young Adult author born and bred in Geraldton, Western Australia. His debut novel, Invisible Boys, won the 2018 City of Fremantle T.A.G. Hungerford Award and the 2017 Ray Koppe Residency Award, and was Highly Commended in the 2018 ASA Emerging Writers’ Mentorship Prize.

Sheppard’s novella ‘Poster Boy’ won the 2018 Novella Project competition and was published in Griffith Review. His true story ‘Fight, Deny, Delete’ was published in the 2019 Margaret River Press anthology Bright Lights, No City. Holden's short fiction has been published in page seventeen and Indigo, and he has also written for Ten Daily, Huffington Post, ABC, DNA Magazine and FasterLouder. He graduated with Honours from Edith Cowan University’s writing program and won a prestigious Australia Council ArtStart grant in 2015. He serves as the Deputy Chair of WritingWA, and as an ambassador for Lifeline WA.

Sheppard has always been a misfit: a gym junkie who has played Pokemon competitively, a sensitive geek who loves aggressive punk rock, and a bogan who learned to speak French.

Jane Caro AM (awarded this year) is an author, novelist, broadcaster, columnist, advertising writer and social commentator. She was awarded the 2018 Walkley for Women’s Leadership. A much-loved figure, her most recent book – Accidental Feminists – champions a generation of fiery older women.

Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa is a first-generation Australian Sikh spoken word poet, performer and playwright based in Perth. She is passionate about diversity and the importance of visibility in the performing arts and inherently merges her advocacy background with the arts. Her work predominantly provokes conversations around Australian identity, feminism and the power of uncomfortable conversations. Her debut theatre show with Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre Company is titled Fully Sikh and premiered in 2019.