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Christos Tsiolkas is the author of five novels: Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head-On, The Jesus Man and Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. He won Overall Best Book in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2009, was shortlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize and won the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for his novel, The Slap, which was also announced as the 2009 Australian Booksellers Association and Australian Book Industry Awards Books of the Year. He is also a playwright, essayist and screenwriter. Christos' latest novel is Barracuda, which was published here and in the UK to rave reviews in late 2013 and became an instant bestseller.

Lex Marinos is best known for his outstanding performances as Bruno Bertolucci in Kingswood Country and, more recently, as Manolis in the ABC's production of The Slap, as well as dozens of films and countless stage productions. His work has taken him all over Australia, from remote Indigenous communities to the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. Lex has also worked extensively on ABC radio since the riotous inception of 2JJ. A regular panellist on Richard Glover's popular Thank God It's Friday, Lex is a frequent speaker and writer on arts and cultural diversity in Australia.