James Phelan has been a full-time novelist since 2006 and knows what it takes to have a successful career as an artist in Australia. His first book was the nonfiction Literati:Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame. He has written 30 novels for adults, Young Adult, and Middle Grade, as well as short stories across those categories. His books have sold over 5 million copies in over 80 countries, and have won many awards including: YABBA, KOALA, KROC, COOL, YALSA and ABIA.

James started out in architecture, working on the Federation Square design team for three years, then switched to writing, working on staff at The Age newspaper for five years while studying a MA in Writing, followed by a PhD in Young Adult Literature. Since 2006 he has been a sessional teacher in the MA and undergraduate Creative Writing programs at Swinburne University, where he has helped develop the course and learning material.

James has presented, given keynotes and facilitated workshops at schools, universities and libraries across Australia and the USA, as well as at specialist education and literary conferences. He has been on organising and artist committees of: The Melbourne Writers Festival, The National Young Writers Festival, and Thrillerfest NYC. He is a regular guest on the festival circuit where he also facilitates panels and hosts masterclasses. He has run the John Marsden Prize, been the spotlight author of Melbourne Writer’s Festival’s The Whole Shebang, and ran the Queensland Writers
Centre Year of the Novel.

As a professional author, James is detail oriented and highly motivated to complete tasks. It is his belief that a well-functioning Copyright Agency is vital to the health of the arts in this country and would welcome this opportunity to contribute to the success of the program.