LitUp
A new live literature initiative supporting author events in schools and communities across Australia
LitUp is a new live literature initiative from Australia Reads, providing opportunities for more Australian schools and communities to host events with authors and illustrators.
Live literature events provide rich and inspiring experiences, connecting readers directly with the creators of their favourite stories, and encouraging a lifelong love of books and reading.
Launching with a pilot in New South Wales and Queensland, LitUp will support communities to create and run their own sessions with authors and illustrators.
The 27 schools, libraries and bookshops participating in the pilot have been announced, and will be supported to welcome authors and illustrators into their communities in 2026.
The program received more than 130 applications in the pilot year, showing the demand in Australia for opportunities to connect with books, reading and authors – particularly in regional and remote locations.
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LitUp is supported by an expert advisory panel; read more about them below, and find out more about the launch of the program in our LitUp announcement article.
LitUp has been made possible with the support of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund and Creative Australia.
Supported by
LitUp has been developed by Australia Reads with the Copyright Agency and Creative Australia. It is supported by an advisory panel, who bring a wealth of knowledge around best practice in schools, libraries and marginalised communities. They offer independent feedback on key stages in the delivery process.
Denise Chapman
Denise is a counternarrative storyteller, poet, critical autoethnographer, and academic who lectures in children’s literature and inclusive children’s media at Monash University. She has served as a literacy specialist for diverse communities in Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Singapore, UAE, and the USA. She uses oral stories, children’s literature, poetry, and digital images as counternarrative windows for social change and liberation.
Cara Shipp
Cara Shipp is a Wiradjuri/Welsh woman (descending from the Lamb and Shipp families in Central Western NSW) and was previously Head of Senior School at Silkwood School on the Gold Coast. She is now a school coach with Big Picture Learning Australia. She has run alternative educational programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; held Head Teacher English/HASS/Languages positions; and served as President, Vice President and Editor with the ACT Association for the Teaching of English (ACTATE) and AATE National Council. Cara has a Master of Education focusing on Aboriginal literacy and regularly presents at conferences on incorporating First Nations perspectives into the English curriculum.
Russell Smith
Russ is a proud descendant of the Ngarrindjeri people. He is a graduate of NIDA and has been performing stories for the last 20 years.Along with his performing career Russ has a Masters in Teaching from UWS and has been teaching children and adults for many years.
Erin Wamala
Erin is the owner of The Kids’ Bookshop and a practising Teacher Librarian. She spent almost 10 years working in publishing, followed by many years as a children’s bookseller and librarian. Erin has been a judge for the CBCA Awards, is a regular contributor to Books + Publishing and was recently appointed to the board of the Melbourne Writers Festival.
Bec Kavanagh (Program Manager)
Bec is a writer, literary critic and academic living in Naarm whose work examines the representation of women’s bodies in literature. Bec was previously the Schools Manager for the Stella Prize, and the Youth Programming Manager at the Wheeler Centre. She is currently Senior Tutor in Creative Writing and Publishing at the University of Melbourne and teaches Faber Academy’s ‘Writing the YA Novel’. Independently, she runs ‘Body Writing’, a series of 3-hour life drawing classes for writers.
