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Jemima Shafei-Ongu is a Sydney-based writer, psychologist, and teacher who is passionate about picture books and their power to connect readers of all ages. Her writing explores themes of connection, wellbeing, and belonging, expressing diversity as a natural way of being in the world. Jemima’s picture books include Midnight Creep, A Lemon for Safiya, and Aslan and Benny. She has also co-authored Shirin and Amir and the Dragon Smoke as part of an inclusive health messaging project.

As a child of the Arab diaspora, an ‘in-betweener,’ she is driven to investigate and continue disrupted narratives in all her creative pursuits. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found watercolor painting, playing the derbakke, learning the Turkish ney, or spending time with her first grandchild, who recently made her a Teta. Jemima was born and raised on unceded Dharug land, where she currently lives with her husband, their mini schnauzer, and whichever of their three daughters is in the country at the time.

Phoebe Zeng is a self-taught illustrator and artist born in southern China and now living on Australia’s sunny west coast. She first learned to draw as a child by doodling in the margins of her school textbooks, surrounded by everything from Japanese manga and traditional Chinese art to European folk tales. After relocating to Australia in her early twenties, Phoebe began seriously pursuing her passion for illustration. Drawn to magical stories that move the heart, she loves combining the tactile warmth of watercolor, ink, gouache, and colored pencils with the versatility of digital art. When not creating in her studio, Phoebe can be found playing the piano, working on craft projects, or tending to her garden.

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