The Friends of Corryong Library secured fantastic judges for the 2009 Award and thank them profusely for the donation of their time and expertise in judging this Award. 

2009 Judges:

    

	Charlotte Calder Charlotte Calder was born in Adelaide and grew up in the Adelaide Hills and Darwin. She has worked as, among other things, an actor and a photographer and has written columns for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian. She is the author of four novels for young adults: Settling Storms, Cupid Painted Blind, Surviving Amber and Paper Alice, which will be published by Pan Macmillan in June 2008. A childrens' picture book, Stuck!, illustrated by Mark Jackson, is to be published next year by Walker Books. Charlotte lives with her husband and the youngest of their three children near Orange, in the Central West of NSW. She loves white cockatoos, emails, cats, dogs, horses, trips to Sydney, and most other things that distract her from getting on with her next novel.
	Fiona Inglis Fiona Inglis grew up at The Rock, riding ponies and reading The Silver Brumby books. She graduated from Melbourne University in 1978 and began work in the publishing industry, firstly in sales and marketing and eventually in editing. She worked in London in the mid-eighties and returned to Australia where she settled in Sydney. She is now a literary agent and Managing Director of Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd, the agency which represented Elyne Mitchell during her long writing career, and now manages her Estate. Fiona is the mother of two small boys and she and her partner take them down to visit the country of her childhood as often as they can.
	Dr Noella Mackenzie Noella is a member of the academic staff of Charles Sturt University and specialises in Literacy Education. Prior to 2004 Noella worked for the NSW DET in various roles including classroom teacher and senior education officer with a particular focus on literacy development. Throughout her career Noella has worked in schools in NSW, Victoria and the ACT. She has also worked for California State University and the Canadian campus of Charles Sturt University in Ontario. Noella's current research projects focus on 'literacy' and 'reading and using' research. Noella has had articles published in Australian and international academic journals and has reviewed articles for a number of journals including the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education and The Australian Journal of Early Childhood. Noella is a recipient of the Australian College of Educators and NSW Minister for Education Quality Teaching Award in recognition of demonstrated excellence in teaching.
	Sally Odgers Sally Odgers was born in Latrobe, Tasmania, and still lives there. Her first book, a set of linked farm and family stories, was published in 1977. Others followed, until these genres went out of fashion. Sally switched to her other favourite genres, fantasy and science fiction. Since then, she has written in many genres. In 1979, Sally married Darrel Odgers. They have two adult children, James and Tegan. Darrel and Sally co-write the popular Jack Russell: Dog Detective and Pet Vet series. Sally also runs a small business called Affordable Manuscript Assessments. Visit Sally Odger's website.