Australian composer and conductor Colin James Brumby was born on 18 June 1933 in Melbourne. He was a graduate of the Melbourne University Conservatorium of Music. In 1964, after teaching music in schools and colleges and further music studies abroad, Brumby took up a lectureship in the Department of Music at the University of Queensland. Three years later in 1967, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer, the youngest to be appointed at the time. In 1972 he completed a PhD with the University of Melbourne and travelled to Italy to study under Franco Evangelisti for a period. Back at UQ, Brumby was promoted to Reader (now Associate Professor) and served as Head of the Music Department from 1976 to 1978. He was a crucial figure in the early development of the Queensland Opera Company, serving as musical director for several years. He was married to Jenny Dawson, a singer, UQ music alumna and Queensland University Musical Society (QUMS) president in the early 1970s. Brumby died on 3 January 2018.

Thomas William Shapcott was born in Ipswich, Queensland, on 21 March 1935. He attended the Ipswich Grammar School with his twin brother, John Arthur (Jack). Shapcott left school at fifteen to work in his father's accountancy business. In 1954 Shapcott began to write poetry seriously for the first time. His first published poem appeared in the Sydney Bulletin in 1956. His first collection of poems, Time on fire won the Grace Leven Poetry Prize for 1961. That same year he completed an accountancy degree at the University of Queensland, then completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1967. In 1971, Shapcott was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to visit America, a trip which led to the autobiographical poems in Shabbytown calendar (1975). He established an accountancy firm in 1972, having gained previous accountancy experience working with his father's accountancy firm. In 1973, he was appointed to the Literature Board of the Australia Council and served as its Director from 1983 to 1990. He served as the Executive Director of the National Book Council from 1991 to 1997, when he became the inaugural Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide, retiring from the position in 2005. As well as his many volumes of poetry, Shapcott has written many novels, short stories, libretti, plays and reviews. He has received numerous awards for his contribution to Australian literature, including the Canada-Australia Literary Award in 1978, the Yugoslavia Struga International Poetry Festival Golden Wreath Award in 1989, the FAW Christopher Brennan Award in 1995, the New South Wales Premier’s Special Literary Award in 1996, and the Patrick White Award in 2000. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. He has received honorary Doctorates from Macquarie University (1989) and the University of Queensland (2009).