Rodney Hall was born on 18 November 1935 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England. Came to Australia after the Second World War, studied at the University of Queensland and graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts. Australian writer, book and film reviewer, actor, editor. Winner of the Miles Franklin Award. Appointed Member of Order of Australia in 1990. Received a Doctor of Letters honoris causa from the University of Queensland in 2003.

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).

David Rowbotham was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, served in the RAAF in the Second World War, studied at the University of Sydney and The University of Queensland, worked as a journalist, broadcaster and academic and as literary and theatre critic for The Courier Mail from 1969-1979 and from 1980-1987 as its Literary Editor. His 22 books include verse, short stories and a novel. Major awards received include the Xavier Society Award and Grace Leven Prize for Poetry in 1964; recognition by the Australia Council as an Emeritus Fellow of Literature in 1988; and the Order of Australia (AM) in 1991 "for services to literature and journalism".

Ronald Albert Simpson was born in Melbourne on 1 February 1920. Australian Poet, poetry editor, artist and art lecturer. Died 2 October 2002.