Victoria writes works of fiction and for theatre. Her novel for young adults, The Dream Walker, was nominated for the Queensland Literary Awards and was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable book for older readers.
Her first book for middle grade readers, Gus and The Starlight, was published in 2022, and was shortlisted for best children’s fiction in the Aurealis Awards.
Lani and the Universe is her latest book. It celebrates the magic in nature, science and in our every day.
Victoria lives in Brisbane with her family and a very silly cat.
Workshops
Write your way out of this one
Work with Victoria to draw on your funny, embarrassing and wonderful moments to create stories your friends will want to read.
Suitable for Grades 5 and up.
Bones in the garden: writing for performance
Here we will look at character, form, structure, language and symbol to develop your haunting new work.
Suitable for Grades 10- 12 and adults. May be tailored for beginning or intermediate writers as well as masterclasses.
Victoria welcomes your invitation to deliver workshops at your school or event and can tailor content to your topic.
Talks
The wonky goat track: my pathway to publication
Hear one writer’s take on staying the course
Suitable for grades 8-12 and adults
Regional lives, regional stories
Inspired by the richness of the regions? Be stirred to write the small town, big-hearted story you were born to tell
Suitable for grades 8-12 and adults
Literature and early literacy
Some notes on mothering and writing (or what I learnt reading Noni the Pony for the 100th time)
Testimonials
Victoria was very well organised and an engaging speaker. She ensured that her presentation took into consideration the upcoming assessment task for the students by using one of her stories as a framework. The workshop activity was well structured and the students enjoyed the writing exercises. She generously gave prizes and this was very well received.
Kedron State High School - July, 2024Victoria was great with our students. She worked with them to build their ideas and to express themselves creatively. The students thoroughly enjoyed her presentation and she was very generous with her time when they had a lot of questions.
Hillbrook Anglican School - July, 2024Victoria Carless was the perfect fit for our senior school students during Book Week. Despite the fact that Victoria was speaking to audiences of more than 200 students, Victoria has the ability to present as if she’s speaking to each student directly. She is genuine, humble and honest as she takes students through the story of her life to showcase the trials and tribulations of being an author and playwright. Victoria ensured that her presentation had ample time for questions and her answers to the questions were thoughtful and meaningful to each student. I have had several teachers, following Victoria’s presentations, approach me to share that students have been inspired and positively provoked by Victoria’s sessions. Most impressive is that Victoria spent her lunchtime surrounded by students who loved her presentation and wanted to share and learn more from her. We thank Victoria for her time and would gladly have her back to present again.
A.B. Paterson College - September 2022Victoria was a wonderful addition to our Literary Festival this year. She engaged fully with the boys and offered many insights into the writing process and how to create intrigue and drama within a story. The boys were fully engaged, particularly in the playwrighting workshops.
Ambrose Treacy College - April 2022
Lani and the Universe
Gus and the Starlight
The Dream Walker
Featured Speakers
Stop Press
Choose Your Own Adventure!
To tie in with the 2025 Book Week theme, ‘Book an Adventure’, Dave Lowe has adapted his popular ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ workshop, as a ‘presentation’-style 45- / 60-minute session for large groups of students, from Years 3 to 8. In this fun, highly-interactive session, Dave will share insights into ideas-generation and plotting, and give each student a story template, as well as all the tips and tricks they’ll need to make their own short ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’-style book that they can take home and try out on friends and family.
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
| Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
|---|---|---|---|
Gold Coast / Brisbane | 14 Jul - 24 Jul 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 23 Jul - 25 Jul 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 28 Jul - 01 Aug 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 01 Aug - 09 Sep 2025 | ||
Brisbane / Gold Coast | 04 Aug - 08 Aug 2025 |
What people are saying
Allison's presentation on writing fantasy stories was both engaging and informative. Students were extremely interested in hearing about the process involved in writing stories and the elements of the fantasy genre. Allison's presentation was an excellent authentic experience to enhance their knowledge about writing.
You are an extremely entertaining speaker (and lunch companion!). You kept the students laughing. It was clear that you had our students’ full engagement by the number of questions and the reluctance of students to leave at the end of the session. I particularly noted that students hovered around you and the table of books as they left. Even more striking was one of our shyest year 7’s requesting your autograph at the end of the day (this has never happened before). Further to this I have one yo [...]
During our Book Week celebrations this year we were delighted to have Serena Geddes spend time with our students from Kindergarten to Year 6. With the younger students (Kindy – Yr 2) she spoke with enthusiasm about the way her illustrations make it into books and entertained the students with her drawings making sure there was collaboration from the students as to what she drew. One of our students was chosen to help her as she read Samuel’s Kisses and he will certainly remember thi [...]
Peter Carnavas was wonderful. His presentations were very well received & he is a delightful person to host.
Allison was engaging with both parents and students at our extracurricular book club. Her presentation was interesting, and Allison was asked many many questions and eagerly responded to every one of them. Allison is a delightful guest, and I would recommend her to any school, library or book club.
“Really gave us an insight into her passion. Very commanding presence instantly captivating the audience.”
It's always a pleasure welcoming Zanni to our school. Her presentations are innovative, engaging, informative and fun. Our students thoroughly enjoyed meeting her.
We had a lovely Literature Event yesterday. Barry Jonsberg was fantastic, all the sessions went smoothly and we have had great feedback from the staff and students. Barry’s sessions had the students laughing and applauding throughout. We are now thinking about next year and would love to have Barry back. We had a great time, thanks so much.
Thank you so much for visiting Nudgee College yesterday and speaking with our Writers’ Circle boys. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. The boys – particularly the Years 5-7s – absolutely raved about your presentation. Thank you again.
Excellent presentation based on what I had requested. The boys were highly engaged and learnt a lot from Nick's experiences.