Leah Swann is an award-winning author and journalist currently employed at World Vision Australia as the CEO's chief speech writer. Her critically acclaimed collection of stories, Bearings, was published by Affirm in 2011. Her fantasy series for middle grade readers, Irina: The Trilogy, was published by Xoum between 2012 and 2015, with some young readers calling it 'the best book since Harry Potter'. Swann was the inaugural first place winner of the Overland Story Wine prize for her story That Inward Eye. Swann's literary fiction, poetry and essays have been published in Meanjin, The Best Australian Stories, The World To Come, Australian Love Stories, Award Winning Australian Writing, page seventeen, Review of Australian Fiction, Australian Country Style, Reflecting on Melbourne, and The Glasgow Herald.