Riikka Dunn joined ADS as distribution director in May 2023 after a long and successful career in several functional areas at IKEA including retail as a store manager, procurement, logistics and ultimately in distribution, where she ran their Central Fulfilment Unit based in Western Sydney.

Riikka has strong operational skills with a focus on data-based decision making and execution, coupled with a focus on people to create strong teams and performance. 

Riikka has brought fresh ideas and IKEA insights to ADS and the book industry more broadly. She has put in place ambitious plans to improve the ADS business, with a strong focus on sustainability. She has also transformed the ADS culture with a solid HR framework, a raft of new inclusive and clear policies, and substantial new benefits for ADS people.

Learn more about Riikka in this interview.

Tessa Feggans’ first official job in the book world was as the programming assistant at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival, with a line-up that included Gloria Steinem and Jonathan Franzen. Later that year she headed to London and Curtis Brown Literary Agency. A three-month internship in the book department progressed to an agent’s assistant role with the CEO and a commercial fiction agent, which saw her working with big names like John Le Carré, Nigella Lawson and David Nicholls.

Three weeks after returning to Sydney in 2018, she landed a job as editor at Allen & Unwin, and quickly rose through the ranks to commissioning editor and then associate publisher in just five years. She currently commissions and publishes a wide and eclectic range of non-fiction, from bestselling memoirs by Toni Lodge, Ruth Wilson, Amy Gerard, and Kath Koschel, to landmark full-colour guides like The Complete Trip in a Van Guide to Australia, and personal development titles like Good With Money, Finding Your People and The Joy Thief.

Tessa is revolutionising acquisitions as she deliberately seeks out books with cutting-edge subject matter, and brings in non-literary authors with a story to tell. She champions debut authors and uses her editorial background to help them find their voice.

Learn more about Tessa in this interview.

Katherine Rajwar is a publicist at UNSW Press/NewSouth Publishing. Prior to this role, she held positions at Ultimo Press, Sydney Writers’ Festival and various independent bookshops. 

Katherine is passionate about diversity in the arts and strives to celebrate authors from all walks of life. She has managed publicity campaigns for notable books like Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran, Bhutan to Blacktown by Om Dhungel, and Underground Lovers by Alison Pouliot. 

Katherine is focused on connecting authors with their readers through exciting events, impactful publicity campaigns, and active engagement on social media.

Learn more about Katherine in this interview.

Yasmin Smith is an editor, writer and poet of South Sea Islander, Kabi Kabi, Northern Cheyenne and English heritage. Beginning her publishing career at the national black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project, she has worked across literary fiction, nonfiction, children’s books and poetry, with a focus on supporting First Nations creatives and their stories. 

Yasmin has judged the David Unaipon Award for the Queensland Literary Awards, attended the APA’s Residential Editorial Program in 2022, and has appeared at numerous writers’ festivals. In 2024 she received Varuna’s First Nations Flagship Fellowship. She was the winner of the 2024 Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the 2020 Judith Wright Poetry Prize, and has been published in various journals. 

Yasmin is currently an editor at University of Queensland Press where her work includes overseeing their ground-breaking First Nations Classics series. She is also an invaluable in-house cultural consultant. Her inestimable connections, knowledge and cultural awareness have contributed to better processes and engagement in-house.

Learn more about Yasmin in this interview.

A gifted writer, Justin Wolfers’ essays, criticism, fiction and poetry has been published in esteemed literary journals and he has presented at numerous teaching institutions and writer’s festivals. At the same time as he was exploring his own work, he found himself equally drawn to supporting other people to tell their own stories. 

Justin took a casual job in the Allen & Unwin mail room straight out of university, before swiftly advancing through admin and IT roles to become publishing manager at Murdoch Books in 2014 – setting up new systems in the wake of the A&U/Murdoch Books merger.

Justin embarked on a PhD in 2015, and moved to a production assistant role before resigning to work on his thesis. He credits this time away from publishing with helping him realise his true vocation, and returned to Murdoch Books in an editorial role in 2018. He progressed to editorial manager in 2021, and began commissioning his own titles in 2023. Justin is emerging as a publishing pioneer in his exploration of the intersection of food, culture, sustainability, and storytelling. His editorial work on the award-winning Parwana and his forthcoming commission Karkalla At Home are perfect examples of this, bringing exciting new dimensions to traditional books of recipes that are insightful, emotional, practical and aesthetically beautiful.

Learn more about Justin in this interview.