As an educator, I have co-ordinated our school visits and attended Whitsunday Voices for a number of years. The professionalism of the organising body and the quality of the presenters is second to none. Our students always return to school sharing wonderful stories about their favourite authors as well as an eagerness to try some of the key strategies, for excellent story writing presented by the authors.

The Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature festival is a great opportunity to meet not only terrific authors, but also to network with students from other schools, who share a keen interest in delving into the art of storytelling.

This festival is encouraging for young inspiring authors and illustrators, who wish to one day share their story with future generations, much like the guest speakers at the event.

Whitsunday Voices is an amazing event that provides the opportunity for regional students to engage in a cultural and literary experience usually afforded only to southeast Queensland students.

It is one of the most looked-forward to excursions in our school calendar. Our students are always impressed by the variety, quality and professionalism of the presenters and love hearing their life-stories and the advice they give to aspiring authors.

I congratulate Whitsunday Anglican School for taking on this enormous undertaking each year. The school is a wonderful location for this event with plenty of space to accommodate the thousands of students from surrounding schools and the staff and students are always friendly, welcoming and helpful.

My time at the Whitsunday Voices Festival was exceptional. From the smiling faces that met me at the airport, to Tracey’s warm hug upon my arrival; it all felt very warmly. The utter zeal and excitement of the Festival was palpable at the opening of the festival. The student helpers were very kind and passionate about language. The students were wide eyed, attentive and hungry for perspective. My sessions were filled with laughter and joy. The students were eager to learn how poetry can be used as a tool in their own lives. The festival was an absolute pleasure to be a part of!

You just try to keep me away from the best Literature Festival in the whole world! Long Live Slam!

I’m going to ask people to call me Princess Yvonne from now on, because I’ve gotten used to being treated like royalty here! Thank for everything Tracey and your extraordinary team! Thanks for inviting me and letting me be a part of this amazing Festival!

Thank you, Tracey and Liz and everyone for hosting us at the Whitsunday Voices Festival! It was a super COO time hanging out with all the kids and young adults and staff and volunteers and sharing my RIDICULOUS pigeon stories with everyone. What a beautiful Festival with beautiful people. With love and appreciation…

I wanted to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to you and Tracy and ALL of the team of volunteers and sponsors for inviting me to be part of something that was SO special. The joy and enthusiasm on all of the students through out the week was infectious and uplifting! So grateful to be able to share in that with all of the other incredible authors. Thank you!

Thank you everyone for the absolutely fantastic festival! I’m so lucky to have been a part of it!

Thank you all for being such excellent company on our Whitsunday Author Camp. I feel #soblessed to have been included.

I had such an amazing time and it's all thanks to you. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a fun and loving festival. I felt like everyone was just so welcoming and gracious and went the extra mile every time. Please also commend the WAS on the quality of their students and staff - it's very obvious that the young people the school is producing are confident and able contributers who will make a difference in the world. I loved spending time with them! And the literary dinner was A-MAZE-BALLS! So much glamour, so much fun, such a thought-provoking speaker, so many photo-booth moustaches :-) :-)

I just want to say THANK YOU to you and your amazing team of assistants and volunteers. Attending the Whitsunday Voices Festival was a highlight of my year. Not only did I get to meet loads of amazing people (yourself, Tracey, Anna, Andrew and others at the school and in the Mackay Community) but I also got to meet and connect with hundreds of students in your region … and beyond. What a remarkable job you do with the festival to draw in hundreds of students who have to drive hours and hours to attend. Oh, and hanging out with other book creatives and industry professionals was another bonus. You and your team made us all feel welcome, appreciated and valued. It was an incredible three days. Friday night dinner was a very special experience too, as was meeting Li. I loved Whitsunday Voices and you should all be commended on your awesome efforts. So, yep, thank you, thank you, thank you! Hopefully one day I get to come back again to enjoy your wonderful Whitsunday hospitality. Until then, take care and keep up the great work!

Many thanks to you and your amazing team for your efforts to ensure everything went as smoothly as possible with my sessions at the festival. It was a fabulous couple of days and by the reactions of the students and adults who attended my presentations, it was clear they enjoyed the sessions as well.

I just wanted to send through a very big THANK YOU for having us at Whitsunday Voices! We had such an amazing time and were incredibly impressed by the amount of enthusiasm, warmth and the hospitality that was shown to us by the school, students, staff and volunteers. Also a big thank you to our caterers as well, we were very well looked after and the food was delicious. There was just such a fantastic vibe at the festival and all of the students were so engaged and welcoming! You have both done a fantastic job organising such a large scale festival.

Thank you so very much for giving me the opportunity to present at your marvelous festival!! Not only was I thrilled to meet so many keen readers, I was also so inspired by my fellow authors, yourselves and your fabulous team of students, volunteers and helpers.I hope you enjoyed the festival as much as I did, it was truly a pleasure to be part of.

I had a simply wonderful time in Mackay. Everything was so well organised - the student assistants were proactive and attentive, and all the volunteers were helpful. Geez, even the bloke on the coffee cart made just the right coffee for me! I was mightily impressed with the size and enthusiasm of my audiences - as an author, I'll travel forever to appear in front of those students (even all the way from Greece☺). Finally, a huge thank-you to you and Tracey for your dedicated and professional approach to everything during the festival. I hope the festival continues its stellar success well into the future.