Maryam Master in conversation with Ben Quilty

Anahita Rosalind Ghorban-Galaszczuk (yes, that really is her name but you can call her Ana) is discovering that life is absurd. As if dying of cancer at the age of 12.5 isn't bad enough, she still has to endure daily insults from her nemesis, Alyssa (Queen Mean) Anderson.  Ana's on a wild roller-coaster of life and death, kindness and cruelty, ordinary and extraordinary.  And she's got a few things to do before she exits . . .

About the Author

Maryam Master was born in Iran and moved to Australia when she was nine. She is a screenwriter and playwright who loves creating shows for young audiences.  Maryam has adapted three of David Walliams' books for the stage - Mr Stink, Billionaire Boy and The Midnight Gang - as well as Oliver Jeffers' The Incredible Book Eating Boy, all of which premiered at the Sydney Opera House and toured across Australia. She also collaborated with Australian Children's Laureate Leigh Hobbs on Horrible Harriet: Live on Stage.  She began her career in TV, writing for shows like Home and Away, Blinky Bill and the Jim Henson Co's Bambaloo. In 2011 she was selected by Sesame Workshop as the writer for Elmo's tour of Australia.  Exit Through the Gift Shop is her first novel.

About the Moderator

Ben Quilty grew up in Kenthurst in Sydney's north-west. Quilty lives and works in Robertson, New South Wales. He was educated at Kenthurst Public School and Oakhill College, where he exhibited his HSC artwork in ArtExpress 1991. Subsequently, Quilty was selected as the recipient of the Julian Ashton Summer School Scholarship. After high school, Quilty followed his interest in art and obtained a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Painting from Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1994. He then studied visual communication, design and women's studies at Western Sydney University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. He also obtained a Certificate in Aboriginal Culture and History. 

Quilty is known for his distinctive style of oil painting and a range of topics which includes portraits (he won the Archibald Prize for his portrait of artist and friend Margaret Olley), examination of masculine culture, expression of psychological interiors, and others which show his engagement with a range of social issues, such as the death penalty, asylum seekers, and massacres of Indigenous Australians.