Suzy Wilson is the owner of Riverbend Books and Teahouse in Oxford St, Bulimba. Riverbend Book's has won the Australian Independent Bookshop of the Year Award twice and the Queensland Independent Bookshop of the Year five times. Encouraging a culture of reading in the local and wider community is one of Riverbend's key goals.

As well as owning Riverbend, Suzy is the founder of the national Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD) project, a project that is run by the Australian Book Industry in partnership with the Fred Hollows Foundation. This project raised over $250,000 last year to buy literacy resources to support the literacy programs run by the Fred Hollows Foundation in remote Indigenous communities.

Suzy holds the view that books and reading maintain a unique and revered position in our world. They give joy, inspiration, insight and comfort to our everyday lives; they are the cornerstones of our civilization, they are essential for  the development of empathy and humanity. This view of literature informs everything Suzy and Riverbend aspire to.

Suzy has also been awarded the 2010 Dromkeen award. This important award is made annually to an Australian citizen for a significant contribution to the appreciation and development of children's literature in Australia. Congratulations Suzy.

Some very exciting news for 2012 is that Suzy has been appointed as an Ambassador for the National Year of Reading. This role will involve promoting reading and literacy, a role which is right up her alley.