John Ayliffe

John Ayliffe is an Australian novelist and non-fiction writer whose work spans literary fiction, biography, and history. He began his career in advertising in Australia and the UK before establishing his own agency in Sydney, a professional life that later enabled him to pursue writing full-time. He has published works of fiction, biography, and a history of the Northern Beaches. His books include The Priest’s Woman and Other Stories, Blind Man’s Bluff, My Brother’s Eyes (with David Ayliffe), and Icons. Ayliffe’s writing is marked by close observation of character, place, and moral complexity. He lives on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with his wife Helen and continues to work on new fiction. They have four children and eight grandchildren. His latest book, written as J.S. Ayliffe, is Betrayal, to be launched at the Festival.