2025 PROGRAM
Just Saying: In Conversation with Hugh Mackay
DATE:
Sunday 22 March, 2026
LOCATION:
Manly Youth Centre
COST:
$25.00
In Just Saying, one of Australia’s most trusted social commentators,
Hugh Mackay, turns his sharp but compassionate gaze to the state of our national psyche. From loneliness and social division to kindness, trust and the small acts that shape community life,
Mackay explores what truly matters in unsettled times. In this intimate one-on-one conversation, he reflects on how we live, how we treat one another, and how we rebuild a sense of shared purpose. A thoughtful, uplifting session with a writer who helps us understand ourselves.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
The Manly Writers' Festival acknowledges and thanks the original storytellers on the lands on which our events take place, the Gameraygal people of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge and respect their continuing connection and culture, and we pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present, as well as emerging leaders.