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9127f05b-66af-42a7-b980-2897d473b446 Ross Wilson ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Ross Wilson Ross Wilson grew up in a family of Brisbane architects. Most of his working life has been in writing and producing television, including for ABC and SBS. He is the author of This Accidental Present: A Story of Two Families, about the lifelong relationships between the poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal and members of the Cilento family. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

Program Open Book: Writing Lived Experience BUY TICKETS DATE: Saturday 21 March, 2026 TIME: 4.00-5.00pm COST: $25.00 Sky Theatre PATHWAY: Stories and Storytellers HOST : Liz Deep-Jones < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Natalie Scott Tracy Crisp Open Book sessions centre on the work itself. Writers read from their books and speak briefly about the choices and discoveries that shaped the writing. Pearls by Tracy Crisp is a memoir that reflects on displacement and survival, tracing how early experiences continue to shape a life over time. A Secret Grief by Natalie Scott is a novel centred on a girl growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, grappling with her relationship with her mother—a relationship marked by emotional distance, misunderstanding and the stories we tell ourselves about being loved. In this Open Book session, Crisp and Scott read from their work and talk about writing lived experience — how personal histories, perceptions and memory are shaped into a story through memoir.

cccaea03-5575-454a-b7bc-1d42282331de John Ayliffe ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS 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. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

2a2f9da6-d824-41ce-bf8a-b27c179904cd Bob Carr ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Bob Carr Bob Carr was Premier of NSW from 1995 to 2005, during which time the NSW Government set new records for spending on infrastructure, became the first government in the state’s history to retire debt, hosted the ‘world’s best Olympics’ in 2000, and achieved the nation’s best school literacy levels. He received the World Conservation Union International Parks Merit Award for creating 350 new national parks, introducing the world’s first carbon trading scheme, and curbing the clearing of native vegetation. Bob has served as Australia’s Foreign Minister (2012–13), and as Director of the Australia–China Relations Institute and is Professor of Industry in Climate and Business at the University of Technology Sydney. In July 2024, he was appointed Chair of the Australian Heritage Council and the NSW Museum of History. He is also the author of Thoughtlines (2002), Foreign Minister (2014), and Run for Your Life (2018). < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

e72182bb-4ee9-44b8-b8fe-19b316021284 Candida Baker ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Candida Baker Candida Baker is a writer, editor, photographer, journalist, and natural horsemanship practitioner. She is the author of the novels Women and Horses and The Hidden and an award-winning book of short stories, The Powerful Owl. Candida’s book, The Heart of a Horse, was published in 2021. Her latest book, Light and Shadow, was published by Fair Play Publishing in 2025. Candida held positions at many of Australia’s major publications. She was a feature writer with the Melbourne Age for seven years; Deputy Editor of the Good Weekend magazine; Arts Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and Editor of The Weekend Australian Magazine. She regularly reviews books and writes features for a variety of magazines and newspapers. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

aa0eaba3-e482-487d-bd9d-2ea0807eb3c1 Ainslie Harvey ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Ainslie Harvey Ainslie Harvey is the creator behind the viral internet sensation Hot History. With a self-professed love of all things history and all things hot, Ainslie started her TikTok account in 2023, covering everything from the Romanovs to the Titanic. 26 million likes and nearly 400,000 followers later, she has transformed her passion into a thriving business dedicated not only to covering the events of the past but to changing our relationship with them forever – especially for women. A former marketing executive and serial entrepreneur, Ainslie loves dogs, dirty martinis and anything with men in white (slightly damp) billowing shirts. She lives in Sydney with her husband and her dog, Governor. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

88544a1e-1b23-40a2-aef0-7c0e0f1a7557 Sarah Dingle ABOUT < VIEW ALL HOSTS Sarah Dingle Sarah Dingle is a dual Walkley Award-winning investigative ABC reporter and presenter, as well as an author. She has investigated everything from indigenous affairs and human rights to defence and sport. Her work has also won the Walkley Foundation’s Our Watch award for reporting on violence against women and children, UN Media Peace Prizes, Amnesty Media Prizes, Kennedy Awards, the Voiceless Media Prize, and the Australian College of Educators Media prize. She was a 2023 participant in the Walkley Foundation Korea Media Exchange and is the Australian recipient of the 2023 Elizabeth O’Neill Journalism Award, run by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs’ Australia-Indonesia Institute. In 2021 she released her first book, Brave New Humans: The Dirty Reality of Donor Conception which has been translated into Japanese. In 2022 Brave New Humans was made into documentary film Inconceivable, currently nominated for a 2023 Rockie Award at Canada's Banff Media Festival. < PREVIOUS HOST NEXT HOST > 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.

db0a94b9-2e46-4d4b-be28-f89d5881a50b Suellen Dainty ABOUT < VIEW ALL HOSTS Suellen Dainty Suellen Dainty is the author of three internationally published novels. She worked as a newspaper journalist in Sydney before moving to London and becoming a TV producer, a ghost writer and a non-fiction author. She then turned her hand to fiction. Her first novel, After Everything, was published in 2014, followed by The Housekeeper in 2017. Her most recent novel is An Invisible Tattoo. Suellen lived in London and Somerset for thirty years and returned to her hometown, Sydney in 2025. < PREVIOUS HOST NEXT HOST > 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.

6a18d98c-0d9b-4006-88ea-fc746fbe811c Sue Woolfe ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Sue Woolfe Dr Sue Woolfe is an acclaimed Australian novelist, short-story writer and essayist whose work has been published internationally and recognised with major literary awards. She is the author of five novels, including Painted Woman, runner-up for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and Leaning Towards Infinity, winner of the Christina Stead Prize and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and a long-running bestseller in Australia and the UK. Her later novels include The Secret Cure and The Oldest Song in the World, inspired by time spent in a remote Northern Territory Aboriginal community. Her short-story collection Do You Love Me or What? was runner-up for the NSW Women Writers’ Prize. Sue Woolfe’s non-fiction includes Making Stories (with Kate Grenville) and The Mystery of the Cleaning Lady. She continues to publish research on the brain and creativity and hosts a monthly online Creativity Bar. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

< Back Australia In the World Conversations about global conflict, diplomacy and disorder, exploring Australia’s place inan unsettled international landscape through policy, lived experience and creative response. Sessions in this Pathway The Nightmare Sequence: Art, Witnessing and Fracture Safdar Ahmed, Omar Sakr View Session Frontlines: Conflict, Capture and the Human Cost of State Power Mike Amor, Kylie Moore-Gilbert View Session The Diplomat: Inside Australia’s Foreign Service Bob Bowker, Ian Kemish, Lachlan Strahan View Session The World on Edge: Australia and the New Global Disorder Bob Carr, Peter Hartcher, Michael Pembroke View Session Previous Next

95237abb-13b5-48cb-8407-4b0fa0ee09ce William J. Byrne ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS William J. Byrne William J Byrne grew up in the regional towns of southern New South Wales, on Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal country. His formative years were shaped by a traditional working-class family on one side and a family with systemic disadvantage on the other. A lifelong reader with a passion for storytelling, William has been intrigued by the ways history and circumstance shape people’s lives and opportunities. This interest in the social sciences led William to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (Social Inquiry) and a Graduate Diploma in Government Administration. He now lives in Northern Sydney on the lands of the Darramurragal people with his wife, daughter, and border collie. His debut book, The Warrumbar, was published in September 2025. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.

76b514e7-9ecb-4022-a76a-686dcead6893 Heather Morris ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Heather Morris Heather Morris is an internationally bestselling author with a passion for stories of survival, resilience, and hope. Born in New Zealand, she has lived between Australia and New Zealand since 1971. After completing a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University, she worked for over two decades in the Social Work department at a major Melbourne hospital while nurturing her passion for storytelling through scriptwriting studies in Australia and the US. In 2003, Heather met Lale Sokolov, whose story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2018) and the follow-up novel, Cilka’s Journey (2019). Three Sisters (2021), the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau, concluded the Tattooist trilogy. The Tattooist of Auschwitz became a global phenomenon, with the book adapted into a Stan’s Original Series in 2024. Sisters Under the Rising Sun is based on the true-life experiences of women held in Japanese POW camps during World War II. Together, Heather’s books have sold over 19 million copies worldwide. The Wish is Heather’s first contemporary novel. It was inspired by her years spent working in a busy public hospital, alongside families facing the toughest of times with love and courage. < PREVIOUS AUTHOR NEXT AUTHOR > 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.