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5f3a9411-1eab-45d2-9afb-57b941c6270a Bob Bowker ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Bob Bowker Bob Bowker retired from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2008 after a 37-year career working mostly on the Middle East. He was posted to Saudi Arabia from 1974 to 1976, and Syria from 1979 to 1981 with short-term assignments as Chargé d'affaires in Beirut. He was the Australian Ambassador to Jordan from 1989 to 1992. He was Director of External Relations and Public Information, and later Senior Adviser, Policy Research of UNRWA in 1997-1998, based in Gaza and Jerusalem. He was the Australian Ambassador to Egypt (2005-2008) and non-resident Australian Ambassador to Syria, Libya, Tunisia, and Sudan. Bowker is the author of six books on Middle East matters, including a professional memoir with his reflections on key issues, Tomorrow There will be Apricots: An Australian Diplomat in the Arab World, which was published in 2022 and shortlisted for the 2023 ACT Book of the Year. < 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.

Find answers to your questions about the Manly Writer's Festival 2027. Get information on tickets, event schedules, venue details, and more. Plan your visit today! OUR FAQ Do I need to buy an entry ticket before the event? There are many moving parts that go into hosting the Manly Writers' Festival that require advance preparation, so purchasing your ticket beforehand helps us optimise the festival experience. You can buy them online until the session is on or purchase a ticket at the festival. Can I get a refund if I change my mind? Is there an opportunity to ask questions of speakers? Is there a dress code? What is included in the price? Where is the festival being held? Are there author signings? Where can I get coffee? What is the Manly Writer's Festival? How can I become a sponsor or partner of the festival? When and where is the 2025 Manly Writer's Festival taking place? Are there volunteer opportunities available? How can I purchase tickets for the Manly Writer's Festival? FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 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.

a7408049-0242-4257-9caf-20bf379709ee Liz Deep-Jones ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Liz Deep-Jones Liz Deep-Jones is an author, journalist, producer, presenter, filmmaker, curator and the inaugural Freilich Arts/Media and Activism Fellow at the Australian National University with her We Bleed the Same exhibition and documentary. Her best-selling young adult novels, Lucy Zeezou’s Goal and Lucy Zeezou’s Glamour Game, were re-released in 2023 for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Liz is a champion for human rights, inspiring young people to act through her mentoring role at the ANU in media and arts activism. She is currently writing her third novel, a children’s picture book. Liz is one of the first female television journalists to break the mould in sports reporting having covered numerous national and international sporting events including the FIFA World Cup. < 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 Lloyd Rees and the City He Taught Us to See BUY TICKETS DATE: Friday 20 March, 2026 TIME: 5.30-6.15pm COST: $25.00 Manly Art Gallery PATHWAY: Country and Who We Are HOST : Candida Baker < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Ross Wilson Lloyd Rees is one of Australia’s most beloved painters, a master of light, water and landscape whose work shaped the way we see our cities. In Lloyd Rees and the Architects, Ross Wilson traces Rees’s life from his early years in Brisbane to his decades teaching at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Architecture, where he influenced generations of architects and creative thinkers. In conversation with Candida Baker, Wilson explores the remarkable relationship between Rees’s art and his students’ buildings, how drawing and observation became a vital tool for architectural imagination, and how Rees’s vision helped shape Sydney — and the idea of Australian place itself. This session is perfect for lovers of cityscapes, creativity and visual storytelling.

Program The Murder Next Door BUY TICKETS DATE: Saturday 21 March, 2026 TIME: 2.30-3.30pm COST: $25.00 Sky Theatre PATHWAY: Stories and Storytellers HOST : Amy Hutton < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Ali Lowe Troy Hunter Kate Horan Nikki-Lee Taylor Suburban streets, domestic routines and familiar relationships are the setting for some of today’s most unsettling crime fiction. In The Murder Next Door, five thriller writers explore psychological suspense, domestic noir and the menace that lurks in ordinary lives — the neighbours you wave to, the houses you pass every day, the secrets hidden in plain sight. Kate Horan, Troy Hunter, Ali Lowe, and Nikki-Lee Taylor discuss why stories set so close to home exert such a powerful pull on readers, how tension is built through intimacy and misdirection, and what these novels reveal about trust, fear and the fragile boundaries of safety. This is a conversation about crime fiction as entertainment, obsession and social mirror — and why the most disturbing stories often unfold where we feel safest.

Program The World on Edge: Australia and the New Global Disorder BUY TICKETS DATE: Saturday 21 March, 2026 TIME: 4.00-5.00pm COST: $25.00 Manly Youth Centre PATHWAY: Australia In the World HOST : Michael Brissenden < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Bob Carr Michael Pembroke Peter Hartcher As the international order shifts, leading commentators and strategic thinkers debate Australia’s future in a rapidly changing world. From US–China competition and increased militarisation to disinformation, the erosion of global norms, the weakening of Western liberalism, and the emergence of an increasingly multipolar world, this finale brings sharply contrasting views to the major strategic questions facing the nation. Dynamic and thought-provoking.

23aee6a3-07bf-45a1-be32-695989550de5 John Coomer ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS John Coomer John Coomer has been a freelance editor and writer since 2015. Prior to that, he spent more than two decades working for major commercial publishers including Wiley, McGraw-Hill and Cambridge University Press. < 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 Land, Identity and Who Gets to Belong BUY TICKETS DATE: Saturday 21 March, 2026 TIME: 1.00-2.00pm COST: $25.00 Manly Youth Centre PATHWAY: Country and Who We Are HOST : Jack Toohey < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Joshua Gilbert Tyree Barnette Who gets to belong in Australia, and on whose terms? From very different starting points, Joshua Gilbert and Tyree Barnette reflect on how land, race and power shape ideas of identity and home. Gilbert brings an Indigenous, future-focused perspective grounded in Country, agriculture and cultural continuity. Barnette offers the lens of a Black American migrant learning how race, privilege and belonging shift across national borders. Together, they examine the stories Australia tells about itself and the tensions between welcome, ownership and sovereignty. This is a conversation about belonging that rejects easy answers and what it might mean to build a shared future without erasing difference or history.

355b287b-4e06-402e-81b6-7f379c578cd6 Vasiliki Nihas OAM ABOUT < VIEW ALL HOSTS Vasiliki Nihas OAM Vasiliki Nihas Bogiatzis is a passionate advocate of Australian Multiculturalism and of the Arts. She is a former State and Federal senior public servant who worked across Multiculturalism, Education and the Arts. She headed Community Relations and Access and Equity in the Office of Multicultural Affairs established by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and has addressed the European Union Council on the development of Australia’s multicultural policy. She is also a published author of short stories and sees the arts as providing a lens to explore and illuminate the complex individuals that we are, and our relationships in culturally diverse and challenging worlds. She values creatives and believes artists can open pathways that others don’t see at best with imagination, sensitivity, awareness, nuance and humour. < 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.

Program Lives That Don’t Follow the Script BUY TICKETS DATE: Sunday 22 March, 2026 TIME: 1.00-2.00pm COST: $25.00 Manly Youth Centre PATHWAY: Personal Reckonings HOST : Summer Land < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Kumi Taguchi Lucy Nelson Not every life follows the path we’re told to expect, and not every choice is freely made. In this intimate and thoughtful conversation, Kumi Taguchi and Lucy Nelson reflect on identity, womanhood, expectation and silence. From choosing — or being unable — to have children, to navigating lives shaped by loss, constraint and self-definition, this session shares stories that are often overlooked.

10584808-67d2-4639-8d65-f2bce33c68d5 Ruth Larner ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Ruth Larner Ruth Larner is an Australian multidisciplinary writer living in Dharawal Country. In 2023, she was selected for the WestWords Academy program, and the following year, she received the WestWords Varuna Emerging Writers’ Residency. In 2025, her short film, Mama Bird, won the Screen Illawarra x Creative Wollongong Short Film Competition and will be filmed later this year. Ruth’s work has been featured in the Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite, WestWords’ Living Stories anthologies, and The Suburban Review. < 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.

6c4b9997-6aad-43e9-be2d-8788a35b8f4a Yvette Henry Holt ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Yvette Henry Holt Yvette Henry Holt best describes herself as the occasional poet. < 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.