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Program The Night Shift BUY TICKETS DATE: Saturday 21 March, 2026 TIME: 8.00-10.00pm COST: $49.00 Manly Youth Centre PATHWAY: Living Today HOST : Nick Place & Alice Fraser < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Cocoa the Conscious Daniel Nour Max Holzner Con Campbell Deborah Conway AM Cory Alpert Heather Morris Some evenings stay with you. This will be one of them. The Night Shift is Manly Writers' Festival's late-night event — two hours exploring the one question that defines our moment: what can humans do that AI can't? And what might AI do that surprises even us? The evening unfolds in four parts. First, tech writer Cory Alpert cuts through the noise with a sharp, accessible explainer on what AI is actually doing to human creativity — and what it isn't. Then, internationally bestselling author Heather Morris — whose novels have moved millions of readers worldwide — joins host Nick Place for an intimate conversation on writing empathy: what stories can do that facts never will. Next, writers Candida Baker, Amy Coomer, Cocoa the Conscious, Amy Hutton and Daniel Nour go head to head with AI in The Human Sentence — a live experiment in voice, tone and what makes writing unmistakably human. And to close, musicians Con Campbell (saxophone), Max Holzner (violin), and Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier take the stage for The Human Sound — a live performance that asks the same question through music. Your ticket includes a complimentary themed cocktail from Wildfire — The Afterword — on arrival. This is not a panel. It is not a lecture. It is a late night out with some of Australia's most interesting creative minds, asking the most urgent question of our time.

fba2035d-d371-41ea-9465-ef3a08ae7b10 Festival Cafe: Belgrave Cartel VENUE DETAILS 6 Belgrave Street, Manly Rooms Used: xxx < VIEW ALL VENUES NEXT VENUE > 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.

8278b174-52e1-4e04-b964-122f4ce499ad John Morrissey ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS John Morrissey John Morrissey is a Melbourne writer of Kalkadoon descent from north-west Queensland. He was the winner of the 2020 Indigenous Writers Mentorship and runner-up for the Nakata Brophy Prize in 2018. John’s debut Firelight won an Aurealis Award and a Queensland Literary Award, and in 2024 he was named one of The Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Novelists. Bird Deity is his first novel. < 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.

33acf9c6-79be-409c-9c2a-f5adacd594d1 Ee Ling Quah ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Ee Ling Quah Associate Professor Ee Ling Quah is a fire-dragon feminist and a Singaporean of Chinese-Hokkien and Indonesian-Peranakan heritage. Ee Ling earned a PhD in Sociology from the University of Sydney, an MSocSci and a BA from the National University of Singapore. She is currently an associate professor with the School of Arts at Western Sydney University, researching and teaching anti-coloniality, race, migration, gender and sexuality. Ee Ling is the author of three sole-authored books: Fire Dragon Feminism: Asian Migrant Women's tales of migration, coloniality and racial capitalism (2025); Transnational Divorce; Understanding Intimacies and Inequalities from Singapore (2020); Perspectives on Marital Dissolution: Divorce Biographies in Singapore (2015). < 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.

4b73cfb4-ea54-42ed-95f6-62dd658988b2 Nick Place ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Nick Place Nick Place is the author of five published novels, several short stories, poetry, a musical comedy stage show, and has also been published in non-fiction. His most recent book, Stalin’s Wine Cellar, was an Australian bestseller and published widely overseas. Nick’s day job is as a storyteller and media/comms specialist for charities, philanthropy, and business, drawing on four decades of experience as a journalist, content creator, editor, and more. He has worked across newspapers, the internet, TV, radio, podcasts, and other media, and was also the creator of Little Big Shots, a popular Australian international film festival for kids. Nick has won several awards for journalism, and none for ice hockey, at which he is an honest trier, at best. < 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.

47638452-e821-4039-ac96-98281daf622b Tony Frost ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Tony Frost Tony Frost, author of The Professional: A Playbook to Unleash Your Potential and Futureproof Your Success, is a highly sought-after speaker, executive coach, trainer, and author who helps individuals and teams thrive in the age of complexity and artificial intelligence. < 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.

119b2452-bff9-4b03-91c8-7159a33f7192 Lucy Nelson ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Lucy Nelson Lucy Nelson is an award-winning writer of fiction and part-time arts worker living on unceded Dharawal Country. Her work has been published in Meanjin, The Monthly, Kill Your Darlings, The Sydney Morning Herald and elsewhere. She has received the Newcastle Short Story Award and the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship. She studied Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT in Melbourne and her first book, Wait Here, was published in June 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.

a93f47aa-c5eb-4eb6-bb83-7e047bb27a17 Kumi Taguchi ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Kumi Taguchi Born in Melbourne to her Japanese father and Australian mother, Kumi Taguchi grew up in rural New South Wales, learning classical violin from the age of five. She has worked in the media for over 25 years in Australia and overseas and is currently the host of SBS’s Insight. < 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.

755dc300-7f59-4ef4-9daf-2f5214ecefaf Graeme Simsion ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Graeme Simsion Dr Graeme Simsion is the author of the widely acclaimed novel The Rosie Project, which spent 65 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and, with its two sequels, has sold seven million copies in forty languages. A film is in development with Sony Pictures. The Best of Adam Sharp, also an international bestseller, is in development with New Sparta Pictures and Creative Differences was optioned to Truce Films. Graeme is co-author of the bestselling Menzies Mental Health series with his wife, Anne Buist. < 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 Workshop: From Page to Stage: Writing for the Theatre BUY TICKETS DATE: Saturday 21 March, 2026 TIME: 2.30-3.30pm COST: $30.00 Sky Theatre (The Studio) PATHWAY: So, You Want to be a Writer? HOST : - < VIEW ALL SESSIONS Kathleen Walker Writing for the stage requires a different way of thinking about story, dialogue and character. Members of the Manly Theatre Group introduce the fundamentals of playwriting, including structure, voice, pacing and the practical realities of production. This workshop offers an entry point for anyone curious about writing for theatre, with insights into how scripts move from the page into rehearsal and performance.

75caddbd-15d1-495f-b261-d07ac45dcac6 Safdar Ahmed ABOUT < VIEW ALL AUTHORS Safdar Ahmed Safdar Ahmed is an award-winning artist, writer, musician, and cultural worker. His graphic novel, Still Alive, won the Multicultural NSW Award and was named Book of the Year in the 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Still Alive also won the 2022 Eve Pownall Award and a Gold Ledger in the 2022 Comic Arts Awards of Australia. Safdar is a Founding Member of the Refugee Art Project and a member of eleven, a collective of contemporary Muslim Australian artists, curators, and writers. < 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.

ba1199f4-d5cf-4bf3-b6e5-9dbfec72ccb5 Amy Hutton ABOUT < VIEW ALL HOSTS Amy Hutton Amy Hutton is an award-winning television producer and writer of contemporary romance, living on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with a rescue dog named Buffy. When not plotting delicious romantic trials for her characters, Amy is an enthusiastic traveller, an animal advocate, a Disneyland aficionado, and a lover of tattoos. < 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.