2026 Festival Artists - Canberra Writer Festival 2026

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2026 Festival Writers

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Flat lay of picture books about insects, toy magnifying glasses and illustrated insect cut-outs.

ACT Playgroups

ACT Playgroups believes that through playgroups, every child and family belongs. Playgroups are informal sessions where families with children aged 0–5 come together to connect and learn through play including with books! ACT Playgroups creates opportunities for children and their families to thrive during the early childhood years, fostering lifelong friendships and a strong sense of community.

Adele Webb

Adele Webb is Research Lead in Democracy and Citizen Engagement at the University of Canberra’s Centre for Deliberative Democracy. Her research spans democratic theory and practice, with a focus on complex political attitudes and the potential for democratic innovation. Her book, Chasing Freedom: The Philippines’ Long Journey to Democratic Ambivalence, examines how U.S. colonialism continues to shape understandings of democracy in the Philippines.

A portrait of Alex Sloan in a white shirt against a grey background.

Alex Sloan

Alex Sloan AM has been a journalist for 37 years, including over 27 years as a broadcaster with the ABC. In 2017 Alex was named Canberra Citizen of the Year and in 2019 made a Member of the Order of Australia. Alex is deputy chair of The Australia Institute and is a regular interviewer as part of the ANU Meet the Author series. Since 2020 Alex has worked as a pro bono advisor with key indigenous leaders Pat Anderson AO and Professor Megan Davis AC.

A portrait of Alice Grundy against a white background.

Alice Grundy

Alice Grundy is Managing Editor of Australia Institute Press. She has worked in books for nearly two decades and has a PhD in editing and publishing history from ANU, the first half of which was published by Cambridge University Press.

Alice Matthews

Alice Matthews is the host of ABC’s Canberra Afternoons where she celebrates big ideas, brilliant books and the people behind the stories. An award-winning broadcaster, Alice has reported for the ABC’s AM, The World Today and PM, triple j and presented SBS’s TV’s The Feed. Winner of the 2015 Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year for Audio Journalism, Alice is known for her warmth, wit and incisive interviewing. Alice delights in lively conversations that leave audiences seeing the world a little differently.

Alison Kubler

Alison Kubler has a double major in Art History from the University of Queensland and a Masters in Post-war and Contemporary Art History from Manchester University. She has over 25 years’ experience working as a curator in museums and galleries in Australia. Alison is a Member of the Council of the National Gallery of Australia, and sits on the Know My Name Board. She is the Editor in Chief of VAULT, a journal of art and culture.

Moody interior portrait of Alyx Gorman looking at the camera.

Alyx Gorman

Alyx Gorman is lifestyle editor of Guardian Australia. She has worked in digital and print lifestyle media for 15 years in Sydney, Melbourne, New York and London, and has been writing on the topics of sex, relationships and dating her entire career. Her first book All Women Want was long listed for the Walkley Book Award in 2025.

Portrait of Amanda Whitley wearing a blue shirt, sitting by a bookshelf.

Amanda Whitley

Amanda Whitley is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of HerCanberra, the capital’s leading lifestyle media brand that aims to connect Canberrans with their city and each other. Founded in 2011 after her premature daughter’s birth led to a career change, HerCanberra has grown from a spare bedroom startup to attract over 180,000 monthly readers and a social media following of more than 130,000. Amanda was named ACT Woman of the Year in 2016. She now heads Supercurious’ Content Division, incorporating HerCanberra.

Amelia Tonta

Internationally published children’s author Amelia Tonta lives in Canberra, where she spends her days writing picture books, staring out the window thinking about picture books and sometimes just plain staring out the window. Amelia has published eight picture books so far, starting with the CBCA Notable Book The Book Chook. Her latest titles are Lucky, Jeff Giraffe – The Great Escape and Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber. Neil has just been published in the US with Penguin.

Interior portrait of Amie Kaufman wearing a striped t-shirt and black-rimmed glasses.

Amie Kaufman

Amie Kaufman is a New York Times, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy. Her multi-award-winning work has sold well over a million copies, been translated into nearly thirty languages, and is in development for film and TV. Raised in Australia and occasionally Ireland, Amie lives by the sea in Melbourne with her family and an extremely large personal library. Her latest books are One Knight Stand, the sequel to Lady’s Knight, and Red Star Rebels.

Studio portrait of Amy Remeikis looking at the camera against a black background.

Amy Remeikis

Amy Remeikis is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. She is the Chief Political Analyst at The Australia Institute and a contributing editor for The New Daily. Amy is renowned for her incisive political commentary and is celebrated for her powerful writing on gender, politics and social justice. Her latest works are Where it all went wrong: the case against John Howard and Screw Nice.

Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss standing against a grey background holding a book.

Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss

Andrew is an Anglo-Ghanaian writer and teacher based in Australia. His work explores liminality, identity, hybridity and the social construction of race across transnational spaces. He is the author of the novella Nicked Names and poetry collections including Japanabandon, Manifest.oh!, Diaspora³, Objections, Scars & Artefacts, Outside of Here Outsider Hear! and Hybrid Heaven & Other(ed) Poems). Childish Recollections is forthcoming with Black Spring Press Group.

Andrew O’Hagan

Andrew O’Hagan was born in Glasgow. He has been nominated for the Booker Prize, was voted one of Granta‘s Best of Young British Novelists in 2003, and won the E. M. Forster Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is Editor-at-Large of the London Review of Books and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His latest titles are Caledonian Road and On Friendship.

Portrait of Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope sitting behind a desk with a computer monitor. Andy Griffiths has finger puppets on his left hand.

Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope

Andy is one of Australia’s most popular and bestselling children’s authors. He is also the 2026-2027 Australian Children’s Laureate, a role dedicated to promoting the power of reading as an active adventure for families and children. Bill is an acclaimed artist, illustrator, and graphic novelist, known for his highly detailed and cinematic style. Bill and Andy have teamed up to make the You & Me series, which includes The Land of Lost Things and The Peanut Butter Beast, where you, the reader, take centre stage in the adventure, alongside your trusty narrator Andy, aided by Bill’s amazing artistic talents. Andy and Bill’s latest book is You & Me and the Gigantic Knucklehead.

Ange Lavoipierre

Ange Lavoipierre is a Sydney-based writer and the ABC’s national technology reporter. Ange has been a journalist with the national broadcaster for 18 years, producing award-winning coverage of tech and emerging phenomena in AI since 2022. Ange has hosted several acclaimed ABC podcasts, including RN’s Science Friction, Background Briefing, Schmeitgeist, and the ABC’s first daily news podcast The Signal. Their work has also featured in The Guardian, The Monthly, at SXSW, Vivid and The Opera House.

Book cover of The Great Frog Choir by Anke Maria Hoefer and Jed Pearson, illustrated by Nikki Morgan.

Anke Maria Hoefer

Anke Maria Hoefer is the ACT and Region FrogWatch Coordinator. Through her workshops, talks, and community programs, she has inspired thousands to care for our local amphibians and to get involved in citizen science. Anke Maria was awarded the 2025 Environmental Educator of the Year by the ACT Chapter of the Australian Association for Environmental Education. Her book, The Great Frog Choir, co-authored with Jed Pearson and illustrated by Nikki Morgan, brings the wonders of Australian frogs to even more young learners.

Outdoor portrait of Anna Goldsworthy with her hands folded.

Anna Goldsworthy

Anna Goldsworthy is the author the novel Melting Moments and the memoirs Piano Lessons and Welcome to Your New Life, as well as the 2013 Quarterly Essay Unfinished Business and Quarterly Essay 102, The God We Made: The Threat and Promise of Artificial Intelligence. She is also a concert pianist and chamber musician and is currently Dean of the Elder Conservatorium of Music and School of Performing Arts at Adelaide University and incoming Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music.

A portrait of Ashlynne McGhee standing with arms crossed against a grey background.

Ashlynne McGhee

Ashlynne McGhee is the Head of Editorial Innovation at The Conversation and host of their new podcast The Making of One Nation. She’s the former President of the Melbourne Press Club, and spent some formative years at the ABC as an investigative and political reporter in the Canberra Press Gallery and 7.30. She has a few shiny awards as treasured recognition from her peers.

A portrait of Ayesha Inoon leaning against a wooden railing in front of a stone wall.

Ayesha Inoon

Ayesha Inoon is a Sri Lankan-Australian writer whose work is shaped by her rich cultural heritage and lived experience. Her writing explores themes of identity, belonging, and the resilience of women across cultures. Her debut novel, Untethered, won the 2022 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize and was Highly Commended in both the 2024 ACT Book of the Year and ACT Literary Awards. Ayesha’s second novel, The Sisters of Serendib, was released in June 2026.

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