Introducing the small but mighty
Team BWF
Jackie Ryan
Artistic Director
Jackie Ryan has an abiding interest in culture that connects her work across forms and genres, from writing and research to performance, arts administration, film work and visual design. Her mantlepiece holds a Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance, the USQ History Award, an Aurealis Award, a Bronze Ledger Award and a Queensland Writing Fellowship; she’s also been shortlisted for The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award, the Russell Prize for Humour Writing and the Queensland New Filmmakers Awards. Her non-fiction book ‘We’ll Show the World: Expo 88’ (UQP) was published in 2018, and the websites for her ongoing writing projects – ‘Burger Force’ and Fanciful Fiction Auxiliary – have been preserved by the National Archives of Australia as sites of cultural significance. Jackie’s programming experience traverses State Library of Queensland, Queensland Writers Centre and Avid Reader. She holds a PhD in history and political science from The University of Queensland.
Email: program@bwf.org.au
Katie Woods
General Manager
Katie Woods has worked in arts and cultural management roles across the not-for-profit, government and education sectors. She's worked as an Executive Producer at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, a Senior Investment Manager for Arts Queensland and Manager of Reading, Writing and Ideas at the State Library of Queensland. She has a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Graduate Diploma (Orchestral Performance) from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
Email: info@bwf.org.au
Sally Wilson
Marketing & Publicity Manager
Sally Wilson has worked in books and magazine publishing for more than 20 years as a writer, editor, publicist and marketer. She has worked for publishers and literary organisations such as UQP, Magabala Books, Black Inc, Monash University Publishing, Griffith Review and the Australian Book Industry Awards. She has a BA/LLB (Hons) from The University of Queensland, where she also completed her Master of Writing, Editing & Publishing.
Email: marketing@bwf.org.au
Emily Bowman
Programs & Systems Manager
Emily joined the Brisbane Writers Festival team first as an intern in 2021 and has since spent her time managing the youth programs, producing online content, and wrangling spreadsheets. She holds a Master of Writing, Editing and Publishing and her work received a high commendation in the SLQ 2024 Young Writers Award.
Emily devoured books growing up, as well as dabbling in dance, short film making, and school theatre productions, giving her a strong passion for the arts and creating. She can often be found world building for her fantasy novel or next Dungeons & Dragons campaign, tackling her ever-growing TBR pile, or writing short stories about ghosts.
Email: program@bwf.org.au
Jaime Ng
Production Manager
Jaime is a freelance Production Manager. She started with Brisbane Writers Festival in 2017 as a Stage Manager. She has worked across the arts and events industry in Australia with nearly a decade’s professional experience under her belt. Some cool events that she has worked on include the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Gluttony at Adelaide Fringe Festival, Dark Mofo, Illuminate Adelaide, Brisbane Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, with a few indie shows here and there.
She has tasked herself with the mammoth goal of reading three, 1000+ paged books in 2025, however is only about 280 kindle pages through the first one (however she has read other, more regular lengthed novels in due course) and not sure how it is already June at the time of writing this bio.
Email: production@bwf.org.au
Jane O'Hara
Industry Engagement Manager
Email: info@bwf.org.au
Kieren Scougall
Programs Coordinator
In a previous life, Kieren was once a high school teacher, fighting the good fight trying to get adolescents interested in reading and literature. Stepping away from education, he obtained a Master of Writing, Editing and Publishing and first got involved with the Brisbane Writers Festival in 2023 as a Youth Ambassador before joining the team as an intern the following year and becoming Programs Coordinator in 2025.
When not being mocked by his ever-growing TBR pile, or working for the Festival, Kieren can on occasion still be found screaming internally as a substitute teacher.
Email: program@bwf.org.au