Melissa Manning: Love, Loss & Letting Go

Join award-winning author Melissa Manning in conversation about her new novel, Frogsong. A lyrical story of love, loyalty and grief. Melissa discusses the inspiration behind the book, her journey, and the themes that shape her work.

Event #02 – RACV Torquay Resort
9:00am-9:45am
Cost: $25

Buy Tickets Here

Melissa Manning

Melissa Manning is an Australian writer and author of literary fiction novel, Frogsong which has been named by Readings as one of the most anticipated books of 2026.

Her debut interlinked story collection, Smokehouse, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction (2022), and was shortlisted for the USQ Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection. Her short fiction and narrative non-fiction has been awarded and published in literary journals and anthologies, including Overland, Meanjin, Southerly, The Big Issue, Award Winning Australian Writing, To Carry Her Home (UK), and Best Small Fictions (USA).

Moderator – Rhett Davis

Rhett Davis is the author of Arborescence, a novel about what trees might do if we weren’t careful. It was shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction and longlisted for the Indie Book Awards. His first novel, Hovering, was about angry cities. It won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and was shortlisted for the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize and the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction. Rhett has also been a manager, a consultant, a business analyst, a bookseller, and a creative writing tutor. He lives and writes mostly on Wadawurrung country in Geelong.

Take a look at our other sessions

This year’s line-up also includes bestselling and award-winning authors including Sarah Bailey and J.P. Pomare, who will take to the stage for a special live recording of their podcast, “He Read, She Read”, alongside acclaimed writers Alli Sinclair, Antoun Issa, Melissa Manning, Mark Smith, Tanya Scott, Brendan Cullen and Paul Mitchell, Emma Hardy, Kate Halfpenny and many more.