Ned Manning is an Australian writer, actor and educator
Ned is the author of several plays written for both young people and adult audiences, including ‘Alice Dreaming’ and ‘Us or Them’. Ned is also the author of the entertaining teaching memoir ‘Playground Duty’ and his debut novel ‘Painting the Light’.
Outside of writing Ned has performed in many of Australia’s best loved Films, TV productions and Plays, such as cult favourite ‘Dead-In Drive In’ and ‘Looking for Alibrandi’.
For several decades Ned has worked as an educator and advocate for teachers, speaking strongly in defence of pay and the need to better support our teachers. Ned has also produced several teaching resources, including ‘Shakespeare for Australian Schools’ as well as ‘Alice Dreaming’.
Conversations with Richard Fidler
“Ned is a teacher and an actor who was born in country New South Wales. His parents were a glamorous couple. But when Ned was 12 years old, he lost his mother Margot. It was never spoken about, and he doesn't remember much about her at all.
Eventually, he began to search for remnants of a woman he was told was vivacious and a bit of a ratbag, in order to write a re-imagined version of his parents' life together. After countless hours trawling the Victorian State Library, he finally found her."
Searching for Margot
Broadcast Wed 11 May 2022 at 11:00am
Purchase Ned’s first novel ‘Painting the Light’
A young woman’s dreams of becoming an artist are shattered by the outbreak of war in 1939…
Loosely based on the story of my parents ‘Painting the Light’ is a story of love, idealism and commitment to social change in a time of deep conservatism. This novel will surprise and delight you in equal measures.
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Dive deeper with Ned’s blog
