Jessica Alice is a writer and arts leader from Melbourne’s west.
Jessica is Artistic Director of Byron Writers Festival, Australia’s largest regional literary festival, based in Byron Bay. She is Chair of the National Young Writers Festival, and a committee member and founding Chair of the Kat Muscat Fellowship.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Cultural Leadership from NIDA—the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Jessica was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Writers SA, the peak organisation for writing and literature in South Australia, and Chair of the Arts Industry Council of South Australia, the state’s independent, sector-wide representative arts advocacy body.
She was elected to the Arts Industry Council SA’s Executive Committee in 2019, elected Deputy Chair in 2020 and Chairperson in 2021 until early 2024.
Jessica has held roles including Program Manager of Melbourne Writers Festival, Co-Director of the National Young Writers’ Festival, in Newcastle, New South Wales, and a member of the executive leadership team at Regional Arts Victoria as Marketing & Publicity Manager.
She was previously Deputy Chair of the Melbourne International Arts Festival Shadow Board, a Board Member of SYN Media, and a member of the RMIT School of Creative Writing Programming Advisory Committee.
In 2018, Jessica was one of 20 arts leaders from Australia and Asia selected to take part in Creative Australia’s Future Leaders Program.
Photo by Sia Duff.
Jessica Alice 