Though based in Bowral, Ms Bott travels between Sydney and Canberra for her roles as professional mentor, board member, project manager and consultant for several cultural institutions.  

A teacher by training, Ms Bott has risen to become a major figure in Australia’s arts scene, having served as acting director and advisor  at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, general manager of Musica Viva and CEO of the Australia Council for the Arts, the federal government's arts funding and policy body.  

“The Australia Council [for the Arts] is one of those challenging, nearly undoable jobs, but so rewarding. The general perception of the arts is that it is ‘elitist’ and that is such a myth,” she said.

“I’m an English and History teacher by training, but I somehow fell into a career in the arts instead and grew to have such a passion for it.”

That passion was recognised in 2012 when she was awarded an Order of Australia for distinguished service to the arts. 

“I’ve been running various organisations for more than 30 years and I have found it to be such a fascinating and rewarding career,” she said.

This week, Ms Bott launches the third Canberra Writers Festival, her second as artistic director, overseeing a line-up of Australian and international authors, political thinkers and cultural icons. 

“The overarching theme for the festival is: power, passion and politics. We figured that those themes best represented Canberra really, but every year has its own thread,” she said. 

“This year there is a strong focus on women and interestingly, of the first four shows to sell out, three of them featured and were about women.”

Given her extensive background, it’s not hard to imagine that Jenny Bott would make an interesting panellist, but for now she will keep ticking away behind the scenes.

The Canberra Writers Festival runs this week from August 23 to 26. Visit: www.canberrawritersfestival.com.au for more information.