Francis Edmund Town Fowler (1833 – 22 August 1863) was a British-born author and journalist who later played a significant role in the early development of Australia's literary culture.

He co-founded and edited Australia's first literary journal, The Month, and regularly addressed the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts on poetry, theatre, literature, politics and the importance of developing a uniquely Australian culture.

[4] In January 1858 Fowler contested the Sydney City seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, with the support of N. D. Stenhouse, Joseph Sheridan Moore, newspaper proprietor John Fairfax, and shipowner Edye Manning.

[5] In April 1858 Fowler returned to England with his wife Rachel, née Clarke, whom he had married at a Congregational Church in Sydney on 9 February 1856, and their infant son.

He wrote his first major work Southern Lights and Shadows (London, 1859) on the voyage[6][7] He became editor of the Weekly Mail, leader-writer on The Standard and contributed occasionally to the Empire.