Joanna Murray-Smith has been named as the first ever winner of the Mona Brand Award for Women Stage and Screen Writers, receiving a $30,000 prize.
The Award is the only one of its kind in Australia, and recognises “an outstanding Australian woman who has written for the stage and/or screen”. It is named for the trailblazing poet, author and playwright, Mona Brand, whose nearly 30 plays were widely performed on stage in Australia and overseas.
The author of over 15 published plays, Murray-Smith’s most successful play is Switzerland, which premiered as part of Sydney Theatre Company’s 2015 season, and went on to be performed to significant audience acclaim in Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2016 season. She also penned the hugely successful comedy opera miniseries, The Divorce, which screened on ABC TV in 2015.
Speaking to the AU Review after the ceremony, Murray-Smith said she was honoured to be the first recipient of an Award that addresses the gender gap in Australia’s creative arts. “The instinctive, reflexive position of theatre culture has been to elevate men. This Award helps to redress the balance,” Murray-Smith said.
The award was judged by Kip Williams AM, Chairman of the State Library of NSW Foundation, Neil Peplow, CEO of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, Jacqueline Elaine, Executive Director of the Australian Writers Guild and Helen Bowden, film and television producer, Lingo Pictures. They were unanimous in selecting Murray-Smith for the Award, noting the scope of her output, the beauty and range of her craft, and imaginative storytelling.
Asked about the secret to her ‘awesomely impressive body of work’, Murray-Smith told AU Review: “By virtue of the fact that I’m a playwright and a mother, I’ve taught myself to be available to write at any moment! I don’t need to wait for the right light, or hide away in a quiet room – I can do it anywhere.”
Murray-Smith was presented with the Award at a special ceremony at the State Library of NSW, where Mona Brand’s literary papers are housed. In addition to the $30,000 award for an established writer, the Mona Brand Award also recognises an emerging woman writer, in the early stages of her career, for her first substantial produced/screened work. The 2016 Emerging Writer was awarded to Jada Alberts for her play Brothers Wreck. Alberts receives a $10,000 prize. The judges also presented a Highly Commended to emerging writer and director, Billie Pleffer, for her screenplay Baby Baby.
Acting NSW State Librarian and Chief Executive, Lucy Milne, said: “The State Library is pleased to administer and present this award that not only honours the rich legacy of Mona Brand, but celebrates the best of contemporary writing for stage and screen by Australian women.”
The Mona Brand Award was made possible by a generous bequest to the NSW State Library Foundation by Mona Brand. It will be presented biennially.
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