Patricia Cornelius (born 1952) is an Australian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and co-founder of Melbourne Workers Theatre.

Career

Cornelius has written many plays, including ''Slut'' (2008, Platform Youth Theatre), ''The Call'' (2009,

Griffin Theatre Company Griffin Theatre Company is an Australian theatre specialising in new works, based in Sydney. Founded in 1979, it is the resident theatre company at the Stables Theatre in Kings Cross. the artistic director is Declan Greene. Artistic directors ...

), ''Good'', ''Do Not Go Gentle…'' (2010, fortyfivedownstairs), ''Boy Overboard'' (2004,

Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is the flagship youth theatre company located in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1963 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1963 and ...

), ''Love'' (2005,

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...

), ''Lilly and May'' and ''Hog's Hairs and Leeches'' and co-authored ''The Audition'' (2019, 2024
Outer Urban Projects
. Her first novel, ''My Sister Jill'', was published in 2003 by St. Martin's Press. Cornelius also co-wrote the screenplay of the 2009 film ''Blessed'', based on ''Who's Afraid of the Working Class'', with co-writers

Andrew Bovell Andrew Bovell (born 1962) is an Australian writer for theatre, film and television. Life Bovell was born on 23 November 1962 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and completed his secondary school education in Perth. He graduated from the Universi ...

, Melissa Reeves and

Christos Tsiolkas Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...

. It won the Best Screenplay at the 2009 San Sebastian International Film Festival and an

AWGIE Award The AWGIE Awards are annual awards given by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG), for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing. History The AWGIE awards were conceived in 1967, with the first event being held in 1968. Bettina ...

for Feature Film Adaptation in 2009.

Awards

Cornelius has won numerous awards, including

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards are annual awards given by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG), for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing. History The AWGIE awards were conceived in 1967, with the first event being held in 1968. Bettina ...

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

and in 2006, the

Patrick White Playwrights' Award The Patrick White Playwrights' Award is an annual Australian literary award established jointly by the Sydney Theatre Company and ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' in honour of Patrick White's contribution to Australian theatre. The award was launc ...

. Her 2005 play, ''Love'', won the Wal Cherry Prize for New Plays. Her 2010 play ''Do Not Go Gentle...'' received the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Drama in 2011 and won the 2011 Victorian Premier's Louis Esson Prize for Drama. Cornelius won the 2019 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize in Drama. She also received a lifetime achievement award at the 2019

Bibliography

Novels

* ''My Sister Jill'' (2002)

Screenplays

* ''Blessed'' (2009)

Drama

* ''Lily and May'' (1987) * ''Taxi'' (1990) (with Vicki Reynolds) * ''Little City'' (1996) (with

Daniel Keene Daniel Keene (born 1955) is an Australian playwright whose work has been performed throughout the world. Career Keene's plays have been performed in Australia, France, Poland and the United States. Many of his plays have been published in Fr ...

and Melissa Reeves) * ''Blunt'' (2002) * ''Love'' (2003) * ''Boy Overboard'' (2005) (adaptation of ''Boy Overboard'' by

Morris Gleitzman Morris Gleitzman (born 9 January 1953) is an Australian author of children's and young adult fiction.Morris ...

) * ''Love'' (2006) * ''Slut'' (2008) * ''The Call'' (2009) * ''Slut'' (2008) * ''Good, Do Not Go Gentle…'' (2010) * ''SHIT'' (2017) * ''Lovely Lovely Sometimes Ugly'' (2019) * ''Anthem'' (2019) (with

and Melissa Reeves) * ''Runt'' (2023) * ''Hog's Hairs and Leeches'' (2024) * ''Bad Boy'' (2024) * ''The Audition'' (2019, 2024) (with

, Melissa Reeves, Milad Norouzi, Sahra Davoudi, Tes Lyssiotis and Wahibe Moussa) * ''TRUTH'' (2025)

References

Australian dramatists and playwrights 1952 births Living people {{playwright-stub