Jane Harrison (born 1960) is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, novelist, writer and researcher. A descendant of the Muruwari people of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, from the area around Bourke and

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a Weilwan name for a ...

, Harrison grew up in the Victorian

Dandenongs The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weather ...

with her mother and sister. She began her career as an

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

, before becoming a playwright, novelist, writer and researcher. Her best-known work is '' Stolen'', which received critical claim and has toured nationally and internationally. Jane Harrison (playwright)

Plays

''The Visitors''

Harrison's latest play, ''The Visitors'', premiered as a full production in January 2020 as part of the

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...

. It was awarded the prize for Best New Australian Work,

Sydney Theatre Awards The Sydney Theatre Awards are annual awards to recognise the strength, quality and diversity of professional theatre in Sydney, Australia. They were established in 2005 by a group of major Sydney theatre critics. The awards recognise mainstage and ...

2022, and was shortlisted for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the 2021

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

. ''The Visitors'' re-imagines the arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

from the perspective of seven elders meeting on the shores of the harbour.

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

and Moogahlin Performing Arts produced a second production of ''The Visitors'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

in September / October 2023, directed by Wesley Enoch.

Victorian Opera (Melbourne) Victorian Opera is an opera company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company was founded in 2005 by the Victorian Government as a replacement for the Victoria State Opera. It commenced operations in January 2006 with Richard Gill a ...

commissioned Harrison to collaborate with composer Christopher Sainsbury to develop an operatic version of ''The Visitors'', staged at

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...

in October 2023. The opera is on the Victorian Certificate of Education 2023 curriculum. ''The Visitors'' was initially developed as part of the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

Cybec Electric series and the Melbourne Indigenous Festival in February 2014, directed by

Leah Purcell Leah Maree Purcell (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', which led to role ...

, after being work-shopped at the Yellamundie Festival in 2013.

''Stolen''

''Stolen'' premièred in 1998 at Playbox (now

Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne 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. A ...

) followed by seven annual seasons in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, plus tours to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, regional

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

(twice),

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, with readings in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. In Sydney, it was performed at the

, directed by

Wayne Blair Wayne Blair may refer to: * Wayne Blair (cricketer) (1948–2019), New Zealand cricketer * Wayne Blair (director) Wayne Blair (born 28 November 1971) is an Australian writer, actor and director. He was on both sides of the camera in '' Redfer ...

. ''Stolen'' is a play about the lives of five Aboriginal people from the "

stolen generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...

".J. Harrison (2000) ''Stolen''. Strawberry Hills (NSW): Currency Press (Author’s biography on 1st page) For ''Stolen'' Harrison was awarded the

Australian Writers' Guild The Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) is the professional association for Australian performance writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962. The AWG is a member of the Australian Council o ...

AWGIE Nomination, was co-winner of the

Kate Challis RAKA Award The Kate Challis RAKA Award is an arts award worth , awarded annually by the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Indigenous Australian creative artists. It is awarded in a five-year cycle, each year in a different area of the arts: ...

, and received an Honourable Mention in the CACS National Awards Individual Category for "An Outstanding Contribution to Australian Culture". Stolen has been studied on the Victorian VCE and NSW HSC English and drama syllabi.

''Rainbow’s End''

''Rainbow’s End'' premièred in 2005, and toured Melbourne, Sydney, regional Australia, and Japan in 2007, and has had numerous subsequent productions. Harrison was awarded for ''Rainbow’s End'' the Drover Award (Tour of the Year) and a

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical th ...

nomination for Best Regional Touring Production. It was studied on the NSW HSC and from 2013 has been on the Victorian VCE English syllabus. ''Rainbow's End'' tells the simple, yet convoluted story of three generations of Aboriginal women; young Dolly, her mother the happy-go-lucky Gladys, and the wise and stern Nan Dear, living in their shanty perched on the flats of the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victor ...

in 1950s regional Victoria. The play was initially directed by Wesley Enoch.

''On a Park Bench''

''On a Park Bench'' was created through workshops at Playbox and the Banff Playrites Colony. The play was a finalist in the Lake Macquarie Drama Prize.

''Blakvelvet''

''Blakvelvet'' won the 2006 Theatrelab Indigenous Award.

Novels and short stories

''Becoming Kirrali Lewis''

Harrison's novel, ''Becoming Kirrali Lewis'', won the

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contain ...

2014 black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship, was shortlisted in the

Prime Minister's Literary Awards The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts.Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

2016. ''Becoming Kirrali Lewis'' is a coming-of-age teen fiction novel about the search by

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...

member Kirrali Lewis for her biological parents, which turns stereotypes on their heads. ''Becoming Kirrali Lewis'' was published by

Magabala Books Magabala Books is an Indigenous publishing house based in Broome, Western Australia. It started in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The name ''Magabala'' is a Yawuru, Karrajari and Nyulnyul word for the bush banana. In 1990, Magabala Books be ...

in 2015.

''Born, Still''

Short story, ''Born, Still'', was published by the

in ''Writing Black: New Indigenous Writing from Australia'', launched in May 2014, and in the anthology Flock published by University of Queensland Press in 2021. ''Born, Still'' is a gentle reflection on the death of a daughter before birth. ''Born, Still'' was subsequently re-worked as a play, premiered at the

Melbourne Writers Festival Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is an annual literary festival held in the Australian city of Melbourne, a UNESCO City of Literature. The Festival runs during early September each year. Melbourne Writers Festival is part of the Word Alliance, ...

in 2018.

Other writing

''Healing our communities, healing ourselves'' was published in the

Medical Journal of Australia The ''Medical Journal of Australia'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 22 times a year. It is the official journal of the Australian Medical Association, published by Wiley on behalf of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company. The ...

and won the Dr Ross Ingram Essay Prize in 2010.Medical Journal of Australia 2010; 192 (10): 556-557. ''Indig-curious; Who can play Aboriginal roles?'' published by Currency House explores the issues raised by Aboriginal identity in theatre. Harrison also contributed a chapter to ''Many Voices, Reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation'', which was published by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "maint ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. This work was also related to the theme of the stolen generations. Harrison has been Festival Director of ''Blak & Bright - First Nations Literary Festival'' in Melbourne since 2015.

References

External links

''Stolen''

Contemporary Indigenous Plays ''Rainbow’s End''

Medical Journal of Australia ''Healing our communities, healing ourselves''

Currency House ''Indig-curious; Who can play Aboriginal roles?''

La Trobe University ''Not one size fits all: Understanding the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children''

National Library of Australia ''Many Voices: Reflections on Experiences of Indigenous Child Separation'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Jane 1960 births Australian non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Indigenous Australian writers Living people Australian women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian women writers