Joanna Murray-Smith (born 17 April 1962) is a

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 met ...

-based Australian playwright, screenwriter, novelist,

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

and newspaper columnist.

Life and career

Murray-Smith was born in

Mount Eliza, Victoria Mount Eliza is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Mount Eliza recorded a ...

; her father was the literary editor and academic

Stephen Murray-Smith Stephen Murray-Smith AM (9 September 1922 – 31 July 1988) was an Australian writer, editor and educator. Early life and education Murray-Smith's father ran a lucrative business shipping Australian horses to India for the armed forces. It ena ...

(1922–1988). Her uncle was the actor

John Bluthal John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career ...

. She attended

Toorak College Toorak College is an Independent school, independent, inter-denominational, boarding school, boarding and day school for girls, grades 5 - 12 and is co-educational, boys and girls, from pre-school through grade four. The school is located on the M ...

and graduated with a BA (Hons) from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. On a

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

Scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

in 1995, Murray-Smith attended the writing program at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, New York. In 2003, she took a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

in Italy. She is married to Raymond Gill and has two sons and one daughter. In 2000 she was awarded a Commonwealth Medal for Services to Playwriting and in 2012 she was made a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Notable productions

Many of Murray-Smith's plays have been performed around the world. ''

Honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...

'' has been produced in more than three dozen countries, including productions on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

in London. ''Honour'' was created in 1995 when Murray-Smith was studying in the writing program at Columbia University in New York. There, the play's first public appearance was in a reading with

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...

and

Kyra Sedgwick Kyra Minturn Sedgwick (; born August 19, 1965) is an American actress, producer and director. For her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama ''The Closer'', she won a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Awa ...

. The play was then performed at the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...

on Broadway in 1998 with

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 1997 ...

Robert Foxworth Robert Heath Foxworth (born November 1, 1941) is an American film, stage, and television actor. Early life Foxworth was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Erna Beth (née Seamman), a writer, and John Howard Foxworth, a roofing contractor. He at ...

Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...

and Enid Graham; it earned

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nominations for Alexander and Graham. It was performed at London's Royal National Theatre with

Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy A ...

who won

best actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

in the

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

s for the role. Its West End performance took place at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

in 2006 with

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in '' On H ...

, Martin Jarvis and

Natascha McElhone Natascha McElhone (; born Natascha Abigail Taylor, 14 December 1971) is a British actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In film, she is best known for her roles in '' Ronin'' (1998), ''The Truman Show'' (19 ...

. The play was remounted in London in 2018 at the Park Theatre starring Henry Goodman and Imogen Stubbs in the lead roles. ''Ridge's Lovers'' was performed in New York under the direction of Brian Leahy Doyle. ''Honour'', ''Nightfall'', ''Rapture'', ''Ninety'', ''Fury'' and ''Day One, a Hotel, Evening'' have all had staged readings or productions at the annual New York Stage and Film Festival at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

. ''Scenes from a Marriage'' was performed in January 2008 at the

Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building. Background Coventry was the fastest growing city in ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, directed by

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas f ...

, with

Iain Glen Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. Glen is best known for his roles as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy te ...

and

Imogen Stubbs Imogen Stubbs (born 20 February 1961) is an English actress and writer. Her first leading part was in '' Privileged'' (1982), followed by ''A Summer Story'' (1988). Her first play, ''We Happy Few'', was produced in 2004. In 2008 she joined '' ...

. Nunn recast the production for its West End season at the

St James Theatre St. James Theatre is a Broadway theatre in New York City. St. James Theatre may also refer to: Australia * St. James Theatre, Sydney, multi-storey building in Elizabeth Street, not to be confused with diminutive St James' Hall, Sydney New Zeal ...

in 2013;

Olivia Williams Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is a British actress who has appeared in British and American films and television. After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakesp ...

and Mark Bazeley played the warring couple. The adaptation was produced in Australia at Queensland Theatre in 2017 starring

Marta Dusseldorp Marta Dusseldorp (born 1 February 1973) is an Australian stage, film and theatre actress. Her television credits include ''BlackJack'', ''Crownies'' (and its spin-off '' Janet King''), ''Jack Irish'' and '' A Place to Call Home''. Early life an ...

and her husband Ben Winspear. '' The Female of the Species'', based on events in the life of

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literatu ...

, opened in the West End at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

in July 2008, directed by Roger Michell and starring

. A Broadway production, originally planned for 2008 with

Annette Bening Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominat ...

was postponed. It was nominated for Best New Comedy in the 2009 Olivier Awards. In February and March 2010, the play was staged at the

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located i ...

in Los Angeles with

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...

and Bening.

Charles Isherwood Charles Isherwood (born 1964/65) is an American theater critic. Education Isherwood is a graduate of Stanford University. Career Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of ''Variety'', where he was pr ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote about this production: "''The Female of the Species'' is not just antifeminist. In its depiction of women as variously pompous, deluded, self-obsessed, hypocritical, sexually obsequious or just plain crazy, it comes closer to being antifemale." ''Switzerland'' was commissioned by the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles but by arrangement with the Sydney Theatre Company artistic directors Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett had its world premiere production at the Sydney Theatre Company starring Sarah Peirse as Patricia Highsmith in 2014. A new production of ''Switzerland'' was produced at the Geffen Theatre in 2015 directed by

Mark Brokaw Mark Brokaw is an American theatre director. He won the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Director of a Play for ''How I Learned to Drive''. Life and career Brokaw was raised in Aledo, Illinois, and graduated fr ...

and starred Laura Linney in the Highsmith role. The play was also produced at the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Queensland Theatre Company, the State Theatre Company of South Australia and Black Swan Theatre, Perth. It has been produced in numerous productions in Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. In 2019 it played an

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

season at

59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...

in New York City. Its UK premiere was in 2018 at the

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

, starring

Phyllis Logan Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Lady Jane Felsham in ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes (later Carson) in ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer f ...

as Highsmith. The production moved to the West End in November 2018 at the Ambassadors Theatre. Murray-Smith's 2010 one-woman play written for

Bernadette Robinson Bernadette Robinson is an Australian singer and actor. Robinson was born in Sydney and grew up in Melbourne where she attended the Victorian College of the Arts and was taught opera by Joan Hammond. She is best known for her ability to sing in ...

, ''Songs for Nobodies'', opened immediately after ''Switzerland'' at the same theatre in January 2019 and marked Robinson's West End debut. The show was nominated for an Olivier award. ''Songs for Nobodies'' has toured Australian cities starring Robinson three times since its 2010 premiere production. The play's first production featuring another performer in the role was in New Zealand in 2017 and 2018 when Ali Harper performed the play. Its US premiere at Milwaukee Rep in 2018 starred Bethany Thomas who will perform the role at the Northlight Theatre in Chicago in May 2020. Murray-Smith made her directorial debut when

Queensland Theatre Queensland Theatre, formerly the Queensland Theatre Company and Royal Queensland Theatre Company, is a professional theatre company based in Brisbane, Australia. It regularly performs in its own Bille Browne Theatre and the Queensland Performi ...

produced her 2019 comedy ''L'Appartement''.

Works

The plays and novels of Murray-Smith have been translated and performed widely around the world.Fourteen of the plays have been published by

Currency Press Currency Press is a leading performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Their list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works. H ...

(Australia) and others have been published by Nick Hern Books (UK) and Dramatist Play Service (US). According to the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

, Murray-Smith and

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 ...

account for half of all foreign productions of Australian plays. However, Murray-Smith feels that within Australia, and especially at the

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 ...

, her work and that of other Australian writers, e.g.,

David Williamson David Keith Williamson Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australians, Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Vi ...

's, is insufficiently supported.

Plays

*''Angry Young Penguins'', 1987 (Church Theatre, Melbourne) (see also:

Ern Malley The Ern Malley hoax, also called the Ern Malley affair, is Australia's most famous literary hoax. Its name derives from Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley, a fictitious poet whose biography and body of work were created in one day in 1943 by conservativ ...

) *''Atlanta'', 1990 (

Playbox Theatre Company Playbox Theatre Company is a theatre company for children and young people based in Warwick. Playbox provide training for children and young people aged 3-25 in various different areas, including theatre training, musical theatre, circus, voice ...

, Melbourne) *''Love Child'', 1993 (Playbox Theatre Company) *''Ridge's Lovers'', 1993 (

La Mama La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

, Melbourne) *''Flame'', 1994 (

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 SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross. the artistic director is Declan Green. Artistic direct ...

, Sydney) *''

'', 1995 (Playbox Theatre Company) *''Redemption'', 1997 (Playbox Theatre Company) *''Nightfall'', 1999 (Playbox Theatre Company) *''Rapture'', 2002 (Playbox Theatre Company) *'' Bombshells'', 2001 (

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 compa ...

, written for Caroline O'Connor) *'' The Female of the Species'', 2006 (Melbourne Theatre Company) *''Ninety'', 2008 (Melbourne Theatre Company) *''Scenes from a Marriage'', 2008 (based on the 1973 Bergman film) (Belgrade Theatre Coventry) *''Rockabye'', 2009 (Melbourne Theatre Company) *''Songs for Nobodies'', 2010 (Melbourne Theatre Company, written for

) *''The Gift'', 2011 (Melbourne Theatre Company) *''Day One, a Hotel, Evening'', 2011 (

Red Stitch Actors Theatre Red Stitch Actors Theatre is an ensemble theatre company based in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 2001 and with its first season in 2002, Red Stitch has presented over 100 contemporary plays. These include works from international playwrig ...

, Melbourne) *''True Minds'', 2013 (Melbourne Theatre Company) *''Fury'', 2013 (

) *''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been can ...

'', 2013 (adaptation of Ibsen play, tate Theatre Company of South Australia*''Switzerland'', 2014 (Sydney Theatre Company) *''Pennsylvania Avenue'', 2014 (Melbourne Theatre Company, written for Bernadette Robinson) * ''American Song'', 2016 (Milwaukee Rep) *''Three Little Words'', 2017 (Melbourne Theatre Company) * ''Fury (Revised''), 2018 *''L'Appartement'', 2019 (

) * ''Berlin'', 2021 (Melbourne Theatre Company) * ''Rio Sombrio'', 2022 (National Theatre of Portugal/ Teatro Nacional D. Maria II)

Novels

*''Truce'', 1994 *''Judgement Rock'', 2002 *''Sunnyside'', 2005

Other

*''The Poems of Ern Malley'' (ed) 1988, *''

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

'', 1988 (film) *''

Cassidy Cassidy may refer to: Personal names * Cassidy (given name) * Cassidy (surname) People * Cassidy (musician) (born 1979), lead singer of Antigone Rising * Cassidy (rapper) (born 1982), American rapper * DJ Cassidy (born 1981), New York DJ * Jame ...

'', 1989 (for

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

, after the novel by

Morris West Morris Langlo West (26 April 19169 October 1999) was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1959), ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (1963) and ''The Clowns of God'' (1981). His books were publ ...

) *"Mimi Goes to the Analyst" in '' Six Pack'', 1992 (for

SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...

) *"Greed" in ''

Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

'', 1993 (for ABC Television) *Lyrics to a song cycle about

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in S ...

, music by

Paul Grabowsky Paul Atherstone Grabowsky (born 27 September 1958) is an Australian pianist and composer. Biography Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea, Grabowsky is a pianist and composer of music for film, theatre and opera. His father Alistair had lived in Papu ...

*''

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

'': episodes "Fit to Plead", "An Unnatural Act", "A Prima Facie Case", 1995 (for ABC Television) *

Libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

to the opera ''

Love in the Age of Therapy ''Love in the Age of Therapy'' is an opera composed by Paul Grabowsky with a libretto by Joanna Murray-Smith. It premiered in October 2002 for OzOpera at the Playhouse, Victorian Arts Centre as part of the Melbourne Festival Melbourne Intern ...

'', 2002 (by Paul Grabowsky for

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...

Melbourne Festival Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

and

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 ...

) *Libretto to ''

The Divorce The Divorce was a rock band from Seattle, Washington, originally composed of Shane Berry, lead vocals, keyboard, guitar and tambourine, (bass) and Kyle Risan, drums. History The band's first full-length release was ''There Will Be Blood Tonig ...

'', 2015 (by

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is a Soviet-born Australian pianist and composer, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and career Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uzbek ...

, for ABC Television) *'' Palm Beach'', 2019 (film, co-written with director

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

)

Awards

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

nomination in 1989 for the screenplay to ''Georgia'' (shared with Ben Lewin, Bob Weis). *Braille Book of the Year for ''Judgement Rock'' *

Victorian Premier's Literary Award 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 ...

: Southbank Pacific Prize for Drama for ''Honour'' in 1996 *Victorian Premier's Literary Award: Louis Esson Prize for Drama for ''Rapture'' in 2003 *Winner 2004 Fringe First Award,

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

for ''Bombshells'' *

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

nomination in 2004 for ''Judgement Rock'' *Winner 2005 London Theatregoers Choice Award for ''Bombshells'' *Final list of twelve of the

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

in 2006 for ''Sunnyside'' *Co-winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (Play Award) 2012 for ''The Gift'' *Inaugural Winner 2016 of Mona Brand Award, awarded by the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

in recognition of "an outstanding Australian woman writing for the stage or screen". *Lifetime Achievement Award 2019, University of Melbourne Faculty of Arts"Recipients of the 2019 Arts Alumni Awards announced"
The University of Melbourne, 16 May 2019

References

External links

Profile
at

''What I Wrote – Joanna Murray-Smith'' – Teacher's Notes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray-Smith, Joanna 1962 births Living people University of Melbourne alumni Australian women dramatists and playwrights Australian screenwriters 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian women novelists Australian television writers Australian opera librettists Women opera librettists Writers from Victoria (Australia) 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian women writers Australian women television writers People from Mount Eliza, Victoria