Two New Grants Awarded to Australian Playwrights

“This generous contribution from Kim Williams addresses the great difficulty most Australian playwrights have in getting a commission to write a new play,” says AWF President Geoffrey Atherden AM. “Australian playwrights now have a new advocate in Kim, who will stand alongside the likes of David Williamson and Andrew Bovell in working with the Australian Writers’ Guild to push for new Australian stories in theatre.”

The AWF Playwriting Grants will boost the creation of new Australian work by creative talent. The grants of $15,000 for each recipient will go to two playwrights chosen by a panel appointed by the Foundation each year over the next three years. The grant is to assist the creation of a new Australian work, as well as further funding for dramaturgy and a rehearsed reading of the resulting play at a theatre company of the recipient’s choice.

AWF President Geoffrey Atherden AM presented inaugural recipients Lally Katz and Declan Greene with their cheques on Tuesday night at an evening function at the Sydney Theatre Company for financial supporters of Australian writers. Andrew Denton, Jennifer Byrne, Jimmy McGovern, Mark Scott, Jan Sardi and Kim Williams AM were among the high profile advocates of quality storytelling who attended the function prior to a performance of The Secret River (adapted for the stage by Andrew Bovell).

The AWF is the charitable arm of the Australian Writers’ Guild, which is constantly fighting for investment into new Australian commissions on behalf of its members.

“This is an amazing boost to my self confidence,” said Lally Katz, who was born in New Jersey and moved to Australia as a teenager. She has been twice AWGIE nominated and is regarded as one of the most successful writers of her generation for her distinctive and idiosyncratic voice, with her plays marked by pathos and humour.

“I feel honoured to be put in the same category as a much more experienced writer like Lally Katz,” said Declan Greene, who in his mid-twenties has already won an AWGIE and the 2012 Max Afford Playwrights’ Award. His work is noted for being subversive and ambitious. He is one half of the Sisters Grimm duo, and will also direct their play Little Mercy for the Sydney Theatre Company in March.

Kim Williams AM is the CEO of News Limited and Chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust, and was previously Chief Executive of Foxtel, the Australian Film Commission, Southern Star Entertainment and Musica Viva Australia. He is the recipient of the AWG’s 2012 Dorothy Crawford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession, and was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006.