Patricia Cornelius

Patricia Cornelius is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist.
Patricia’s most recent play, Shit, was presented at the 2017 Sydney Festival, following its 2015 Melbourne premiere as part of MTC’s Neon Season and its 2016 remount at 45Downstairs. Her play Savages (45Downstairs) won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Drama in 2014 and the Green Room Award for Writing and was nominated for an AWGIE and the Griffin Prize. It has since been produced at Darlinghurst Theatre in Sydney. Over her career Patricia has written over twenty five plays and they include: Big Heart, Do Not Go Gentle, The Call, Love, Fever, Boy Overboard, Slut and Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? (co-written with Andrew Bovell, Christos Tsiolkas, Melissa Reeves and Irine Vela).
Her prizes for stage work include the 2011 Victorian and NSW Premiers’ Literary Awards, the Patrick White Playwright’s Award, the Richard Wherrett Prize, the Wal Cherry Award and nine AWGIES for stage, community theatre, theatre for young people. She won the prestigious Australian Writers Foundation Playwriting Award in 2015 as well as the Patrick White Fellowship (2012), and a Fellowship from the Australia Council’s Theatre Board. Patricia has won the AWGIE Major Award three times. Patricia is a founding member of Melbourne Workers’ Theatre.
Patricia co-wrote the feature film adaptation Blessed, based on the play Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? (for which she won an AWGIE) and she is currently developing a feature film with director Catriona McKenzie with Screen Australia funding. Patricia wrote the novel My Sister Jill (Random House) and many of her plays are published by Currency Press. Patricia is currently working on a major stage commission for the Melbourne Theatre Company.
In February 2018, Patricia’s In the Club will premiere at the State Theatre Company of South Australian, and in May, her The House of Benarda Alba adaptation will premiere at the Melbourne Theatre Company.