Patricia Cornelius

Patricia Cornelius (she/her) is a founding member of Melbourne Workers Theatre. Patricia has a fierce commitment to class and her work often examines the lives of the marginalised. She’s a playwright, novelist, and film writer.

She has written over 35 plays including: My Sister Jill, Bad Boy, Runt, Anthem, In the Club, Shit, Big Heart, Savages, Do not go gentle…, Slut, Love and The Call. Patricia wrote the adaption of SHIT for film and co-wrote the feature film adaptation, Blessed. Patricia’s novel, My Sister Jill (Random House) was published in 2002.

Cornelius is the recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, the Mona Brand Award, and the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards. 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 numerous 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.