Meet the winners of the Mona Brand Award
Tuesday 2 June from 6pm to 8pm
Hear from the winners of the 2026 Mona Brand Award for Women Stage and Screen Writers — Jane Harrison and Emmanuelle Mattana — at this very special event. Both winners will appear in conversation to discuss their work and creative lives with Mona Brand Award judge Kate Jinx, followed by drinks and refreshments.
Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison was awarded this year’s Mona Brand Award ($30,000) for her extraordinary body of work that includes the plays Stolen, Rainbow’s End, Blakvelvet, Custody and The Visitors. The $10,000 Early Career Writer Award was given to Emmanuelle Mattana for their play Trophy Boys, in which female and non-binary performers play private-school boys debating the status of feminism.
The only award of its kind in Australia, the Mona Brand Award was established in 2016 to celebrate Australian women’s contribution to writing for the screen and stage and to foster exciting new talent in the industry. It was made possible through a generous bequest to the State Library of NSW Foundation by the late Mona Alexis Fox nee Brand (1915–2007), a trailblazing Australian poet, author and playwright.