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The Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG), with the generous support of Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) Cultural Fund, today announced the nation’s richest playwriting prize named in honour of one of Australia’s leading arts figures.

The Richard Wherrett Prize was launched at the Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay in the rehearsal studio that also bears his name. Industry guests included leading playwrights Katherine Thomson and Tommy Murphy, and Richard’s long-time friend, actress Jacki Weaver.

Significantly, the $40,000 Prize will be shared evenly between the winning playwright and the theatre company that first produced the play in Australia, to recognise excellence in playwriting, and reward theatre companies showing commitment to new Australian works. The writer will also receive a gold medallion.

The AWG will present the inaugural Richard Wherrett Prize at the 40th Annual AWGIE Awards in Sydney on August 31, 2007.

AWG President Simon Hopkinson said the Prize demonstrates the AWG’s commitment to promoting the Australian cultural voice. “The Richard Wherrett Prize will encourage, reward and foster creativity in the Australian theatre community and further enhance our reputation as a nation that produces new, innovative and exciting works for the stage.”

“Winning Australian playwrights and theatre companies will be able continue their valuable but often poorly rewarded work in a fitting tribute to the life and work of a great Australian theatre practitioner,” he said.

During Wherrett’s 40 year career, he co-founded the Nimrod Theatre and was appointed the first Artistic Director and CEO of the Sydney Theatre Company. He directed 127 professional theatre productions as well as opera, film, television and festivals. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1984 and died in 2001.

Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), the major sponsor of the prize through its Cultural Fund, is a not-for-profit, member based organisation, whose role is to provide a bridge between creators and users of copyright material.

CAL Chair Brian Johns said playwrights form an important sector of CAL’s membership and the prize provides an opportunity to celebrate and reward the talent evident in the Australian theatre community.

To be eligible for the Richard Wherrett Prize, the playwright must be a financial member of the AWG at the time the script is submitted for entry. The script must be nominated for a 2007 AWGIE Award in the Stage; Community and Youth Theatre; Theatre for Young Audiences or Children’s Theatre categories and must have been produced between January 1 and December 31, 2006.

The AWG has 2650 members and is the peak professional body for Australia’s film, television, theatre, radio and new media writers. The Australian Writers’ Foundation who is a sponsor of the prize is the cultural and educational division of the AWG.