Sydney Theatre Company has announced Joanna Murray-Smith as its 2024 Patrick White Fellow.

Now in its 14th year, the $25,000 Fellowship is awarded annually to an established playwright in recognition of their excellent body of work and achievements. The year-long engagement includes writing a new work for STC’s 2025 season and mentorship of emerging writers in the company’s Watershed: Writers initiative.

The announcement comes as the national tour of her 2023 commission, Julia, starring Justine Clarke begins in Melbourne next month.

Murray-Smith said it was a “great honour’’ to join the Fellowship’s alumni, which include Wesley Enoch, Angus Cerini, Andrew Bovell, Anchuli Felicia King, Tommy Murphy and Kate Mulvany.

“How fantastic to be back at the Sydney Theatre Company, with not just a new commission but such a prestigious award. I am honoured to join the wonderful writers on whom this Fellowship has been bestowed. Mentorship is crucial in playwriting and it’s a lovely aspect of the fellowship to be able to talk to new, younger and evolving playwrights. My experiences at STC in recent years have been amongst my most delightful in my professional career, influenced and supported by the buoyant vision of the company.”