The Patrick White Playwrights' Award is a major playwriting initiative of Sydney Theatre Company and The Sydney Morning Herald, offering Australia's richest playwriting award ($20,000) to a full-length unproduced play.

Launched in 2000, the Patrick White Playwrights' Award honours the contribution of Australia's Nobel laureate to the theatre. The Award celebrates the importance of the playwright to Australian theatre culture and fosters the development of uniquely Australian theatrical voices.

The Patrick White Playwrights’ Award is a joint initiative of Sydney Theatre Company and The Sydney Morning Herald. The Award offers a $20,000 cash prize to a full-length unproduced play of any genre written by an Australian playwright 20 years of age or over.

Ian Wilding is the recipient of the 2009 Patrick White Playwrights’ Award for his play, Forever Seven. The winner was announced at Sydney Theatre Company ahead of a rehearsed reading of the play in Wharf 2 on 22 May 2010 as part of the Sydney Writers’ Festival.

Past winners of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award

2008:

Nicki Bloom

2007:
Angus Cerini
Timothy Daly
2006:
Patricia Cornelius
2005:
Wesley Enoch
2004:
Stephen Carleton
2003:
David Milroy and Ningali Lawford
2002:
Reg Cribb
Ian Wilding
2001:
Brendan Cowell
Toby Schmitz
Jackie Smith
2000:
Ben Ellis
Bette Guy
Ailsa Piper