Be among the first to hear from the winner of the 2023 Russell Prize for Humour Writing, the only award to recognise the art of humour writing in Australia. Light or dark, fun or farce, published works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and collections of short stories by Australian writers are considered for the biennial prize. This year's winner Martin McKenzie-Murray will be joined on stage by 2023 Russell Prize senior judge, journalist, author and comedian Wendy Harmer.
Presented with the State Library of NSW. The Russell Prize was established thanks to the late Peter Wentworth Russell.
Martin McKenzie-Murray (Australian)
Martin McKenzie-Murray was The Saturday Paper’s chief correspondent, work for which made him both a Walkley and Quill finalist. Before that, he worked as a teacher, speechwriter, Age columnist, and adviser to the chief commissioner of Victoria Police. Elsewhere, his writing has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Monthly, Guardian Australia, Meanjin, and Best Australian Essays. His first book, A Murder Without Motive: the killing of Rebecca Ryle, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing. His latest book, The Speechwriter won the 2023 Russell Prize for Humour Writing.
Wendy Harmer (Australian)
In a career spanning four decades, Wendy has found success as a journalist, columnist, radio broadcaster, TV host, author, playwright and comic performer. A former political journalist, Wendy ran away with the circus in the 80s and forged a career in comedy at the Edinburgh Festival, London’s West End and on stages in Ireland, the US and all over Australia. Wendy was a pioneer for women in media as MC of ABC TV’s The Big Gig and as the headliner in radio 2Day FM’s Morning Crew which dominated Sydney radio ratings for 11 years. She holds a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from Macquarie University and is the author of some 30 fiction books for children, teens and women. She has also written plays, an opera libretto and has been a prolific columnist for many magazines and newspapers, most notably as Editor In Chief of her own site for women, The Hoopla. Most recently Wendy was co-host of the breakfast programme with Robbie Buck on ABC Sydney.
