Kate Mulvany has won a trifecta at the 2019 Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Awards, taking home three awards for The Harp in the South, her adaptation of Ruth Park’s trilogy of novels.

Kate Mulvany. Photograph © Sally Flegg

The AWGIE Awards, now in their 52nd year, honour Australian stage and screen writers. All categories are judged by writers and are based on the script rather than the final production.

Mulvany’s two-part adaptation won the Major Award, which is presented to the best script across all categories. She also took home the Stage Award, and the $100,000 David Williamson Prize for Theatre, which is selected from the winners of the various theatre categories. Funded by Cathryn and Shane Brennan, and Kirstin and David Williamson, $20,000 of the Prize is awarded to the playwright, and $80,000 goes to the theatre company that commissioned and developed it for the stage, with the express purpose of commissioning, developing and programming another new Australian work.

Mulvany’s two-part stage adaptation of The Harp in the South was commissioned by Sydney Theatre Company, which premiered it in August 2018, winning a four-and-a-half star review from Limelight. Last year’s winner of...