An award winning playwright, Vanessa writes for theatre, television and radio. 

Her most recently produced play; The One, directed by Darren Yap, was at the Ensemble Theatre in 2022. Other produced plays include Small Hard Truths, Trailer, Light Begins To Fade, Every Second, The Magic Hour, PORN.CAKE, Checklist For An Armed Robber, The Blessing, and Darling Oscar. She has written several monologues including The Real Thing, Wishbone, Shot Gun and That Night We Lost Jenny.

She adapted A Ghost In My Suitcase for Barking Gecko at Melbourne International Arts Festival, Sydney Festival and Perth International Arts Festival winning an AWGIE for Theatre for Young People. Currently she is working on a libretto for a new chamber opera for Vic Opera.

Vanessa has been produced by the Sydney Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Barking Gecko, the Ensemble, Belvoir B-Sharp, Griffin, Vitalstatistix, Deckchair, Australian Theatre for Young People, Tantrum, Stooged, Freewheels and has written several plays for ABC Radio.

Several works are published including:

A Ghost In My Suitcase, Checklist For An Armed Robber, Trailer (Currency Press),  First Light (atyp:The Voices Project, Currency Press), Hunger (Short Circuits, Griffin Theatre, Currency Press),That Night We Lost Jenny, Small Hard Truths (7-ON Sharp Darts, Currency Press), Are We Happy, And I’m Here, The Rush (The Curve, Critical Stages, Currency Press)PORN.CAKE (PWA online), Every Second (ASC online) and  Darling Oscar(Sydney Theatre Company: Plays 1, Five Island Press).

Produced radio plays include:

The Guinea Pig Years, MinceMeat, To Dance In the Night Air, A Little Bit Each Night, The Elephants Ark and an AWGIE winning adaptation for radio of Checklist For An Armed Robber(all ABC Radio Drama)

Vanessa has won a NSW Premier’s Literary Award, AWGIE Awards, Inscription Chairman’s Award, Inscription New Work Award. She has been shortlisted for AWGIEs (for writing television, documentary and theatre), the Victorian Premier’s New Play Award, Griffin Award, STC Patrick White Award, Theatre 503 New Play Award, and the Newton-John Award. She recently won the inaugural Stoddart Playwright Award for her play Chipper in December 2022. https://www.verypopulartheatreco.com.au/chipper

Vanessa’s new large scale children’s play: Captain Dalisay was a finalist in the 2022 Shane and Cathryn Brennan Playwriting prize and is now included on AWG Pathways site https://www.awgpathways.com.au/showcase/captain-dalisay/

She was awarded a Varuna Residency NSW, and a Keesing Studio Residency at the Cite Institute des Arts, Paris.

For television, she has researched and written for acclaimed multi-award winning drama series East West 101 (SBS), Play School (ABCTV) and Rush (Ch10). She wrote AWGIE nominated documentary script 900 Neighbours (ABCTV). She also wrote short films Pop’s Dream and The HoneyEaters and a narrative non-fiction book Legs Up And Laughing. 

With Ross Mueller she has developed two narrative comedies for television: Troubled Youth and Love Chaos Theory.

Vanessa is one seventh of playwriting company 7ON and half of screenwriting duo Pelican Nation.