Colleen Murphy

Colleen Murphy was born in Quebec and grew up in Manitouwadge, Northern Ontario. 

Plays include Pig Girl (GG Literary Award for Drama and Carol Bolt Award for Outstanding Play), The December Man / L’homme de décembre(GG Literary Award for Drama and Carol Bolt Award for Outstanding Play), Holiday in Zürich, Jupiter, The Society For The Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius (winner of six Jessie Richardson Awards including Outstanding Production, and three Elizabeth Sterling Awards including Outstanding Production), The Breathing Hole/AGLU (shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, U.S., and the Carol Bolt Award), I Hope My Heart Burns First, Armstrong’s War, The Goodnight Bird, The Piper, and Beating Heart Cadaver (shortlisted for the GG Literary Award for Drama). Libretti include Fantasma, with composer Ian Cusson, for the Canadian Opera Company, Oksana G., with composer Aaron Gervais, for Tapestry Opera, and My Mouth On Your Heart, with composer August Murphy-King, for Toy Piano Composers and Bicycle Opera. Colleen is also an award-winning filmmaker and her distinct films have played in festivals around the world.

She has been Playwright-in-Residence at Finborough Theatre in London UK, and Necessary Angel Theatre in Toronto, and at the University of Regina. She’s been the Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer-in-Residence at McMaster University; Writer-in-Residence at the University of Guelph; Edna Staebler Laurier Writer-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University; Lee Playwright-in-Residence at the University of Alberta; Writer-in-Residence at the University of New Brunswick, and most recently, Writer-in-Residence at Green College, University of British Columbia.

She is a member of the Order of Canada.

Last Updated August 2026