Rate My Professor Stephen Carleton

Professor Stephen Carleton is a leading Australian playwright and academic in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Queensland, serving as Professor and Director of Higher Degree by Research Students in the School of Communication and Arts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from La Trobe University, a Masters (Research) of Creative Writing from the University of Queensland, and a Doctor of Philosophy of Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Queensland in 2008, with his PhD thesis entitled 'Staging the North: Finding, Imagining and Performing an Australian "Deep North"'. Previously holding positions as Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at UQ, Carleton has supervised numerous higher degree students on topics ranging from eco-gothic playwriting to queer dramaturgy.

Carleton's research focuses on 21st-century Australian playwriting, the intersections of Gothic drama and eco-criticism including 'cli-fi' plays on climate change, postcolonial drama, Australian drama from 19th-century melodramas to contemporary works, spatial inquiry on the Australian North, and cultural geography. He co-created the Cultural Atlas of Australia with Professor Jane Stadler and Associate Professor Peta Mitchell, supported by an ARC Discovery Grant. Key publications include the book Contemporary Australian Playwriting: Re-visioning the Nation on the Mainstage (2023, with Chris Hay), New Babylon (2021), Imagined Landscapes: Geovisualizing Australian Spatial Narratives (2016, with Stadler and Mitchell), and plays such as The Turquoise Elephant (2016), Bastard Territory (2016), and Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset (2006). Journal articles feature "‘Global Weirding’: Australian Absurdist Cli-fi Plays" (2020, with Hay) and "Contemporary Irish Gothic Drama" (2017). He has received ARC grants, including for "Re-Mapping the Lost Literary Capital: Darwin/Larrakia Nation" (2025-2028). Awards include the Griffin Theatre Award (2015) for The Turquoise Elephant, Matilda Award for Best New Australian Play (2017) for Bastard Territory, Patrick White Playwrights’ Award (2005), and New Dramatists’ Award (2006) for Constance Drinkwater. His plays have generated over $2 million in box office earnings across Australia.