Lizzie Nunnery

Lizzie Nunnery’s work as a playwright has often explored historical settings and migrant characters. Her first play Intemperance (Liverpool Everyman, 2007), was set amongst Irish and Norwegian immigrants in the Liverpool slums of 1854. It was awarded five stars by the Guardian and shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth award. The Swallowing Dark (Liverpool Playhouse/Theatre503, 2011), took on themes of asylum through the story of a Zimbabwean refugee in Britain. Play with songs Narvik (Box of Tricks UK Tour, 2017; Norwegian Tour, 2018), followed a Liverpool sailor’s journey through Norway and the Arctic during the Second World War. It was shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburne award and won ‘Best New Play’ in the UK Theatre awards 2017.

Her work frequently explores working-class voices and stories. She co-wrote Unprotected (Everyman/Traverse Edinburgh/ BBC Radio 4, 2006), a verbatim play exploring street prostitution in Liverpool, winner of the Amnesty International award for freedom of expression. Over time her passion for music has led to her incorporating original songs in her dramatic work, most significantly in the musical The Sum (BBC Radio 4, 2014; Everyman, 2017), about the impact of austerity politics on a Liverpool community.

Lizzie is also a singer and songwriter, performing regularly with producer/composer Vidar Norheim. Recently she began to write fiction, with a short story, ‘Moving to the Sticks’, published at minorliteratures.com. She is developing her first feature film with Blue Horizon Productions and working on an original TV series with Tigerlily Films.

Lizzie lives in Liverpool with her Norwegian husband and their two children.

Lizzie Nunnery is a screenwriter, playwright and songwriter. She has also written extensively for BBC radio. Her theatre work has been produced internationally and has won awards including Best New Play at the 2017 UK Theatre Awards, and the Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Expression. She has taught creative writing in a range of universities, and delivered writing workshops for young people across primary, secondary and theatre settings. Lizzie was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow for Liverpool University in 2019 and for Manchester University in 2021. In that role, she particularly enjoyed engaging with new students and supporting them in the transition to writing at university level.