Finegan Kruckemeyer (born 1981) is an Australian playwright.
Kruckemeyer was born in 1981 in Cork, Ireland, of a German father and Irish mother. The family moved to Adelaide, South Australia when Finegan was eight years old, and he attended Unley Primary School and Glenunga High School and became involved with Unley Youth Theatre.
Kruckemeyer honed his skills working with Independent Theatre and Brink Productions in Adelaide, before moving to Tasmania in his mid-twenties to pursue a career as a playwright.
His work has been performed in over 200 international festivals; all Australian states and territories; eight US national tours; five UK national tours; and at venues including the Sydney Opera House (six works), New YorkâÂÂs New Victory Theater (three works), EdinburghâÂÂs Imaginate Festival (three works), DublinâÂÂs Abbey Theatre, ShanghaiâÂÂs Malan Flower Theatre and DCâÂÂs Kennedy Center.
Kruckemeyer was awarded the Colin Thiele Scholarship for Creative Writing in 2002, the Jill Blewett's Playwright's Award in 2006, and the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award in 2010.
He was an inaugural recipient of the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in 2011, an award of given to mid-career creatives and thought leaders.
In 2012, he won the Helpmann Award for Children's Theatre, and he has received seven AWGIE Awards.
He was the recipient of the 2015 David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Australian Playwrighting (a category in the AWGIEs).
Finegan has been a speaker at the Ubud Writers Festival in Bali, Indonesia, the Edinburgh International ChildrenâÂÂs Theatre Festival (Scotland), TYA USA National Conference, and the ITYARN Conference (Argentina), among others. He has delivered papers or sat on panels at conferences/festivals in nine countries, with papers published.
He was one of 21 selected worldwide for the ASSITEJ Next Generation (young leaders in childrenâÂÂs theatre), and has sat on numerous arts boards including the Australian Script Centre and Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board, Arts TasmaniaâÂÂs Assistance to Individuals, Tas Literary Awards and Artsbridge panels, and the Story Island Project board (promoting youth literacy and empowerment through storytelling with marginalised young people).