Michelle Law

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Michelle Law
BornSunshine Coast, Australia
OccupationWriter
EducationQueensland University of Technology (BFA)
Period2008–present
RelativesBenjamin Law (brother)
Website
Official website

Michelle Law is an Australian writer. She is known for the web series Homecoming Queens, and the book Sh*t Asian Mothers Say, co-authored by her brother Benjamin Law, and her 2017 play Single Asian Female. She is of Chinese descent.

Early life and education[edit]

Law was born on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, as the fifth of five children to immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Malaysia.[1] She attended Sunshine Coast school Immanuel Lutheran College, Buderim throughout her school years.[2]

She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing at the Queensland University of Technology.[3]

Career[edit]

She wrote the adolescent-themed short film Bloomers, released in 2013, which was completed through successful crowdfunding and Screen Australia's Short Film Completion Fund.[4]

She presented on the topic of co-authorship with her brother Benjamin Law, as part of the Literary Friendship series at the 2014 Sydney Writers' Festival.[5]

Her 2017 play, Single Asian Female, a comedy about a Chinese-Australian family,[6] was considered to be groundbreaking in Australian theatre, as it featured three Chinese-Australian women in leading roles.[7][8] It opened at Brisbane's Roundhouse Theatre for La Boite Theatre Company in February 2017, and at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre in February 2018.[9]

In August 2017, Law was commissioned by SBS Television and Screen Australia to co-write a comedy drama series, Homecoming Queens.[10] She co-wrote the semi-autobiographical series, which focuses on two friends with chronic illness living in Queensland, with Chloë Reeson.[11] It premiered on SBS on Demand in April 2018, with Law playing the part of "Michelle Low" and Liv Hewson playing the part of Chloë Reeson.[12][13]

Law's play Top Coat, a body swap comedy, is being staged by Sydney Theatre Company, directed by Courtney Stewart,[14] from 26 June to 6 August 2022.[15]

As of 2022 Law is based in Sydney, New South Wales.[16]

Other roles[edit]

In December 2021 Law presented a talk on alopecia and A bald woman's guide to survival at the empowerment-themed TEDxSouthBankWomen event.[17]

Law is an ambassador for the Emerging Writers' Festival.[18]

Recognition and awards[edit]

In April 2012, Law was selected as part of Youth Arts Queensland's JUMP Mentoring Program.[19]

She won an AWGIE in 2012 in the Interactive Media category, for her screenwriting on SLiDE.[20]

She was a runner-up in the Written Word Category in the Qantas 2013 Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA 365).[21]

In 2013, she received funding towards her writing career through the Australia Council's ArtStart program.[citation needed]

In 2015, she was commissioned to write a Brisbane-themed poem for the Brisbane Poetry Map.[22]

In 2016, she won one of the Queensland Premier's Young Publishers and Writers Awards at the Queensland Literary Awards.[23]

Portrayal[edit]

Law was portrayed by actress Vivian Wei in the comedy TV series The Family Law (2016-2017), written by her brother Benjamin.[citation needed]

Tweets in the media[edit]

She has previously worked at Brisbane's Avid Reader bookshop.[24] In June 2017, Men's Rights Activists targeted the bookshop with online downvoting, because it shared news about Clementine Ford's second book.[25] Michelle and her brother Ben advocated for the bookshop, which effectively combated the downvotes by garnering hundreds of positive five-star reviews from the bookshop's supporters.[26]

In October 2017, one of her tweets was featured in a Sydney Morning Herald article, decrying the online abuse from HSC students towards poet Ellen van Neerven.[27]

In November 2017, she tweeted[28] to The Guardian's "Australian Bird of the Year" poll with an Australian version of the “Nothing but respect for my president” meme.[29]

In February 2018, Law tweeted about the inappropriateness of "Wonton of Laughs", a show in the BrisAsia Festival. The show's promotional poster appeared to depict Asian comedians floating in a bowl of wonton soup.[30]

Bibliography[edit]

Articles[edit]

Law has written for Seizure,[31] Meanjin (2012),[32] Screen Education (June 2014),[33] Peril: An Asian-Australian Journal (December 2015),[34] Good Weekend and Frankie (2017).[35]

She has written for The Lifted Brow on travel and loneliness (January 2010),[36] teachability of MasterChef (October 2011),[37] the nuances of Game of Thrones (December 2011),[38] the continued appeal of The Golden Girls (October 2012),[39] longevity of reality television (December 2012),[40] the possibilities of musical theatre (February 2013),[41] bookish television characters (September 2013),[42] interviewed writer Margo Lanagan (September 2013),[43] the lack of onscreen depictions of unsexy sex (February 2014),[44] and expectations around being an adult (March 2015).[45]

Her 2015 guest review of Charlotte's Web[46] for Going Down Swinging's "The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge" expanded on her earlier Gilmore Girls articles in The Lifted Brow.

She has written for the Griffith Review on the nuances of romantic relationships (2013's Once Upon a Time in Oz),[47] on dual cultural identity (2015),[48] and sibling conversations (2017).[49]

She has written for The Sydney Morning Herald on misogynist "bro culture" perpetuated by Melbourne University Liberal Club members,[50] selfie etiquette,[51] the physicality of hands,[52] and writers engaging in marketing.[53]

Books[edit]

Co-authored
  • Sh*t Asian mothers say, Collingwood, Vic. : Black Inc. (2014, ISBN 9781863956635)
Contributed chapters
  • "A call to arms", pp. 242–245, in: Growing up Asian in Australia, Melbourne, Black Inc. (2008, ISBN 9781863951913)
  • "[Dear hair...]", pp. 237–240, in section, "To my most treasured possession", in: Women of letters: reviving the lost art of correspondence, curated by Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire, Camberwell, Viking, (2011, ISBN 9780670076093)
  • "A fairer country", pp. 25–34, in: Destroying the joint, edited by Jane Caro, Read How You Want (2015, ISBN 9781459687295). A portion of the chapter was also published as an excerpt in The Sun Herald (May 2013).[54]
  • "Joyride", pp. 259–273, in: Rebellious daughters: true stories from Australia's finest female writers, edited by Maria Katsonis and Lee Kofman, Edgecliff, Ventura Press (2016, ISBN 9781925183528)
  • "How is your sex life?", pp. 165–171, in: Doing it: women tell the truth about great sex, edited by Karen Pickering, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Queensland (2016, ISBN 9780702254239)
  • "Pauline Hanson's eviction speech", pp. [243]-248, in: Best Australian comedy writing, edited by Luke Ryan, Affirm Press, South Melbourne, Victoria (2016, ISBN 9781925475265)

Screenwriting[edit]

  • Suicide and me, Sydney, NSW Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2013[55]
  • Bloomers (short film), 2013
  • Deadlock (web series of 5 episodes), 2017[56]
  • Homecoming Queens (web series of 7 episodes), 2018

Plays[edit]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Homecoming Queens Michelle Low Web series; co-star and screenwriter

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jenny Phang". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Old Scholars". 10 January 2022.
  3. ^ Pung, Alice, ed. (2008). Growing up Asian in Australia. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Black Inc., an imprint of Schwartz Media Pty Ltd. p. 346. ISBN 9781863951913.
  4. ^ "Screen Australia Annual Report 2012/13" (PDF). Annual Report. Ultimo, N.S.W.: Screen Australia: 42. 2013. ISSN 1837-2740.
  5. ^ Morris, Linda (14 May 2014). "Literary friendships thrive in solitary pursuit of writing". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 14.
  6. ^ Garry, Maddox (5 September 2017). "Make 'em laugh". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 24.
  7. ^ "Single Asian Female play 'shouldn't be revolutionary, but is'". ABC News. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  8. ^ Convery, Stephanie (10 February 2017). "Single Asian Female shakes up monocultural Australian theatre". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  9. ^ Rugendyke, Louise (27 January 2018). "Single Asian Female: How Michelle Law is changing the face of theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Screen Australia invests in Homecoming Queens series for SBS On Demand - Mumbrella". Mumbrella. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  11. ^ Cronin, Seanna (12 April 2018). "Binge-worthy series tackles illness with heart and humour". Queensland Times. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Michelle Law On Her New SBS Series Homecoming Queens". Junkee. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Sex, Drugs and… chronic illness? Meet the Homecoming Queens". Guide. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  14. ^ Story, Hannah (22 June 2022). "Sydney Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company reshape Australian theatre with works by Asian Australian women". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Top Coat". Sydney Theatre Company. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  16. ^ "About". Michelle Law. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  17. ^ A bald woman's guide to survival on YouTube
  18. ^ "Michelle Law: writing is hard work | Emerging Writers' Festival". Emerging Writers' Festival. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Getting a JUMP start on an artistic career". MX Brisbane. 2 April 2012. p. 4.
  20. ^ "AWG - Announcing this year's AWGIE Award winners". Australian Writers Guild. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Qantas announces SOYA Written Word winner". Qantas News Room. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Featured Poets". Brisbane Poetry Map. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  23. ^ "2016 Queensland Literary Award winners". October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  24. ^ Wilkshire, T.J. (4 October 2016). "Taking five with Michelle Law". The Australian Writer's Marketplace. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  25. ^ "MRAs Went After A Brisbane Bookstore And It Has Backfired Spectacularly". Junkee. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  26. ^ "Brisbane bookshop Avid Reader fights back against hundreds of one-star Facebook reviews: Three lessons on fighting trolls - SmartCompany". SmartCompany. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  27. ^ Taylor, Andrew (16 October 2017). "Indigenous poet Ellen van Neerven subject to online abuse by students after HSC English exam". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  28. ^ Law, Michelle (21 November 2017). "Nothing but respect for MY #BirdOfTheYearpic.twitter.com/EP3ifyNgly". @ms_michellelaw. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  29. ^ Zhou, Naaman (31 December 2017). "When 2017 got ridiculous, Australia's best memes came to the rescue". the Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  30. ^ "Asian-Australian writer Michelle Law hits out at 'extremely tone deaf' comedy poster". SBS News. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  31. ^ Law, Michelle (28 July 2015). "Pauline Hanson". Seizure. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  32. ^ Law, Michelle (Summer 2012). "Leaving". Meanjin. 71 (4): 13–15 – via Informit.
  33. ^ Law, Michelle (June 2014). "Sisters doin' it for themselves". Screen Education. 74: 16–25 – via Informit/Factiva.
  34. ^ Law, Michelle (8 December 2015). "Yellow Gold". Peril: An Asian-Australian Journal. Edition 22. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016 – via Pandora archive.
  35. ^ Law, Michelle (January–February 2017). "Of customers and combat". Frankie. Issue 75: 146. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  36. ^ Law, Michelle (January 2010). "Things that die in Spain (or in the course of travel)". The Lifted Brow. 6: 156–161 – via Informit.
  37. ^ Law, Michelle (October 2011). "TV boxwatch: can MasterChef teach you how to cook?". The Lifted Brow. 12: [49]–[50] – via Informit.
  38. ^ Law, Michelle (December 2011). "TV: is Game of Thrones a boy's show?". The Lifted Brow. 13: [55] – via Informit.
  39. ^ Law, Michelle (October 2012). "Television: why does The Golden Girls feel so young?". The Lifted Brow. 14: 40 – via Informit.
  40. ^ Law, Michelle (December 2012). "Survivor: outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting other reality shows". The Lifted Brow. 15: 52 – via Informit.
  41. ^ Law, Michelle (February 2013). "Perth and the Gleez project". The Lifted Brow. 16: 50–51 – via Informit.
  42. ^ Law, Michelle (September 2013). "TV: Rory Gilmore: Beloved bookworm?". The Lifted Brow. 19: 59 – via Informit.
  43. ^ Law, Michelle (September 2013). "Margo Lanagan is worldly and nice". The Lifted Brow. 19: 65 – via Informit.
  44. ^ Law, Michelle (February 2014). "Sex and the city, girls and unsexy sex on television". The Lifted Brow. 21: 44 – via Informit.
  45. ^ Law, Michelle (March 2015). "The roaring twenties". The Lifted Brow. 25: 25–28 – via Informit.
  46. ^ "Charlotte's Web by E. B. White | Going Down Swinging". goingdownswinging.org.au. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  47. ^ Law, Michelle (2013). "Happily ever after: the possibility of another ending". Griffith Review. 42: [137]–[145] – via Informit.
  48. ^ Law, Michelle (2015). "Good things come in pairs: stronger every day". Griffith Review. 49: [180]–190 – via Informit.
  49. ^ Law, Michelle (2017). "Conversations with my sister: negotiating art, love and labour". Griffith Review. 56: [91]–103 – via Informit.
  50. ^ Law, Michelle (16 August 2014). "Sexist rants reveal blind eye to misogynist culture". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 36.
  51. ^ Law, Michelle (13 September 2014). "Selfies at funerals? Folks, there is a time and a place". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 36.
  52. ^ Krauth, Kirsten; Law, Michelle; Savage, Angela (18 October 2015). "Bodily obsessions". The Sun Herald: Sunday Life. p. 14.
  53. ^ Law, Michelle (8 June 2017). "Writing is not enough... you need a 'brand'". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 21.
  54. ^ Law, Michelle (5 May 2013). "All things being equal". The Sun Herald. p. 15.
  55. ^ "Suicide And Me: Opening Shot 2". ABC Television. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  56. ^ "Every Cloud selects six emerging writers for Deadlock Script Lab". www.everycloudproductions.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2017.

External links[edit]

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