A writer of fiction, plays and television.
Drawn to character-driven stories with heart,
exploring our curious lives through comedy and pathos.
Passionate about queer stories on page, stage and screen.

A writer of fiction, plays and television.
Drawn to character-driven stories with heart, exploring our curious lives through comedy and pathos.
Passionate about queer stories on page, stage and screen.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

1:14:56 GMT+11

Shack in Singapore

Soft Serve featured in The Guardian

ABC loves Soft Serve

Soft Serve cover design

Some highlights from the past year

WORK.

A selection of recent projects.

"As debut novels go, Soft Serve is a beauty. It is tight, tender and truly original. George Kemp is the real deal, and Soft Serve is certainly an early contender for the best book of 2026."

Alley Pascoe, The Australian Women's Weekly

"One of the best books I've read so far this year."

Kate Evans, ABC Radio National The Book Shelf (listen here)

Soft Serve

George's acclaimed debut novel Soft Serve can be purchased at your local bookstore, on Kindle and at Audible. UQP hold world rights.

Set over the course of a day in a regional McDonald's, as bushfires close in, three twenty somethings and their dead friend's mum wrestle with their grief — longing for something more, somewhere else. It's drive-thru Chekhov… but a little bit gayer.

Linda Jaivin in The Saturday Paper says:

"This is a masterful and compelling first novel... Soft Serve is an exquisitely touching coming-of-age and coming-out novel that is also about the ordinariness of life and the suddenness of death. A narrative of hot, risky emotions that unfolds against the menace of an encroaching bushfire, its central metaphor smoulders and sparks. In the hands of a lesser writer, it could easily have ignited a flaming wall of cliche, but Soft Serve is a feat of controlled burning. All the feels, none of them cheap."

Linda Jaivin in The Saturday Paper says:

Alley Pascoe in The Australian Women's Weekly says:

"As debut novels go, Soft Serve is a beauty. It is tight, tender and truly original. George Kemp is the real deal, and Soft Serve is certainly an early contender for the best book of 2026."

Kate Evans on ABC Radio National's The Book Shelf says:

"One of the best books I've read so far this year."

NOVEL

LITERARY FICTION

UQP BOOKS

Purchase now ➞

Purchase now ➞

Shack

Winner of the ATYP Foundation Commission Award, Shack had its premiere season at ATYP, followed by a return season at Monkey Baa.

Antarctica. A blizzard. In the ghostly footsteps of Ernest Shackleton, nine teens find themselves in unchartered waters, trying valiantly to plant the flag that says: this is me.

Shack is now performed around the country and internationally (Singapore, Texas, Tokyo). Shack is on the NSW Drama Syllabus and is in the early stages of development for television.

PLAY

ADVENTURE

ATYP

Purchase through Playlab ➞

Purchase through Playlab ➞

As Hamlet Likes It

As Hamlet Likes It was originally commissioned by Sport for Jove and is performed around Australia.

Murder. Revenge. Love. Goats? A smashing together of two of Shakespeare's most beloved plays. A rough and ready comedy just waiting to be staged by beginners or Shakespeare aficionados.

Damien Ryan says:
If Shakespeare had known, thousands of moons ago, that his works would one day be the intimidating brain exercise of millions of teenaged students, he would have written a play like Kemp’s joyous and dazzling new piece – this is smart stuff.

PLAY

COMEDY

SPORT FOR JOVE

Purchase through Playlab ➞

Purchase through Playlab ➞

The Nutcracker

Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Nutcracker is an adaptation of the classic ballet for one actor, two dancers and the ACO musicians.

The show enjoyed a sold out extended season in 2023 and returned for a second sold out season in 2024.

David McAllister says:
Kemp captured the spirit of the ballet with his words in a way that was so inclusive and current and exciting!

THEATRE

ADAPTATION

ACO

ON THE CARDS FOR 2025 ➞

ON THE CARDS FOR 2025 ➞

AVAILABLE FOR HIRE

OTHER WORK.

Screen

In the second half of 2024, George worked as a contributing Notetaker for multiple projects for Silent Firework (Jodi Matterson), Runaway Unicorn (Libbie Doherty) and Wolf House Productions (Abe Forsythe) with Tommy Murphy and Jacqueline Perske. He is also currently working on his own original pilot.

Dramaturgy

George worked as Dramaturg on the Belvoir 25A show Pickled ﻛﺑﯾس and the stage adaptation of Tanya Hennessy's best-selling YA novel Drumroll Please, It's Stevie Louise. The stage adaptation is available for purchase through Playlab.

Mentorship

George is a passionate arts educator. He was a mentor at Australian Theatre for Young People's National Studio program in 2023 and is the Sydney mentor for ATYP's flagship writer's program Fresh Ink in 2025.

A little bit
about George

A bit about
George

*Opening Night*

*Opening Night*

Wiley's Baths. Shhhh!

Secret writing spot

Wiley's Baths

Secret writing spot

eorge is an emerging writer based on Gadigal land in Sydney.
He is a graduate of Charles Sturt University and has a Masters from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London.

In 2024, George was accepted into The Faber Academy, during which he wrote his first novel SOFT SERVE. The manuscript was swiftly acquired by University of Queensland Press. UQP will publish in early February 2026.

George is an emerging writer based on Gadigal land in Sydney. He is a graduate of Charles Sturt University and has a Masters from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London.

George won the Australian Theatre for Young People Foundation Commission Award 2020 for his play SHACK (published by Playlab). Since the premiere production in 2022, SHACK has enjoyed prolonged success, being performed continuously around the country and internationally in Singapore, Texas and Tokyo so far. SHACK will be included on the new 2026 NSW Drama Curriculum and is in the early stages of development for television.

George was commissioned to adapt THE NUTCRACKER for Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2022. The production enjoyed an extended sold-out season in 2023 and a return season in 2024.

George’s most recent play AS HAMLET LIKES IT was published by Playlab in 2024.

George was Dramaturg on the Belvoir 25A production of PICKLED ﻛﺑﯾس as well as the stage adaptation of DRUMROLL PLEASE, IT’S STEVIE LOUISE (Playlab), a best-selling YA novel by Tanya Hennessy.

George is also an experienced and passionate educator, having worked for Bell Shakespeare and NIDA as well as many other institutions around the country. He is Producer of New Writing & Artist Development at Australian Theatre for Young People, and was a playwright mentor at ATYP’s flagship writing program National Studio in 2023 as well as their Fresh Ink program in 2025.

George is beginning to turn his attention to screen, working with several production companies in 2024 and completing a pilot episode for his original series SLACK/TIDE.

George is a regular presenter at conferences both in Australia and internationally.

In a past life, George previously had a successful career as an actor across Australia & England, in productions including, amongst others, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD starring Tim Minchin (Sydney Theatre Company) and CYRANO DE BERGERAC starring Richard Roxburgh (Sydney Theatre Company), LONGING (Hampstead Theatre, UK) and national and international tours of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, PETER PAN GOES WRONG and POP UP GLOBE. He also trained with Steppenwolf Theatre in the USA, Cheek By Jowl in the UK and Makhampom Living Theatre in Thailand.

When he's not staring nervously at a blank page and a blinking cursor, you'll probably find him reading by an ocean pool, down in Berry with his family or in a sunny beer garden somewhere…