Paul Mitchell

Paul is an award-winning Melbourne-based author, copywriter and editor.

He's written books and for stage and screen. And he's written for brands such as Crumpler, Madman Entertainment and the AFL.

Find out more See Paul's new play

The Ballad of Dan O'Malley cast — Paul Mitchell's new play at Theatre Works St Kilda

Theatre Works and Monstrous Theatre present

The Ballad of Dan O'Malley: A Football Tragedy

12–22 August · Explosives Factory

12–22 August 2026

The Ballad of Dan O'Malley

Get tickets

Explosives Factory · St Kilda

As featured in

Career highlights

A selection of Paul's books, plays and projects.

Play · 2026

The Ballad of Dan O'Malley

Paul's new play is on at Theatreworks this August, directed by Theresa Borg and produced in conjunction with Monstrous Theatre.

Play · La Mama Theatre · 2024

You're the Man

Paul wrote and performed You're the Man, a play about family violence and the restoration of hope.

Documentary · AFL

AFL Dynasties: Actions to Live By

Paul co-wrote Actions to Live By, a feature documentary on the 2001–2003 Brisbane Lions dynasty.

Novel

We. Are. Family.

"Mitchell is a terse and observant writer, as alive to the particulars of Aussie idiom and experience as Tim Winton, but less showy." — The Age

Memoir · Allen & Unwin · 2026

The Desert Swimmer

Paul ghostwrote this memoir for Brendan Cullen (Allen & Unwin, 2026).

Essay · Eureka Street

Taller When Prone

A feature on the legacy of Australian poet Les Murray, published in Eureka Street.

Script · Australian Sports Museum

Shane Warne Hologram

Paul wrote the script for Shane Warne's holographic exhibition at the Australian Sports Museum, MCG.

Testimonials

What readers and reviewers say.

"His poetry wears both halo and beanie . . . His poems are threaded with the spiritual, the ethereal and the very guts of life . . . considered, precise and completely compelling."

— Alicia Sometimes, ABC broadcaster and Outer Sanctum podcaster

"It's calming and heartening to watch a father quietly sift his daily life for what is sacred."

— Helen Garner on Matters of Life and Faith

"[D]omestic fiction that is at once panoramic and suffocating. It is in equal parts reminiscent of Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap and Tim Winton's The Turning."

— Books+Publishing — four-star review of We. Are. Family.