Wentworth Falls resident and Underbelly writer Peter Gawler has won a Hector Crawford Award at the 55th Annual Australian Writers' Guild Awards (AWGIEs).
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The award, which recognises Outstanding Contribution to the Craft, was presented at this year's AWGIE Awards on November 17.
Mr Gawler has won 10 awards for his scripts but didn't expect to win the Hector Crawford Award, which he described as "a complete shock".
"In a way it's a backhanded compliment, because it's the kind of thing you... might be awarded at the end of your career," he told the Gazette.
"On the other hand... it's wonderful recognition, I'd never expected it. And I found it really quite emotional... that surprised me."
Mr Gawler worked on the acclaimed Underbelly series, a project which required extensive research and interviewing to piece together the story of Melbourne's gangland killings.
"Nobody actually knew the full story of what happened during that gangland war. The journalists had their views... as did the police... but no-one had the full picture until we started putting it together," he said.
"Underbelly was hard. It was always hard. You know, the first season we thought 'we can't do this, this is too hard'... and in the end we thought 'okay, one step at a time, that's the only way we can approach this', which we did."
He considers Underbelly the highlight of his career - though at the time he didn't expect it to be so successful.
"We said a number of times, I remember, 'well if one thing's for sure, this will never go to a second season'," he said.
"It was a great experience... Every job is different, but that was unique."
Mr Gawler has just finished work on an upcoming drama series titled Last King of the Cross, which he expects will be released early next year.
The series follows nightclub owner John Ibrahim in his rise to the top of the nightclub scene in Sydney's Kings Cross.
"It's captured the Cross in a way that I don't think has ever been captured before," said Mr Gawler.
Mr Gawler has lived in Wentworth Falls for about 30 years, which he attributes to the calmness it offers writers.
"A lot of writers are in the Mountains, because there is peace and quiet," he said.
"It's a wonderful, peaceful place to be."
