[5] Dann was educated at Brisbane Grammar School, and in 1920 at the age of 16 he entered the survey office of the Queensland Lands Department where he undertook training as a draftsman.

Dann indicated in a number of letters and articles that he originally aspired to be a pastor in the Anglican Church so that he could make a difference and improve the lives of the Indigenous Australian people.

This early ambition was reflected in the moral seriousness of his plays which, in some cases, addressed the discrimination and disadvantage of Aboriginal people in Australia.

More significant recognition would not come until 1931 when Dann wrote In Beauty It Is Finished, first staged on 16 July at His Majesty's Theatre and directed by Barbara Sisley.

Proving to be his most well-known play, In Beauty It Is Finished won the top award in the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society's national competition against 94 other entries.

At this time he wrote letters to a friend referred to as 'Jim H' and conveyed his dissatisfaction with his life, knowing full well that he will never achieve the fame or recognition he deserved.

In 1933 he won first prize at the Queensland Eisteddfod for The Day of Roses, and his 1937 play No Incense Rising won awards from the Dramatist's Club of Australia, the Sydney Independent Theatre and Australian Dramatists Club, as well as being placed on the Playwright's Advisory Board's list of recommended Australian plays.

It is believed that Dann then travelled to Sydney to conduct research for his next play Caroline Chrisholm, which was produced in 1939, first staged in 1940 and eventually published in 1943.

Following his retirement from the Brisbane City Council, Dann continued to write material for the stage, including How Far Returning (1955), Resurrection at Matthew Town (1958), Rings Out Wild Bells (1959), and Rainbows Die at Sunset (1975).

His most popular work after his retirement was The Orange Grove, a radio play whose main female character 'Carrie' was based on a real woman who lived in the Shire of Maroochy region of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

In 1976, University of Queensland Arts student Deborah Rasmussen wrote her Honours Thesis on George Landen Dann and his works.

[10] George Landen Dann died at a friend's place at the nearby town of Eumundi, Queensland on 6 June 1977 after falling ill while prospecting.

[11] George Landen Dann was considered Queensland's first significant playwright, however, it wasn't until 1931 that he won his first competition for his controversial play In Beauty it is Finished.

Although handed out rather consistently since its inauguration in 1992, the final George Landen Dann award was last presented in 2006, there have been no references made by the Queensland Theatre Company's Annual report of there being any further recipients.

[15] That year four writers were selected in the program and the process resulted in a public reading of each play by a cast of professional Company artists.