Diana Wichtel

Diana Wichtel, a New Zealand writer and critic, was born in Vancouver in 1950.[1] Her mother, Patricia, was a New Zealander; her father, Benjamin Wichtel, a Polish Jew who escaped from the Nazi train taking his family to the Treblinka extermination camp in World War II.[1] When she was 13 her mother brought her to New Zealand to live, along with her two siblings.[2] [3]Although he was expected to follow, she never saw her father again.[4][1][5] [6] The mystery of her father's life took years to unravel, and is recounted in Wichtel's award-winning book Driving to Treblinka.[7][8] The book has been called "a masterpiece" by New Zealand writer Steve Braunias.[7] New Zealand columnist Margo White wrote: "This is a story that reminds readers of the atrocities that ordinary people did to each other, the effect on those who survived, and the reverberations felt through following generations."[8]

Diana Wichtel (2018).

Driving to Treblinka won the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General non-fiction at the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[9][10]

Wichtel was appointed staff writer at the New Zealand Listener in 1984.[7] She joined the magazine from the English department at the University of Auckland,[7] where she gained a Master in Arts, and also tutored.[11] She has won many awards for her television criticism, profiles and feature writing. The New Zealand cultural critic and author Adam Dudding has written of Wichtel's "genius" for television reviewing: "Her reviews often strike a tone of tolerant bemusement; she's a visitor from Mars bearing witness to the latest bonkers manifestation of modern culture."[2]

Awards

Wichtel has won numerous awards for her journalism.

2001 Qantas Media Awards: Best Magazine Columnist: The Arts - Creative New Zealand Award.[12]

2011 Canon Media Awards Best Magazine Feature Writer Politics[13]

2011 Canon Media Awards Best Magazine Feature Writer Arts[13]

2012 Canon Media Awards: Magazine Feature Writer Arts and Entertainment.[14]

2013 Canon Media Awards: Reviewer of the Year[15]

2019 Voyager Media Awards Reviewer of the Year [16]

2016 Grimshaw Sargeson fellow[17]

2018 Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General non-fiction: Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[9]

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References
  1. Wichtel, Diana, 1950- (2017). Driving to Treblinka : a long search for a lost father (First ed.). Wellington, New Zealand. ISBN 9781927249406. OCLC 1005083001.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "Book review: Driving to Treblinka by Diana Wichtel". Stuff. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  3. Noted. "Diana Wichtel: Driving to Treblinka - The Listener". Noted. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  4. "Twelve questions: author Diana Wichtel on her family history". New Zealand Herald. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  5. "Scoop Review of Books » Missing". Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  6. Noted. "Diana Wichtel's long search for her Holocaust-survivor father". Noted. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  7. Braunias, Steve (15 May 2018). "And the winner is: Diana Wichtel". The Spinoff. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  8. White, Margo (5 October 2017). "Book of the Week: a heartbreaking work of genius by Diana Wichtel". The Spinoff. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  9. "Winners | New Zealand Book Awards Trust". www.nzbookawards.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  10. "Ockham book award non-fiction winner Diana Wichtel". RNZ. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  11. Wichtel, Diana (13 August 2018). Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father. Awa Press. ISBN 9781927249406.
  12. "Our people up front in national awards". The New Zealand Herald. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  13. "nzherald.co.nz wins supreme award at Canon Media Awards". 27 May 2011. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  14. Saturday; May 2012, 19; Mediacom, 10:42 am Press Release. "Big Winners at the Canon Media Awards 2012 | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. "APN makes it six in a row at Canon Media Awards as NZ Herald rejig nets top prize—UPDATED". stoppress.co.nz. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  16. "General Winners 2019". Voyager Media Awards. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  17. GrimShaw. "Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship | Stipend for Published NZ Writers". GrimShaw. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
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