Riwia Brown

Riwia Brown ONZM (née Taylor) is a New Zealand playwright. She is the screenwriter of the popular and award-winning New Zealand movie Once Were Warriors (1994).[1][2] The Once Were Warriors screenplay, adapted from the book of the same name by Alan Duff, gained Brown the Best Screenplay award at the 1994 New Zealand Film and TV Awards.[3] Brown has written for theatre, television and films.

Riwia Brown

ONZM
Born
New Zealand
OccupationScreenwriter
Playwright
RelativesApirana Taylor (brother)
Rangimoana Taylor (brother)

Early life and family

Brown is the daughter of Mel Taylor, a diplomat, and his wife, Reremoana Taylor. She is of Māori descent and affiliates to the Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Taranaki iwi.[4] Brown is from a creative family: her brother Apirana Taylor is a poet, story-teller and musician; her other siblings, Rangimoana Taylor and Hania Stewart, are also theatre practitioners.[5]

Brown was educated at St Joseph's Māori Girls' College in Taradale.[4]

Career

Brown has written a number of plays since she began working in theatre during the 1980s. She was part of the Māori Theatre group Te Ohu Whakaari in Wellington at Taki Rua / The Depot Theatre alongside other writers including Rore Hapipi, Hone Tuwhare and her brother Apirana Taylor.[6] Her first play was Roimata (1988) which debuted in Wellington[7] and later adapted for television and published in He Reo Hou, a collection of Maori plays. Her play Nga Wahine (The Women) (1997) was adapted from the stage to television and featured Nancy Brunning in the lead role. In television, she wrote for the supernatural series Mataku and Taonga:Treasures of Our Past. She was a co-writer of the American film The Legend of Johnny Lingo (2003).

In the 2001 New Year Honours, Brown was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre and film.[8]

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References
  1. Maslin, Janet (24 February 1995). "Once Were Warriors (1994) FILM REVIEW; For a Family, the War at Home". The New York Times.
  2. "Once Were Warriors | Film". NZ On Screen. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. Playmarket.org Playmarket, New Zealand Playwrights' Agency
  4. Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers. ISSN 1172-9813.
  5. NZine
  6. Huria, John (2013). "Mā te Rēhia e Kawe, Māori Theatre in the 1990s". Playmarket 40 : 40 years of playwriting in New Zealand. Atkinson, Laurie, O'Donnell, David, ed. [Wellington] New Zealand: Playmarket. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-908607-45-7. OCLC 864712401.
  7. Google Books Pacific Islands writing: the postcolonial literatures of Aotearoa/NZ and Oceania by Michelle Keown, p.215. Retrieved 9 November 2009
  8. "New Year honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2019.


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