Maraea Rakuraku wins Best Play by a Maori Writer
The MA in Creative Writing graduate has won this Adam NZ Play Award category for the second year running.
Tūhoe; Ngāti Kahungunu Maraea Rakuraku has won Best Play by a Māori Writer at the 2017 Adam NZ Play Awards for her play Te Papakāinga.
This is the second year running that Maraea has won this award, following her triple win in 2016.
Set in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Te Papakāinga. is described as a sprawling epic that exposes a small community where nothing is secret and the whole fabric of the community is tested severely.
MA in Creative Writing graduate Finnius Teppett was a finalist in the Awards for his play Cannibal. Read the full winner's list at theatrereview.org.
Maraea is a writer, performance poet (DuskyMaidensNobleSavages), broadcaster, reviewer, producer and founder of boutique media and production house Native Agency Ltd. She formerly co-produced and co-presented RNZ's Te Ahi Kaa with Justine Murray. She completed the MA in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) at Victoria's IIML in 2016. That year she achieved an unprecedented triple win at the Adam NZ Play Awards: scooping the Best Play by a Māori Writer and Best Play by a Woman Writer categories, as well as the overall Best Play Award for her play Tan-Knee.