Editing New Zealand literature (section)

==Modern literature==
===Māori and Pasifika writing===
[[File:Witi Ihimaera (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Witi Ihimaera]] at the premiere of his play, ''All My Sons'', at the [[Circa Theatre]], Wellington, on 11 November 2015|left|upright]]
After the [[Second World War]], Māori began to move into urban areas and had more educational opportunities available, which led to the emergence of Māori writing in English.<ref name="Roots"/> In 1948 the debut novel ''The Cunninghams'' by Māori author [[David Ballantyne]] was published. He was not promoted at that time as being a Maori author.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-08 |title=The strange case of the first Māori author |url=https://www.newsroom.co.nz/page/the-strange-case-of-the-first-maori-author?mc_cid=66f4e5a8ac |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=Newsroom |language=en-AU}}</ref> In 1964, [[Hone Tuwhare]], the first Māori poet to be distinguished for English poetry, published his first book, ''No Ordinary Sun'', and in 1966 [[Jacquie Sturm]] became the first Māori writer to appear in a major anthology of New Zealand short stories.<ref name="Brit CK"/> Authors like Sturm, [[Arapera Blank]], [[Rowley Habib]] and [[Patricia Grace]] were published for the first time in ''Te Ao Hou'' and became widely known and respected.<ref name="Development">{{cite web |last1=Holman |first1=Jeffrey Paparoa |title=Development of Māori fiction – Māori fiction – ngā tuhinga paki |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-fiction-nga-tuhinga-paki/page-2 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126144237/https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-fiction-nga-tuhinga-paki/page-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Witi Ihimaera]] was the first Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories (''Pounamu, Pounamu)'' in 1972 and the first to publish a novel (''Tangi)'' in 1973. His novel ''Whale Rider'' (1987) was adapted into an [[Whale Rider|internationally successful film]] in 2002.<ref name="Development"/> The notable anthology ''Into the World of Light'' (1982), edited by Ihimaera and [[Don Long (writer)|Don Long]], collected the work of 39 Māori writers. The editors observed that publishers in the mid-20th century were reluctant to publish books by Māori writers because of a belief that Māori "don't read books".<ref name="OCNZL Into">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Millar |first1=Paul |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Maori Writing |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-584 |access-date=14 April 2021 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414110111/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-584 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Grace was the first Māori woman writer to publish a short story collection (''Waiariki)'' in 1975 and has since received international awards and acclaim for her books for adults and children.<ref name="Development"/> [[Keri Hulme]] and [[Alan Duff]] were the best-known Māori writers to follow Grace and Ihimaera. Duff is known for the widely acclaimed ''[[Once Were Warriors]]'' (1990), which became a [[Once Were Warriors (film)|successful 1994 film]] and has never been out of print.<ref name="Māori and Pacific">{{cite web |last1=Wevers |first1=Lydia |title=Māori and Pacific writers and writing about Māori – Story: Fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-10 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=24 February 2021 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215753/https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-10 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Karlo_Mila_MNZM_(cropped).jpg|left|thumb|227x227px|[[Karlo Mila]] MNZM ]]
A 1985 article published in the literary journal ''Landfall'' by [[Miriama Evans]] outlined a lack of publishing of Māori writers with the following being recognised but "largely unpublished": [[Ani Hona|Ani Hona (Te Aniwa Bisch)]] who received a Literary Fund grant in 1977, [[Rowley Habib]] who held the [[Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship]] in 1984, [[Bub Bridger]] who received a grant to attend the First International Feminist Book Fair (London) in 1984, and [[Bruce Stewart (playwright)|Bruce Stewart]], who received grants from the [[Creative New Zealand|Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council]] and the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] to represent New Zealand at The Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies Conference in [[Fiji]] in 1985.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Evans |first=Miriama |date=March 1985 |title=Politics and Maori Literature |journal=Landfall |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=40–44}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Conferences |url=http://aclals.net/conferences/ |website=ASLACS}}</ref> The Māori owned independent publisher [[Huia Publishers]] was established in 1991 by [[Robyn Bargh]] to platform Māori writers and perspectives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publishers / Ngā Kaitā |url=https://www.maorilithub.co.nz/publishers-nga-kaita/ |access-date=5 June 2023 |website=Māori Literature Hub}}</ref> 

Māori literature is closely connected to [[Pacific Islander|Pasifika]] literature.<ref name="Makereti">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Frow |editor1-first=John|last1=Makereti |first1=Tina |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory |date=30 June 2020 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |url=https://oxfordre.com/literature/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-984 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.984 |access-date=16 May 2022 |chapter=Indigenous Studies: Aotearoa/New Zealand|isbn=978-0-19-020109-8 }}</ref> Notable [[Pasifika New Zealanders|Pasifika]] (Pacific Islander) writers with connections to New Zealand include [[Albert Wendt]], [[Alistair Te Ariki Campbell]], [[Karlo Mila]], [[John Pule]], [[Lani Wendt Young]], [[Courtney Sina Meredith]], [[Oscar Kightley]] and [[Selina Tusitala Marsh]].<ref name="Rodger">{{cite web |last1=Rodger |first1=Victor |title=Pacific Writing in New Zealand: The Niu Wave |url=https://www.anzliterature.com/feature/pacific-writing-new-zealand-niu-wave/ |website=Academy of New Zealand Literature |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901042330/https://www.anzliterature.com/feature/pacific-writing-new-zealand-niu-wave/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Where are our Pasifika writers? |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/pasifika/our-community/news/news-archives/2016-news/where-are-our-pasifika-writers |website=Victoria University of Wellington |access-date=17 June 2021 |date=2016 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624195922/https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/pasifika/our-community/news/news-archives/2016-news/where-are-our-pasifika-writers |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Wendt is known for ''Sons for the Return Home'' (1973), which describes the experiences of a young Samoan man in New Zealand, and his later novels and short-story collections have formed the foundations for a Pasifika literature in English.<ref name="Māori and Pacific" />

===Fiction===
[[File:Elizabeth Knox Wellington Writers Walk.jpg|alt=words in metal on a wooden boardwalk with the harbour in the distance|thumb|Words from New Zealand writer [[Elizabeth Knox]] as public art in [[Wellington]].]]
Notable writers in the post-Second World War period include [[Janet Frame]], [[Owen Marshall]], [[Ronald Hugh Morrieson]], [[Bill Pearson (New Zealand writer)|Bill Pearson]], [[Sylvia Ashton-Warner]] and [[Essie Summers]].<ref name="New"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Marshall, Owen |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/marshall-owen/ |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=2 October 2021}}</ref> In the 1960s, two young novelists, [[Maurice Shadbolt]] and [[Maurice Gee]], both became well known for their traditional, socially realistic novels featuring New Zealand politics and history.<ref name="Brit CK"/> Gee's [[Plumb (novel series)|''Plumb'' trilogy]] continues to be widely read, and the first novel, ''Plumb'' (1979), was voted by literary experts in 2018 to be the best New Zealand novel of the last fifty years.<ref name="Best 50">{{cite news |title=The 50 best New Zealand books of the past 50 years: The official listicle |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/14-05-2018/the-best-50-new-zealand-books-of-the-past-50-years-the-official-listicle/ |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=[[The Spinoff]] |date=14 May 2018 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109071559/https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/14-05-2018/the-best-50-new-zealand-books-of-the-past-50-years-the-official-listicle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The feminist movement in the 1970s and 1980s was the context for many women writers who emerged in that period, including [[Fiona Kidman]], [[Marilyn Duckworth]] and [[Barbara Anderson (writer)|Barbara Anderson]], who wrote works exploring and challenging gender roles.<ref name="New 1970s">{{cite web |last1=Wevers |first1=Lydia |title=New writers of the 1970s and 1980s – Story: Fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-8 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=9 March 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128162339/https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-8 |url-status=live }}</ref>

New Zealand fiction has grown exponentially since the mid-1970s, due to a growing readership locally and internationally, creative writing courses such as the [[International Institute of Modern Letters]] at [[Victoria University of Wellington]], and financial support through [[List of New Zealand literary awards|literary awards and scholarships]].<ref name="Contemporary">{{cite web |last1=Wevers |first1=Lydia |title=Contemporary fiction – Story: Fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-9 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=9 March 2021 |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603094725/https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-9 |url-status=live }}</ref> Internationally successful New Zealand writers include [[Elizabeth Knox]], known for ''[[The Vintner's Luck]]'' (1998) and her other diverse fiction, [[Emily Perkins (novelist)|Emily Perkins]], [[Fiona Farrell]], [[Damien Wilkins (writer)|Damien Wilkins]], [[Nigel Cox (author)|Nigel Cox]] and crime novelist [[Paul Cleave]].<ref name="Contemporary"/> [[Keri Hulme]] gained prominence when her novel, ''[[The Bone People]]'', won the [[Booker Prize]] in 1985; she was the first New Zealander and the first debut novelist to win the prestigious award. Writer [[Lloyd Jones (New Zealand author)|Lloyd Jones]] was shortlisted for his 2007 novel ''[[Mister Pip]]''.<ref name="New 1970s"/> In 2013, [[Eleanor Catton]] became the second New Zealand winner (as well as the youngest winner) of the award for her novel ''[[The Luminaries]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Keri Hulme wins Booker Prize |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/keri-hulme-wins-booker-prize |website=New Zealand History |publisher=Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227124535/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/keri-hulme-wins-booker-prize |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Non-fiction===
New Zealand has a significant non-fiction tradition, with natural history, colonisation, Māori/Pākehā relations, childhood and identity being recurring themes.<ref name="NF summary">{{cite web |last1=Calder |first1=Alex |title=Story summary – Story: Non-fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/non-fiction |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=19 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219184705/https://teara.govt.nz/en/non-fiction |url-status=live }}</ref> Important autobiographical works by New Zealand writers include trilogies by Frank Sargeson in the 1970s (''Once is Enough'', ''More than Enough'' and ''Never Enough!''), [[Janet Frame]] in the 1980s (''To the Is-land'', ''An Angel at my Table'' and ''The Envoy from Mirror City''), and [[C. K. Stead]]'s two-part series ''South-west of Eden'' (2010) and ''You Have a Lot to Lose'' (2020).<ref name="Becoming">{{cite web |last1=Calder |first1=Alex |title=Becoming at home – Story: Non-fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/non-fiction/page-4 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=5 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505213809/https://teara.govt.nz/en/non-fiction/page-4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Emily |title=CK Stead: I'm an alien, a book man |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/300022755/ck-stead-im-an-alien-a-book-man |access-date=5 March 2021 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=7 June 2020 |archive-date=4 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404184103/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/300022755/ck-stead-im-an-alien-a-book-man |url-status=live }}</ref>

Much of New Zealand's significant non-fiction is historical in nature. [[James Belich (historian)|James Belich]] is known for his writing on the [[New Zealand Wars]]. [[Judith Binney]] is known for her biography of [[Te Kooti]], ''Redemption Songs'' (1995) and her history of [[Tūhoe]], ''Encircled Lands'' (2009).<ref name="Questioning">{{cite web |last1=Calder |first1=Alex |title=Questioning orthodoxies – Story: Non-fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/non-fiction/page-6 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810184946/https://teara.govt.nz/en/non-fiction/page-6 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Linda Tuhiwai Smith]]'s 1999 academic work ''[[Decolonizing Methodologies|Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples]]'' has been an important contribution to Māori and indigenous research.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prestigious Rutherford Medal awarded to Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith |url=https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2023/11/24/prestigious-rutherford-medal-awarded-to-distinguished-professor-linda-tuiwai-smith/ |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=Te Ao Māori News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=MSD |title=Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples |url=https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj17/decolonizing-methodologies-research-and-indigenous-peoples.html |access-date=2023-11-30 |publisher=MSD}}</ref> 

Historian [[Michael King (historian)|Michael King]] began his career writing biographies about notable Māori people, including biographies of [[Te Puea Hērangi]] (1977) and [[Whina Cooper]] (1983). In the mid-1980s, aware of the importance of allowing Māori voices to speak, he wrote about what it meant to be a non-Māori New Zealander in ''Being Pākehā'' (1985), and published biographies of [[Frank Sargeson]] (1995) and [[Janet Frame]] (2000).<ref name="Questioning"/> His ''Penguin History of New Zealand'' was the most popular New Zealand book of 2004 and was named by ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' in 2009 as the best book of the preceding decade.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ten years of NZ books |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/ten-years-of-nz-books/M7XLU7CKRSDUFVUI6TV6SCWTTU/ |access-date=5 March 2021 |work= [[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=7 February 2009 |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901042330/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/ten-years-of-nz-books/M7XLU7CKRSDUFVUI6TV6SCWTTU/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Recent essay collections by Asian New Zealand writers include ''All Who Live on Islands'' (2019) by [[Rose Lu]] and ''Small Bodies of Water'' (2021) by [[Nina Mingya Powles]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|date=31 January 2020|title=Twinned Roots|url=https://landfallreview.com/twinned-roots/|access-date=12 October 2021|website=Landfall Review Online|language=en-NZ}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Woulfe |first1=Catherine |title=An ecstatic review of Nina Mingya Powles’ essay collection |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/26-12-2021/an-ecstatic-review-of-nina-mingya-powles-essay-collection |access-date=29 August 2024 |work=[[The Spinoff]] |date=26 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

===Children's and young adult literature===
[[File:Tantrum 2011518 354.jpg|thumb|[[Margaret Mahy]] and her winning book ''The Moon & Farmer McPhee'' at the 2011 [[New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards]]|left|upright]]
[[Margaret Mahy]] and [[Joy Cowley]] both had their first children's books published in 1969. Both became prolific and beloved authors, and have made a significant contribution to New Zealand children's literature.<ref name="Fantasy">{{cite web |last1=Pollock |first1=Kerryn |title=Fantasy and social realism, 1970s–2000s |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/childrens-and-young-adult-literature/page-3 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922020359/https://teara.govt.nz/en/childrens-and-young-adult-literature/page-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mahy won the [[Carnegie Medal (literary award)|Carnegie Medal]] twice in the 1980s and in 2001 she won the [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]], the world's most prestigious children's literature award.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pollock |first1=Kerryn |title=Celebrated authors: Margaret Mahy (1st of 2) |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/43160/celebrated-authors-margaret-mahy |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=8 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808063629/https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/43160/celebrated-authors-margaret-mahy |url-status=live }}</ref> Cowley is internationally known for her children's educational books for children learning to read, as well as for her picture books, children's fiction, and [[Young adult fiction|young adult novels]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pollock |first1=Kerryn |title=Celebrated authors: Joy Cowley (2nd of 2) |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/43161/celebrated-authors-joy-cowley |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=8 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808063736/https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/43161/celebrated-authors-joy-cowley |url-status=live }}</ref> Other well-known authors for young children include [[Lynley Dodd]] (known for her picture books featuring small dog [[Hairy Maclary and Friends|Hairy Maclary]]), Patricia Grace, [[Kāterina Mataira]] (a leading Māori language author), [[Gavin Bishop]] (known particularly for illustration) and [[Peter Gossage]] (known for his picture book retellings of Māori myths and legends).<ref name="Fantasy"/>

New Zealand has a strong tradition of fantasy and social realism in novels for children and young adults. Maurice Gee became well known for his science fiction and fantasy books, notably ''[[Under the Mountain (novel)|Under the Mountain]]'' (1979) and ''The Halfmen of O'' (1982).<ref name="Fantasy"/> Other internationally well-known fantasy writers for children and young adults include [[Sherryl Jordan]], [[Gaelyn Gordon]], [[Elizabeth Knox]], [[Barbara Else]] and [[David Hair]].  From the 1980s, young adult literature emerged in New Zealand, with authors like Gee, [[Jack Lasenby]], [[Paula Boock]], [[Kate De Goldi]], [[Fleur Beale]], and [[David Hill (author)|David Hill]] tackling serious and controversial topics for teenage readers. [[Tessa Duder]]'s ''Alex'' quartet (1987–1992) explored issues of sexism, racism and personal trauma in 1950s and 1960s New Zealand. [[Bernard Beckett]] and [[Mandy Hager]] became well known in the 2000s for socially realistic and dystopian young adult fiction.<ref name="Fantasy"/>

===Poetry===
{{See also|List of New Zealand poets}}
[[James K. Baxter]], [[Alistair Te Ariki Campbell]], [[Fleur Adcock]], [[C. K. Stead]], and [[Vincent O'Sullivan (New Zealand writer)|Vincent O'Sullivan]] became well known for their poetry in the 1950s and 1960s, with Baxter in particular dominating New Zealand poetry in the 1960s.<ref name="Brit CK" /> Adcock is one of only two New Zealanders to have received the prestigious [[Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry]] (2006), with the other being Allen Curnow (who received the award in 1989).<ref>{{cite web |title=NZ poet Fleur Adcock wins prestigious Royal honour |url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-poet-fleur-adcock-wins-prestigious-royal-honour |website=New Zealand Government |access-date=9 March 2021 |date=26 April 2006 |archive-date=21 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221093551/https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-poet-fleur-adcock-wins-prestigious-royal-honour |url-status=live }}</ref> The 1970s and 1980s saw a shift away from New Zealand nationalism and the rise of confident young poets, often influenced by American writing and counterculture and writing about personal relationships; poets included [[Ian Wedde]], [[Bill Manhire]], [[Cilla McQueen]], [[Elizabeth Smither]], [[Sam Hunt (poet)|Sam Hunt]] and [[Murray Edmond]]. Cilla McQueen and Hunt are both well known for their performance poetry.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=John |title=The 1970s and the 'Freed' generation – Story: Poetry |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-6 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920133526/https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-6 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1985, Ian Wedde and [[Harvey McQueen]] edited and published a new edition of ''The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse'', which included poetry in Māori, a first for a New Zealand poetry anthology. Since then, New Zealand poetry has become more diverse and more difficult to characterise by theme.<ref name="Diversity">{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=John |title=Diversity: since 1985 – Story: Poetry |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-7 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=9 March 2021 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924214157/https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-7 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Selina_Tusitala_Marsh_ONZM_(cropped).jpg|thumb|238x238px|[[Selina Tusitala Marsh]] ONZM ]]
The [[National Library of New Zealand]] appoints a [[New Zealand Poet Laureate]] every two years.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand Poet Laureate Award |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/about-us/scholarships-and-awards/poet-laureate |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203170908/http://natlib.govt.nz/about-us/scholarships-and-awards/poet-laureate |url-status=live }}</ref> Pasifika poet Selina Tusitala Marsh was the Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/p/selina-tusitala-marsh-is-pasifika-poet.html|title=Selina Tusitala Marsh, New Zealand Poet Laureate 2017–2019|website=New Zealand Poet Laureate|publisher=National Library of New Zealand|access-date=19 February 2021|archive-date=6 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206200424/http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/p/selina-tusitala-marsh-is-pasifika-poet.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Eggleton]] is the Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022 (his position being extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic).<ref>{{cite web |title=David Eggleton, New Zealand Poet Laureate 2019–2021 |url=http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/p/david-eggleton-new-zealand-poet.html |website=New Zealand Poet Laureate |publisher=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=6 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206200416/http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/p/david-eggleton-new-zealand-poet.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Poet laureate's tenure extended after Hawke's Bay inauguration |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/poet-laureates-tenure-extended-after-hawkes-bay-inauguration/W3MDBGKYMB6YTWBH6I4IJQO6X4/ |access-date=6 August 2022 |work=[[Hawke's Bay Today]] |date=11 October 2020}}</ref> Other notable contemporary poets include [[Robert Sullivan (poet)|Robert Sullivan]], known for his first collection ''Jazz Waiata'' (1990) and more recent work including the collection ''Shout Ha! to the Sky'' (2010),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Noel-Tod |editor1-first=Jeremy |encyclopedia=Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry |title=Sullivan, Robert (1967–) |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199640256.001.0001/acref-9780199640256-e-1717 |access-date=23 February 2021 |date=2013 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-4452-5 |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901042332/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199640256.001.0001/acref-9780199640256-e-1717 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hera Lindsay Bird]], known for her popular autobiographical and provocative work,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ainge Roy |first1=Eleanor |title=Hera Lindsay Bird: I prefer poetry that allows room for ugliness and error |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/06/hera-lindsay-bird-i-prefer-poetry-that-allows-room-for-ugliness-and-error |access-date=9 March 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=6 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006194146/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/06/hera-lindsay-bird-i-prefer-poetry-that-allows-room-for-ugliness-and-error |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Karlo Mila]], whose work addresses both personal and political issues such as concerns of identity, migration, and community, some of which is included in the collections ''Dream Fish Floating'' (2006) and ''Goddess Muscle'' (2020).<ref>{{cite web |title=Karlo Mila |url=https://www.anzliterature.com/member/karlo-mila/ |website=Academy of New Zealand Literature |access-date=9 March 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203091612/https://www.anzliterature.com/member/karlo-mila/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Playwriting===
{{See also|Performing arts in New Zealand}}
The 1960s saw significant developments in New Zealand playwriting, and the country's first professional theatre, the [[Downstage Theatre]], opened in Wellington in 1964.<ref name="Explosion">{{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Murray |title=Theatrical explosion: 1960s and 1970s – Story: Plays and playwrights |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-3 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609230755/https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Playmarket]] was also founded in 1973 to represent and market New Zealand playwrights and their work.<ref name="Social">{{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Murray |title=Social issues on stage – Plays and playwrights |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-5 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609230734/https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-5 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bruce Mason]] was the country's first professional playwright.<ref name="170 Years">{{cite web |title=170 Years of New Zealand Theatre |url=https://courttheatre.org.nz/news/170-years-of-new-zealand-theatre/ |website=Court Theatre |access-date=19 February 2021 |date=25 September 2018 |archive-date=10 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210135645/https://courttheatre.org.nz/news/170-years-of-new-zealand-theatre/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His one-person show ''[[The End of the Golden Weather]]'' (1962), about a boy's loss of innocence in Depression-era New Zealand, was performed widely throughout New Zealand, and he explored Māori themes and the disintegration of Māori identity in ''The Pohutakawa Tree'' (1960) and ''Awatea'' (1969).<ref name="NZ History"/><ref name="Brit CK"/> [[Mervyn Thompson]], a controversial playwright, wrote plays with autobiographical and political elements such as ''O Temperance!'' (1974).<ref name="Brit CK"/> In 1976, a group of Downstage actors left to found the [[Circa Theatre]], and produced ''Glide Time'' by [[Roger Hall (playwright)|Roger Hall]] as one of their first productions.<ref name="Explosion"/> Hall became New Zealand's most commercially successful playwright, and ''Glide Time'' became a New Zealand icon and was turned into a TV sitcom.<ref name="Explosion"/><ref name="170 Years"/> [[Greg McGee]]'s ''[[Foreskin's Lament]]'' (1981), about small-town [[Rugby union|rugby]] culture in New Zealand, likewise achieved iconic status.<ref name="Social"/><ref name="Brit CK"/>

Drama further developed in the 1980s and 1990s with new playwrights finding success, including [[Renée (writer)|Renée]], [[Stuart Hoar]], [[Hone Kouka]] and [[Briar Grace-Smith]].<ref name="Brit CK"/><ref name="Social"/> [[Jean Betts|Jean Betts's]] feminist play ''Ophelia Thinks Harder'' (1993) was still widely performed in New Zealand and overseas as of 2014, and may be the most widely performed New Zealand play.<ref name="Social"/> The collective [[Pacific Underground]] developed the groundbreaking play ''Fresh off the Boat'' (1993), written by [[Oscar Kightley]] and [[Simon Small]], which was praised for its portrayal of Samoan life in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news |title=How hard can it be? |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/eyewitness/audio/2018635725/how-hard-can-it-be |access-date=19 February 2021 |work=[[Radio New Zealand]] |date=15 March 2008 |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921072818/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/eyewitness/audio/2018635725/how-hard-can-it-be |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gates |first1=Charlie |title=Chch classic returns to the stage with mixed results |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/116729340/chch-classic-returns-to-the-stage-with-mixed-results |access-date=19 February 2021 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=20 October 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021221948/https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/116729340/chch-classic-returns-to-the-stage-with-mixed-results |url-status=live }}</ref> New Zealand also has a tradition of independent theatre with companies creating original plays and collective works, including the [[Red Mole (Theatre Company)|Red Mole]] theatre group (1970s–2002), Barbarian Productions in Wellington (led by [[Jo Randerson]]), the Christchurch Free Theatre, the work of poet Murray Edmond with the Living Theatre Troupe, and the early work of [[Paul Maunder]] with the Amamus Theatre.<ref name="Explosion"/><ref name="2000s theatre">{{cite web |last1=Edmond |first1=Murray |title=Theatre into the 2000s – Plays and playwrights |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-6 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125163457/https://teara.govt.nz/en/plays-and-playwrights/page-6 |url-status=live }}</ref>