Rowley Habib(1933-2016)
- Writer
- Actor
Of Lebanese and Maori descent, Habib was a New Zealand poet, playwright, and writer of short stories and television scripts. He was the first Maori to write an original television drama: his 1979 work "The Gathering" looked at tensions around an elderly woman's funeral rite.
He wrote the play, "Death of the Land," in 1976, a courtroom drama which sets in conflict opinions about the proposed sale of a block of Maori ancestral land. This play marks a beginning point for contemporary Maori theatre. The company Te Ika a Maui Players was formed to present it, which they did around the country in community halls, and marae (a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies).
In the field of short story writing, from 1956 to 1971 Habib was a regular contributor to "Te Ao Hou The New World," a magazine for Maori.
He wrote the play, "Death of the Land," in 1976, a courtroom drama which sets in conflict opinions about the proposed sale of a block of Maori ancestral land. This play marks a beginning point for contemporary Maori theatre. The company Te Ika a Maui Players was formed to present it, which they did around the country in community halls, and marae (a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies).
In the field of short story writing, from 1956 to 1971 Habib was a regular contributor to "Te Ao Hou The New World," a magazine for Maori.