Alan Duff
Encyclopedia
Alan Duff is a New Zealand
novelist and newspaper columnist, most well known as the author of Once Were Warriors
.
and Ngāti Tūwharetoa
descent), and grandson of writer Oliver Duff
, he was born and raised in a State housing
area in Rotorua
, New Zealand
.
Gowan's father was Oliver Duff
(1883–1967), foundation editor of the New Zealand Listener
, a widely read left-leaning New Zealand magazine, and Duff was inherited his father's and his grandfather's love of literature.
His parents separated when he was 10, and Duff moved in with a Māori uncle and aunt at Whakarewarewa
. He was expelled from his school Rotorua Boys' High School
and ran away from home, ending up as a State ward at Hamilton Boys’ Home. Later he lived with another uncle, anthropologist Roger Duff, and went back to school at Christchurch Boys' High School
.
At 15 he was sentenced to a term in Waikeria Borstal for assault and breaking and entering. Later he worked as an installer of sheet metal
insulation and sang in a band. After numerous convictions for petty offences, Duff went to London
. He has said this is where he "messed up but grew up".
In September 2007 he was arrested while speeding near Taupo
. On 30 March 2008 he appeared in the Taupo
District Court
at a defended hearing after pleading not guilty to failing to remain at a scene after being stopped, failing to stop for police and two charges of resisting police. He was also allegedly abusive and very uncooperative.
During the alleged incident, he was stopped and then took off, after a pursuit he allegedly swung a policewoman around by the handcuffs as she was attempting to restrain him.
The charges were later dismissed by the Taupo District Court, Judge McGuire saying: "the result however, is that I am left uneasy over whether police prosecutorial power was used wisely and fairly in this instance...". However a high court judge subsequently ruled that the judge erred and police could detain a driver while carrying out checks, although he did not require that the charges be relaid.
On 16 June 2011 he declared himself bankrupt, owing creditors $3.6 million NZD.
He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors
, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name
in 1994.
Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and was shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.
He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly—later bi-weekly — column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.
State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella
in 1994.
The Duffy Books in Homes
scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
(1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made into a film
in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary
, the story takes place in Budapest
during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama
.
In 2000, Duff released a book called Alan Duff's Maori Heroes. In 2009, Duff released his new book Who Sings for Lu?
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
novelist and newspaper columnist, most well known as the author of Once Were Warriors
Once Were Warriors
Once Were Warriors is New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling first novel, published in 1990. It tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and portrays the reality of domestic violence. It was the basis of a 1994 film, directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Rena Owen and Temuera...
.
Biography
Son of Gowan Duff (father, 1910–1995) - a forestry scientist - and Kuia Hinau (mother) (of Ngāti RangitihiNgati Rangitihi
Ngāti Rangitihi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, located in the Bay of Plenty.Ngati Rangitihi is the senior tribe of Te Arawa. The 8 beating hearts of Te Arawa come under the umbrella of Rangitihi .-History:...
and Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Ngati Tuwharetoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua at Matata across the central plateau of the North Island to the lands around Mount Tongariro and Lake Taupo.The iwi is identified...
descent), and grandson of writer Oliver Duff
Oliver Duff
Oliver Duff OBE was a New Zealand writer, and editor. In 1939 he was founding editor of the New Zealand Listener, a widely read magazine with a national monopoly on publishing radio and television programs.-Biography:...
, he was born and raised in a State housing
State housing
State housing is the system of public housing offered to New Zealand residents on low to moderate incomes. Some 66,000 houses are managed by Housing New Zealand Corporation, most of which are owned by the government.-The Liberal Government:...
area in Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Gowan's father was Oliver Duff
Oliver Duff
Oliver Duff OBE was a New Zealand writer, and editor. In 1939 he was founding editor of the New Zealand Listener, a widely read magazine with a national monopoly on publishing radio and television programs.-Biography:...
(1883–1967), foundation editor of the New Zealand Listener
New Zealand Listener
The New Zealand Listener is a New Zealand magazine. First published in 1939 and edited by Oliver Duff and the Monte Holcroft it originally had a monopoly on the publication of of upcoming television and radio programmes. In the 1980s it lost its monopoly on the publication of upcoming television...
, a widely read left-leaning New Zealand magazine, and Duff was inherited his father's and his grandfather's love of literature.
His parents separated when he was 10, and Duff moved in with a Māori uncle and aunt at Whakarewarewa
Whakarewarewa
Whakarewarewa is a geothermal area within Rotorua city in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand...
. He was expelled from his school Rotorua Boys' High School
Rotorua Boys' High School
Rotorua Boys' High School is a state school educating boys from Year 9 to Year 13. It is situated just outside of the Rotorua CBD at the intersection of Old Taupo Road and Pukuatua Street in Rotorua, New Zealand....
and ran away from home, ending up as a State ward at Hamilton Boys’ Home. Later he lived with another uncle, anthropologist Roger Duff, and went back to school at Christchurch Boys' High School
Christchurch Boys' High School
Christchurch Boys' High School is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a 12 hectare site between the suburbs of Riccarton and Fendalton, 4 kilometres to the west of central Christchurch. The school also provides boarding facilities for 130 boys, in a...
.
At 15 he was sentenced to a term in Waikeria Borstal for assault and breaking and entering. Later he worked as an installer of sheet metal
Sheet metal
Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material...
insulation and sang in a band. After numerous convictions for petty offences, Duff went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He has said this is where he "messed up but grew up".
In September 2007 he was arrested while speeding near Taupo
Taupo
Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....
. On 30 March 2008 he appeared in the Taupo
Taupo
Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....
District Court
District court
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:-Australia:District Court is the name given to the intermediate court in most Australian States. They hear indictable criminal offences excluding treason, murder and, in some States, manslaughter...
at a defended hearing after pleading not guilty to failing to remain at a scene after being stopped, failing to stop for police and two charges of resisting police. He was also allegedly abusive and very uncooperative.
During the alleged incident, he was stopped and then took off, after a pursuit he allegedly swung a policewoman around by the handcuffs as she was attempting to restrain him.
The charges were later dismissed by the Taupo District Court, Judge McGuire saying: "the result however, is that I am left uneasy over whether police prosecutorial power was used wisely and fairly in this instance...". However a high court judge subsequently ruled that the judge erred and police could detain a driver while carrying out checks, although he did not require that the charges be relaid.
On 16 June 2011 he declared himself bankrupt, owing creditors $3.6 million NZD.
Writing
Duff ran various businesses of his own back in New Zealand and began to write full-time in 1985.He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors
Once Were Warriors
Once Were Warriors is New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling first novel, published in 1990. It tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and portrays the reality of domestic violence. It was the basis of a 1994 film, directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Rena Owen and Temuera...
, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name
Once Were Warriors (film)
Once Were Warriors is a 1994 film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel. The film tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence, mostly brought on by family patriarch Jake...
in 1994.
Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and was shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.
He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly—later bi-weekly — column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.
State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
in 1994.
The Duffy Books in Homes
Duffy Books in Homes
Duffy Books in Homes is the trading name of The Alan Duff Charitable Foundation. It is a New Zealand registered, literacy-focused charitable organization which has links to similar organisations in the USA and Australia.-History:...
scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (novel)
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? is a 1996 novel by Alan Duff. It was adapted into a film in 1999. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? is the sequel to Duff's 1990 novel Once Were Warriors, which was made into a film in 1994. The novel was followed in 2002 by the third novel in the Once Were...
(1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made into a film
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? is a 1999 film, based on Alan Duff's 1996 novel. The film was directed by Ian Mune, and starred Temuera Morrison as abusive Māori husband Jake "the Muss" Heke. The novel is the sequel to Duff's 1990 novel Once Were Warriors, which was made into a 1994 film...
in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the story takes place in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
.
In 2000, Duff released a book called Alan Duff's Maori Heroes. In 2009, Duff released his new book Who Sings for Lu?