Aroha Awarau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
21 January 1976
- Journalist
- playwright
Aroha Awarau | |
|---|---|
 Awarau in 2017 | |
| Born | Aroha Edward Awarau 21 January 1976 Hāwera, New Zealand |
| Died | 14 January 2026 (aged 49) Ponsonby, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Waikato Auckland University of Technology |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1990s–2026 |
| Employer(s) | Woman's Day (New Zealand) New Zealand Woman's Weekly |
| Television | Native Affairs (Whakaata Māori) |
| Awards | New Zealand Magazine Journalist of the Year (2008) New Zealand Celebrity and Entertainment Magazine Journalist of the Year (2013) Scroll of Honour of the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand (2019) Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Award (thrice) |
Aroha Edward Awarau (21 January 1976 – 14 January 2026) was a New Zealand journalist and playwright.[1][2][3] He won the 2008 New Zealand Magazine Journalist of the Year (Mass Market) at the annual Magazine Publisher's Association Awards.[citation needed] He was a finalist again for the same award in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. In 2013, he was awarded the New Zealand Celebrity and Entertainment Magazine Journalist of the Year at the Magazine Publisher's Awards.[citation needed]
Awarau was a news editor for the Woman's Day magazine, and a senior writer at New Zealand Woman's Weekly.[citation needed] He was a story producer for the Māori Television current affairs show Native Affairs.[citation needed]
He was also a successful playwright, with his first play Luncheon, starring accomplished New Zealand actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand and directed by Katie Wolfe, winning Best Play at the 2014 New Zealand Script Writing Awards. His second play Officer 27 was a finalist at the New Zealand Adams Playwriting Awards and the New Zealand Script Writing Awards in 2016.[citation needed] His short film Home premiered at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto.[citation needed]