Duncan Sarkies is a New Zealand

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

stand-up comic Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehears ...

, and novelist. He is best known for having co-written the script of ''

Scarfies ''Scarfies'' (released as ''Crime 101'' in the United States) is a 1999 New Zealand black comedy film set in the southern university city of Dunedin. The film's original title comes from the local nickname for university students, scarfie, s ...

'' with his brother

Robert Sarkies Robert Sarkies is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his 2006 drama film '' Out of the Blue'' and the 2014 TV movie ''Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story''. Early life and education Robert Sarkies grew up in the ...

, who directed the film.

Early life and education

Duncan Sarkies grew up in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. He is the brother of film director and screenwriter

Career

Sarkies' is known for his creation of "eccentric plots and darkly comic portrayals of 'the outsider' and the disturbed". He co-wrote, with his brother Robert, the script for ''

'', a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

released in 1999. He also wrote '' New Fans'', the tenth episode of the comedy series ''

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's c ...

''. Sarkies

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''Two Little Boys'' was published in March 2008, and was made into a film of the same name, released in 2012. In 2013 he published another novel, ''Demolition of the Century''. Sarkies took the part of Declan the

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. Known for quirky comedy films and expanding his career as a voice actor and producer on numerous projects, he ...

's 2014 film ''

What We Do in the Shadows ''What We Do in the Shadows'' is a 2014 New Zealand mockumentary comedy horror film written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and the first installment in the ''What We Do in the Shadows'' franchise. The film also stars Cleme ...

''. Also in 2014, he was script editor on the 2014

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

(Australia) series '' Soul Mates''. He contributed to the writing of four episodes of '' Maximum Choppage'', which aired on the ABC in 2015. He directed, wrote, and co-created the 12-episode fantasy podcast series ''The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Bertie''s Botanarium'', released in 2016 through

Howl Howl most often refers to: * Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species * "Howl" (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl or The Howl may also refer to: Film * '' The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 Am ...

. He has been a contributor to the American TV series, ''

'' since 2019. Sarkies assisted with story development for the documentary ''Wilbur: The King in the Ring'', Julia Parnell's feature film that premiered at

Doc Edge The Doc Edge (formerly DOCNZ International Documentary Film Festival, DOCNZ Film Festival, then Documentary Edge Festival) is New Zealand's Academy Award-qualifying international documentary film festival, run annually by the Documentary New Z ...

in 2017, after starting life as a short film in 2015 for Loading Docs.

Other activities

As part of the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Duncan hosted a series of online talks with New Zealand writers Pip Adam, Kirsten McDougall, and Rose Lu.

Recognition and awards

Sarkies' work has been praised by critics for its originality. His awards and fellowships include: * 1994: ''

Sunday Star-Times The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand. ...

Bruce Mason Playwriting Award The Bruce Mason Playwriting Award is an annual award that recognises the work of an outstanding emerging New Zealand playwright. The winner is decided by the votes of a panel of leading New Zealand artistic directors and script advisors. The ...

* 1995: Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Best New Zealand Play, for his 1994 work '' Saving Grace'' * 1998: Louis Johnson New Writers' Bursary * 2000: Montana New Zealand's Hubert Church NZSA Best First Book of Fiction Award, for his book of short stories '' Stray Thoughts and Nose Bleeds'' * 2015: Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship * 2023:

Residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

at the Michael King Writers Centre in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Personal life

Sarkies was living in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Selected works

Plays

*''The Ceramic Camel'' (1993) *''Lovepuke'' (1993)* *''Saving Grace'' (1994) *''Snooze'' (1997) *''Twelve'' (1997) *''Blue Vein'' (1997) *''Special'' (1997) *''Bystander'' (1998) *Published in Eleven Young Playwrights (1994)

Podcasts

*''The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Berties Botanarium''

Novels

*''Two Little Boys'' (2008) *''Demolition of the Century'' (2013)

Films

*''

'' *''

Two Little Boys "Two Little Boys" is a sentimental song about two friends who grow up to be soldiers. Recorded as early as 1903 in the United States, it became an international hit for Australian Rolf Harris 66 years later. It was published in 1903 by American ...

Television

*" New Fans" (2007), s1 e10 of ''

'' *" The New Cup" (2009), s2 e2 of ''Flight of the Conchords''

References

External links

* Living people New Zealand male novelists 21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand male screenwriters New Zealand male short story writers New Zealand stand-up comedians Entertainers from Dunedin Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand novelists New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century New Zealand short story writers 21st-century New Zealand male writers 21st-century New Zealand screenwriters Writers from Dunedin New Zealand male comedians 20th-century New Zealand comedians 21st-century New Zealand comedians {{NewZealand-writer-stub