Peter Robert Hawes (30 September 1947 – 29 October 2018) was a New Zealand playwright, novelist, and scriptwriter.

Biography

Born in Westport, Hawes earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. Whilst living in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, he wrote—in Spanish—a best-selling novel about the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

: ''La Hoguera'' (''The Bonfire''), published in 1974. After returning to New Zealand in 1975, he worked for television, as a researcher and journalist, and as a scriptwriter for various series, including ''Fraggle Rock'', and ''Against the Law''. Several of his plays remain unperformed; for example, ''A Higher Form of Killing''. Hawes died at Koitiata on 29 October 2018.

Selected works

Novels

*''La Hoguera'' (in Spanish) (''The Bonfire''), 1974 *''Tasman's Lay'', 1995 *''Leapfrog with Unicorns'', 1996 *''Playing Waterloo'', 1998 *''Inca Girls Aren't Easy'', 1999 *''The Dream of Nikau Jam'', 2000 *''Royce, Royce, the People's Choice'', 2002

Plays

*''Alf's General Theory of Relativity'', 1981 *''Ptolemy's Dip'', 1982 *''Armageddon Revisited'', 1983 *''Goldie: A Good Joke'', a portrait of the early New Zealand painter C. F. Goldie, 1987 *''1946 The Boat Train'', which examines the effect of the World War 2 on the lives of four women, 1991 *''Aunt Daisy'', 1989 *''The 1944 Olympic Games'', one-act play *''A Higher Form of Killing'', about physicist

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both Atomic physics, atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nu ...

*''The Inquisition Dies'', developed from material in ''La Hoguera''

Other

, a history of

Centrepoint Theatre Centrepoint Theatre is a theatre and theatre company in Palmerston North in New Zealand. Established in 1973, the theatre has employed more than 2500 actors and produced more New Zealand plays than any other theatre. History The theatre open ...

in Palmerston North

References

External links

New Zealand Book Council

Trove, National Library of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawes, Peter 1947 births 2018 deaths People from Westport, New Zealand University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand male novelists