Colleen Maria Lenihan
Colleen Maria Lenihan is a New Zealand fiction writer and screenwriter.
Background
Lenihan (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is a New Zealand writer of Māori and Irish descent.[1] She spent fifteen years in Tokyo before returning to New Zealand.[2] Lenihan studied at The Creative Hub and Te Papa Tupu,[3] and is currently a writer for TV show Shortland Street. She has also written for drama series Ahikāroa.[4]
Career
Her short form work has appeared in Pantograph Punch, Newsroom, the New Zealand Herald, and elsewhere. Following the 2022 launch of her collection of inter-linked short stories, Kōhine, she appeared in the 2023 Auckland Writers Festival.[5]
Kōhine has been described as "Tokyo gothic"[6] by Newsroom, as "something special" by Kete,[7] and by NZ Booklovers as providing the reading experience of a novel.[8] The book was influenced by Colleen's years in Tokyo, and by the loss of her only child.[9]
Works
- Kōhine (Huia Publishers, 2022), collection of short stories[10]
Awards
- Victoria University of Wellington, International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) and Creative New Zealand Emerging Māori Writer in Residence (2023)
- Dan Davin Literary Foundation (2021)
- Michael King Writers' Centre Emerging Māori Writer (2019)
- Newsroom/Surrey Hotel Winner (2019)[11]
References
- "Self-portrait: Colleen Maria Lenihan". Newsroom. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Colleen Maria Lenihan". HUIA. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Writer: Colleen Maria Lenihan - Writers • Auckland Writers Festival". www.writersfestival.co.nz. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi writer Colleen Maria Lenihan remaking the literature of Aotearoa". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Writer: Colleen Maria Lenihan - Writers • Auckland Writers Festival". www.writersfestival.co.nz. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Book of the week: Tokyo gothic". Newsroom. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Kōhine". Kete Books. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- Booklovers, N. Z. (14 December 2022). "Kōhine by Colleen Maria Lenihan". nzbooklovers. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Writers' Round Table on Japan". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Kōhine by Colleen Maria Lenihan". HUIA. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- "Colleen Maria Lenihan". HUIA. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
External links
- "Self-Portrait" (Newsroom, 2022), essay
- "Mama" (Newsroom, 2022), short story
- "Love Hotel" (Newsroom, 2021), short story
- "Whanganui cafe wouldn't let my Māori mum use toilet" (New Zealand Herald, 2020), opinion piece