Kathleen Gallagher (New Zealand writer)

Kathleen Gallagher (New Zealand writer)
Kathleen Gallagher (born 1957) is a playwright, filmmaker, poet, and novelist from New Zealand.
History
Gallagher was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. She started writing at age 18 and was writing plays for theatre by 1984. Gallagher has written and produced at least 15 plays, working with the Blue Ladder Theatre Group and the Women's Action Theatre Her plays have been performed on stage and on radio, in New Zealand and in Australia. She has also published three collections. Another New Zealand poet, Dame Fiona Kidman, described her work saying "the presentation of these poem is exquisite, the work itself is interesting and image laden, often delicate in style."
Gallagher is an advocate for peace, and has directed multiple documentaries on the environment, spirituality, and the peace movement. These include the documentary Peaceful Pacific, and the documentary Tau Te Mauri – Breath of Peace, which describes New Zealand's peace movement towards becoming nuclear-free. The film Seven Rivers Walking – Haere Mārire, which she co-directed with Galyene Barns, premiered at the 2017 NZ International Film Festival.
Gallagher has an ATCL in drama from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, a BA in history and religious studies from the University of Canterbury, and a Postgraduate Diploma in accounting from Victoria University of Wellington. She has worked as an accountant and has lectured accounting and taxation at the University of Auckland and Nelson Polytechnic.
Awards
New Zealand Playwrights Award 1993 – winner
New Zealand Radio Awards 1996 – finalist for Charlie Bloom
New Zealand Media Peace Awards 1996 – finalist for Charlie Bloom
Sonja Davies Peace Award 2004 – winner for Tau Te Mauri – Breath of Peace
World Peace Film and Music Festival – commended for He Oranga, He Oranga
Works
Film and television
Jimmy Sullivan (2000) as director and writer
Tau Te Mauri – Breath of Peace (2004) as director and writer
Peaceful Pacific (2004) as director
He Oranga, He Oranga (2007) as director, writer and producer
Barefoot Peacemakers (2008) as producer
Earth Whisperers Papatuanuku (2009) as director, writer and producer
Water Whisperers Tangaroa (2010) as director, writer and producer
Sky Whisperers Ranganui (2011) as director, writer and producer
Nancy Wake: The White Mouse (2014) as executive producer
Hautu (2016) as director
Seven Rivers Walking – Haere Mārire (2017) as co-director
Poetry collections
Tara (1987)
Gypsy (1993)
Twilight Burns the Sky (2001)
Plays and play collections
Mothertongue (1999), a collection of four plays: Mothertongue and Jacaranda (both written with Kate Winstanley), and Offspring and Banshee Reel (both written with Gen Rippingale)
Peace Plays (2002), a collection of three plays: Charlie Bloom, Hautu, and Shanty and the Angel. Charlie Bloom was first performed in 1996.
Earthquakes & Butterflies (2018), an adaptation of her 2015 novel
Novels
Earthquakes & Butterflies – Otautahi Christchurch (2015)
Īnangahua Gold (2018), with drawings by Michael Coughlan
References
External links
Personal website
1957 births
Living people
New Zealand women poets
New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights
New Zealand women novelists
New Zealand film directors
Writers from Christchurch
20th-century New Zealand poets
20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
20th-century New Zealand novelists
20th-century New Zealand women writers
21st-century New Zealand poets
21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
21st-century New Zealand novelists
21st-century New Zealand women writers
New Zealand women film directors