May 1, 2024

[From the Playmarket Facebook page]

Vale Sir Vincent O’Sullivan.

Poet, playwright, critic, fiction writer, biographer, editor, celebrated teacher.

Playmarket has been proud to represent Vincent’s work for the stage. Primarily written in the late 80s and early 90s, he continued to write plays in recent years. His plays are bold theatrical creations. His most celebrated play, Shuriken, deals with the fateful misunderstandings which led to the death of 50 Japanese prisoners of war and a New Zealand guard at Featherston in 1943. His canon of work also includes the plays Jones and Jones, Billy, Ordinary Nights in Ward 10, Take the Moon, Mr Casement as well as adaptations of Lysistrata and Medea.

In 2006, he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement. He was named Poet Laureate in 2013 and won the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Non-Fiction for The Dark is Light Enough, his biographical portrait of Ralph Hotere. These are just a few of the many accolades he received for his contribution to literature.

Moe mai rā Vincent.

Vincent will repose at the Home of Compassion, Island Bay, from Thursday May 2.
Requiem Mass will be celebrated at St Mary of the Angels, 17 Boulcott Street, Wellington at 1.30pm, on Friday May 3.