Aroha Awarau was an award-winning journalist and playwright who championed Māori stories. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Aroha Awarau was an award-winning journalist and playwright who championed Māori stories. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Respected journalist and talented playwright, Aroha Awarau, has died after a short battle with cancer.
The 49-year-old’s death has been confirmed and announced by close friends on social media, saying he “slipped away peacefully” at a hospice facility surrounded by care and love.
“True to the way he lived, Arohamet this final moment with grace, courage, and his unmistakable spirit.
“Cancer shortened the timeline, but it never diminished the person he is. The sharp mind. The sharper tongue,” a post read.
“The flamboyance. The creativity. The generosity of friendship. He lived fully. He loved deeply.”
He was recognised for reporting that highlighted Māori perspectives and current affairs, and his work often aimed to create space for Indigenous voices in mainstream media.
Writer and playwright Aroha Awarau pictured in September, 2015. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Awarau was an accomplished playwright whose work received national and international recognition.
His debut play, Luncheon, starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand and directed by Katie Wolfe, won Best Play at the 2014 New Zealand Script Writing Awards.
His second play, Officer 27, was a finalist at both the NZ Adam Playwriting Awards and the New Zealand Script Writing Awards in 2016. His short film Home later premiered at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto.
The film was a finalist at the 2025 Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival and screened at the Indigenous and international film festivals, including Māoriland and the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Beyond his own creative work, Awarau mentored emerging writers and advocated for greater Māori representation in the arts and media.
Over more than two decades, he built a career that spanned journalism, theatre and film that consistently centered on Māori voices and stories.
Details for Awarau’s funeral are yet to be released.
