Warren Dibble

New Zealand poet and playwright

Warren Dibble
Born	Warren Ambrose Dibble (1931-02-21)21 February 1931 Palmerston North, New Zealand
Died	27 July 2014(2014-07-27) (aged 83) Sydney, NSW, Australia
Occupation	Playwright, poet
Nationality	New Zealander

Warren Ambrose Dibble (21 February 1931 – 27 July 2014) was a New Zealand poet and playwright.

Early life and family

Dibble was born in Palmerston North on 21 February 1931, the son of Victor Thomas Dibble and Alma Dibble (née Edgecombe).^[1]^[2] His father was secretary of the Manawatu Racing Club, and committed suicide by gunshot in December 1932, having suffered from depression and what would now be understood as post-traumatic stress disorder following his service in World War I.^[3]^[4]

Writing career

Dibble was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship from the University of Otago in 1969.^[5] Ralph Hotere, who was the Frances Hodgkins Fellow at Otago also in 1969,^[6] incorporated some of Dibble's poems into his artwork.^[7] Dibble wrote plays for television, theatre and radio, including Killing of Kane, based on the deeds of Tītokowaru in Taranaki in the 1860s,^[7] the anti-Vietnam war theatrical cartoon Operation Pigstick,^[8]^[9] the one-off tele-drama Double Exposure,^[10] Lord, Dismiss Us… and Lines to M.^[11]

Dibble moved to Sydney in the 1970s and died there in 2014.^[12]

References

^ "Birth". Manawatu Times. Vol. 56, no. 5583. 23 February 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
^ "Brides of summertime in bouffant gowns". The Sun. Vol. 2, no. 576. 31 January 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
^ "Late Mr V. T. Dibble". Manawatu Standard. Vol. 53, no. 20. 20 December 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
^ "Death of Mr. Victor T. Dibble". Otaki Mail. 16 December 1932. p. 3. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
^ "Warren Dibble – 1969: Nourishing the roots". University of Otago. 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ "The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship". University of Otago. 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ ^a ^b Hohaia, Te Miringa; O'Brien, Gregory; Strongman, Lara, eds. (2005). Parihaka: the art of passive resistance. Wellington: Victoria University Press. p. 220. ISBN 0-86473-520-0.
^ Lord, Bob (14 April 1967). "Ancient Maori myth was given dramatic Downstage showing". Salient. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ "Downstage celebrates life of Tim Eliott, its first artistic director". Wellington Scoop. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ "Irene Wood – biography". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ Cody, Gabrielle H.; Sprinchorn, Evert, eds. (2007). The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. Vol. 2. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 961. ISBN 978-0-231-14424-7.
^ "Warren Ambrose Dibble obituary". New Zealand Herald. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.