Samoan playwright and film documentary director, Makerita Urale, departs tomorrow to take up this year's Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer's Residency, at the University of Hawai'i.
Previous recipients of the award includes her sister, filmaker Sima Urale, poet and children books author, Tusiata Avia, and film director, Toa Fraser.
Makerita Urale authored Frangipani Perfume, the first Pacific play written by a woman for an all female cast in 1988 and also directed a number of films, including Mob Daughters and Children of the Revolution.
Makerita Urale says she's never been to Hawaii before and she's looking forward to developing a new play during her three month residency
"I'm going to write a new work for theatre, a new play, and at the moment the working title is The Heathens Way. I haven't written a play for a long time. I had Frangipani Perfume that toured around New Zealand and all over the world. But Im very slow as a writer. Things take a long time for me to think about things and I'm finally ready to write a new play."
Makerita Urale says she'll also continue work on two documentaries, Fa'afafine of Polynesia and The Art of Polynesian Engineering, while in Hawaii.
