Rangi Chadwick was born and educated in Hastings, and continued his education at Campion College in Gisborne. He studied at Canterbury and Auckland Universities graduating with a B.A. in Political Studies. He edited Craccum/Kia ora at the University of Auckland in 1984 having written a feature article, "Te Matauranga o Te Pakeha" which voiced the Māori Students’ Association opposition towards the University’s centennial celebrations in May 1983. He completed a Post-graduate Diploma of Broadcast Communications which included producing "School Roles/ Tikanga Māori" a half-hour documentary that explored considerations in building high school marae. From that time on, he worked in television, radio and theatre. He wrote a screen adaptation of Patricia Grace’s story "It Used To Be Green Once" for the Kimihia Production Workshop while with TVNZ in 1988. He script edited Te Manuka Trust’s "E Tipu, E Rea" series of five half-hour television dramas by Māori writers in 1989, working with Patricia Grace, Bruce Stewart, Hone Tuwhare, Riwia Brown and Rawiri Paratene. He adapted and produced Mihi Edward’s Mihipeka for National Radio in 1991. Chadwick wrote short stories and poems which are included in Ihimaera’s 1992 anthologies of Māori writing. He received a Te Atairangikaahu Commemorative Literary Award for writing fiction in 1991. He also received a Mobil Radio Award. He died on 20 January 1995.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Michael Chadwick, 30 August 1998.
Films/Video
- "School Rules/ Tikanga Māori." Television Documentary broadcast Network TV, 4 Dec. 1988. No further details.
- "It Used To Be Green Once." Kimihia Production Workshops, January 1989. No further details.
Non-fiction
- "The Pakeha Fortress." Craccum 12 Apr 1983. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 259-263.
- Chadwick explains why Māori have no reason to participate in the Pakeha celebrations of the centenary at the University of Auckland, N.Z. He also outline the need for an alternative curriculum with "nga taonga Māori as the focus", and argues for the necessity for a Māori space on campus.
Other
- "From Checkmate Breakfast." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 3: Te Puāwaitanga O Te Kōrero: The Flowering. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 183-191.
- This excerpt from a work in progress tells of Doug’s simple domestic morning after a night with Warren, an encounter with an ex-lover and chance meeting with a man in the butcher shop.
Poetry
- "Amnesia II (1985)." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 3: Te Puāwaitanga O Te Kōrero: The Flowering. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 182.
- In this poem written in English and Māori, the speaker feels unheard and constrained within the confines of skin. In this position of powerlessness, the speaker senses the comfort of the voices of the ancestors and mauri of the land.
Reviews
- "No Dry Story - Book Review." Rev. of The Treaty of Waitangi, by Claudia Orange. Te Iwi o Aotearoa 7 (1988): 22.
- Rev. of Te Ao Marama 1 : Whakahuatanga o Te Rau/Reflections of Reality, comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Evening Post 25 Sept. 1992: 5.