4/4 Pacific Music + Arts Volume 1:3 April 2016 | Page 25

The
VICTORRODGER
Point Of View
I was fortunate to meet with renowned writer Victor Rodger for this edition of 4/4. As
the 2016 Robert Burns Fellow, Victor will be based in Dunedin for 12 months. This is a
wonderful opportunity for him to simply write and write some more. It is also fantastic for
the local arts community, who are able to utilise his expertise and experience while he is
in town. Victor is extremely charismatic, and has such a great energy. He always makes
you laugh and is especially good at saying things to provoke or prompt shock amongst
the laughter. Behind his humour, there is a wise soul, with a lot to say. This conviction
and motivation, nurture his life as a writer. He adapts his plans and future based on the
opportunities that present themselves and you can see that his writing will continue to
lead him on to new adventures in the future. It was great to catch up with Victor and hear
more about his journey, and his writing process.
I asked Victor what was his first official piece of
writing. He said “aside from being a journalist, that
would’ve been a short story I wrote for Radio New
Zealand about mistaking my Grandmother’s snoring
for a pig.”
Victor began working as a journalist straight out
of school, in the late 80s in Christchurch. He then
moved into theatre and as a playwright Victor has
written “eight plays and counting”, starting in 1995.

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4/4 ARTIST PROFILE: VICTOR RODGER

His first play Sons, won four Chapman Tripp theatre
awards, including Best New Play and Best New
Writer. His award winning play Black Faggot has
had productions in New Zealand, Australia and
Edinburgh – and he is now looking to adapt the
play as a film script. Victor moved to television in
2000, working at South Pacific Pictures, writing for
Shortland Street. This was when Victor considered
himself a writer, as he “started earning money full
time as a writer”. He went on to work for Shortland

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