{{Short description|New Zealand playwright and schoolteacher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox academic | name = <!-- this should be the common name, i.e. matching the article name (without any disambiguator) --> | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM|size=100%}} | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = {{#statements:P18}} | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{#statements:P569}} | birth_place = {{#statements:P19}} | death_date = {{#statements:P570}} | death_place = {{#statements:P20}} | resting_place = {{#statements:P119}} | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | other_names = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = | workplaces = {{#statements:P108}} | patrons = | alma_mater = {{#statements:P69}} | thesis1_title = | thesis1_url = | thesis1_year = | doctoral_advisor = {{#statements:P184}} | academic_advisors = {{#statements:P1066}} | doctoral_students = {{#statements:P185}} | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = {{#statements:P166}} | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} --> | footnotes = | spouse = | children = }} '''Susan Battye''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM}} (born 1950) is a New Zealand playwright and drama teacher. In 2024 Battye was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to performing arts education.
==Education == Battye was born in 1950.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Roger |title=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature: Susan Battye |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780191735196 |edition=eBook}}</ref> She attended Christchurch Girls High School, and then completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbury in 1974.<ref name=":0" /> She trained as a teacher at Christchurch Teachers' College, and then studied at Newcastle University under Dorothy Heathcote in 1979, earning a Diploma in Drama and Education.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Susan Battye |url=https://www.playmarket.org.nz/playwrights/susan-battye/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.playmarket.org.nz |language=en-US}}</ref> Battye also gained a Master of Arts in Education Studies from Loughborough University of Technology in 1993.<ref name=":0" />
==Career==
Battye worked at Greymouth High School from 1974 until 1983, when she moved to Epsom Girls Grammar School, where she became Head of Drama.<ref name=":0" /> She also taught and managed the Bachelor of Māori Performing Arts programme at Te Wānanga O Aotearoa.<ref name=":1" />
Battye's plays include ''The Shadow of the Valley'' (with Thelma Eakin), first performed in 1977 in Greymouth and published by Oxford University Press in 1980, which reconstructs the 1896 Brunner Mine disaster.<ref name=":0" /> Battye and Eakin also wrote a historical novel based on the play, ''The Mine’s Afire'', which was shortlisted for the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards in 2010.<ref name=":1" /> Other published plays include ''Living In'', ''Easy as Pie'', ''Not for School but for Life'' and ''Radio Waves''. ''The Singing Lesson'', published in 1992, is based on a Katherine Mansfield short story.<ref name=":0" /> Battye also co-wrote ''Ponsonby Road'' with Tim Bray.<ref name=":1" />
Battye was the founding president of the New Zealand Association for Drama in Education (now known as Drama NZ), which was established in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Susan Battye - Writer's Files • Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/battye-susan |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.read-nz.org |language=en}}</ref>
==Honours and awards== In the 2024 New Year Honours, Battye was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to performing arts education.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-30 |title=New Year Honours List 2024 - Citations for Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit {{!}} Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/lists/ny2024-onzm |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.dpmc.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links==
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFo-k7VGot0 Dance and Drama in Uganda, The Pearl of Africa Screener]'', collaboration between Battye and Ugandan playwright, researcher, teacher and folklore exponent, Dr Mercy Mirembe Ntangaare
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Battye, Susan}} Category:New Zealand dramatists and playwrights Category:Academic staff of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Category:Alumni of Loughborough University Category:University of Canterbury alumni Category:Alumni of Newcastle University Category:People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School Category:Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Category:New Zealand women writers Category:1950 births Category:Living people