Alan Duff’s emergence on the New Zealand literary landscape in 1990 has been likened to the bursting of a volcano. His first novel, Once Were Warriors, immediately established him as one of New Zealand’s most controversial writers both on account of his head-on attack on cultural sensitivities and the sheer muscle of his language. Arriving on the back of a Maori Renaissance, Duff vehemently berated his people for failing to adapt to the standards of modernity 150 years of colonisation had established in New Zealand. Duff is a writer with a mission and each of his (to date) seven books of fiction reiterates a firmly held position and challenges opposition, while his writing at the same time relentlessly flaunts the anger, hurt and shame that Duff has successfully channelled into creative energy. His violently dualistic...
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Citation: Heim, Otto. "Alan Duff". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5954, accessed 05 December 2025.]
