Loss of a nationally respected scriptwriter saddens

Staff and students on the Writing Programme were saddened to hear of the recent death of Graeme Tetley, Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Whitireia, on Sunday 13 March.

Graeme was one of New Zealand's leading scriptwriters, with credits including Out of the Blue, Bread and Roses, Ruby and Rata, Vigil and the 2008 telemovie After-Shock.

He taught a short course in the early years of the Whitireia Writing Programme and returned in 2008 to teach a full year's course on feature film writing for 2nd and 3rd year degree students.

“We always felt privileged to have Graeme contributing to our courses,” says Programme Manager, Pip Byrne. “He had a gift for teaching and would impart wonderful insights on the craft of writing.”

Students remember those abilities well:

"The Whitireia classroom felt like a group of writers, not a teacher and students, and I believe he helped us learn so much more through that. We will always be grateful for the valuable time we had with him," says Rebecca Barnes.

Mike Benson says, “It hits us all hard that he's gone. Two years was not long enough, but I'm grateful for the time I had with him. He gave so much and has been such an important support for me, and my work, which I now have no excuse not to finish!”

ENDS

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