Diana Wichtel Explained

Diana Wichtel (born 1950 in Vancouver) is a New Zealand writer and critic.[1] Her mother, Patricia, was a New Zealander; her father, Benjamin Wichtel, a Polish Jew who escaped from the Nazi train taking his family to the Treblinka extermination camp in World War II. When she was 13 her mother brought her to New Zealand to live, along with her two siblings.[2] [3] Although he was expected to follow, she never saw her father again.[4] [5] [6] The mystery of her father's life took years to unravel, and is recounted in Wichtel's award-winning book Driving to Treblinka.[7] [8] The book has been called "a masterpiece" by New Zealand writer Steve Braunias. New Zealand columnist Margo White wrote: "This is a story that reminds readers of the atrocities that ordinary people did to each other, the effect on those who survived, and the reverberations felt through following generations."

Driving to Treblinka won the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General non-fiction at the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[9] [10]

Wichtel was appointed staff writer at the New Zealand Listener in 1984. She joined the magazine from the English department at the University of Auckland, where she gained a Master in Arts, and also tutored.[11] She has won many awards for her television criticism, profiles and feature writing. The New Zealand cultural critic and author Adam Dudding has written of Wichtel's "genius" for television reviewing: "Her reviews often strike a tone of tolerant bemusement; she's a visitor from Mars bearing witness to the latest bonkers manifestation of modern culture." Wichtel was still writing for the Listener when its then publisher announced the magazine's closure in April 2020.[12] [13]

The New Zealand Heralds weekend magazine Canvas welcomed Wichtel as a fortnightly columnist in October 2020.[14]

Awards

Wichtel has won numerous awards for her journalism:

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wichtel, Diana. Driving to Treblinka : a long search for a lost father. 9781927249406. First. Wellington, New Zealand. 1005083001. 2017.
  2. Web site: Book review: Driving to Treblinka by Diana Wichtel. Stuff. en. 2019-06-16.
  3. Web site: Diana Wichtel: Driving to Treblinka - The Listener. Noted. en. 2019-06-18.
  4. News: Twelve questions: author Diana Wichtel on her family history. 15 May 2018. New Zealand Herald. 16 June 2019.
  5. Web site: Scoop Review of Books » Missing. en. 2019-06-16.
  6. Web site: Diana Wichtel's long search for her Holocaust-survivor father. Noted. en. 2019-06-18.
  7. Web site: And the winner is: Diana Wichtel. Braunias. Steve. 2018-05-15. The Spinoff. 2019-06-16.
  8. Web site: Book of the Week: a heartbreaking work of genius by Diana Wichtel. White. Margo. 2017-10-05. The Spinoff. 2019-06-16.
  9. Web site: Winners New Zealand Book Awards Trust. www.nzbookawards.nz. 2019-06-16.
  10. Web site: Ockham book award non-fiction winner Diana Wichtel. 2018-05-16. RNZ. en-nz. 2019-06-16.
  11. Book: Wichtel, Diana. Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father. 2018-08-13. Awa Press. 9781927249406. en.
  12. Web site: 2020-04-02. A story ended too suddenly: In praise of the NZ magazines of Bauer Media. 2020-10-04. The Spinoff.
  13. Web site: Diana Wichtel: 'We didn't see the Bauer truck coming' - The University of Auckland. 2021-03-21. www.auckland.ac.nz.
  14. News: Daniell. Sarah. 2020-10-03. From The Editor. Canvas. The Weekend Herald.
  15. News: Our people up front in national awards. 26 May 2001. The New Zealand Herald. 16 June 2019.
  16. News: nzherald.co.nz wins supreme award at Canon Media Awards. The New Zealand Herald. 2011-05-27. 2019-06-16. en-NZ. 1170-0777.
  17. Web site: Big Winners at the Canon Media Awards 2012 . May 19, 2012. www.scoop.co.nz. 2019-06-16.
  18. Web site: APN makes it six in a row at Canon Media Awards as NZ Herald rejig nets top prize—UPDATED. 2013-05-13. stoppress.co.nz. en. 2019-06-16.
  19. Web site: General Winners 2019. Voyager Media Awards. en-NZ. 2019-06-18.
  20. Web site: Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship Stipend for Published NZ Writers. GrimShaw. 2019-06-16.

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