Desirée Gezentsvey was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand in 1985 with her husband and three daughters.
She writes for theatre and film, and has published a bilingual book of poetry, ‘Next Time Around / la próxima vez’ (Steele Roberts) which deals with the subject of immigration and separation from loved ones. Her poetry piece ‘Under the Southern Stars’ was recorded and broadcast by Radio NZ. A number of her poems have been set to music by award winning NZ composers Gareth Farr and Dorothy Buchanan.
Desiree has also been involved in various projects as script development consultant, and has translated poetry, theatre and fiction from English to Spanish and Spanish to English, including the English translation of the book Náhuatl Stories: Indigenous tales from Mexico by Pablo Gonzáles Casanova (pub VUP, 2012), through the Mexican Embassy in NZ.
Desiree's play 'Nuclear Family' won the Best Stageplay Award (Script) at the 2011 Moondance International Film Festival Competition (USA) and received 5-star reviews in Adelaide (AU), London (UK), Edinburgh (IE), Auckland and Wellington (NZ). Her latest play, ‘Caging Skies’, based on the novel by Christine Leunens, had its world premiere at Wellington’s Circa Theatre in August 2017 and is currently being translated into Spanish and French.
Desiree’s latest play, CAGING SKIES, based on the novel by Christine Leunens, had its world premiere at Wellington’s Circa Theatre and has now been translated into Spanish, French, Euskera and Japanese. It will be staged in Tokyo, Japan, in December 2024.
http://www.desireecreative.co.nz/about/