Amelia Batistich (née Barbarich; 11 March 1915 – 21 August 2004) was a New Zealand fiction writer of Croatian descent.

Life

Batistich was born in

Dargaville Dargaville ( mi, Takiwira) is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the bank of the Northern Wairoa River in the Kaipara District of the Northland region. The town is located 55 kilometres southwest of Whangārei. ...

to John Barbarich and Milka Matutinovich, settlers from

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. Her parents ran a boarding house which attracted new migrants, including labourers heading for Northland's gumfields for work. She was educated by the

Sisters of St Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for ...

and the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. The family moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

when Batistich was 11. Her father worked at a quarry there with Dalmatian stonemasons, and she was thus again surrounded by Dalmatian people. In the 1940s, aged about 44, she began to write poems and stories about her family and community, and the hardships faced by early settlers. These were initially published in '' The Listener'' magazine and the ''

New Zealand School Journal The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for children. Since 2013 it has been pub ...

'', a magazine for New Zealand school children. She also wrote about other ethnic minorities in New Zealand, such as Chinese in the

Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

. In 1981, Batistich's novel ''Pjevaj Vilo u Planini'' won first prize in an international competition in the former Yugoslavia for migrant writers, and she was invited to visit

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

by the Croatian Writers' Guild. In the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours, Batistich was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for community service. She has been credited with leading the way for other ethnic groups, such as

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, to also express their outlook on the community they were living in.

Publications

Collections of short stories

* ''An Olive Tree in Dalmatia'' 1963; reprinted 1980 * ''Holy Terrors and Other Stories'' 1991

Novels

* ''Another Mountain, Another Song'' 1981 * ''Pjevaj Vilo u Planini'' 1981, in Serbo-Croatian; translated into English as ''Sing Vila in the Mountains'' 1987 * ''Never Lost for Words'' 2001

Memoirs

* ''My Story'' 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batistich, Amelia 20th-century New Zealand people Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal New Zealand writers 1915 births 2004 deaths People from Dargaville New Zealand people of Croatian descent