A global field guide to design, (life)style and secret finds est. 2007
Happy 90th Birthday, Janet Frame
Happy birthday, Janet Frame!
Today marks the 90th birthday of my favourite author. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Janet Frame is one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. I was first introduced to her work as an undergraduate by my New Zealand-born lecturer, Dorothy Jones, and I was instantly hooked, going on to write my Honours thesis on her autobiographical trilogy and fiction.
This led to my very first publication - in a literary journal, of all places! It's difficult reading the earnest feminist voice of my 21-year-old self. I'd love to give it a good edit and come to some kind of braver, more conclusive stance on the issues I was exploring. Or maybe I've since been co-erced into the dominant patriarchal hegemony... or something like that. Anyway, I'm still really proud of it, and it's probably the last sensible thing I've ever written.
When Frame died in 2004, she bequeathed her copyright to her literary trust, with ongoing royalties from her literary estate granted to New Zealand writers of poetry and imaginative fiction.
The Janet Frame Literary Trust also maintains an informative website, which dispels all of the popular misconceptions about Janet Frame, as well as a fascinating blog, An Angel @ My Blog and Facebook page. Along with the publication of posthumous work, it's like the gift of Frame just keeps giving.
If you're not already familiar with Janet Frame's work, you may have heard of the Jane Campion film based on her autobiographical trilogy, An Angel at My Table.
If you're interested in reading some of Frame's work, you could start with the first volume in her autobiography, To the Is-land, where she first encountered an "adolescent loneliness of self". Or, if you like short stories, you could read her excellent posthumous collection of short stories, Gorse is Not People.
"Life is hell but at least there are prizes. Or so one thought."
- Janet Frame(from the short story 'Prizes' in The Reservoir: Stories and Sketches)
Happy birthday, Janet Frame!
Today marks the 90th birthday of my favourite author. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Janet Frame is one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. I was first introduced to her work as an undergraduate by my New Zealand-born lecturer, Dorothy Jones, and I was instantly hooked, going on to write my Honours thesis on her autobiographical trilogy and fiction.
This led to my very first publication - in a literary journal, of all places! It's difficult reading the earnest feminist voice of my 21-year-old self. I'd love to give it a good edit and come to some kind of braver, more conclusive stance on the issues I was exploring. Or maybe I've since been co-erced into the dominant patriarchal hegemony... or something like that. Anyway, I'm still really proud of it, and it's probably the last sensible thing I've ever written.
When Frame died in 2004, she bequeathed her copyright to her literary trust, with ongoing royalties from her literary estate granted to New Zealand writers of poetry and imaginative fiction.
The Janet Frame Literary Trust also maintains an informative website, which dispels all of the popular misconceptions about Janet Frame, as well as a fascinating blog, An Angel @ My Blog and Facebook page. Along with the publication of posthumous work, it's like the gift of Frame just keeps giving.
If you're not already familiar with Janet Frame's work, you may have heard of the Jane Campion film based on her autobiographical trilogy, An Angel at My Table.
If you're interested in reading some of Frame's work, you could start with the first volume in her autobiography, To the Is-land, where she first encountered an "adolescent loneliness of self". Or, if you like short stories, you could read her excellent posthumous collection of short stories, Gorse is Not People.
"Life is hell but at least there are prizes. Or so one thought."
- Janet Frame (from the short story 'Prizes' in The Reservoir: Stories and Sketches)
