Monday, June 30, 2008

And more about Janet Frame...


Thanks to Graham Beattie who pointed out this review of Towards Another Summer, and comment on posthumous publishing from The Guardian.

The decision by literary estates to publish the work of writers posthumously often has people wondering about whether it is profit driven, or to truly add a worthy piece to the body of work of the author. It is great to see The Guardian's Rachel Cooke thinks the Janet Frame Literary Trust made the right call.

I'll be talking with trustee Pamela Gordon about these decisions and managing literary estates on the Write On Radio Show on Wednesday the 9th of July from noon. We'll also talk about Janet Frame the poet, seeing as July is the month for Montana Poetry Day.


While on the subject of Janet Frame, if you are ever passing through Oamaru you must visit the Janet Frame House at 56 Eden Street. In fact, make a special trip.

Our Otago Southland Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors took a road trip up to Oamaru to have a socialise with the Oamaru writers and to tour the house. It was magical.

The Eden Street Trust has done a fabulous job with the house. It isn't a museum or a mausoleum to Janet. They, with Janet's blessing, "re-Framed" the house, and the result is a house that is evocative of her, but is its own entity. It just is. Visit, and you'll see what I mean.

One of the highlights of the visit was listening to a gorgeous recording of a pretty cranky Janet reading about the house from To the Is-Land.

Truly wonderful.

2 comments:

Mary McCallum said...

OMG now I need to go! I love visiting writers' houses. The Frank Sargeson house in Auckland was wonderful. My son and I visited a few years back, we got the key from the local library and there was only him and me there, sitting in Frank's chair, reading his books. Magic. Hmmm need to plan a trip to Dunedin now.

Pamela Gordon said...

It's very moving to read the visitors books at the Janet Frame House, to realise that people from all around the world have been touched by Janet Frame's life and work, and that they've found visiting her childhood home so inspiring.

Looking forward to talking to you on air Vanda!