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.

Vanda Symon (Crime Writer) Winner.

It's official, I have finally won something in a writing competition!

Okay, I only had to write six words, so it's not exactly the BNZ Katherine Mansfield, but I won something all the same - a copy of this book.

Last week's Otago Daily Times ran a competition to write a six-word memoir prompted by the book Not Quite What I Was Planning, compiled by Larry Smith, who founded the online magazine, SMITH. (Which now lists over thirty thousand such memoirs.)

Ernest Hemingway's six-word story is probably the most well known, and poignant.
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

Another of my favourites cited in his book (sorry, I can't name the author) is
"Stole wife, lost friends, now happy."

So, here is Vanda Symon's winning six-word memoir:

"Had babies. Drove me to crime."

My children think it's hilarious and are very proud they drove me to a life of crime. But it does sound very funny, coming out of the mouth of a six-year old!

In the Frame

I am a late comer to the writings of Janet Frame.
I recall, when at high school, my friends devouring Janet Frame's books and raving about them. At that time I was too busy devouring Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Terry Brooks and Elizabeth Peters but courtesy of said friends enjoyment of a good book discussion, I learned quite a lot about her background.


So it is at this veritable age (that I'm not about to disclose) that I have finally read my first Janet Frame book.


I attended a lovely book launch for Towards Another Summer at the Hocken Library and indulged a copy of the hardback edition (Number 728 of 750), listened to the anecdotes about Janet, how the Janet Frame Literary Trust went about publishing this work, which Janet didn't want published until after her death, and some of the background to this book.

Still, I was a little unsure of what to expect.

I was surprised, and in the best possible way:

Janet's amazing use of language. It's richness and vibrancy, and ability to convey the mood.

The unexpected humour. This excerpt a particular favourite:

"There seemed nowhere to escape from the snowfilled sootfilled wind. It blew upon their skin as if their outer layer of skin had been peeled away leaving a raw rasping wound spread over their body. They struggled along the grey streets in a bizarre enactment of an Arctic expedition which could have been recorded in the usual dramatic diary - 'Supply of warmth diminishing; hope to reach library and market by five-thirty; hopes failing...' Grace would not have been surprised if Philip had suddenly stopped and said, with a stricken look on his face, 'I'm going a while. I may be some time...'

Frame captured so well the excruciating social discomfort experienced by Grace in this weekend away from home, and the drift of her mind. I ached for her.

I loved it and can now declare myself a Janet Frame convert.

So if anyone would care to recommend their favourite Janet Frame book, I'm on the lookout for the next one to read.

(Excerpt and photograph reproduced with the kind permission of the Janet Frame Literary Trust.)

Announcing the arrival...

...of my advance copy of The Ringmaster, delivered to my door.


It's a real book, with a real cover, and pretty shiny silver letters...


I'm just going to take a moment to have a little cry...

A heavenly combination

It's not every day you get to go shopping for two of your favourite necessities of life at once, especially favourite things on sale.

This afternoon I get to go to the Longacre Press and Silkbody mid-winter sale.

Yes, books and clothes. The only way it could be better was if they were going to serve wine. Oops, they are!

If you're in Dunedin this afternoon and feel like some genteel shopping, its from 4.00pm to 7.00pm at Longacre Press, 2nd floor, Moray Chambers, 30 Moray Place.

BYO Chequebook.

The Queen of Crime

Ngaio Marsh richly deserves her title as the Queen of Crime, and although I've always been aware of her importance in New Zealand literature, I've only recently discovered how valued she is overseas. Dare I say, even more so than at home?

There have been some interesting discussions on book covers over at Detectives Beyond Borders recently in which Ngaio Marsh's name featured. Blogging leads to more blogging and thus this on a blog called Chocolate Cobwebs, titled Ngaio Marsh Cover Story.

I've been growing my own personal collection of Ngaio Marsh books and have had great fun in the local second hand bookstores sourcing them. They have been reprinted so many times, and several editions are often side by side, so you can take your pick based on how cool the cover is. Some are fantastic, some awful. My favourites tend to the more simple such as the 1950's hardback book club versions. My Scales of Justice is very simple, but appealing with its olivey green background and drawing of a fish. I have an awful looking A Man Lay Dead with the cover being a picture of the BBC drama actors - urgh.

My ultimate aim is to have a copy of each of her books, and to actually read them all. That could take a while - the acquiring and the reading. I should mention I have no qualms about ditching an uglier version for anything a bit more stylish.

A new biography of Ngaio Marsh is due out in September Ngaio Marsh: Her Life of Crime by Dr Joanne Drayton, published by Harper Collins. I look forward to it. I couldn't find a cover image to post here of the new book - I hope it's a good one.

The Longest Night

Winter solstice brings with it many things.

The joy in knowing the sun will start rising before 8.20am and that's the last time we have to see sunset before 5.00pm. All those with Seasonal Affective Disorder, please cheer (if you're up to it.)

The feeling we're on the big down hill slope to summer, even if the cruel reality in Dunedin is we don't see the worst weather until after the shortest day. To make it's point, we're forecast for snow this week.

The realisation we're half way through the year, and the re-evaluation of goals and time-frames. (Armed with a wine and a mild sense of panic.)

And traditions, lots of traditions.

In our family I'm big on making traditions for the kids. Here in New Zealand we don't seem to find cause to celebrate or mark events, other than the usual Easter and Christmas, which is a shame. I think we need to mark dates, whether lunar, environmental or cultural. To me it gives people, and particularly children a sense of place and time and season, a sense of the rhythm of life. So we celebrate whenever we can.

The shortest day brings with it the ceremonial planting of Garlic, to be harvested on the longest day. And of course, we have to have a special Mid-Winter Dinner, which will be tonight. We couldn't have it last night because, along with half of Dunedin, and their kids, we were cocooned in jackets and warm clothes and out at the Midwinter Carnival.

Dunedin knows how to celebrate.

Moray Place through to the Octagon was closed off to traffic and the centre of the city turned into one large festival playground, with live music, food stalls, and the unexpected sight of braziers with open fires in the middle of the main street of town.

Then the Lantern Parade began, the part we'd all been waiting for. Over 300 paper lanterns had been made including giant lanterns shaped like New Zealand birds, and seven giant stars to represent the seven sisters of the Pleiads in recognition of Matariki, the Maori New Year. These were paraded around The Octagon with great ceremony to the beat of the percussionists and a group of Medieval Chanters. There were stilt walkers, ethereal dancers, giant puppets and hundreds of excited children carrying their own glowing lantern creations.



The evening was topped off with the burst and boom of fireworks and the sky ablaze with colour and light.

It was magical, for children young and old.


So we have celebrated the shortest day, marked the winter solstice, celebrated Matariki. The children have a sense of this time, its significance and the season.

We all look forward to light, and sometime soon, warmth.