Janet Frame, Stories & Poems

by Janet Frame

Book by Janet Frame

Genres: Poetry, Short Stories

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

The fate befalling the young woman who wanted "to be a poet" has been well documented. Desperately unhappy because of family tragedies and finding herself trapped in the wrong vocation (as a schoolteacher) her only escape appeared to be in submission to society's judgement of her as abnormal. She spent four and a half years out of eight years, incarcerated in mental hospitals. The story of her almost miraculous survival of the horrors and brutalising treatment in unenlightened institutions has become well known. She continued to write throughout her troubled years, and her first book (The Lagoon and Other Stories) won a prestigious literary prize, thus convincing her doctors not to carry out a planned lobotomy.

She returned to society, but not the one which had labelled her a misfit. She sought the support and company of fellow writers and set out single-mindedly and courageously to achieve her goal of being a writer. She wrote her first novel (Owls Do Cry) while staying with her mentor Frank Sargeson, and then left New Zealand, not to return for seven years.

Reviews

[T G]

Her life story is better than her writing. Of course, her life story is really amazing.

[Lulah]

Loved this and am grateful I got this out after remembering my Nana talking to me about Janet Frame years ago. Giving 4 stars only because her poems did not captivate me as much as the stories and as a result I didn't finish it. This book made me hungry to read more of her work

[Jo]

This collection falls short of much of her other work.

[Cazna]

Always nice to pick this book up and read a poem or two. Really beautiful.