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Janet Paterson Frame

ジャネット・パターソン・フレーム

Janet Paterson Frame

Aliases: Nene Janet Paterson Clutha
Pen Names: Jan Godfrey（Pen name used for early short fiction）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1924-08-28 （Dunedin, New Zealand）
Died
2004-01-29 （Dunedin, New Zealand） age 79
Nationality
New Zealand
Languages
English
Residence History
Oamaru (childhood) → Dunedin (birthplace / residence) → Takapuna (stayed with Frank Sargeson) → London (1950s, residence) → Ibiza, Andorra (short stays) → Auckland, Wellington and various New Zealand locations

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Essayist, Poet
Active Years
1946-2004
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters (Honorary Foreign Member), P.E.N. International New Zealand Centre (honorary)
Influenced By
Katherine Mansfield (indirect influence), Frank Sargeson (mentor / supporter), John Money (early therapist / advisor)

Education

Dunedin College of Education
Courses in English, French and Psychology (audited)
Period: 1943–1945（教師養成・履修）
Country: New Zealand
Audited courses at the University of Otago; did not complete a formal degree

Awards

Hubert Church Prose Award
1951
Work: The Lagoon and Other Stories
Organization: Hubert Church Memorial Award
Result: 受賞
Goodman Fielder Wattie Book of the Year
1983
Work: To the Is-Land
Organization: New Zealand Book Awards (historic)
Result: 受賞
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
1983
Organization: British Honours System
Result: 叙勲
Order of New Zealand (ONZ)
1990
Organization: The Order of New Zealand
Result: 叙勲
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Best Book)
1989
Work: The Carpathians
Organization: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Result: 受賞
New Zealand Book Award for Fiction
1980
Work: Living in the Maniototo
Organization: New Zealand Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award
2003
Organization: Arts Foundation of New Zealand
Result: 受賞
Montana Book Award for Poetry
2007
Work: The Goose Bath
Organization: Montana Book Awards
Result: 受賞（死後）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Owls Do Cry

1957 Modernism / Social realism

A debut novel exploring family breakdown and individual distress, drawing on the author's native-region landscape and themes of mental suffering.

mental anguishfamilylocal community

Faces in the Water

1961 Existential fiction

A work drawing on hospital experiences, depicting institutional life, medical practice and the fragility of identity.

psychiatric careidentityisolation

An Angel at My Table

1984 Autobiography

The middle volume of a three-part autobiography, candidly tracing childhood, experiences with psychiatric care, and development as a writer.

memoirmind and literaturecoming of age
Adaptations
  • [Film] An Angel at My Table / Jane Campion (1990)

The Carpathians

1989 Postmodernism

A late novel combining narrative play and existential themes. Winner of the 1989 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book.

memoryreality and fictionjourney

Bibliography

  • The Lagoon and Other Stories (1951)
  • Owls Do Cry (1957)
  • Faces in the Water (1961)
  • To the Is-Land; An Angel at My Table; The Envoy from Mirror City (Autobiography trilogy, 1982–1984)
  • The Carpathians (1989)
  • The Goose Bath (poetry, 2006 / posthumous)

Adaptations

  • An Angel at My Table - film (1990, dir. Jane Campion)
  • A State of Siege - novel adapted / screenplay collaboration (1978)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Modernist techniquesPostmodern blurring of narrative and selfElements of magic realism
Recurring Motifs
psychiatric hospitals and treatmentloneliness and alienationfamily death and lossmemory and reminiscence

Health

  • Schizophrenia (diagnosed during her life)
    1945–1953（断続的な入院と治療）
    Underwent treatments including electroconvulsive therapy and insulin shock therapy; psychiatric experiences influenced much of her writing. Distinct from cause of death.
  • Acute myeloid leukaemia (cause of death)
    2003–2004（末期、短期間）
    Died in 2004 from acute myeloid leukaemia, bringing an end to her late-career activities.

Legacy

Janet Frame is one of New Zealand's foremost writers, internationally recognised for works that weave psychiatric experience and personal history. Her autobiographical trilogy and its film adaptation brought broad recognition, and she received many national and international honours.

Museums

  • Hocken Collections (holds Janet Frame papers) Hocken Collections, University of Otago, Dunedin

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (Honorary Foreign Member)
  • P.E.N. International New Zealand Centre

Archives

  • Hocken Collections (University of Otago)

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of the autobiographical trilogy, An Angel at My Table (1990), directed by Jane Campion
  • Patrick Evans' novel and stage work 'Gifted' fictionalises aspects of Frame's life and attracted attention

Quotes

  • Patrick White described the first two volumes as 'amongst the wonders of the world'.
    Source: Patrick White (letter) (1985)

Trivia

  • Her scheduled lobotomy was cancelled days before the procedure after her debut short story collection won a national literary prize.
  • In 1958 she legally changed her name to Nene Janet Paterson Clutha.
  • Her mother once worked as a maid for the family of writer Katherine Mansfield.