29 January 2004
NZ Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc)

Janet Frame leaves impressive literary legacy

''New Zealand has lost a national treasure'', says New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) President William Taylor. ''The contribution of Janet Frame to the world of literature, nationally and internationally, is of major significance'' he adds.

Janet Frame’s long association with the New Zealand Society of Authors, (P.E.N. NZ), began with her receiving the 1952 Hubert Church Memorial Award for her first collection of short stories, "The Lagoon" published in 1951. At the time of her death she was an Honorary Life Member, an award given as a mark of honour for a writer’s significant contribution to literature.

She became a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1990, and the NZSA annually nominated her for the Nobel Prize for Literature, although sadly that award never eventuated. We are pleased she was the recipient of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement for fiction late last year.

“Janet may now have left us but her impressive literary legacy lives on and all members of the NZSA join with me in mourning her loss” Taylor says.

ENDS

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