The Bone People

Creator

Date

1986

Identifier

Robertson OP823 NZ HUL

Type

Publisher

London: Picador

Abstract

Robert Burns Fellow 1977: Keri Hulme (b. 1947)

In a letter dated 31st January, 1989 to then University of Otago Reference Librarian, Jeff Kirkus-Lamont, Keri Hulme recalls her time (one term: three months) as Robert Burns Fellow. During her tenure, Hulme published poems under a pseudonym in the student paper, and rewrote the ‘the bone people’. Hulme says that: ‘It wasn’t the final re-write (that took place in my garage at Okarito a year later) but it certainly cleared the mental decks for action.’
The Bone Peoplewas first published in 1984, and Hulme won the Booker (now Man Booker) Prize for her work in 1985 – a first for New Zealand. She also recalls in the letter that she wrote poetry, which would later be published in The Silences Between [Moeraki Conversations] (1982).

Files

Cab 6 Hulme.jpg

Citation

Keri Hulme, “The Bone People,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed March 30, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/10939.