Keri Hulme
Keri Hulme (born
March 9,
1947) is a
New Zealand writer, best known for her debut (and to this point, only) novel,
the bone people.
Hulme was born in
Christchurch (
Ōtautahi in
Māori), in New Zealand's
South Island. The daughter of
John W., a carpenter and businessman, and
Mere, a credit manager, she was the eldest of six children. They were of English, Scottish, and Māori descent. Hulme studied at North New Brighton Primary School and Aranui High School. Her father passed away when she was eleven. Some of her childhood is reflected in the story
Okatiro and Moeraki in
Te Whenua, Te Iwi/The Land and The People (1987) and in
Homeplaces: Three Coasts of the South Island of New Zealand (1989). She went to work as a tobacco picker in
Motueka after leaving school. Hulme began studying for an honours law degree at
University of Canterbury in 1967, but left after four terms, returning to tobacco picking. By 1972, she decided to begin writing full-time, but, despite family support, was forced to go back to work nine months later. She continued writing, some of her work appearing under the pseudonym
Kai Tainui. All this while, she continued working on what would ultimately be published, in February 1984, as
the bone people. The novel, returned by several publishers before being accepted by
The Spiral Collective, went on to win the 1984 New Zealand Book Award for Fiction and the
Booker Prize in 1985.
She was a writer in residence at
Otago University in 1978, and at the
University of Canterbury in 1985.
Lost Possessions, a collection of poetry, was published in 1985.
Te Kaihau: The Windeater, a collection of short stories, followed in 1986.
Strands, another collection of poems, was published in 1992. She is currently working on
Bait and
On the Shadow Side, works she calls twinned novels.
She lives in
Okarito, in
Westland, New Zealand. Hulme has been the Patron of the
Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand since
1996.
*
New Zealand literature*
Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand*
Hulme works on conservation of Okarito's coast*
Archived summary of Los Angeles Times book review in August 2005
*
The University of Auckland Library's bibliography of Keri Hulme's work and associated book reviews, as of October 2005.
