Beryl Fletcher
Hamilton City Libraries has launched a new archive collection of literary papers from acclaimed feminist author Beryl Fletcher, who was based in Kirikiriroa Hamilton from the 1970s until her passing in 2018. Beryl Fletcher (1938-2018) was born in Auckland and always aimed to be a fiction writer. She was passionate about social justice, feminism, and compassion and these values are explored in her numerous works.
Beryl came late to her career as a writer. Her first novel, The Word Burners, the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1992 for the best first book published in South-East Asia and the South Pacific. She subsequently published further novels, a novella, a memoir and numerous short stories and blog posts. Fletcher was a Writer in Residence at the University of Iowa in 1994, the University of Waikato in 1999, at Ledig House in 2005, at Randell Cottage in 2006 and wrote book reviews for the Waikato Times.
The archive collection is the result of over 6 years of collaboration between Beryl’s good friend Kate Abel and our Reference and Archives team. The collection comprises 401 items and includes draft manuscripts, research notes, photographs, and correspondence: with publishers, literary friends, readers and covering writing residencies and literary events.
Fletcher’s personality, verve, and thirst for knowledge shine throughout her manuscripts, correspondence, and research notes. Her touching literary friendships are highlighted in the correspondence and photographs, particularly with her fellow members in the Broomsbury writing group.
The manuscripts and correspondence show Fletcher’s awareness of and involvement with feminist issues, cybertechnology and her willingness to tackle controversial issues. Fletcher embraced changing technology as evidenced through her change from using typewriters and posting letters to purchasing an IBM computer and sending emails through to having her own website, e-books and blogposts and helping other authors on their online journeys.
The collection also allows readers insights into the literary and publishing scenes of New Zealand and Australia, through Fletcher’s correspondence with her publishers Daphne Brasell & Associates and Spinifex Press and her literary friends. Fletcher attended book festivals in New Zealand and Australia and taught summer school classes in Germany. These contacts, along with those made in her residencies, involved her in an international correspondence on literary and publishing matters.
The collection is available to search on Heritage Collections Online. Contact the Whakaputu team at heritage@hcc.got.nz to view an item in person or to request a digital copy.