In the early 1980s novelist Janet Frame (New Zealander of the Year in 1957) switched from writing fiction to autobiography.
The first volume of her three-part life story, To the is-land, was published to critical acclaim and introduced her to a wider audience.
In the Listener, reviewer Vincent O'Sullivan said the work charted the constant play between two forces.
"On one side there is poverty, failed aspirations, death and the daily fare of physical shame, the simple lines of childhood gradually blurring and changing ground.
"On the other side is her mind growing in confidence to call its own tune."
