Author(s): Mary Edmond-Paul

Language

Robin Hyde, journalist, poet, novelist, war correspondent (from China, in 1938) and committed political figure, was central to the movements and debates of a volatile period in New Zealand society. As a writer Hyde was not afraid to draw on her own experience of the dangers of new-found freedoms for women. This first critical study of the diverse writings of Robin Hyde includes new information on her life and work and studies that enlarge our understanding of a courageous yet vulnerable figure and the vitality, richness and wit of her writing. Contents: Chronology Introduction: How the woman's isle got its name; 1 An island over the edge of the world: Robin Hyde's Wednesday's Children Michelle Elleray, Guelph; 2 Running ever out of reach: carnival and fantasy on Wednesday's island Renata Casertano, Italy; 3 No alternative: Robin Hyde and the politics of loss Nadine Attewell, Cornell; 4 Violence and the Psychology of Recklessness: Robin Hyde's Passport to Hell Alex Calder, Auckland; 5 Other pastures: death, fantasy and the Gothic in Robin Hyde's short stories Alison Jeffries, Auckland; 6 China, imagined and actual in Robin Hyde's The Godwits Fly Diana Bridges, Wellington; 7 Thoroughly Modern Malory Megan Clayton, Canterbury NZ; 8 Archival Poetics: Michele Leggott reads Robin Hyde Susan Ash, Edith Cowan, Perth; 9 When Iris met Eve: An Australasian friendship Brigid Magner, RMIT; 10 Angel-guarded liar in a pleasant, quiet room Alison Hunt; 11 Hyde's parliamentary reports: journalism and initiation Nikki Hessell, Massey; 12 Interviews with a ghost Jolisa Gracewood, New York; Contributors; Notes; Bibliography; Index