Fiona Farrell (born 1947) is a New Zealand poet, fiction and non-fiction writer and playwright.

Early years and education

Farrell was born and raised in

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

, in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. She attended Waitaki Girls' High School, then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in 1968. Farrell moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in the United Kingdom with her husband after graduating and was enrolled at the University of London in art history. She and her husband then moved to Canada where Farrell graduated Master of Arts (1973) and MPhil in drama (1976) at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. She worked as a drama lecturer at the Palmerston North Teachers' College and lived in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

from 1976 to 1991 where she began her writing career creating plays with New Zealand content for her students.

Career

Farrell has held numerous residencies and been recognised for her writing in many ways, including at the

New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

where she has been a finalist in all three categories, for fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her first novel, ''The Skinny Louie Book'', won the fiction award in 1993, and three subsequent novels have been shortlisted for the award. Four have been nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. Two works of non-fiction, ''The Broken Book'' (2011) and ''The Villa at the Edge of the Empire'' (2015), a study of the impact of the earthquakes of 2010-2011 on her then home town, Christchurch, were shortlisted for the non-fiction award. Her poetry collection, ''The Pop-Up Book of Invasions'', written while she held a writing residency in Donoughmore, Ireland, was a finalist in the poetry section at the 2008 NZ Book Awards. She has been a frequent guest at festivals throughout New Zealand and abroad, including Adelaide, Vancouver, Salisbury UK and Edinburgh. Between 1992 and 2017, she lived with her husband, Doug Hood, at Otanerito, a remote bay on

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula () is a rocky peninsula on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand that was formed by two now-extinct volcanoes. It has an area of approximately . It includes two large deep-water harbours — Lyttelton Harbour a ...

, where their home was one of the accommodation points on the Banks Peninsula Track. Farrell has two daughters. She is now based in Dunedin.

Awards and honours

Farrell has won several awards for short fiction, including the Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award and the American Express Award. *1983 inaugural Bruce Mason Playwriting Award *1990 The Perils of Pauline Smith' (1990) won the Mobil Award for Best Radio Drama *1991–1992 Canterbury University Writer in Residence *'Chook Chook' (1992) remains one of Playmarket's most frequently requested scripts *1993 ''The Skinny Louie Book'' (Penguin, 1992) won the 1993 New Zealand Book Award for Fiction *1995 recipient of the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship *2003, 2005 ''The Hopeful Traveller'' (Random House, 2002) and ''Book Book'' (Random House, 2004) were runners-up at the

Montana New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

in 2003 and 2005 respectively, and were also nominated for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards 2003 and 2005. *2006 Rathcoola Residency in Donoughmore, Ireland *2007

Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement is a List of New Zealand literary awards, New Zealand literary award established in 2003 by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand), the national arts development agenc ...

worth $60,000. *2008 ''The Pop-Up Book of Invasions'' (Auckland University Press, 2007) was runner-up in the poetry category at the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. *2009 ''Mr Allbones' Ferrets'' (Random House, 2007) was nominated for the 2009 Dublin IMPAC Award *2010 Finalist in the 2010 New Zealand Book Awards in the Fiction category for her novel, ''Limestone'' (Random House, 2009) *2011 Robert Burns Fellow *2012 Appointed

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to literature, in the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours *2013 Awarded the $100,000 Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship to research and write twin books, one fiction and one non-fiction, inspired by her experiences of the Christchurch earthquakes *2016 ''The Villa at the Edge of the Empire: One Hundred Ways to Read a City'' was a finalist for the Non-Fiction section of the 2016

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

. *2022 Fellow of the Academy of New Zealand Literature

Bibliography

Novels: * ''The Skinny Louie Book'' (Penguin, 1992) * ''Six Clever Girls Who Became Famous Women'' (Penguin, 1996) * ''The Hopeful Traveller'' (Vintage, 2002) * ''Book Book'' (Vintage, 2004) * ''Mr Allbones' Ferrets'' (Vintage, 2007; Thomas Dunne Books, 2009) * ''Limestone'' (Vintage, 2009) * ''Decline and Fall on Savage Street'' (Penguin Random House, 2017) * ''The Deck'' (Penguin Random House, 2023) Poetry: * ''Cutting Out'' (Auckland University Press, 1987) * ''The Inhabited Initial'' (Auckland University Press, 1999) * ''The Pop-Up Book of Invasions'' (Auckland University Press, 2007) * ''Nouns, verbs, etc. (selected poems)'' (Otago University Press, 2020) Short Stories: * ''The Rock Garden'' (Auckland University Press, 1989) * ''Light Readings'' (Vintage, 2001) Non-fiction: * ''The Quake Year'' (with photographer Juliet Nicholas; Canterbury University Press, 2012) * ''The Villa at the Edge of the Empire'' (Vintage, 2015) Essays and poetry: * ''The Broken Book'' (Auckland University Press, 2011) Plays include: *''Chook Chook'' (Playmarket) *''In Confidence: Dialogues with Amy Bock'' (Playmarket). Devised for the WSA Conference at Massey University, 1982. Premiered at BATS Theatre. *''Waihi, 1912'' (Playmarket) *''Snap!'' Adapted from Dame Ngaio Marsh’s novel ''Photo Finish.''

References

External links