Barbara Lillias Romaine Anderson, Lady Anderson (, 14 April 1926 – 24 March 2013) was a New Zealand fiction writer who became internationally recognised and a best-selling author after her first book was published in her sixties.

Career

Born Barbara Lillias Romaine Wright in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, she was educated at 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 ...

where she graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in 1947. In 1951, she married Neil Anderson, a

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

officer later to become Chief of New Zealand Defence Staff. They had two sons. After a career as a medical technologist and as a teacher, she went back to university in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, where she graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 1984. Anderson took Bill Manhire's creative writing course at Victoria University in 1983, after which she began her writing career. Her short stories were published in journals and magazines such as ''Landfall'', ''Sport'' and the ''

New Zealand Listener The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...

''. Her first book was a collection of short stories, ''I Think We Should Go Into the Jungle''. Her third book, the novel ''Portrait of the Artist's Wife'' (1992), received first prize at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards in 1992. It was a bestseller and received critical acclaim in New Zealand and overseas. Her husband was knighted in 1982, and she was subsequently styled Lady Anderson. In 2009 she was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Literature Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

from the

, and in 2011 she received the prestigious Arts Foundation Icon Award. She died in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 24 March 2013.NZ author Barbara Anderson dies , 3news.co.nz
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Works

* ''I Think We Should Go Into the Jungle : Short Stories''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1989; London: Secker & Warburg, 1993. * ''Girls' High''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1990, 1999; London: Secker & Warburg, 1991. * ''Portrait of the Artist's Wife''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1992; London: Secker & Warburg, 1992; New York: Norton, 1993; London: Minerva, 1993. * ''All the Nice Girls''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1993, 1999; London: Cape, 1994; London: Vintage, 1995. * ''The House Guest''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1995; London: Cape, 1995; London: Vintage, 1997. * ''Proud Garments''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1996. * ''The Peacocks : and Other Stories''. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1997. * ''Glorious things, and other stories''. London: Cape, 1999. * ''Long Hot Summer''. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1999; London: Cape, 2000. * ''The Swing Around''. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2001. * ''Getting There: An Autobiography'', 2008

References

External links

Biography and links
on Read NZ Te Pou Muramura {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Barbara 1926 births 2013 deaths New Zealand women novelists University of Otago alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni People from Hastings, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand novelists 20th-century New Zealand women writers

Career

Works

See also

References

External links