Novelist Keri Hulme, an icon of New Zealand literature and the first Kiwi to win the Booker Prize, has died.
The West Coast writer and poet died just before noon on Monday at her home in Waimate, South Canterbury, at the age of 74.
Hulme’s nephew, Matthew Salmons, said that despite her success, she never sought fame or adoration.
“There were stories of her being this literary giant,” he told Stuff. “It wasn’t really something that she discussed.
“It was never about fame for her, she’s always been a storyteller. It was never about the glitz and glam, she just had stories to share.”
Salmons said the family had spent Monday night reminiscing about Hulme and what she meant to them as they came to terms with her death and the loss of a “special person”.
“She gave us as a family, the greatest gift of all which would be reconnecting us with our Whakapapa Māori and reigniting that passion for our history, our people that had been lost over a couple of generations.
“She was a special daughter, sister, aunt and friend to many people.”
Hulme collected the Booker accolade – one of the most prestigious awards in literature – in 1985 for her novel The Bone People, but rated her chances of winning as being so poor that she didn’t attend the London awards ceremony.
The novel tells the story of Kerewin Holmes, an elusive artist trying to escape her past.
But despite going on to win widespread critical acclaim, the manuscript was turned down by many New Zealand publishers.
Speaking in 2014, Hulme described how she shopped it around for 12 yearsbefore it was eventually published by Spiral in 1984.
It went on to sell more than a million copies and has been translated into nine languages.
Christchurch historian Bruce Harding met Hulme in 1987, and the pair remained firm friends for almost 35 years.
He described her as a “peaceful, quiet person of firm conviction”, who helped “put New Zealand on the global literary map”.
“She was a bridge builder between Māori and Pākehā at a really important time in New Zealand history,” he said.
“The Bone People was published in 1984, that was the year Sir Robert Muldoon’s three-term National government were ousted by David Lange, and I think the book encapsulates a vision of a bi-cultural New Zealand.
“She could see a new type of people being forged, a fusion of cultures.”
Hulme modestly referred to The Bone People as “an apprentice work”, but it was also “confronting” for some Kiwis, Harding said.
“The core of the novel, which caused some people a lot of disquiet, was that it described extreme violence against a child,” he said.
“It was the detail and the angst and the incredible way that she could capture emotional states in the book that were probably very confronting.”
Born in Christchurch in 1947, Hulme was the eldest of six children. Her mother was Māori, while her father was of British heritage.
She attended North New Brighton Primary School and Aranui High School in Christchurch, and during a summer picking hops in Motueka had a dream about a child, who many years later became the basis of a key character in The Bone People.
Hulme started a law degree at University of Canterbury but after four terms decided it wasn’t for her, and began voluntary work with the St Vincent de Paul Society, a Catholic organisation helping the poor.
She spent much of her life in the tiny South Island settlement of Ōkārito, where she wrote, painted and caught whitebait.
Despite her fame, Hulme lived a quiet life, only occasionally responding to requests for interviews.
In 2004, she agreed to allow a reporter to her home on the strict conditions that she would not discuss her house or her health. The questions had to be sent ahead by email or fax.
Despite sometimes described as being reclusive, Salmons said family was very important to her, particularly her mother, with whom she was very close.
“She took nan all around the world. Nan was the first one to read through The Bone People.”
Salmons said being around Hulme was “an adventure”.
“She’s been an incredibly wonderful part of our lives.”
