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{{short description|New Zealand poet, publisher and editor (1942–2017)}}
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{{EngvarB|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{for|the Canadian politician|Heather McPherson (politician)}}
{{for|the Canadian politician|Heather McPherson (politician)}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2021}}
'''Heather Avis McPherson''' (28 May 1942 – 10 January 2017)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://notices.nzherald.co.nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?pid=183573785|title=Obituary in The New Zealand Herald}}</ref> was a poet and lesbian feminist who played a key role in supporting women artists and writers in New Zealand.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Women's Picture Book: 25 women artists of Aotearoa (New Zealand)|last=ed. Marian Evans|first=|last2=Bridie Lonie|last3=Tilly Lloyd|publisher=GP Books|year=1988|isbn=9780477013956|location=Wellington|pages=35-47}}</ref> A publisher and editor, who in 1976 founded ''Spiral,'' a women's arts and literary journal that later published monographs, she was also a single mother.
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Heather McPherson
| image =
| alt = A woman with long hair and glasses sits at a table, cigarette in one hand, looking up from her editing. Text reads "Heather McPherson edited and introduced by Emer Lyons" at the top corner, "i do not cede" at the bottom corner.
| caption = Cover image for ''i do not cede'' (2022)
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|05|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Tauranga]], New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|01|10|1942|05|28|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], New Zealand
| resting_place =
| occupation = {{Cslist|Poet|publisher|editor}}
| nationality = New Zealand
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre = <!-- or: | genres = -->
| subject = <!-- or: | subjects = -->
| movement = [[Lesbian feminism]]
| notable_works = ''A Figurehead: A Face'' (1982)
| spouse = <!-- or: | spouses = -->
| partner = <!-- or: | partners = -->
| children = 1
| relatives =
| awards =
}}


'''Heather Avis McPherson''' (28 May 1942 – 10 January 2017) was a feminist poet, publisher and editor who played a key role in supporting women artists and writers in New Zealand. In 1976, she founded the [[Spiral (publisher)|Spiral Collective]] group and ''Spiral,'' a women's arts and literary journal that later published monographs. Her poetry book ''A Figurehead: A Face'' (1982) was the first book of poetry published in New Zealand by an openly lesbian woman. She published three further collections during her lifetime, and an additional two collections were published posthumously by fellow Spiral members.
Her influential literary and visual arts activism was inspired by an all-male poets’ evening at the 1973 Christchurch Festival, where she observed ‘twenty young men getting up on the stage one after another’.


== Career ==
== Career ==
Born in [[Tauranga]], McPherson initially trained as a primary school teacher in the early 1960s.<ref name="OCNZL">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=McLeod |first1=Aorewa |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=McPherson, Heather |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-737 |access-date=12 September 2021 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> She subsequently studied at the [[University of Canterbury]], where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1971,<ref name="OCNZL"/> and at the [[University of Auckland]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.junctures.org/index.php/junctures/article/view/209/291|title=Author Biographies; Junctures No. 14 (2011)}}</ref> Her poetry first appeared in print in 1963,<ref name=":3" /> with her early work being published in New Zealand journals like [[Landfall (journal)|''Landfall'']].<ref name="OCNZL"/>
Born in [[Tauranga]], McPherson studied at the [[University of Auckland]] and [[Canterbury University]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.junctures.org/index.php/junctures/article/view/209/291|title=Author Biographies; Junctures No. 14 (2011)}}</ref> McPherson's poetry first appeared in print in 1963,<ref name=":3" /> and she went on to publish five collections of poetry. In 1974, McPherson started one of New Zealand's first women's artist collectives, the Women Artists Group in Christchurch, and from this co-founded the first New Zealand women's art journal, ''Spiral''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://poetryarchivenz.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/poetry-notes-summer-2017.pdf|title=Heather McPherson: Obituary by Micheal O'Leary, Poetry Notes, Summer 2017|website=Poetry Archive NZ}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/in-the-beginning-there-was-heather-d2ebbf4dd63c|title=In the beginning there was Heather|last=Evans|first=Marian|date=30 May 2016|website=Medium – Spiral Collectives}}</ref> ''Spiral'' provided a forum for female artists and writers to publish their work, during a time in which female artists struggled to be recognised in New Zealand.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/handle/10063/1652?show=full|title=Social and Literary Constraints on Women Writers in New Zealand 1945–1970|last=O'Leary|first=Michael|publisher=PhD Thesis Victoria University of Wellington|year=2011|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref> McPherson herself said, "''I worked with the material we received–that it didn't reflect our own reality didn't bother me too much, it was the idea of women working together positively, that was the aim, and the amalgam of arts – photographers as well as poets, writers, painters etc.''"<ref name=":2" /> The journal was first published in 1976 and was a collective effort from the outset, with the Spiral Collective established to produce the publication.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> The first four issues were published by McPherson and the Christchurch collective (1976–79), issue five was published by a Wellington collective, issue six by a Tauranga collective, and issue seven by a national collective.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/spiral-7a36f618b9a0|title=Spiral|last=McPherson|first=Heather|year=2016|website=Spiral Collectives}}</ref> ''Spiral'' also became a floating imprint used by these autonomous groups to publish other books by New Zealand women, including McPherson's debut poetry book, ''A figurehead: a face'' (Spiral, 1982), which was the first New Zealand poetry collection by an out lesbian,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/heather-mcpherson-1942-2017-48ff53350007|title=Heather McPherson 1942–2017|last=Evans|first=Marian|year=2017}}</ref> [[Keri Hulme]]'s Booker Prize-winning novel ''[[The Bone People]]'' (1984), ''The House of the Talking Cat by'' [[Jacqueline Sturm|J C Sturm]] (Jacquie Baxter, 1983), and ''Drawing Together'' by [[Janet Charman]], Marina Bachmann and Sue Fitchett (1985).<ref name=":0" /> Artists and writers who were associated with the Women Artists Group initiatives and the Spiral Collectives included Joanna Margaret Paul, Marian Evans, [[Allie Eagle]], Bridie Lonie, and Anna Keir, all prominent figures in the [[timeline of the feminist art movement in New Zealand]]. In 1980, McPherson was involved in the opening show at the Women's Gallery in Wellington (another first for New Zealand), where she worked as a co-ordinator.<ref name=":2" /> Her poem, ''Have You Heard of Artemisia?''<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse|last=ed. Ian Wedde|first=|last2=Harvey McQueen|publisher=Penguin|year=1985|isbn=|location=|pages=448-449}}</ref> was painted on the 1981 Matariki Mural on the outside wall of the gallery on Harris Street.<ref name=":2" />

Her influential literary and visual arts activism was inspired by an all-male poets' evening at the 1973 Christchurch Festival, where she observed "twenty young men getting up on the stage one after another".<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> In later years, she said that in the early 1970s she approached [[Leo Bensemann]], then the editor of ''Landfall'', to see if he would be willing to publish a collection of her works; when she mentioned she had become a feminist, he responded that [[Rita Angus]] had also become a feminist "but it didn't do her any good either".<ref name="O'Leary">{{cite journal |last1=O'Leary |first1=Michael |title=Heather McPherson: An Obituary by Michael O'Leary |journal=Poetry Notes |date=Summer 2017 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=1–3 |url=https://poetryarchivenz.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/poetry-notes-summer-2017.pdf |access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref> It was not long after, in 1974, that she founded one of New Zealand's first women's artist collectives, the Women Artists Group in Christchurch, with other members including Paulette Barr, [[Allie Eagle]] (also known as Alison Mitchell) and Kathryn Algie.<ref name="Evans WT">{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Marian |title=Spiral 1975 – |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/women-together/spiral |website=New Zealand History |publisher=Manatū Taonga, Ministry for Culture and Heritage |access-date=3 July 2021 |date=2019}}</ref> This group co-founded the first New Zealand women's art journal, ''Spiral'' and the women artist's collective [[Spiral Collective|Spiral]].<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="Beginning">{{Cite web|url=https://poetryarchivenz.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/poetry-notes-summer-2017.pdf|title=Heather McPherson: Obituary by Micheal O'Leary, Poetry Notes, Summer 2017|website=Poetry Archive NZ}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/in-the-beginning-there-was-heather-d2ebbf4dd63c|title=In the beginning there was Heather|last=Evans|first=Marian|date=30 May 2016|website=Medium – Spiral Collectives}}</ref>

''Spiral'' provided a forum for female artists and writers to publish their work, during a time in which female artists struggled to be recognised in New Zealand.<ref name="Beginning"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Women's Picture Book: 25 women artists of Aotearoa (New Zealand)|editor-last1=Evans|editor-first1=Marian|editor-last2=Lonie|editor-first2=Bridie|editor-last3=Lloyd|editor-first3=Tilly|publisher=GP Books|year=1988|isbn=9780477013956|location=Wellington|pages=35–47}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/handle/10063/1652?show=full|title=Social and Literary Constraints on Women Writers in New Zealand 1945–1970|last=O'Leary|first=Michael|publisher=PhD Thesis Victoria University of Wellington|year=2011}}</ref> McPherson herself said, "I worked with the material we received–that it didn't reflect our own reality didn't bother me too much, it was the idea of women working together positively, that was the aim, and the amalgam of arts – photographers as well as poets, writers, painters etc."<ref name=":2" /> The journal was first published in 1976 through the efforts of the Spiral Collective, which was to become a floating [[Imprint (trade name)|imprint]] used by different feminist groups.<ref name="Evans WT"/><ref name="Beginning"/><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> The first four issues were published by McPherson and the Christchurch collective (1976–79), issue five was published by a Wellington collective, issue six by a Tauranga collective, and issue seven by a national collective.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/spiral-7a36f618b9a0|title=Spiral|last=McPherson|first=Heather|year=2016|website=Spiral Collectives}}</ref> A letter published in an early issue suggested that work should be accepted on merit rather than limited to work by women only; in response, McPherson said she supported [[positive discrimination]] for women and noted the barriers faced by women to publication in most magazines.<ref name="Collard">{{cite journal |last1=Collard |first1=Judith |title=Spiral Women: Locating Lesbian Activism in New Zealand Feminist Art, 1975-1992 |journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality |date=May 2006 |volume=15 |issue=2 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629655 |access-date=3 July 2021 |publisher=University of Texas Press|pages=292–320|doi=10.1353/sex.2007.0002 |jstor=4629655 |pmid=19235282 |s2cid=35342439 }}</ref>

''Spiral'' also became an [[Imprint (trade name)|imprint]] used by different feminist groups to publish other books by New Zealand women, including McPherson's debut poetry collection, ''A Figurehead: A Face'' (Spiral, 1982), which was the first New Zealand poetry collection by an [[coming out|out]] lesbian.<ref name="Melodrama">{{cite journal |last1=Lyons |first1=Emer |title=The Melodrama of Heather McPherson's 'for her thirtysixth year, a breakout' |journal=Journal of New Zealand Literature |date=2019 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=144–158 |jstor=26816903 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26816903 |access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/heather-mcpherson-1942-2017-48ff53350007|title=Heather McPherson 1942–2017|last=Evans|first=Marian|year=2017}}</ref> In her introduction to the collection McPherson noted that since the 1970s she had sought "to make a new start, to clear out the 'patriarchy in the head'", and on other hand to "redefine such emotionally charged concepts as 'woman' and 'lesbian' with their pejorative accretions".<ref name="Melodrama"/> Other works published by Spiral included [[Keri Hulme]]'s Booker Prize-winning novel ''[[The Bone People]]'' (1984), ''The House of the Talking Cat by'' [[Jacquie Sturm|J C Sturm]] (Jacquie Baxter, 1983), and ''Drawing Together'' by [[Janet Charman]], Marina Bachmann and Sue Fitchett (1985).<ref name=":0" /> Artists and writers who were associated with the Women Artists Group initiatives and the Spiral Collectives included Joanna Margaret Paul, Marian Evans, [[Allie Eagle]], [[Bridie Lonie]], and Anna Keir, all prominent figures in the women's art movement in New Zealand.

In 1980, McPherson was involved in the opening show at the [[Women's Gallery]] in Wellington, where she worked as a co-ordinator.<ref name=":2" /> Her poem, ''Have You Heard of Artemisia?''<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse|editor1-last=Wedde |editor1-first=Ian |editor2-first=Harvey |editor2-last=McQueen|publisher=Penguin|year=1985|pages=448–449}}</ref> was painted on the 1981 Matariki Mural on the outside wall of the gallery on Harris Street.<ref name=":2" /> In 1986, she attended the second International Feminist Book Fair in [[Oslo]] with other Spiral members.<ref name="Beginning"/> She was a supporter of and advisor to the Spiral video project ''Getting Free'' (1997 to 2009), led by Marian Evans and Bridie Lonie.<ref name="Beginning"/><ref name="Evans WT"/>

After ''A Figurehead: A Face'', McPherson published three further collections of poetry in her lifetime. Her poetry was described by [[Aorewa McLeod]] in ''The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature'' as "strongly feminist, combining myth with the implications of being a woman and a lesbian in New Zealand", and featuring "a distinctive witty intelligence together with a sensitive and lyrical voice".<ref name="OCNZL"/>

==Personal life and legacy==
McPherson was a single mother and grandmother, and in her early career worked various "survival jobs" such as fruit picking and school bus driving in order to support her family.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name=":3"/> In her obituary, [[Michael O'Leary (writer)|Michael O'Leary]] said that family "was also a big part of her life as well as writing and she was very involved with her grandchildren".<ref name="O'Leary"/> She identified as a lesbian feminist and as a part of the [[women's liberation movement]].<ref name="Melodrama"/><ref name="Collard"/>

She died in [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]] on 10 January 2017.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Heather Avis McPHERSON |url=https://notices.nzherald.co.nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?pid=183573785 |access-date=12 September 2021 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=13 January 2017}}</ref> After her death, in early 2018, a collective of Spiral members Janet Charman, Lynne Ciochetto and Marian Evans published a collection of poetry by McPherson, called ''This Joyous, Chaotic Place: Garden Poems'', as part of an exhibition called "This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu" at Mokopōpaki, an Auckland dealer gallery with Māori values at its centre.<ref name="Evans WT"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dale |first1=Judith |title=the bone people: (Not) Having It Both Ways |journal=Landfall |date=1985 |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=413–427 |url=http://www.landfallarchive.org/omeka/items/show/26954 |access-date=3 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="Exhibition">{{cite web |title=This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi–ā–Tahu |url=https://gallery.mokopopaki.co.nz/tagged/thisjoyouschaoticplace |website=Mokopōpaki |date=7 May 2020 |access-date=3 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="Gardens">{{cite journal |last1=Lyons |first1=Emer |title=Gardens and Gloom |journal=Landfall Review Online |date=1 December 2018 |url=https://landfallreview.com/gardens-and-gloom/ |access-date=3 July 2021}}</ref> The event included the screening of an interview of McPherson in 1980,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Marian |title=J. C. Sturm |url=https://medium.com/spiral-collectives/jacquie-sturm-1980-2bae61cae4fb |website=Spiral Collectives |access-date=3 July 2021 |date=13 March 2019}}</ref> and was a project that formed part of the celebrations in New Zealand marking 125 years since [[women's suffrage in New Zealand|women's suffrage]].<ref name="Evans WT"/> The collection featured what McPherson called her "garden poems", inspired by her visits to the graveside of early New Zealand poet [[Ursula Bethell]].<ref name="Gardens"/>


== Works==
== Works==
=== Poetry books ===
=== Poetry books ===
Source: National Library of NZ<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/items?i%5Bcategory%5D=Books&text=Heather+McPherson|title=National Library of New Zealand: Heather McPherson}}</ref>
Source: National Library of NZ<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/items?i%5Bcategory%5D=Books&text=Heather+McPherson|title=Heather McPherson |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref>
* ''This Joyous Chaotic Place: Garden Poems'', Spiral, Wellington, 2018
* ''i do not cede'', edited and with an introduction by Emer Lyons (eBook), Spiral, Wellington, 2022
⚫
* ''This Joyous Chaotic Place: Garden Poems'', Spiral, Wellington, 2018
* ''Travel and other compulsions'', Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Paekakariki, 2004
* ''Travel and Other Compulsions'', Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Paekakariki, 2004
* ''Other world relations'', Old Bags, Wellington, 1991
* ''The third myth'', Tauranga Moana Press, Tauranga, 1986
* ''Other World Relations'', Old Bags, Wellington, 1991
* ''A figurehead: a face'', Spiral, Wellington, 1982
* ''The Third Myth'', Tauranga Moana Press, Tauranga, 1986
* ''A Figurehead: a Face'', Spiral, Wellington, 1982


=== Exhibition===
=== Exhibition<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mokopōpaki|url=https://gallery.mokopopaki.co.nz/tagged/thisjoyouschaoticplace?og=1|access-date=2020-08-04|website=gallery.mokopopaki.co.nz}}</ref> ===
''This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu'' Mokopōpaki, 2018<ref name="Exhibition"/>
Source: Mokopōpaki and Art New Zealand

⚫
''This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu'' Mokopōpaki, 2018


=== Anthologies ===
=== Anthologies ===
Sources: National Library of NZ and Aotearoa Poetry Sound Archive<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aonzpsa.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/mcpherson-heather.html|title=Heather McPherson: Aotearoa NZ Poetry Sound Archive (2004)|last=Ross|first=Jack}}</ref>
Sources: National Library of NZ and Aotearoa Poetry Sound Archive<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aonzpsa.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/mcpherson-heather.html|title=Heather McPherson: Aotearoa NZ Poetry Sound Archive (2004)|last=Ross|first=Jack|date=19 November 2007 }}</ref>
* ''This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-āTahu'' (with texts from Allie Eagle, Dr P (Cushla Parekowhai), Heather McPherson, Margery Blackman, M (Marian Evans), Tiffany Thornley), Mokopōpaki & Spiral, 2019
* ''This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-āTahu'' (with texts from Allie Eagle, Dr P (Cushla Parekowhai), Heather McPherson, Margery Blackman, M (Marian Evans), Tiffany Thornley), Mokopōpaki & Spiral, 2019
* ''Manifesto Aotearoa'' ed. Philip Temple & Emma Neale, Otago University Press, Dunedin, 2017
* ''Manifesto Aotearoa'' ed. Philip Temple & Emma Neale, Otago University Press, Dunedin, 2017
* ''Live Lines IV'' ed. Miriam Barr, Rachael Naomi Heimann, Penny Sommervaile, Jeremy Roberts, Poetry Live, Auckland, 2011
* ''Live Lines IV'' ed. Miriam Barr, Rachael Naomi Heimann, Penny Sommervaile, Jeremy Roberts, Poetry Live, Auckland, 2011
*''Remember us: women who love women, from Sappho to liberation'' ed. Miriam Saphira, Heather McPherson & Fran Marno, Charlotte Museum Trust, New Zealand, 2008
*''Remember us: women who love women, from Sappho to liberation'' ed. [[Miriam Saphira]], Heather McPherson & Fran Marno, Charlotte Museum Trust, New Zealand, 2008
*''Big Smoke: New Zealand Poems 1960–75'' ed. Michele Leggott Murray Edmond, Alan Brunton, Auckland University Press, Auckland 2000
*''Big Smoke: New Zealand Poems 1960–75'' ed. Michele Leggott Murray Edmond, Alan Brunton, Auckland University Press, Auckland 2000
*''Eat These Sweet Words'', ed. Sue Fitchett, [[Marewa Glover]], Cary McDermott & Rhona Vickoce, Giant Publishing Press, Christchurch 1999
*''Eat These Sweet Words'', ed. Sue Fitchett, [[Marewa Glover]], Cary McDermott & Rhona Vickoce, Giant Publishing Press, Christchurch 1999
Line 36: Line 76:
*''Kiwi and Emu: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by Australian and New Zealand Women'', ed. Barbara Petrie, Butterfly, 1989
*''Kiwi and Emu: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by Australian and New Zealand Women'', ed. Barbara Petrie, Butterfly, 1989
*''The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry'', ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde, 1989
*''The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry'', ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde, 1989
*''A Women's Picture Book: 25 Women Artists of Aotearoa New Zealand'' ed. Marian Evans, Bridie Lonie, Tllly Lloyd, Government Print, Wellington, 1988
*''A Women's Picture Book: 25 Women Artists of Aotearoa New Zealand'' ed. Marian Evans, Bridie Lonie, Tilly Lloyd, Government Print, Wellington, 1988
*''Yellow Pencils: Contemporary Poetry by New Zealand Women'', chosen by Lydia Wevers, OUP, 1988
*''Yellow Pencils: Contemporary Poetry by New Zealand Women'', chosen by Lydia Wevers, OUP, 1988
*''The New Poets of the ‘80s'', ed. Murray Edmond & Mary Paul, Allen & Unwin, 1987
*''The New Poets of the ‘80s'', ed. Murray Edmond & Mary Paul, Allen & Unwin, 1987
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{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McPherson, Heather}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McPherson, Heather}}
[[Category:New Zealand feminists]]
[[Category:New Zealand feminists]]
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[[Category:University of Auckland alumni]]
[[Category:University of Auckland alumni]]
[[Category:University of Canterbury alumni]]
[[Category:University of Canterbury alumni]]
[[Category:LGBT people from New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:New Zealand editors]]
[[Category:New Zealand editors]]
[[Category:New Zealand women editors]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand poets]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand poets]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand writers]]

Latest revision as of 14:19, 25 November 2024

For the Canadian politician, see Heather McPherson (politician).

Heather McPherson
Born(1942-05-28)28 May 1942
Tauranga, New Zealand
Died10 January 2017(2017-01-10) (aged 74)
Hamilton, New Zealand
Occupation
  • Poet
  • publisher
  • editor
NationalityNew Zealand
Literary movementLesbian feminism
Notable worksA Figurehead: A Face (1982)
Children1

Heather Avis McPherson (28 May 1942 – 10 January 2017) was a feminist poet, publisher and editor who played a key role in supporting women artists and writers in New Zealand. In 1976, she founded the Spiral Collective group and Spiral, a women's arts and literary journal that later published monographs. Her poetry book A Figurehead: A Face (1982) was the first book of poetry published in New Zealand by an openly lesbian woman. She published three further collections during her lifetime, and an additional two collections were published posthumously by fellow Spiral members.

Career

[edit]

Born in Tauranga, McPherson initially trained as a primary school teacher in the early 1960s.[1] She subsequently studied at the University of Canterbury, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1971,[1] and at the University of Auckland.[2] Her poetry first appeared in print in 1963,[2] with her early work being published in New Zealand journals like Landfall.[1]

Her influential literary and visual arts activism was inspired by an all-male poets' evening at the 1973 Christchurch Festival, where she observed "twenty young men getting up on the stage one after another".[3][4] In later years, she said that in the early 1970s she approached Leo Bensemann, then the editor of Landfall, to see if he would be willing to publish a collection of her works; when she mentioned she had become a feminist, he responded that Rita Angus had also become a feminist "but it didn't do her any good either".[5] It was not long after, in 1974, that she founded one of New Zealand's first women's artist collectives, the Women Artists Group in Christchurch, with other members including Paulette Barr, Allie Eagle (also known as Alison Mitchell) and Kathryn Algie.[6] This group co-founded the first New Zealand women's art journal, Spiral and the women artist's collective Spiral.[1][7][3]

Spiral provided a forum for female artists and writers to publish their work, during a time in which female artists struggled to be recognised in New Zealand.[7][4][8] McPherson herself said, "I worked with the material we received–that it didn't reflect our own reality didn't bother me too much, it was the idea of women working together positively, that was the aim, and the amalgam of arts – photographers as well as poets, writers, painters etc."[4] The journal was first published in 1976 through the efforts of the Spiral Collective, which was to become a floating imprint used by different feminist groups.[6][7][4][3] The first four issues were published by McPherson and the Christchurch collective (1976–79), issue five was published by a Wellington collective, issue six by a Tauranga collective, and issue seven by a national collective.[9] A letter published in an early issue suggested that work should be accepted on merit rather than limited to work by women only; in response, McPherson said she supported positive discrimination for women and noted the barriers faced by women to publication in most magazines.[10]

Spiral also became an imprint used by different feminist groups to publish other books by New Zealand women, including McPherson's debut poetry collection, A Figurehead: A Face (Spiral, 1982), which was the first New Zealand poetry collection by an out lesbian.[11][12] In her introduction to the collection McPherson noted that since the 1970s she had sought "to make a new start, to clear out the 'patriarchy in the head'", and on other hand to "redefine such emotionally charged concepts as 'woman' and 'lesbian' with their pejorative accretions".[11] Other works published by Spiral included Keri Hulme's Booker Prize-winning novel The Bone People (1984), The House of the Talking Cat by J C Sturm (Jacquie Baxter, 1983), and Drawing Together by Janet Charman, Marina Bachmann and Sue Fitchett (1985).[3] Artists and writers who were associated with the Women Artists Group initiatives and the Spiral Collectives included Joanna Margaret Paul, Marian Evans, Allie Eagle, Bridie Lonie, and Anna Keir, all prominent figures in the women's art movement in New Zealand.

In 1980, McPherson was involved in the opening show at the Women's Gallery in Wellington, where she worked as a co-ordinator.[4] Her poem, Have You Heard of Artemisia?[13] was painted on the 1981 Matariki Mural on the outside wall of the gallery on Harris Street.[4] In 1986, she attended the second International Feminist Book Fair in Oslo with other Spiral members.[7] She was a supporter of and advisor to the Spiral video project Getting Free (1997 to 2009), led by Marian Evans and Bridie Lonie.[7][6]

After A Figurehead: A Face, McPherson published three further collections of poetry in her lifetime. Her poetry was described by Aorewa McLeod in The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature as "strongly feminist, combining myth with the implications of being a woman and a lesbian in New Zealand", and featuring "a distinctive witty intelligence together with a sensitive and lyrical voice".[1]

Personal life and legacy

[edit]

McPherson was a single mother and grandmother, and in her early career worked various "survival jobs" such as fruit picking and school bus driving in order to support her family.[1][2] In her obituary, Michael O'Leary said that family "was also a big part of her life as well as writing and she was very involved with her grandchildren".[5] She identified as a lesbian feminist and as a part of the women's liberation movement.[11][10]

She died in Hamilton on 10 January 2017.[14] After her death, in early 2018, a collective of Spiral members Janet Charman, Lynne Ciochetto and Marian Evans published a collection of poetry by McPherson, called This Joyous, Chaotic Place: Garden Poems, as part of an exhibition called "This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu" at Mokopōpaki, an Auckland dealer gallery with Māori values at its centre.[6][15][16][17] The event included the screening of an interview of McPherson in 1980,[18] and was a project that formed part of the celebrations in New Zealand marking 125 years since women's suffrage.[6] The collection featured what McPherson called her "garden poems", inspired by her visits to the graveside of early New Zealand poet Ursula Bethell.[17]

Works

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Poetry books

[edit]

Source: National Library of NZ[19]

  • i do not cede, edited and with an introduction by Emer Lyons (eBook), Spiral, Wellington, 2022
  • This Joyous Chaotic Place: Garden Poems, Spiral, Wellington, 2018
  • Travel and Other Compulsions, Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, Paekakariki, 2004
  • Other World Relations, Old Bags, Wellington, 1991
  • The Third Myth, Tauranga Moana Press, Tauranga, 1986
  • A Figurehead: a Face, Spiral, Wellington, 1982

Exhibition

[edit]

This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-ā-Tahu Mokopōpaki, 2018[16]

Anthologies

[edit]

Sources: National Library of NZ and Aotearoa Poetry Sound Archive[19][20]

  • This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi-āTahu (with texts from Allie Eagle, Dr P (Cushla Parekowhai), Heather McPherson, Margery Blackman, M (Marian Evans), Tiffany Thornley), Mokopōpaki & Spiral, 2019
  • Manifesto Aotearoa ed. Philip Temple & Emma Neale, Otago University Press, Dunedin, 2017
  • Live Lines IV ed. Miriam Barr, Rachael Naomi Heimann, Penny Sommervaile, Jeremy Roberts, Poetry Live, Auckland, 2011
  • Remember us: women who love women, from Sappho to liberation ed. Miriam Saphira, Heather McPherson & Fran Marno, Charlotte Museum Trust, New Zealand, 2008
  • Big Smoke: New Zealand Poems 1960–75 ed. Michele Leggott Murray Edmond, Alan Brunton, Auckland University Press, Auckland 2000
  • Eat These Sweet Words, ed. Sue Fitchett, Marewa Glover, Cary McDermott & Rhona Vickoce, Giant Publishing Press, Christchurch 1999
  • Car Maintenance, Explosives and Love, ed. Susan Hawthorne, Cathy Dunsford & Susan Sayer, Spinifex, Nth. Melb, 1997
  • Spiral 7: a collection of lesbian art and writing from Aotearoa/New Zealand, ed. Heather McPherson, Julie King, Marian Evans, Pam Gerrish Nunn, Daphne Brasell Associates Press, Wellington, 1992
  • Lavender Annual, ed. Miriam Saphira, Papers Inc., 1989
  • Kiwi and Emu: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by Australian and New Zealand Women, ed. Barbara Petrie, Butterfly, 1989
  • The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry, ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde, 1989
  • A Women's Picture Book: 25 Women Artists of Aotearoa New Zealand ed. Marian Evans, Bridie Lonie, Tilly Lloyd, Government Print, Wellington, 1988
  • Yellow Pencils: Contemporary Poetry by New Zealand Women, chosen by Lydia Wevers, OUP, 1988
  • The New Poets of the ‘80s, ed. Murray Edmond & Mary Paul, Allen & Unwin, 1987
  • The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse, ed. Ian Wedde and Harvey McQueen, 1985.
  • The Turning Face, Twelve Writers from Tauranga Moana ed. Robert de Roo, Tauranga Moana Press, 1984
  • Spiral 4 ed. Spiral Collective: Ruth Lawley, Heather McPherson, Wendy Prestney, Tiffany Thornily, Chris Smith, Gladys Gurney, Spiral, Christchurch, 1979
  • Spiral 3 ed. Spiral Collective: Patsy Keene, Anna Keir, Ruth Lawley, Heather McPherson, Wendy Prestney, Tiffany Thornley, Spiral, Christchurch, 1978
  • Spiral 2 ed. Spiral Collective: Kath Algie, Paulette Barr, Heather McPherson, Alison Mitchell, Spiral, Christchurch, 1977
  • Private Gardens: An Anthology of New Zealand Women Poets, ed. Riemke Ensing, Caveman, 1977
  • Spiral 1 ed. Heather McPherson, Spiral, Christchurch, 1976
  • Arts Festival Year Book 1969, New Zealand Universities, ed. Bill Manhire & John Dickson, Dunedin
  • Kiwi 1963, ed. Tyme Curnow & Terry Snow, Auckland University Press

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f McLeod, Aorewa (2006). "McPherson, Heather". In Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson (eds.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-1917-3519-6. OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Author Biographies; Junctures No. 14 (2011)".
  3. ^ a b c d Evans, Marian (30 May 2016). "In the beginning there was Heather". Medium – Spiral Collectives.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Evans, Marian; Lonie, Bridie; Lloyd, Tilly, eds. (1988). The Women's Picture Book: 25 women artists of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Wellington: GP Books. pp. 35–47. ISBN 9780477013956.
  5. ^ a b O'Leary, Michael (Summer 2017). "Heather McPherson: An Obituary by Michael O'Leary" (PDF). Poetry Notes. 7 (4): 1–3. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e Evans, Marian (2019). "Spiral 1975 –". New Zealand History. Manatū Taonga, Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Heather McPherson: Obituary by Micheal O'Leary, Poetry Notes, Summer 2017" (PDF). Poetry Archive NZ.
  8. ^ O'Leary, Michael (2011). Social and Literary Constraints on Women Writers in New Zealand 1945–1970. PhD Thesis Victoria University of Wellington.
  9. ^ McPherson, Heather (2016). "Spiral". Spiral Collectives.
  10. ^ a b Collard, Judith (May 2006). "Spiral Women: Locating Lesbian Activism in New Zealand Feminist Art, 1975-1992". Journal of the History of Sexuality. 15 (2). University of Texas Press: 292–320. doi:10.1353/sex.2007.0002. JSTOR 4629655. PMID 19235282. S2CID 35342439. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Lyons, Emer (2019). "The Melodrama of Heather McPherson's 'for her thirtysixth year, a breakout'". Journal of New Zealand Literature. 37 (1): 144–158. JSTOR 26816903. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  12. ^ Evans, Marian (2017). "Heather McPherson 1942–2017".
  13. ^ Wedde, Ian; McQueen, Harvey, eds. (1985). The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse. Penguin. pp. 448–449.
  14. ^ "Obituary: Heather Avis McPHERSON". The New Zealand Herald. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  15. ^ Dale, Judith (1985). "the bone people: (Not) Having It Both Ways". Landfall. 39 (4): 413–427. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b "This Joyous, Chaotic Place: He Waiata Tangi–ā–Tahu". Mokopōpaki. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  17. ^ a b Lyons, Emer (1 December 2018). "Gardens and Gloom". Landfall Review Online. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  18. ^ Evans, Marian (13 March 2019). "J. C. Sturm". Spiral Collectives. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Heather McPherson". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ Ross, Jack (19 November 2007). "Heather McPherson: Aotearoa NZ Poetry Sound Archive (2004)".
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