Editing Janet Frame (section)

=== 1957–1989 ===
Frame left New Zealand in late 1956, and the next seven years were most prolific in terms of publication. She lived and worked in Europe, primarily based in London, with brief sojourns to [[Ibiza]] and [[Andorra]].<ref>[[#refFrame1991|Frame 1991]], pp. 325–63</ref><ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], p. 144.</ref> In May 1958 she legally changed her name to '''Nene Janet Paterson Clutha''', in part to make herself more difficult to locate and in part to recognise Māori leader [[Tamati Waka Nene]], whom she admired, and the [[Clutha River]], which was a source of creative inspiration.<ref name="DNZB" /><ref name="McLauchlan">{{cite news |last1=McLauchlan |first1=Gordon |title=A literary angel mourned |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/a-literary-angel-mourned/JFNOP75MRYHI5LIHRQRXR2URJE/ |access-date=30 January 2004 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=30 January 2004}}</ref> Frame still struggled with anxiety and depression, and in September 1958 admitted herself<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], p. 184.</ref> to the [[Maudsley Hospital|Maudsley]] in London. American-trained psychiatrist Alan Miller, who studied under [[John Money]] at [[Johns Hopkins University]], proposed that she had never suffered from schizophrenia.<ref>[[#refFrame1991|Frame 1991]], pp. 374–5</ref><ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], p. 186.</ref> In an effort to alleviate the ill effects of her years spent in and out of psychiatric hospitals, Frame then began regular therapy sessions with psychiatrist [[Robert Hugh Cawley]], who encouraged her to pursue her writing. Frame dedicated seven of her novels to Cawley.<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 196–7.</ref>

Frame returned to New Zealand in 1963, though not before spending a short period of time living in rural north Suffolk (near the town of [[Eye, Suffolk|Eye]]) which gave her the inspiration for her 1965 novel ''The Adaptable Man''. She accepted the [[Robert Burns Fellowship|Burns Fellowship]] at the University of Otago in 1965.<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 278–282, 283–6, 292, 298, 3000, 330, 378, 517, 518.</ref> She later lived in several parts of New Zealand's North Island, including Auckland, [[Taranaki Region|Taranaki]], [[Wanganui]], the [[Horowhenua]], [[Palmerston North]], [[Waiheke Island|Waiheke]], [[Stratford, New Zealand|Stratford]], [[Browns Bay, New Zealand|Browns Bay]] and [[Levin, New Zealand|Levin]].<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 392–3.</ref>

During this period Frame travelled extensively, occasionally to Europe, but principally to the United States, where she accepted residencies at the [[MacDowell Colony|MacDowell]] and [[Yaddo]] artists' colonies.<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 317–20, 324, 333, 337–40, 342–5, 347–8, 355, 358, 364, 442, 443–5.</ref> Partly as a result of these extended stays in the U.S., Frame developed close relationships with several Americans.<ref>King, Michael. "Janet Frame: Antipodean phoenix in the American chicken coop." ''Antipodes: A North American Journal of Australian Literature'' 15:(2): 86–87; December 2001.</ref> These included the painter [[Theophilus Brown]] (whom she later referred to as "the chief experience of my life"<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], p. 347.</ref>) and his long-time partner [[Paul John Wonner]], the poet [[May Sarton]], [[John Phillips Marquand]] and [[Alan Lelchuk]]. Frame's one-time university tutor/counsellor and longtime friend John Money worked in North America from 1947 onwards, and Frame frequently based herself at his home in [[Baltimore]].<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 279–80.</ref>

In the 1980s Frame authored three volumes of autobiography (''To the Is-land'', ''An Angel at my Table'' and ''The Envoy from Mirror City'') which collectively traced the course of her life to her return to New Zealand in 1963.<ref name=FrameAutobio/> The Australian novelist [[Patrick White]] described the first two volumes as "amongst the wonders of the world".<ref name="Marr">{{cite book |author-link=Patrick White |last1=White |first1=Patrick |title=Letter to Ingmar Björkstén |date=3 December 1985 |page=607}}</ref> Director Jane Campion and screenwriter [[Laura Jones (screenwriter)|Laura Jones]] adapted the trilogy for television broadcast. It was eventually released as an award-winning feature film, ''[[An Angel at My Table]]''. Actresses [[Kerry Fox]], Alexia Keogh and Karen Fergusson portrayed the author at various ages. Frame's autobiographies sold better than any of her previous publications,<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 470, 490–1, 495, 497, 506.</ref> and Campion's successful film adaptation of the texts<ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], pp. 448, 460, 466–67, 473–4, 484, 491–92, 495–6, 498, 511.</ref> introduced a new generation of readers to her work. These successes increasingly pushed Frame into the public eye.

In the [[1983 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1983 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Frame was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]], for services to literature.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49376 |date=11 June 1983 |page=34 |supp=2}}</ref> That year, ''To the Is-land'' also received the [[Ockham New Zealand Book Awards|Goodman Fielder Wattie Book of the Year Award]], the top literary prize in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners: 1983 |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1983 |website=New Zealand Book Awards |access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref>

Frame intended the autobiographies to "set the record straight" regarding her past and in particular her mental status.<ref>Frame, Janet. "My Say." Interview with Elizabeth Alley. Concert Programme. Radio New Zealand, Wellington, NZ. 27 April 1983. Rpt ''In the Same Room: Conversations with New Zealand Writers.'' Ed. Elizabeth Alley and Mark Williams. Auckland: Auckland UP, 1992.</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], p. 433.</ref> However, critical and public speculation has continued to focus on her mental health.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> In 2007, after Frame's death, ''[[The New Zealand Medical Journal]]'' published an article by a medical specialist who proposed that Frame may have been on the [[autism spectrum]],<ref name=AbrahamsonAutism>{{cite web|last=Abrahamson |first=Sarah |title=Did Janet Frame have high-functioning autism? |url=http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/abstract.php?id=2747 |access-date=2008-05-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021092648/https://nzma.org.nz/journal/abstract.php?id=2747 |archive-date=21 October 2008 }}</ref> a suggestion that was disputed by the author's literary executor.<ref>Hann, Arwen. "Autism Claim Draws Fire from Family, Mum." ''The Press'' [NZ]. 22 October 2007: 10.</ref><ref name=SharpMind>Sharp, Iain. "Frame of Mind" ''Sunday Star Times'' [NZ]. 21 October 2007: C8.</ref><ref>Smith, Charmian. "Putting Janet in the Frame." ''Otago Daily Times'' [NZ]. 27 October 2007: 45.
</ref><ref>[[#refKing2000|King 2000]], p.208.</ref>

During her lifetime, Frame's work was principally published by American firm [[George Braziller]], garnering numerous literary prizes in her native New Zealand, and the [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] in 1989 for her final novel, ''[[The Carpathians]]''.