Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The most wonderful moment of her life

As a young woman Janet Frame walked out of the classroom, ending her teaching career:

"It was the most wonderful moment of my life. I’ve only had one other moment to equal it. That was when I arrived in Paris on my first voyage to Europe. I had boxes and boxes, all the stuff people at home had told me I should need. I saw a sign in the station saying Consigne. I put them all under it and went to Ibiza with nothing. I watched the people struggling with their luggage and felt marvellous. I missed it later. I thought the word meant what it said and that I had consigned my luggage to Spain. Life is full of surprises. Auden said poetry couldn’t make things happen. I don’t agree."

~ Janet Frame, Interview with Harpers & Queen, London March 1985 (In Janet Frame In Her Own Words, Penguin NZ 2011)

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