Frankie McMillan

Frankie McMillan was born in Christchurch in 1950.{{Cite web|url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/mcmillan-frankie/|title=McMillan, Frankie|last=|first=|date=November 2016|website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}} She studied education and sociology at the University of Canterbury. In the 1970s, she lived off the land with her young family up the Parapara Valley in Golden Bay, originally in an old shack with no electricity, a wood range and solar panels, and then in a replacement house on the same land.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/art-and-stage/67804737/back-to-nature-for-city-poet-frankie-mcmillan|title=Back to nature for city poet Frankie McMillan|last=Eleven|first=Beck|date=18 April 2015|website=Stuff|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/116302115/out-west-golden-bay-hippy-life-in-the-70s-inspires-writer|title=Out West: Golden Bay hippy life in the 70s inspires writer|last=Hindmarsh|first=Gerard|date=5 October 2019|website=Stuff|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}

In 1999 she studied for a MA in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington and later studied theatre at Sydney University.

Her first collection of poetry, Dressing for the Cannibals, was launched in August 2009 as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for Christchurch City Library.{{Cite web|url=http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/09/interview-with-frankie-mcmillan.html|title=An Interview with Frankie McMillan|last=Jones|first=Tim|date=10 September 2009|website=Books in the Trees|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://cclblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/|title=Poetry at the Library|last=|first=|date=18 August 2009|website=Christchurch City Libraries|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}} Her work has been published in Best New Zealand Poems{{Cite web|url=https://www.bestnewzealandpoems.org.nz/past-issues/2012-contents/frankie-mcmillan/|title=Piece by Piece|last=McMillan|first=Frankie|date=2012|website=Best New Zealand Poems|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bestnewzealandpoems.org.nz/past-issues/2015-contents/frankie-mcmillan%e2%80%a8/|title=Grinding the wind|last=McMillan|first=Frankie|date=2015|website=Best New Zealand Poems|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}} as well as on online poetry blogs{{Cite web|url=http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com/2015/03/hour-glass-by-frankie-mcmillan.html|title="Hour glass" and "at night my dead mother appears wanting soup" by Frankie McMillan|last=Lowe|first=Helen|date=17 March 2015|website=Tuesday Poem|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://helenlowe.info/blog/2012/01/17/tuesday-poem-my-father-the-oceanographer-by-frankie-mcmillan/|title=Tuesday Poem: "My Father, The Oceanographer" by Frankie McMillan|last=|first=|date=17 January 2012|website=Helen Lowe... on anything, really|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}} and in journals including Turbine, Snorkel, JAAM, Trout, takahē, Sweet Mammalian and Cincinnati Review (US).{{Cite web|url=http://turbinekapohau.org.nz/archive-issues/2018-contents/fiction-frankie-mcmillan/|title=Man Overboard|last=McMillan|first=Frankie|date=2018|website=Turbine Kapohau|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://nzpoetryshelf.com/2015/06/01/sweet-mammalian-2-is-sweet-indeed-where-do-i-start-every-click-comes-up-poetry-trumps/|title=Sweet Mammalian #2 is sweet indeed – Where do I start? Every click comes up poetry trumps|last=Green|first=Paula|date=1 June 2015|website=NZ Poetry Shelf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sweetmammalian.com/sweetmammalian-issue-two|title=Issue Two Contents|last=|first=|date=|website=Sweet Mammalian|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.takahe.org.nz/t95/frankie-mcmillan/|title=Frankie McMillan|last=|first=|date=|website=takahē magazine|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}} It has also appeared in Poems in the Waiting Room{{Cite web|url=https://waitingroompoems.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/winters-on-the-way/|title=Winter's on the way|last=|first=|date=26 May 2016|website=Poems in the Waiting Room (NZ)|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}} and in anthologies such as The Unbelievable Lightness of Eggs (Hallard, 2006), Essential NZ Short Stories (Vintage, 2009) and Best New Zealand Fiction Anthologies (Vintage 2008 and 2009).

In 2016, following the publication of My Mother and the Hungarians and other small fictions, she was invited to Hungary as the guest of the Hungarian Embassy in Wellington, to attend a commemorative event of the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.{{Cite web|url=https://nzpoetryshelf.com/2016/10/29/nzbookshopday-i-recommend-buying-frankie-mcmillans-breathtaking-small-fictions-my-mother-and-the-hungarians/|title=#nzbookshopday I recommend buying Frankie McMillan's breathtaking small fictions: My Mother and the Hungarians|last=Green|first=Paula|date=29 October 2016|website=NZ Poetry Shelf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=8 January 2020}}

She lives in Christchurch and teaches creative writing at the Hagley Writers’ Institute.{{Cite web|url=https://hagleywriters.net/staff/|title=Staff|last=|first=|date=17 December 2019|website=Hagley Writers' Institute|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nodghosh.com/frankie-mcmillan-interview/|title=Interview with Frankie McMillan|last=|first=|date=3 February 2016|website=Nod Ghosh|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

Frankie McMillan was awarded the Creative New Zealand Todd New Writers' Bursary in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://www.anzliterature.com/member/frankie-mcmillan/|title=Frankie McMillan|last=|first=|date=|website=ANZL: Academy of New Zealand Literature|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

She won the 2009 New Zealand Poetry International Competition{{Cite web|url=https://poetrysociety.org.nz/nzps-international-poetry-competition/2009-results/|title=2009 Poetry Competition Results|last=|first=|date=2 October 2016|website=New Zealand Poetry Society|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}} and the 2013 and 2015 New Zealand Flash Fiction Competition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2567714/frankie-mcmillan-playful-poetry|title=Frankie McMillan - Playful Poetry|last=|first=|date=1 September 2013|website=RNZ |archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.flash-frontier.com/special-national-flash-fiction-day-winning-stories/|title=National Flash Fiction Day Winning Stories|last=|first=|date=July 2013|website=Flash Frontier|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.flash-frontier.com/august-2015-national-flash-fiction-day-winners/|title=National Flash Fiction Day Winners|last=|first=|date=August 2015|website=Flash Frontier|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

In 2014, she was the recipient of the Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing at the University of Canterbury.{{Cite web|url=https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/arts/schools-and-departments/english/ursula-bethell-residency/|title=Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing|last=|first=|date=|website=University of Canterbury|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

She received the University of Auckland residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in 2017,{{Cite web|url=https://writerscentre.org.nz/frankie-mcmillan/|title=Frankie McMillan: 2017 University of Auckland Residency|last=|first=|date=18 July 2017|website=Michael King Writers Centre|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}} and the NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/media-releases/224782-nzsa-peter-dianne-beatson-fellowship-2019-recipient|title=NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2019 recipient|last=|first=|date=18 September 2019|website=The Big Idea|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/2018715387/frankie-mcmillan-and-the-father-of-octopus-wrestling|title=Frankie McMillan and the Father of Octopus Wrestling|last=|first=|date=29 September 2019|website=RNZ |archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

My Mother and the Hungarians and other small fictions (Canterbury University Press, 2016) was longlisted for the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2017-awards/longlist/|title=2017 Awards Longlist|last=|first=|date=|website=NZ Book Awards Trust|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}} The Father of Octopus Wrestling and other small fictions (Canterbury University Press, 2019) was named as one of the ten best New Zealand fiction books of 2019 by The Spinoff.{{Cite web|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/16-12-2019/the-10-best-new-zealand-fiction-books-of-2019/|title=The 10 best New Zealand fiction books of 2019|last=|first=|date=16 December 2019|website=The Spinoff|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

Poetry

• Dressing for the Cannibals (Sudden Valley Press, 2009)
• There are No Horses in Heaven (Canterbury University Press, 2015)

Short fiction

• The Bag Lady’s Picnic and Other Stories (Shoal Bay Press, 2001){{Cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=786822|title=Frankie McMillan: The Bag Lady's Picnic and other stories|last=Bieder|first=Penelope|date=18 January 2002|website=NZ herald|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}
• My Mother and the Hungarians and other small fictions (Canterbury University Press, 2016)
• The Father of Octopus Wrestling and other small fictions (Canterbury University Press, 2019){{Cite web|url=https://nzpoetryshelf.com/tag/frankie-mcmillan/|title=Poetry Shelf fascinations: Frankie McMillan's The Father of Octopus Wrestling and other small fictions|last=Green|first=Paula|date=22 October 2019|website=NZ Poetry Shelf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=7 January 2020}}

As co-editor

• Bonsai: best small stories from Aotearoa New Zealand (Canterbury University Press, 2018)

• List of New Zealand poets

• Profile of [https://www.read-nz.org/writer/mcmillan-frankie/ Frankie McMillan] on Read NZ Te Pou Muramura website
• Listen to Frankie McMillan read [https://nzpoetryshelf.com/2019/08/15/poetry-shelf-audio-spot-frankie-mcmillan-reads-the-honking-of-ducks/ 'The Honking of 'Ducks'] on NZ Poetry Shelf website

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Frankie}}

Category:1950 births

Category:Living people

Category:New Zealand poets

Category:New Zealand women poets

Category:New Zealand fiction writers

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:International Institute of Modern Letters alumni