Heather Avis McPherson was a feminist poet, publisher and editor who played a key role in supporting women artists and writers in New Zealand.
10 Facts About Heather McPherson
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Heather McPherson published three further collections during her lifetime, and an additional two collections were published posthumously by fellow Spiral members.
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Heather McPherson subsequently studied at the University of Canterbury, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1971, and at the University of Auckland.
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In 1980, Heather McPherson was involved in the opening show at the Women's Gallery in Wellington, where she worked as a co-ordinator.
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Heather McPherson was a supporter of and advisor to the Spiral video project Getting Free, led by Marian Evans and Bridie Lonie.
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Heather McPherson's 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".
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Heather 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.
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Ursula Bethell 8.
Heather McPherson identified as a lesbian feminist and as a part of the women's liberation movement.
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The event included the screening of an interview of Heather McPherson in 1980, and was a project that formed part of the celebrations in New Zealand marking 125 years since women's suffrage.
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The collection featured what Heather McPherson called her "garden poems", inspired by her visits to the graveside of early New Zealand poet Ursula Bethell.