“My writing saved me,” wrote Janet Frame in her autobiography, An Angel at My Table.

While many writers might say something similar, it was literally the case for Frame: after being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia in her youth, it was the news that she had won a national literary prize that prevented her from being given a lobotomy.

What followed was a writing career that saw Frame become not only one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most famous and distinguished authors, but also an international literary icon and a deep source of inspiration for writers and creatives including Eleanor Catton, Hilary Mantel and Jane Campion.

To honour her immense contribution 100 years on from her birth, we bring together her niece and literary executor of her estate Pamela Gordon; Sorrow and Bliss author Meg Mason – who considers Frame to be one of her most beloved writers and a key source of connection with Aotearoa New Zealand – and esteemed cultural historian Peter Simpson to discuss and celebrate Frame’s work and legacy in conversation with Kim Hill.