Jacquie Sturm
Jacquie Sturm | |
---|---|
Born | Te Kare Papuni 17 May 1927 Ōpunake, New Zealand |
Died | 30 December 2009 Paekākāriki, New Zealand | (aged 82)
Resting place | Ōpunake |
Occupation |
|
Period | 1946–2006 |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Literature portal |
Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm (born Te Kare Papuni, also known as Jacquie Baxter; 17 May 1927 – 30 December 2009) was a
Early life
Sturm was born on 17 May 1927 in
Sturm's mother died of
Sturm began writing poetry at age 11, while recovering from what may have been
University and marriage
In 1946, Sturm began studying at the University of Otago; she was the only Māori woman on campus.
In late 1947 Sturm moved to
When Sturm and Baxter began speaking of marriage in late 1948, both sets of parents tried to dissuade them, given that they were only 21 and 22 respectively.
In 1949, Sturm graduated from Victoria University College with a Bachelor of Arts, becoming one of the first Māori women to complete an undergraduate university degree.
1950s to 1970s
Early in the 1950s, Sturm began to write short stories, partly to distinguish her own writing from her husband's poetry.[1][7] For similar reasons, she wrote under the name J.C. Sturm rather than using her married name.[2] Her first short story, "The Old Coat", was published in the journal Numbers in 1954.[1] The following year, "For All the Saints" was published in the journal Te Ao Hou / The New World.[1] She featured regularly in both journals through the 1950s and 1960s,[1] and in 1966 C. K. Stead selected "For All the Saints" for inclusion in his anthology of New Zealand short stories published by the Oxford University Press.[12] She was the first Māori writer whose work was selected for a New Zealand anthology.[1] The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature said of her work:[10]
The stories are succinct and lucid and on first reading they appear to embrace the era's dominant ethos—that New Zealanders were one nation—by avoiding specific reference to Māori. However, read against the grain of thought that expected, in Sturm's words, all Māori "to become respectable middle-class citizens, a lighter shade of brown, as it were", it becomes clear that the society she depicts fosters inequality, and her work conveys a strong and poignant sense of alienation. Her female narrators, although rarely defined by their race, are marginalised figures that give a vivid sense of the constriction and restrictions of a young woman's life in Wellington in the 1950s.
In the 1950s and until 1968, Sturm was active in
In late 1954, Baxter joined
In 1968, and following the family's return to Wellington, Sturm and Baxter began living apart once again, as Baxter had founded and moved to a
In 1969, Sturm began working at the
Return to the literary world
In 1982, well-known New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera selected two of Sturm's stories for inclusion in his anthology of Māori writing, Into the World of Light (1982).[7] He had met her and come to know her through her work at the Wellington Public Library.[2] In 1983, Sturm's collected short stories were published as The House of the Talking Cat by the women's publishing collective Spiral.[1][17] The publication followed distinguished writer Patricia Grace's suggestion that the Women's Gallery invite Sturm to participate in a 1980 public reading, where the Auckland Women's Community Video recorded Sturm reading 'A thousand and one nights' and Marian Evans interviewing her.[18][19]
The House of the Talking Cat was shortlisted in the
Witi Ihimaera, in a review for the New Zealand Listener, called her "a pivotal presence in the Māori literary tradition", and speculated on the course Māori literature might have taken had Sturm and the book "achieved success and publication in their time, rather than twenty years later".[10][22] A review in The Press noted that although written and set in the 1960s, "the stories retain an appeal partly because of the author's descriptive talent [and] because of her insight into people".[23] The book was re-printed in 1986 and again in 2003.[24] A review of the 1986 edition observed that the stories "are tautly crafted, detailed, and perceptive", and that New Zealand literature was poorer for Sturm's absence in the intervening years.[18]
Sturm returned to writing poetry, and in 1996 published her first collection, Dedications.
In 1998, Sturm married university lecturer, critic and poet Peter Alcock,[1] and they lived next door to each other in Paekākāriki.[29] As a lecturer in English at Palmerston North University College, Alcock had advocated for New Zealand literature and promoted its study overseas.[30] Baxter's friend John Weir said Sturm and Alcock "were good companions and had a mutually enriching relationship".[5]: 491 Alcock died in 2007.[1]
Sturm received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Victoria University in May 2003 in recognition of her "contribution to the visibility of Māori women in New Zealand literature" and her "pioneering role".[9] A collection of her writing was published in 2006 as The Glass House: Stories and Poems.[31] "The Glass House" was a short story Sturm had written in the early 1960s, but had not included in The House of the Talking Cat because it did not fit.[32]: 19 Her poems in her later years were dedicated to family and friends, including Janet Frame, Jean Watson, and both her husbands.[24]
In 2007, Wellington-based filmmaker Tim Rose directed a documentary about Sturm's life and career, entitled Broken Journey: The Life and Art of JC Sturm, which aired on
Death and legacy
Sturm died in Paekākāriki in December 2009, two months after the death of her beloved granddaughter Stephanie. A tangi was held at Orimupiko marae and she is buried at Ōpunake alongside her mother and great-grandmother.[1] In January 2010, a memorial service was held at Paekākāriki Memorial Hall, attended by nearly 200 people and with tributes from a number of well-known New Zealand artists including Glenn Colquhoun, Patricia Grace, Apirana Taylor and Hinemoana Baker.[35]
Sturm was a pioneer of New Zealand literature, and paved the way for later female Māori writers like Patricia Grace and Keri Hulme.[1] Witi Ihimaera described her as one of the three women he considered his elders when he began writing; they were "like spinners working on a loom" who began "spinning the tradition from which all contemporary Maori writers come".[36] Her entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography notes that, despite being overshadowed for much of her life by her first husband, she "emerged in later life as a unique and important voice in New Zealand literature in her own right".[1] In an obituary, New Zealand poet and scholar Paul Millar wrote: "Her output may seem modest on paper, but it becomes substantial when set against the obstacles placed before her as a woman, wife, and mother and, for many years, her family’s primary earner. Although Jacquie Baxter never wanted to be a role model, she never shirked her responsibility as a voice for Maori people and a campaigner against racial inequality. Her life and writing are testament to a woman of great integrity and quiet courage who helped clear the path that younger writers have followed to greater success and recognition."[2]
In December 2019, Wellington artists
In February 2021, the website Poetry Shelf published an audio recording of New Zealand poet Karlo Mila reading her poem "Letter to J.C. Sturm" from her collection Goddess Muscle (2020).[39]
In May 2021, Paul Millar, together with Sturm's son John Baxter and publisher Roger Steele, found some of Sturm's early work from the 1940s, including unpublished poems. The poem "Brown Optimism", which may have been published in a student newspaper, was subsequently published on the website The Spinoff. Millar noted that the poem "rejects the status quo and demands equality for Māori".[40]
Selected works
Short stories
- "The Old Coat" (1954)
- "For All the Saints" (1955)
- The House of the Talking Cat (1983) (collection)
Poetry
- Dedications (1996)
- How Things Are (1996, with Adrienne Jansen, Harry Ricketts and Meg Campbell)
- Postscripts (2000)
- The Glass House (2006)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Millar, Paul. "Sturm, Jacqueline Cecilia". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Millar, Paul (March 2010). "Jacquie Baxter / J.C. Sturm". Ka Mate Ka Ora (9). Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Te Kare Papuni / J.C. Sturm / Jacquie Baxter". Issuu. Wellington City Libraries. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Sturm, J.C. (22 February 2019). "The Friday Poem: 'In loco parentis'". The Spinoff. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-7765-6037-0. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-8694-0333-1.
- ^ The Dominion Post. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Millar, Paul. "Baxter, James Keir". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Maori author to receive Honorary Doctorate". Scoop Independent News. Victoria University of Wellington. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Baxter, Jacqueline Cecilia (1952). New Zealand national character as exemplified by three New Zealand novelists (MA). University of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ Stead, C.K. (1966). New Zealand short stories : second series. London: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ a b McDonald, Jack (15 February 2019). "Baxter Week: My Nana, Jacquie Sturm". The Spinoff. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Mrs J.K. Baxter, M.A., a member of the Taranaki and Bay of Plenty tribes ..." Te Ao Hou / The New World (46): 3. 1964. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Sturm, J.C. (Spring 1954). "The Maori Women's Welfare League". Te Ao Hou / The New World (9): 8. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Potiki, Roma (2006). "Interview with J. C. Sturm". Trout (14). Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-3409-7593-0. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ a b Hunter, Sharon (22 November 1986). "Quiet, perceptive tales". The Press. p. 23. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
- ^ @devt (3 December 2022). "Jacquie Sturm, 1980". Spiral Collectives. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ^ Newton, John (14 February 2019). "James K. Baxter, rapist". The Spinoff. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Evans, Marian (13 March 2019). "J. C. Sturm, 1980". Medium.com. Spiral Collectives. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "House of the Talking Cat". The Women's Bookshop. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Hannah, Michael (7 April 1984). "Landmarks and insights". The Press. p. 20. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
- ^ a b c "Sturm, J.C." Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-8773-3809-0.
- ^ "Past Winners: 1997". New Zealand Book Awards. New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ISBN 9780958351348.
- ISBN 978-1-8772-2835-3.
- ^ a b Rabbitt, Lindsay (17 June 2000). "Jim, Jacquie and Baxter". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-8773-3889-2.
- ^ Michael, Mary Erica (2013). J.C. Sturm – Before the Silence: An exploration of her early writing (PDF) (MA). Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Bowron, Jane (20 October 2007). "Maori TV not afraid to make the journey". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "The Life and Art of JC Sturm – on Maori Television". Scoop Independent News. Maori Television. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Tristam, Alan (22 January 2020). "Huge Turnout for Jacquie Baxter: Memorial Service in Paekakariki". Kāpiti and Coast Independent News. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Ihimaera, Witi (11 August 2002). "Spinner of Maori tradition". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- The Dominion Post. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Librarians vote for favourite New Zealand poem to celebrate National Poetry Day". Wellington City Council. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ Green, Paula (26 February 2021). "Poetry Shelf celebrates the Ockham NZ Book Awards Poetry longlist: Karlo Mila reads from Goddess Muscle". Poetry Shelf. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Millar, Paul (23 June 2021). "Today we publish a poem by J.C. Sturm that has been lost for 70 years". The Spinoff. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
External links
- Sturm, Jacqueline Cecilia, biography in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
- Broken Journey – The Life and Art of JC Sturm, full-length 2007 documentary, made available by NZ On Screen
- "For all the Saints", short story by Sturm, published in Te Ao Hou / The New World (No 13, December 1955)
- "In Loco Parentis", poem by Sturm about her adoptive parents Ethel and Bert Sturm, originally published in Dedications (1996)
- "He waiata tēnei mō Parihaka", poem by Sturm published in Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English (Auckland University Press, 2002)
- "Brown Optimism", early poem by Sturm, probably written around 1947–48