Mikaela Nyman
Mikaela Nyman | |
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Born | 1966 (age 57–58) Åland, Finland |
Occupation |
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Language |
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Alma mater | Victoria University of Wellington (PhD, 2020) |
Children | 3 |
Academic background | |
Thesis | 'Sado' – A novel and Expressions of creativity and rhetorical allience: Ni-Vanuatu women's voices (2020) |
Doctoral advisor |
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Mikaela Nyman (born 1966) is a Finnish-New Zealand novelist, poet, journalist and editor. After an early career in journalism and non-fiction work, she published her first poetry collection (in Swedish) in 2019 and her first novel (in English) in 2020. The former resulted in her being nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Her work has been published in various anthologies and journals, and she was the co-editor of the first anthology of Vanuatu women's writing.
Life and career
Born in
Nyman moved to New Zealand in 2002, and from 2004 to 2016 worked as a teacher of English to non-native speakers and worked in the international humanitarian and development space.[2] During this time, she lived in Vanuatu for four years running an aid programme.[2][3][4] In 2006 she published the non-fiction book Democratizing Indonesia: The challenges of civil society in the era of reformasi.[2] In 2011, she gained a master's degree in creative writing with distinction from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, and followed this with a doctorate in creative writing in 2020.[2][5]
In 2019, her first poetry collection, När vändkrets läggs mot vändkrets, dealing with the death of her sister and her challenges moving between two cultures, was published in Swedish. She was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2020 as a result of this work.[2][1] In 2019 she also received an award for short story writing in the Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards.[2]
Her first novel, Sado (2020), published by
Her work has been published in various anthologies and journals including Ko Aotearoa Tātou | We Are New Zealand (2020), Strong Words 2019: The Best of the Landfall Essay Competition and Sport.[2] Together with co-editor Rebecca Tobo Olul-Hossen she edited Sista, Stanap Strong, the first anthology of Vanuatu women's writing, published by Victoria University Press in 2021, which she says has become part of the Vanuatu high school curriculum.[3]
In 2021, she was awarded a Creative New Zealand grant to work on a poetry collection in English and to offer community writing classes.[7] In the same year, she was the visiting artist/writer in residence for Massey University, Palmerston North and Square Edge Community Arts Centre.[3][7][8] As of 2023[update], she is based in New Plymouth and is the Taranaki regional representative for the New Zealand Society of Authors.[7] In September 2023, she was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship for 2024, and said she planned to use the time on the residency writing her second novel.[9]
Selected works
- Tankar: Hildegard Mangelus liv, Abacus (Swedish, non-fiction, 1995)
- Democratizing Indonesia: The challenges of civil society in the era of reformasi, NIAS Press (English, non-fiction, 2006)
- När vändkrets läggs mot vändkrets, Ellips förlag (Swedish, poetry collection, 2019)
- Sado, Victoria University Press(English, novel, 2020)
- Sista, Stanap Strong, Victoria University Press (English, co-editor of anthology, 2021)
References
- ^ a b c "Mikaela Nyman". Nordic Co-operation. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Nyman, Mikaela". Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d Groenestein, Catherine (19 January 2023). "Taranaki writer's book headed for prestigious library shelves". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ a b Walker, Steve (20 April 2020). "Sado: Why Mikaela Nyman's debut novel is both timely and timeless". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
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- ^ a b "Q&A with Mikaela Nyman". Te Herenga Waka University Press. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ a b c Winder, Virginia (16 September 2021). "Taranaki author to run free writing classes with Creative NZ funding". Taranaki Daily News. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ "Mikaela Nyman is Massey University's visiting artist for 2021". Manawatu Guardian. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ "Taranaki writer awarded prestigious arts fellowship". Taranaki Daily News. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
External links
- Author profile on Read NZ Te Pou Muramura
- PhD graduate profile at the International Institute of Modern Letters
- "Kava i kik", poem in English by Nyman published in Turbine | Kapohau