Yvonne du Fresne

Yvonne du Fresne
Born	Tākaka
Alma mater	Canterbury University
Occupation	Short story writer, novelist

Yvonne Donna du Fresne (30 September 1929 – 13 March 2011) was a New Zealand writer of Danish descent.[1]

She was born in Tākaka and grew up in a Danish-French Huguenot settlement in the Manawatū District on the North Island.[2] She trained as a teacher in Christchurch and taught in primary school.[1] Du Fresne was first published in the 1950s. In 1980, she published a collection of short stories Farvel and other stories which received the PEN best first book award.[2]

She wrote three radio plays: The Spring, The Ship and A Little Talk About Our Winter District, which were performed on New Zealand's National Radio. In 1999, du Fresne was writer in residence at Aarhus University in Denmark.[1]

She died in Wellington at the age of 81.[1]

Selected works

Du Fresne wrote:[2]

• The Book of Ester, novel (1982), runner up for the New Zealand Book Awards
• The Growing of Astrid Westergaard, short stories (1985), runner up for the New Zealand Book Awards
• Frederique, novel (1987)
• The Bear from the North, stories (1989)
• Motherland, novel (1996)
• The Morning Talk, Short story

References

1. "du Fresne, Yvonne". New Zealand Book Council.
   - http://quoteunquotenz.blogspot.com/2011/03/yvonne-du-fresne.html
2. "Obituary — Yvonne du Fresne". New Zealand Books. 1 September 2011.