Story: Fiction

Robin Hyde, England, 1939

Robin Hyde, England, 1939

Robin Hyde (whose real name was Iris Wilkinson) had a difficult life. She grew up to the constant refrain of parental arguments and experienced ill health in her adult years. Her intimate relationships with men did not last, and she suffered the death of one baby at birth and the loss of another child to foster care. She was often penniless. She died by suicide in 1939, aged 33. Despite all this, Hyde produced a small body of innovative work which remains interesting for its feminist politics and experimentation. Here she is writing in the garden of a cottage in Wiltshire, England, in 1939, not long before her death. 

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Hocken Library, University of Otago
Reference: S13-199a

Permission of the Hocken Library Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Further information may be obtained from the Library through its website.

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How to cite this page:

Lydia Wevers, 'Fiction - Women writers, 1920s and 1930s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/41923/robin-hyde-england-1939 (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Lydia Wevers, published 22 Oct 2014, updated 1 Aug 2015