Last year was the centenary of Katherine Mansfield’s death and to mark the iconic writer’s legacy we held a special event at Te Māhanga Karori Library. Redmer Yska, author of ‘Katherine Mansfield’s Europe: Station to Station’, was joined by our Local & NZ History Specialist Gábor Tóth to deep dive into Mansfield’s words, travels and her Karori connections. Hear how Yska traced and pulled together letters, journals and research to compile this fascinating insight into Mansfield that acts as part travelogue, part literary biography, part detective story and part ghost story.
Redmer Yska is an award-winning writer and historian based in Wellington. ‘Katherine Mansfield’s Europe: Station to Station’ is Yska’s second book on the iconic writer, his first book on Mansfield ‘A Strange Beautiful Excitement: Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington’ was shortlisted for the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Gábor Tóth is the Local & New Zealand History Specialist at Wellington City Libraries. He conducts research for both library customers and council staff as well as developing history resources such as the library’s heritage platform, Wellington City Recollect.
We have many items by and about Katherine Mansfield in our collections, including Redmer Yska’s two books on Mansfield:
Katherine Mansfield’s Europe : station to station / Yska, Redmer
“Beautifully written and illustrated with maps and stunning photography, Katherine Mansfield’s Europe is part travelogue, part literary biography, part detective story and part ghost story. Guided by Mansfield’s journals and letters, Redmer Yska traces her restless journey in Europe, seeking out the places where she lived, worked and died.” (Catalogue)
A strange beautiful excitement : Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington, 1888-1903 / Yska, Redmer
“How does a city make a writer? Described by Fiona Kidman as a ‘ravishing, immersing read’, A Strange Beautiful Excitement is a ‘wild ride’ through the Wellington of Katherine Mansfield’s childhood. From the grubby, wind-blasted streets of Thorndon to the hushed green valley of Karori, author Redmer Yska, himself raised in Karori, retraces Mansfield’s old ground: the sights, sounds and smells of the rickety colonial capital, as experienced by the budding writer.” (Catalogue)
