I therefore quickly located a copy of Sylvia Ashton-Warner's Spinster, a book which I had wanted to read for years, on a pre-Christmas trip to an Oxfam Bookshop, and picked it up immediately. There is a certain breed of reader who tries to spot the glorious forest green spines of Virago Modern Classics each time they enter a bookshop.

The Faculty of Education library at The University of Auckland-the institution at which Ashton-Warner trained between 19- was named the Sylvia Ashton-Warner Library in 1987 and includes the Sylvia Ashton-Warner Collection. Her life story was adapted for the 1985 biographical film Sylvia, based on her work and writings. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to education and literature in the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours.Īshton-Warner died on 28 April 1984, in Tauranga. Her novel Spinster (1958) was made into the 1961 film Two Loves (also known as The Spinster) starring Shirley MacLaine. As a novelist, she produced several works mostly centred on strong female characters. Her success derived from a commitment to 'releasing the native imagery and using it for working material' and her belief that communication must produce a mutual response in order to effect a lasting change. She spent many years teaching Māori children, using stimulating and often pioneering techniques which she wrote about in her 1963 treatise Teacher and in the various volumes of her autobiography. Ashton-Warner was born on 17 December 1908, in Stratford, New Zealand.

Teacher by Sylvia Ashton-Warner