Frances (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation, European) is a proud mother of two divine daughters, an arts leader with a penchant for travelling the world, and an emerging creative writer. She lives in Tāmaki Makaurau.
In addition to roles in creative sector leadership and governance, In 2020, when the pandemic scuppered her world-travel plans, she began entering writing competitions locally and internationally. She has written creative fiction and non-fiction, in genres and forms she’d never have considered trying if it weren’t for the prompts. She’s especially loved the chance to write from surprising (e.g. non-human) points of view.
Accolades and awards include winning the Judges’ Choice Award for the 2021 Writers’ Workout Writers’ Games, and a short story long-listed in the UK’s Dorothy Dunnett Historical Writers Association Awards in 2022, and winning an New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Mentorship with a Professional Writer in 2023. Publications include the UK anthology Glittery Literary, the online magazine Suddenly and Without Warning and The Writers’ Games Anthology, 72 Hours of Insanity, Vol 10.
Since 2022, she’s been focused on a memoir, for which she received the 2023 NZSA Mentorship. Her memoir (working title: “Homecoming in the Time of the Budding Moon”) is about her journey of reconnection with the land of her Menominee ancestors, her family history and ultimately herself. With over 100,000 words in messy draft form, she’s trudging her way through significant editing and revision towards a readable manuscript. She is happy to say she made significant progress in her memoir during a wonderful week-long retreat immersed in the unique wairua at the Michael King Writers Centre.