Maria McMillan’s mostly Scottish and English ancestors settled in Southland in the late nineteenth century. Maria was born and brought up in Ōtautahi / Christchurch. She grew up on the side of a hill with a view of the mountains and rooms full of books.

Maria has campaigned on feminist, peace, poverty and other human rights issues for many years.

She has an honours degree in politics, is qualified as a librarian and now works as an information architect. She lives with her scientist partner and their two daughters on Kāpiti Coast. Her poems have been published internationally and locally including in Shenandoah, Magma Poetry, Sport and NZ Listener. In 2013 her book The Rope Walk was published by Seraph Press and in 2014 Victoria University Press published Tree Space.

Maria McMillan’s website:http://mariamcmillan.weebly.com/interviews.html

I got together with Maria to talk about Doris Lessing’s magnificent work The Golden Notebook. One of the happiest things about this podcast for me, as I listen back over it, is that as Maria and I talk about how this book is quite a lot about reconciling the different roles women act in, in the background you can hear our daughters running around Maria’s house and at one stage you can just about hear our partners out in the garden discussing tomatoes and greens.

Maria is appearing along with Hinemoana Baker and Teresia Teaiwa in an event called Unquestionably Political, Irrevocably Beautiful this month. Which you can read more about here

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Episode 10: Maria McMillan and Pip Adam talk about The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing