Janet Charman


Janet Charman is a poet from New Zealand.

Background

Born in 1954, Charman grew up in the Hutt Valley and Taranaki.
Charman initially trained as a nurse and worked in social welfare. After receiving an MA in English from the University of Auckland she worked as a tutor in the university's English department. In 1997 was named as a writer in residence and received a Literary Fellowship. She also received a fellowship from the Hong Kong Baptist University. Charman continues to teach writing classes and is based in Auckland.

Works

Charman's poems are often set in the suburbs of New Zealand and draw on issues that relate specifically to women, including topics such as sexuality, victimisation, and motherhood. She is known for her stylistic choices such as using limited punctuation and capitalisation, including lowercase for the pronoun 'I'.
Collections of poetry published by Charman include:
She has also been publishing in several anthologies including The New Poets: initiatives in New Zealand poetry and Yellow Pencils: Contemporary Poetry by New Zealand Women.
Poems by Charman have appeared in the Best New Zealand Poems series, including in 2005 and 2007.

Awards

In 2008, her collection of poems, Cold Snack was awarded the Montana Award for Poetry.