# Rachel McAlpine

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{{short description|New Zealand poet, novelist and playwright}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Rachel McAlpine
| embed            = 
| honorific_prefix = 
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = RachelMcAlpine.jpg
| image_size       = 
| image_upright    = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = Rachel McAlpine 2014
| birth_name       = Rachel Phyllis Taylor
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1940|02|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [Fairlie](/source/Fairlie%2C_New_Zealand), New Zealand
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| resting_place    = 
| occupation       = {{Cslist |Poet|playwright|novelist}}
| alma_mater       = [University of Canterbury](/source/University_of_Canterbury), [Victoria University of Wellington](/source/Victoria_University_of_Wellington)
| genre            = 
| notableworks     = 
| awards           = 
| spouses          = {{plainlist}}
{{Marriage|Grant McAlpine|1959|1981|end=div.}}
{{Marriage|[Michael Smither](/source/Michael_Smither)|1988|1992|end=div.}}
{{endplainlist}}
| children         = 4
| relatives        = [Ada Wells](/source/Ada_Wells) (great-grandmother)
| website          = [https://writeintolife.com/ writeintolife.com]
}}

'''Rachel Phyllis McAlpine''' ({{nee|'''Taylor'''}}; born 24 February 1940) is a New Zealand poet, novelist and playwright. She is the author of 30 books including poetry, plays, novels, and books about writing and writing for the internet.<ref name="Read NZ">{{cite web |title=McAlpine, Rachel |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/mcalpine-rachel |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>

==Early life, family and education==
McAlpine was born in [Fairlie](/source/Fairlie%2C_New_Zealand) on 24 February 1940.<ref name="CCL">{{cite web |title=Interview with Rachel McAlpine |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-zealand-childrens-authors/rachel-mcalpine/ |website=Christchurch City Libraries |access-date=3 August 2023 |date=2020 |language=en-NZ}}</ref> Her father was a vicar,<ref name="OCNZL">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Millar |first=Paul |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=McAlpine, Rachel |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-718 |access-date=23 November 2020 |date=2006 |publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and her mother was a granddaughter of notable New Zealand suffragette [Ada Wells](/source/Ada_Wells).<ref name="Tolerton">{{cite news |last1=Tolerton |first1=Jane |title=Write Stuff |work=North & South |issue=234 |date=1 September 2005 |page=26}}</ref> She grew up with her five sisters in small-town vicarages in Canterbury, New Zealand.<ref name="Harlow">{{cite journal |last1=Harlow |first1=Michael |title=Craft Interview with Rachel McAlpine |journal=Landfall |date=March 1983 |volume=37 |issue=1 |page=73 |url=http://www.landfallarchive.org/omeka/items/show/26943 |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Tolerton" /> When she was 10 the family moved to [Christchurch](/source/Christchurch), where she attended [Christchurch Girls' High School](/source/Christchurch_Girls'_High_School) and the [University of Canterbury](/source/University_of_Canterbury), graduating with a [BA](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) degree in 1960.<ref name="OCNZL" />

In 1959, aged 19, she married engineer Grant McAlpine and they had two daughters and two sons.<ref name="Tolerton" /><ref name="Who's Who">{{cite book |title=International who's who in poetry 2004. |date=2003 |publisher=Europa |location=London |isbn=978-1-8574-3178-0 |page=203 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhXmEYWHDHYC |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> They spent four years in [Geneva](/source/Geneva) before returning to [Masterton](/source/Masterton), New Zealand, where she raised her children and taught high school.<ref name="Playmarket">{{cite web |title=Rachel McAlpine |url=https://www.playmarket.org.nz/playwrights/rachel-mcalpine/ |website=Playmarket |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> In 1973 she gained a Diploma in Education from [Massey University](/source/Massey_University) and in 1977 she completed a BA(Hons) at [Victoria University of Wellington](/source/Victoria_University_of_Wellington).<ref name="Who's Who" /> After McAlpine and her first husband divorced in 1981, she married artist [Michael Smither](/source/Michael_Smither) in 1988, but their marriage ended in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Portrait of Michael Smither |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/portrait-of-michael-smither-2007 |website=NZ On Screen – Iwi Whitiahua |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>

==Literary career==
McAlpine began writing poetry in 1974,<ref name="OCNZL" />  with her debut collection, ''Lament for Ariadne'', published in 1975.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Lament for Ariadne |date=1975 |publisher=Cavemen Press |location=Dunedin, NZ}}</ref> It was published in the same year as debut collections by [Lauris Edmond](/source/Lauris_Edmond) and [Elizabeth Smither](/source/Elizabeth_Smither), and according to ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'', marked "an important development in women's writing in New Zealand".<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite book |editor1-last=Head |editor1-first=Dominic |title=The Cambridge guide to literature in English. |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge [UK] |isbn=978-0-5218-3179-6 |page=681 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQINrHtwNU0C |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> By 1993 she had published seven further collections.<ref name="OCNZL" /> Her poetry has been praised for its "exuberant, strongly feminist lyrics".<ref name="Cambridge" /> Her first play, ''The Stationary Sixth Form Poetry Trip'', was first performed in 1980, and she wrote a number of further plays including some dialogue plays for radio.<ref name="OCNZL" /> In 1982 she participated in a writer's exchange scheme between Australia and New Zealand, holding a fellowship at [Macquarie University](/source/Macquarie_University) in Sydney.<ref name="Harlow" />

Her first two novels, ''The Limits of Green'' (1985)<ref name="Novel 1">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=The limits of green |date=1985 |publisher=Penguin |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-1400-8627-0}}</ref> and ''Running Away from Home'' (1987),<ref name="Novel 2">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Running away from home |date=1987 |publisher=Penguin |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-1400-9646-0}}</ref> were both set in the future, with environmentalist themes, and received polarising reviews from critics. Some reviews praised her creativity and energetic prose,<ref name="OCNZL" /> but [Mark Williams](/source/Mark_Williams_(writer)) criticised her "magic realism without the realism".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Mark |title=Literary Recession: New Zealand Fiction, 1985: Mid 1986 |journal=Journal of New Zealand Literature |date=1987 |issue=5 |page=21 |jstor=20112150 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20112150 |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> Her third novel ''Farewell Speech'' (1990)<ref name="Novel 3">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Farewell speech |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-1401-3241-0}}</ref> was a fictional account of the lives of suffragettes [Kate Sheppard](/source/Kate_Sheppard), Ada Wells and Wells' daughter. It received some criticism for its portrayal of the women, with Sheppard's biographer and great-great-niece Tessa K. Malcolm calling it "slander in fiction".<ref name="Malcolm">{{cite journal |last1=Malcolm |first1=Tessa K. |title=Slander in Fiction: 'Farewell Speech' |journal=Journal of New Zealand Literature |date=1991 |issue=9 |pages=14–22 |jstor=20112189 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20112189 |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref> It was adapted into an award-winning play by Cathy Downes in 1993.<ref name="OCNZL Cathy">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Boddy |first=Gillian |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Downes, Cathy |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-334 |access-date=23 November 2020 |date=2006 |publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  Her fourth novel, ''Humming'' (2005),<ref name="Novel 4">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Humming |date=2005 |publisher=Hazard Press |location=Christchurch, N.Z. |isbn=978-1-8772-7097-0}}</ref> was set in [Golden Bay](/source/Golden_Bay_%2F_Mohua), and described by ''[The Press](/source/The_Press)'' as "a quirky read, with plenty of sly humour but with an underlying seriousness about matters spiritual and a person's discovery of a connection with the world around them".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Kristi |title=Eccentric antics in Golden Bay |work=The Press |date=24 September 2005}}</ref>

McAlpine began teaching short courses on writing and managing web content in 1996, writing her first book on the topic, ''Web Word Wizardry'', in 1999.<ref name="Web Word">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Web word wizardry : more hits, more responses, more profit, and it's all done with words |date=1999 |publisher=Corporate Communications |location=Wellington, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-4730-5764-0}}</ref> An American edition was published in 2001.<ref name="Web US">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Web word wizardry : a guide to writing for the Web and intranet |date=2001 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |location=Berkeley, Calif. |isbn=978-1-5800-8223-5}}</ref> She has continued working in web writing education, launching a company in 2007 that offered online web-writing packages to individuals and businesses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Churchouse |first1=Nick |title=Making text on web read better |work=The Press |date=27 November 2007 |page=C4}}</ref> She has also used websites as a companion to her writing, most notably by creating a website to accompany her novel ''Humming'' (2005).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Billing |first1=Di |title=Reviews |url=https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle_uuid=CDC9C67A-96BF-57FE-ACF0-179158B7127D |access-date=23 November 2020 |work=News |agency=Massey University |date=5 October 2006}}</ref>

McAlpine is a member of the Capital Choir, Wellington, and was the poetry editor for ''Shaky Places'', a 14-song cycle of New Zealand experiences based on poems from well-known New Zealand poets including herself, [Sam Hunt](/source/Sam_Hunt_(poet)), [Riemke Ensing](/source/Riemke_Ensing) and [Bill Manhire](/source/Bill_Manhire). The music was composed by [Felicia Edgecombe](/source/Felicia_Edgecombe) and it was first performed in November 2015.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edgecombe |first1=Felicia |title=Shaky places : a song cycle of New Zealand poems for mixed voices with piano, guitar and other instruments |date=2015 |publisher=Capital Choir Inc |location=Lower Hutt |isbn=978-0-4733-3134-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World for SATB choir and piano |url=https://www.sounz.org.nz/works/21478 |website=SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music Trust |access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Peters |first1=Mark |title=Singing of Shaky Places |url=http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/entertainment/20170110/singing-of-shaky-places/ |access-date=24 November 2020 |work=Gisborne Herald |date=10 January 2017}}</ref>

In recent years, McAlpine has written blogs and performed podcasts about aging, and in 2020 she published a collection of her poems called ''How to Be Old'' in celebration of her 80th birthday.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to Be Old |url=https://thecubapress.nz/shop/how-to-be-old/ |website=The Cuba Press |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="How to Be Old">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=How to be old : poems |date=2020 |location=Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand |isbn=978-1-98-859517-7}}</ref>

== Honours and awards==
* 1982 Australia-New Zealand Writer's Fellowship, Macquarie University<ref name="Harlow" />
* 1986 Writer in Residence, University of Canterbury<ref>{{cite web |title=Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing |url=https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/arts/schools-and-departments/english/ursula-bethell-residency/ |website=University of Canterbury |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>
* 1991 New Zealand Scholarship in Letters<ref name="Who's Who" /> 
* 1993–1995 Visiting Scholar, [Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts](/source/Doshisha_Women's_College_of_Liberal_Arts), Kyoto<ref name="OCNZL" /><ref name="Who's Who" />
* 2010 Writer in Residence, [Château de Lavigny](/source/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Lavigny), Switzerland<ref>{{cite web |title=In Residence |url=http://www.chateaudelavigny.ch/en-residence |website=Château de Lavigny |access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>

==Selected works==

=== Non-fiction ===
* 1980 ''Song in the Satchel: Poetry in the High School'' (Wellington: [NZCER](/source/NZCER))
* 1992 ''Real Writing'' (Wellington: GP Publications)
* 1994 ''Masako in New Zealand'' (Tokyo: Tairyusha)
* 1994 ''The Secret Life of New Zealand'' (Tokyo: Tairyusha)
* 1995 ''Katherine Mansfield in New Zealand'' (Tokyo: Asahi Press)
* 1995 ''Ready for English'' (Wellington: Learning Media)
* 1996 ''The Great New Zealand Study Trip'' (Auckland: New House)
* 1997 ''Global English for Global Business'' (Auckland: Addison Wesley Longman; reprinted CC Press 2005)
* 1998 ''The Passionate Pen: Romance Writers of New Zealand speak to Rachel McAlpine'' (Christchurch: Hazard)
* 1999 ''Web Word Wizardry'' (Wellington: CC Press; 2002. 2nd edition. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed)<ref name="Web Word" /><ref name="Web US" />
* 1999 ''Crash Course in Corporate Communications'' (Wellington: CC Press, Revised 2006)
* 2000 ''Nine Winning Habits of Successful Authors'' (Wellington: CC Press.)
* 2007 ''Better Business Writing on the Web'' (Wellington: CC Press)
* 2009 ''Write me a web page, Elsie!'' (Wellington: CC Press)
* 2013 ''Business Writing Plus'' (Wellington: CC Press)<ref>{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Business writing plus |date=2013 |publisher=CC Press |location=Wellington, New Zealand |isbn=9780986455681}}</ref>

=== Fiction ===
* 1985 ''The Limits of Green'' (Auckland: Penguin) <ref name="Novel 1" />
* 1987 ''Running Away from Home'' (Auckland: Penguin)<ref name="Novel 2" />
* 1990 ''Farewell Speech'' (Auckland: [Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books)).<ref name="Novel 3" /> 1996 Translated into Japanese by Masako Meio (Tokyo: Shinsui-Sha)
* 2005 ''Humming'' (Christchurch: Hazard)<ref name="Novel 4" />
* 2010 ''Scarlet Heels: 26 Stories about Sex'' (Wellington: CC Press) (short stories)<ref name="Novel 5">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Scarlet heels : 26 stories about sex |date=2010 |publisher=CC Press |location=Wellington, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-9864-5560-5}}</ref>
* 2016 ''Fixing Mrs Philpott'' <ref name="Novel 6">{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Fixing Mrs Philpott |date=2016 |publisher=Booklovers |location=Wellington, New Zealand |isbn=978-0-4733-6768-8}}</ref>

=== Poetry collections ===
* 1975 ''Lament for Ariadne'' (Dunedin: Caveman)
* 1977 ''Stay at the Dinner Party'' (Dunedin: Caveman)
* 1978 ''Fancy Dress'' (Auckland: Cicada)
* 1980 ''House Poems'' (Wellington: Nutshell Books)
* 1983 ''Recording Angel'' (Wellington: Mallinson Rendell)
* 1986 ''Thirteen Waves'' (Palmerston North: Homeprint)
* 1988 ''Selected Poems'' (Wellington: Mallinson Rendel)
* 1993 ''Tourist in Kyoto'' (Wellington: Nutshell Books)
* 2001 ''Another 100 New Zealand Poems for Children'' (Ed.)(Auckland: [Random House](/source/Random_House))
* 2005 ''A for Blog'' (Wellington: CC Press)<ref>{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=A for blog |date=2005 |publisher=CC Press |location=Wellington, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-4760-1453-4}}</ref>
* 2020 ''How to Be Old'' (Wellington: Cuba Press)<ref name="How to Be Old" />

=== Children's books ===
* 1990 ''Maria and Mrs Kominski'' (Auckland: Black Cat Books)<ref>{{cite book |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=Maria and Mrs Kominski |date=1990 |publisher=Black Cat Books |location=Auckland [N.Z.] |isbn=978-1-8694-1208-1}}</ref> (short stories)<ref name="OCNZL" />
* 1993 ''Maria in the Middle'' (London: [HarperCollins](/source/HarperCollins)) (also broadcast by [NZ On Air](/source/NZ_On_Air))
* 1994 ''Maria and the Lady Next Door'' (Wellington: [Learning Media Limited](/source/Learning_Media_Limited), also translated into five Pacific languages)<ref>{{cite web |title=Te au taeake o Maria / na Rachel McAlpine; tutu na Diane Perham; 'uri'a e Ngamata Maeva e Teremoana Maua-Hodges. |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/21083482 |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref>

=== Stage plays ===
* 1980 ''The Stationary Sixth Form Poetry Trip'' (Wellington: Playmarket; many productions)<ref name="Playmarket" />
* 1985 ''Driftwood'' (Wellington: [Victoria University Press](/source/Victoria_University_Press); many productions)<ref name="Playmarket" />
* 1988 ''Peace Offering'' (Auckland: Heinemanns; various productions)<ref name="Playmarket" />
* 1990 ''Power Play'' (Wellington: [Playmarket](/source/Playmarket); various productions)<ref name="Playmarket" />
* 2000 ''The Dazzling Night: a Noh play in English'' (Produced Le Mata Theatre, Auckland; published Kyoto Journal & [New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies](/source/New_Zealand_Journal_of_Asian_Studies))<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=The Dazzling Night |journal=Kyoto Journal |date=7 October 2016 |url=https://kyotojournal.org/culture-arts/the-dazzling-night/ |access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Read Rachel McAlpine's play The Dazzling Night |url=http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org/read-rachel-mcalpine-s-play-the-dazzling-night/ |website=Katherine Mansfield Society |access-date=24 November 2020 |date=1 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=McAlpine |first1=Rachel |title=The Dazzling Night: a Noh play in English |journal=The New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies |date=December 2001 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=150–176}}</ref>

=== Plays performed but not published ===
* 1981 ''The Life Fantastic'' ([Radio New Zealand](/source/Radio_New_Zealand))<ref name="OCNZL" />
* 1982 ''Cats Don't Marry'' (Radio New Zealand)<ref name="OCNZL" />
* 1984 ''Quite Nice Really'' (Radio New Zealand)<ref name="OCNZL" />
* 1986 ''Paper Towers'' (Christchurch: [Court Theatre (New Zealand)](/source/Court_Theatre_(New_Zealand)))<ref name="Cambridge" /><ref name="Playmarket" />
* 1988 ''The Op Shop Quartet'' (Radio New Zealand)<ref name="OCNZL" />
* 1989 (adapted from Katherine Mansfield) ''The Stranger'', ''Mr Reginald Peacock's Day'' (Radio New Zealand)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.read-nz.org/writer/mcalpine-rachel Profile on Read NZ Te Pou Muramura]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120402104759/http://www.stc-india.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Knowledge-wisdom-and-joy-of-writing.ppt Knowledge, wisdom and the joy of writing]: presentation for [Society for Technical Communication](/source/Society_for_Technical_Communication) India 2010
* [https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/06-04-2018/the-friday-poem-when-by-rachel-mcalpine/ Friday poem "But When?" by Rachel McAlpine] on ''[The Spinoff](/source/The_Spinoff)''

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlpine, Rachel}}
Category:1940 births
Category:Living people
Category:New Zealand women novelists
Category:20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
Category:New Zealand children's writers
Category:New Zealand women poets
Category:20th-century New Zealand novelists
Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists
Category:New Zealand women children's writers
Category:New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights
Category:21st-century New Zealand women writers
Category:People from Fairlie, New Zealand
Category:People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School
Category:University of Canterbury alumni
Category:Massey University alumni
Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni
Category:20th-century New Zealand women writers
Category:21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rachel McAlpine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_McAlpine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_McAlpine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.