Douglas MacDiarmid is remembered as one of our great expat artists, but a new book that coincides with the 100th anniversary of his birth in Taihape reveals a man who was also a consummate letter writer and lover of language.
His niece and biographer Anna Cahill has spent years transcribing hundreds of Douglas' handwritten letters to his first great love, composer Douglas Lilburn.
Along with some poems dating from 1944 to 2001, these are contained in a book called Letters to Lilburn - Douglas MacDiarmid's Conversations from the Heart.
Douglas died from Covid-19 in Paris in August 2020, but Anna and others were determined that his centenary be celebrated in his homeland.
Lynn Freeman asks Anna if she hopes that Letters to Lilburn will help people to see Douglas as a man who was eloquent with both paint and pen.
Letters to Lilburn - Douglas MacDiarmid's conversations from the heart, a limited-edition volume, is launched in Wellington on 14 November, the date of his 100th birthday. As well as Anna's book, there will be the MacDiarmid Centenary Art Trail that's included in a new dedicated website.
