Katherine Mansfield Centenary: Reading suggestions

This year is the centenary of Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923). A founding and influential writer of the modernist movement, Mansfield grew up in Aotearoa and many of her much-loved short stories explore this setting.

To celebrate Mansfield’s legacy in 2023, we’re sharing a selection of works by or about her from the Auckland Council Libraries collections. Read our brief introduction to her life and work, and explore the reading suggestions below for a chance to dip into the world of Mansfield.

A brief introduction

Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington in 1888 and spent much of her childhood in the suburb of Karori. The city and its surroundings form the backdrop of many of her well-known stories, such as “Prelude” (1918), “At the Bay” (1922) and “The Doll’s House” (1922).

In 1908, Mansfield moved to London and became involved with the influential Bloomsbury Group of modernist writers, artists and intellectuals. She began contributing to literary magazines and her writing quickly gained recognition for its unique style and emotional impact.

Katherine Mansfield, Chaucer Mansions flat, Queen's Club Gardens, West Kensington, London, England in 1913. Photographed by Ida Baker. Ref: 1/4-059876-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. /records/22317542

With an emphasis on character psychology, her short stories are characterised by stream-of-consciousness narration and complex symbolism. Her peer Virginia Woolf famously wrote, “I was jealous of her writing. The only writing I have ever been jealous of” (Diary, 1917).

In late 1917, Mansfield developed pleurisy, and she was diagnosed with tuberculosis the following year. Despite her fragile health, she managed to pursue her passion for writing and living well. She published three collections of short stories during her lifetime, In a German Pension (1911), Bliss (1921) and The Garden Party (1922).

Mansfield spent her final days in Fontainebleau, France, at George Gurdjieff’s ‘Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man.’ She passed away on 9 January 1923, aged just 34.

Auckland Council Libraries holds a wide collection of her works and studies of her life and writing. Explore our selection of readings below in recognition of the Katherine Mansfield Centenary, KM23.