Renowned author and poet Bernie Hall says it doesn’t feel like her latest book has been 20 years in the making.

Despite it taking two decades to script, Bernadette, an Amberley Beach resident, is “totally thrilled’’ and content to see The girl who was swallowed by ice and snow, finally published alongside 17 “exquisite’’ original paintings by Kathryn Madill of Dunedin.

The 1500 word “miniature’’ book, which Bernie self-published, has its roots and was inspired by Bernie and Kathryn’s shared 2004 residency in Antarctica. 

It is deeply personal, and came after a much longer version didn’t gel.

"I really had to knuckle down. It was painful, and it was tough,’’ says Bernie.

But she is deeply satisfied with the result which captures the Antarctica landscape, emphasised by Maditt’s paintings and her descriptive writing, evident from the first page: “Once upon a time there was a girl called Sul. She was born on a Sunday so she was a child of grace with a disposition that all agreed was sunny. But round about the time of her sixteenth birthday, she fell into a terrible silence. It was as if her heart had filled with ice, the toughest, most lovely metamorphosis of water. She is summoned to a journey which is fraught with danger and with anguish. How will she survive?’’

Bernie did not begin to publish until her 40’s but quickly cemented her reputation as one of the country’s more distinctive poetic voices.

Her first collection HEARTWOOD was published in 1989 with drawings by Joanna Margaret Paul. She has held writing Fellowships at Otago, Canterbury, and Victoria Universities.

Poetry has taken her to Hobart, New York, Iowa, and Ireland where she held the Rathcoola Residency in Co. Cork. She has 11 collections of poetry to her name, two of them, The Merino Princess, and Fancy Dancing, are selections of published work.

In 2008 she co-founded The Hagley Writers' Institute in Otautahi Christchurch. From 2009 –2025 she curated and chaired the annual, The Writers’ Tea Party, held in the Amberley Library. She was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry in 2015.

Dunedin artist Kathryn Madill is an established New Zealand artist. Her paintings, drawings and prints explore fragments of literature, legend and landscape. Within these delicate works, we find poised moments of human experience stalled against the grey of day, the dark of night, the barren contours of a desolate landscape. Madill has been a consistent exhibitor at City Art Depot since 2001.

  • The Friends of the Hurunui Libraries is hosting a talk by Bernie to celebrate her book “The girl who was swallowed by ice and snow’’ at 5.30pm on Friday, August 14. Bookings are essential by contacting the library on 03 314 8980 of by emailing requests@hurunuilibrary.govt.nz, or visit the library at 111 Carters Road, Amberley.