THE MUSE IN ARMS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 213, 23 July 1943, Page 6

THE MUSE IN ARMS

Literary Competitions For N.Z. Forces

that servicemen and servicewomen of the New. Zealand forces at home and in the Pacific are being invited to enter for literary competitions, which include two categories of verse. As a result, partly of Puritan influence, there is a widespread belief among Britons that literature (especially poetry). and action don’t go together. A good many people regard the poet as a poor fish, and little more than half a man. It is an idea that wouldn’t have appealed to the Greeks, the Tudor Englishmen, or the Italians of the Renaissance. Greek poets went into battle like anyone else. Michelangelo was a military engineer as well as an artist and a poet. Raleigh and Spencer were soldiers and poets. The last war produced a crop of soldier poets, some of whom, like Rupert Brooke, died with no one knows how much music in them, and this war has seen the publication of volumes of poems by men in the forces. The number of prose writers who have seen war service is legion. To mention only two of the greatest, the |: may surprise some people to hear

author of Don Quixote was in the thick of the fight at Lepanto, and Tolstoy fought in the Crimean War. The Army Education Welfare Service and the National Broadcasting Service, which are jointly sponsoring these literary competitions for the New Zealand forces, cherish the hope engendered by all such enterprises, that something very outstanding will come of this opportunity — that some lasting piece of literature may be created in a hutment on a New Zealand beach, or a palm-grove somewhere beyond the Kermadecs. Or a radio play may be written that will be wanted by all the main systems in the British Empire, or a short story that will indicate that a new writer of distinction has arrived. Here are the classes:(1) RADIO PLAY: Ist prize, 20 guineas; 2nd prize, 10 guineas. (Not longer than 30 minutes). (2) SHORT STORY: 1st prize, 10 guineas; 2nd prize, 5 guineas. (Not more than 3000 words). (3) DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH: 1st prize, 10 guineas; 2nd prize, 5 guineas. (Not more than 1500 words). (Continued on next page)

‘(continued trom previous page) (4) NARRATIVE POEM: Ist prize, 10 poner oy prize, 5 guineas. (Not more than (5) LYRIC POEM: Ist prize, 10 guineas; 2nd prize, 5 guineas. (Not less than 20 lines and not more than 50 lines). The Army Education Welfare Service and the National Broadcasting Service are not rash enough to offer advice to competitors about the writing of poetry (except to indicate the difference between a Narrative and a Lyric Poem), -but they do give some pointers about the radio play and the short story. They set out the differences between writing for the stage and for the microphone, and what the judges will look for in the entries, and they have a little to say about the art of the short story. Enries close on December 1. Competitors may get particulars from local Army Education Welfare offices, or Headquarters, A.E.W.S., Featherston Street, Wellington.