NEW ZEALAND WRITING
Sir,-The discussion of Dan Davin and Frank Sargeson on the above subject left many of us deeply interested, wondering how far they got in interesting the great bulk of their listeners, As an author and writer going back as far as 1890, I know there are many young authors who have little chance of showing their ability or making much out of what they write, because of our limited population, and the increase of free libraries, where one book may be taken out more than a score of times at a small fractional cost. For every book sold in New Zealand four are sold in Australia. Often books priced as high as 15/- have booksellers’, distributing and publishing costs of 14/6, Making allowance for books for review there is nothing left for the author. The discussion was practical enough to give wrfiters hope that there would be success at the end. At best authorship is illusive.
To express our ideas in writing must evidently be a difficult task, seeing how tare an acquirement it is, and how few even of the best writers have acquired perfect facility in the art. Most authors will tell you, after long practice, that they still find it nearly as difficult to write well as they did when they began to write.
W. K.
HOWITT
' (Auckland).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19481029.2.14.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 488, 29 October 1948, Page 5
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224NEW ZEALAND WRITING New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 488, 29 October 1948, Page 5
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