NEW ZEALAND Has Conquered the Lesser Peaks of Literary Fame

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 1, 12 July 1935, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND Has Conquered the Lesser Peaks of Literary Fame

says

MARGARET

MACPHERSON

HE last ten years: have: been the most difficult of any decade: in the history of..New. Zealand. _ They have been-years of slump, years of depression and unemployment, years of corroding anxiety and hardship to the majority of the people of this Dominion. During this time only one writer has arisen who can be called great. I refer, of course, to Katherine Mansfield, one of the greatest short story writers of all time. ~ Now, not only is our Katherine the only New Zealand writer who has written really great work

during this period; she is, too, the only writer who-has pictured the stress and anxiety of the period at all. «And I think we may accept as the first condition of greatness that the. writer should portray his or her own time frankly and fearlessly, no matter how depressing the result may be. During the last ten years all our other novelists and authors have taken a flight from reality, a flight to other times or countries, a flight to pure fantasy. In doing so they excluded. themselves rigidly from the first rank. of genius. , However, it is no use crying over spilt ink. Ifwe have not reached the topmost heights, yet we have climbed. Let us look at the lesser peaks we have conquered. Socially,:-kings and queens -take precedence. So we will speak first of Mr. Hector Bolitho, who writes of royalty, grandeur and pageantry. Mr. Bolitho has made a great success in Fleet Street‘and is one of our most successful journalists. For my-taste, he writes.a little too reverently of the great personages around whom his books centre, but if he does not please me, yet there is no doubt he pleases his august patrons, and if Hector does not get a knighthood some day soon I will eat my

words, A. complete: contrast is our other Hector-Hector ‘Macquarrie: "Captain Macquarrie’s books are full of an insouciant charm and colour, his last, "Round the ._ World.in a Baby Austin," being a model of good travel stuff well told. . In-this the author tells some very amusing anecdotes of.himself.. But the most amusing of all the Hector Macquarrie stories I shall now unfold for the first time. Some years ago our Hector wrote a play which went into rehearsal in New York. He, however,’ lived out in the country, having rented a delightful farm cottage where he kept a few. dogs, Cats, ducks, chickens, etc., for Hector, like most New Zealanders, is-not-happy:unless he has a few dear animals to Jove and care for. One day everything seemed to ‘go wrong with his‘pets. His little brown’ hen, Pamela, . broke her leg.. The vet. who was ‘sent for said-that-he Ms _could do nothing for her except wring her neck. «Hector rejected this offer with indignation and himself made her a little wooden’ leg: out of: a: pronged twig: . It worked quite well, but Pamela limped a little and: Hector brought-her into the house, putting her into a back room = te eee ge

where she could practise on her new limb without getting. knocked about. The same day, Victor, the rooster, got roaring drunk, having eaten a lot of fermented: apples, So Victor, too, was removed from.the fowl-run and put in a box under the grand piano in the living room. Unfortunately, the same day a reporter was sent from a leading: New York paper to interview our playwright. As is the manner of reporters, he first interviewed Mr.. Macquarrie’s housekeeper to get some intimate details about his daily life. The housekeeper, a garrulous

old soul, showed him Pamela, stotting around in her. wooden leg in the back room, and Victor, disgusting drunk, under the grand piatio. "What impression this made upon his mind we shall see later. Then he saw Hector. After the interview the young man prepared to go, but suddenly it began to thunder, lighten and teem with rain, so Hector invited him to light his pipe and rest by the fire, and the. two men ~ fell into conversation upon literature in general. "To-my. mind, * observed Hector, "the world’s greatest literature is in the Bible. For instance, there’s the 13th of Corinthians, that chapter on love." "T'm afraid I don’t know it," confessed the reporter. —

fiector got down the Bible and read the passage,

and we caf imagine how lovingly he chanted the sonorous syllables: "Love envieth not and is kind; love vaunteth not itself, is not unseemly, seeketh not her own; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, etc., etc." "Tf I have a creed," said Hector, "itisthat. Itis my ideal." The rain ceased and the reporter left. The next day Hector picked up the New York paper to read his interview. Temnnaina hie haerne

RARE SA eee eee ee . when he beheld, seven.columns. wide, the headlines, "ECCENTRIC NEW ZEALAND DRAMATIST FOUNDS ABODE OF LOVE." The article went on to describe Hector’s "Abode.of Love" to which even animals were admitted. Then followed a comic description of Victor, the rooster, and Pamela,ahen. The rules of the Abode, said the paper, were all:derived from Biblical sources, chiefly. the 13th chapter of Corinthians. For the next three days Hector was snowed under a drift of correspondence-letters by the hundred "from people who were indignant at him for starting an Abode

of Love; letters by the thousand from women who wanted to come-and live with him in the Abode of Love! Then he wrote to the: paper:demanding a withdrawal of . the statements. -They were withdrawn-in a half-inch paragraph at the bottom:.of a: back: page where no one was likely to see. it. | The finest New -Zealanid novel of the last decade is undoubtedly Mr. J. A. Lee’s "Children of the Poor." ‘This deals with reality, but not, alas; present day reality. ‘Lighter and less are.the books of N elle'-M. Scanlan, the

cheerful :writer of the ‘Pencarrow saga, a pleas_antly..written history of -a:pioneer family in this country. ° Still lighter, and"in the same pleasing vein’ are the books. of. Rosemary Rees: ‘This lady: is on the stage.and isa better: actress ‘than "novelist. . A: New Zee "lander whose ‘work " strong:if.morbid is’ Tean Devanny, who achieved the .distinction of hav--ing + her book, "The Butcher’s Shop," banned in. the’: Dominion. Thisilady i is now in Syd-

ney where she . does work of some distinc-

tion as a speaker and writer. She, by the way, is'a. Communist. Quite an event was the" publication of "Journalese," by Robin Hyde, a bright presentation of journalistic life in this country. This book was an artistic success and a financial failure, but it was a gallant attempt which one hopes will precede a victory with her next work, "Cheque to Your King," a life of that intriguing French nobleman, the Baron de Thierry. Robin Hyde is also a poet of considerable merit, her one book: of verse, "The Desolate Star." con-

taining some lovely. and haunting songs. Another success to be recorded was the publication of Quentin Pope’s anthology, "Kowhai Gold," a very fine collection of modern New Zealand verse.. Too, our best lyrist, A: R. D. Fairburn, had a book of exquisite poetry published in London-"He Shall Not Rise." Since that time Fairburn’s genius has burned to a mellow glow infinitely superior to his. early. sparks and flashes, and one looks forward to seeing his next book ere long. oo , ‘ More spectacular was.the (Continued on page 66.)

(Continued from page 19.) success of Dr. Merton Hodge, whose delicious play, "The Wind and the, Rain," had such a long run in London. Other plays of considerable merit were those published by National Magazines, Ltd.,. the. best, perhaps being "Fear," by Mrs. Targuse. The last star to rise on the literary horizon is Mr. Ian Donnelly, of Christchurch, whose book "The Joyous Pilgrimage" is being brought out by Dent’s. A few friends have been allowed to read the proof copies of this, and it is indeed a work of considerable charm and originality. Meanwhile, New Zealanders abroad are shining brightly on the Inky Way. Percy Crisp, formerly of the ‘‘Sun," is on the editorial staff of the "Daily Ex press," London. © Ian Coster, that brilliant young tennis player, footballer and writer, has gone from the _ editorial staff of Nash’s Magazine to. .be film critic of the "Evening Standard" at a salary running into four figures. And last, best and dearest David Low still gives this poor old planet its daily Jaugh in his brilliant cartoons. His "Russian Note Book" and "The Best of Low" have been best sellers all over the world. --