KATHERINE MANSFIELD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 302, 22 December 1933, Page 9

KATHERINE MANSFIELD.

MEMORIAL AT KARORI SCHOOL

A memorial to Katherine Mansfield, in the form of a bird bath, was unveiled t on Wednesday at the Karori School, | Wellington, which she attended as a , child. ; Facts about Katherine Mansfield's j career were mentioned by Mr. I\. A. i Wright, M.P., who delivered a eulogy ' of her. When she attended the Karori j school first at the age of eight, she was 1 known as Katherine Mansfield Beau- ! champ, he said. From the beginning she was always fond of reading, and one , of her sisters had said that her driving * force was a desire for self-expression in j writing. She had faith in herself, al- j though few others seemed to share it 5 in her youth, and she pressed her father ( to allow her to take up a literary career. Sir Harold Beauchamp took the : advice of a Wellington journalist, Mr. T. R. Mills, whom he asked to read her j manuscripts. Mr. Mills had since said , that ho read the girl's writings with astonished delight, and decided he had ] discovered a genius in Wellington. Her ' verses, which he said were the sweetest he had read, were sent to "Harper's ( Magazine," which immediately accepted I them, and asked for the first refusal of ; any future poetry by her. The stories | were sent to two other magazines, j which also immediately accepted them, j Mr. Wright commented upon the re- 1 markable fact that those editors had • done such an unusual thing as to accept J the first manuscripts they had seen of j an unknown writer. While attending , Queen's College in Harley Street, Lon- ; don, with her two sisters she contributed to its magazine stories of NewZealand life. Brilliant and Determined. When she was about 18, said Mr. ! Wright, an Australian editor expressed doubt that a writer so young should show such talent, and it was then that she adopted the nom de plume. The publication of the books by which she was so well known, and various journalistic appointments fo!l6wed, but in her early thirties, probably before her genius had developed fully, she died. A stern determination as well as inborn brilliance had carried her to the pinnacle in literature which she occupied, said Mr. Wright. In France she was popular, and even in Japan and China she had her admirers and her works were being translated into those Eastern languages. Now throughout the world writers were discussing her. Mr. Wright concluded by remarking to the children present.that her life was an inspiration, especially to pupils of her old school. After Sir Harold Beauchamp and Miss L. Dyer, who is a cousin of Katherine Mansfield and who acted on behalf of Lady Beauchamp, had removed the bunting which had veiled the memorial, Sir Harold Beauchamp said that, unlike some things about his daughter that had been published, Mr. Wright's speech, which had deeply touched him, was accurate.