CREATIVE WRITING
PROBLEMS FACING NEW ZEALAND AUTHORS VALUE OF STATE AID The special problems which face New Zealand writers, and the effect of the provision of State aid to authors, were dealt with by Mr M. H. Holcroft, of Invercargill, in another of the series of lectures on creative writing in this country which have been given under the auspices of the W.E.A. The special problem which existed in a new literary environment, he said, could not be understood unless one had some knowledge of authorship. Although education and training might equip a man for many types of work, he could not be made into a writer unless he possessed a somewhat mysterious creative power within him. Conflict of some kind was an indispensable part of the creative process—a conflict which might be found in family life or uncongenial environment or occupation. Such conflicts, he said, were to be found in all productive lives, and the explanation of their influence might be simply that, while the normal individual received from his conflict a bias of mind or an additional strength in his character, the writer was driven by his creative faculty to explain or rationalise that whith he could not understand. Since his explanations took the form of dreams or fantasies; other people were able to share them or take from them a vicarious satisfaction. In New Zealand, writers were facing their difficult task while literature throughout the world was in a state of flux, said Mr Holcroft, and he could not imagine any country in which it would be harder at the present time for writers to establish a native tradition. New Zealand authors had a further handicap in that, unlike writers in older countries, they had virtually no tradition of folk legend and story upon which to draw.
A major handicap which writers in this country had to face was the difficulty of getting their work published The first serious attempt to overcome the isolation to which New Zealand writers had always been exposed lay in the setting up by the Government of a literary fund and a committee to advise on its expenditure. There was a general opinion abroad that writers must have leisure without anxiety in order to produce the best work of which they were capable. That was something New Zealand writers had never had. “ The problem here, I think, is not to provide suitable conditions for authorship, but to make it easier to have work published when it is written,” said Mr Holcroft. “ Literary success in New Zealand cannot be financial success; it is confined to achievement and reputation. A man who has shown himself capable of overcoming the difficulties of an unfavourable environment, and who has developed a talent which shows promise of still better work in the future, deserves all the assistance the State can give him.” It had been suggested that under a State scheme only “ safe ” books would be published. It was obvious, however. that writers of such books were have equal difficulty in finding commercial publishers for their work in New Zealand. In any case, the number of such books was likely to be small, and their rejection, regrettable though it might be, did not alter the fact that State aid could be of great assistance and encouragement. There was no need to provide excessive leisure or facilities. The main thing was that writers should have some certainty that, if their work was good enough, it would be published.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 26558, 5 September 1947, Page 6
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580CREATIVE WRITING Otago Daily Times, Issue 26558, 5 September 1947, Page 6
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