A YOUNG CRUSADER.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18283, 21 March 1931, Page 18 (Supplement)

A YOUNG CRUSADER.

NEW ZEALAND LITERATURE MR BLACKWOOD PAUL’S WORK. One of the most outstanding contributions in the March issue of “Art in New Zealand” —that excellent little quarterly which is striving valiantly to cultivate interest in art and letters in this country—is an article by Mr Blackwood Paul, 8.A., son of Mr W. H. Paul, of Hamilton. Mr Paul is one of our young crusaders of whom there are too few in this Dominion. He is already familiar to readers of the Waikato Times through his articles on Early Waikato and more recently wo published a poem from his pen on the Taniwlia. His review of “Art” is a remarkably scholarly composition and obviously the work of an enthusiast. The most salient of Mr Paul’s observations is his comment on the utter literary sterility from which New Zealand has for so long suffered. With more young people of Mr Paul’s creative ability and more pioneer publications like “Art” we would be at least on the bottom rung of the ladder of letters. Ills article deals chiefly with Walter D’Arcy CressweH’s book “The Poet’s Progress,” and Geoffrey de Montalk's “Surprising Songs." His criticisms are fair and full yet not without a subtlety of expression which hints at a subdued power of invective. The reader is certainly left in doubt concerning his conclusions of the “local colour idea” in colonial literature. Since he emphasises the need for acclimatising ourselves to the effect of Maori place-names in our poetry he must favour the delineation of native scenes, locale and characters In our ■prose. The impression left by Mr Paul’s criticism is distinctly pleasurable to the book-lover. One feels instinctively we have in our midst a writer fighting for recognition by the reading public of New Zealand work, determined to have his vision rewarded. We hope to see more of Mr Paul’s work in the future. The latest issue of “Art” is well up to previous standards and commands attention for the excellence of its make-up and the opulency of its material. Most of the delightful black-and-white sketches of European scenes are from the Den of Mr John Weeks, the Auckland artrst, who is also responsible for the illustrations in colour. The contributed matter is all very readable. C.C.T.