A survey of some New Zealand literary periodicals from 1926 to 1947

Abstract

Six periodicals were chosen for this study, the New Zealand Artists' Annual (1926-1932), New Zealand Railways Magazine (1926-1940), Phoenix (1932-1933), Book: A Miscellany (1941-1947) and Spilt Ink (1932-1937), superseded by New Triad (1937-1942), which in turn was superseded by Letters (1943-1946) and Arena (1946-1975). My chosen period spans the years between the early 'twenties when a New Zealand literature was slowly emerging, through the more active period of creative writing in the 'thirties, and the late 'forties after the Second World War, up to the appearance of Landfall in 1947. The aim is to map the chief literary initiatives and preoccupations and to suggest what opportunities for publication of literary work existed before Landfall was established. Part One introduces each periodical, its editor, its editorial policy, contents and notable contributors. The periodicals chosen for study illustrate the two types of periodical which were hospitable to literary work. One was the periodical, however short-lived, whose interests were basically literary, and the other was the periodical whose intentions were not literary, but which nevertheless, aware of the limited opportunities for creative writers, welcomed literary work. These periodicals give a good cross-section of the dominant concerns of poets and writers during my chosen period. Part Two therefore examines the main themes which preoccupied contributors. Nature and man's relationship to the land were early a favourite theme. The former is an inheritance from early New Zealand verse with its large debts to the late Romantics and Victorians, a theme which became less popular with increasing urbanisation, while the theme of the land grew out of a sense of the historical, pioneering past of New Zealand and what that meant for a new generation. Then, there is the familiar theme of New Zealand's attachment to 'Home' and her attempts to sever that umbilical cord. Racial relationships, particularly that between Maori and pakeha, is a major theme explored in these periodicals. The effects of the Depression of the 'thirties and of the Second World War as revealed in poetry and prose are conspicuous features of these periodicals. Finally, we see the development of a new literary movement towards an introspective expression of personal emotions and a new interest in psychology and sexuality, after the Second World War. Literary criticism in these periodicals is discussed in Part Three. A major part of this section is concerned with the movement from the impressionistic literary criticism of early writers to a new awareness of the need for analytical criticism and of an examination of the nature of criticism itself. There are two appendices. The first is an analysis of each available issue of the period set out in terms of its title, subtitle(s), date, price, pagination, editor, publisher and printer. The second appendix is an author index which aims at giving a more comprehensive view of the contributors to each periodical and the kind of work published.