Charles Brasch: Patron, Poet & Collector

Charles Brasch: Patron, Poet & Collector

In the mid twentieth century Charles Brasch was an important figure in New Zealand's cultural life - a poet, patron and founding editor of Landfall, the country's premier journal of letters and art.

Enduring Legacy: Charles Brasch, Patron, Poet & Collector, edited by Donald Kerr, offers a reappraisal of Charles Brasch and his impact on New Zealand in the mid-twentieth century. It celebrates the life and legacy of a man whose quiet presence left many ripples in the developing New Zealand literary and art scene.

The May release from a 30-year embargo of the Brasch papers at the Hocken Library, University of Otago, presented an ideal opportunity to look at the man and his times. Two exhibitions have been held during the year and Enduring Legacy has been published by University of Otago Press in association with the University of Otago Library to close this season of acknowledgement. The volume contains essays by writers and critics, including literary executor Alan Roddick, W.H. Oliver, Iain Sharp, O.E. Middleton, Michael King and Ruth Dallas.

The book is divided into five sections: The Legacy, The Man and the Citizen, The Poet, The Editor and personal Recollections, covering Brasch's life and work. Most importantly is provides an occasion for revisiting his poetry.

Enduring Legacy is well illustrated with personal photographs and colour reproductions of works from his art collection, many of which have never before been published. Brasch was an early collector of New Zealand modernists, including Colin McCahon, Toss Woollaston, Evelyn Page and many other important artists.

Its publication coincides with the release of the Landfall 206: Magic. Its release will be celebrated at a launch in the Charles Brasch Court of the University of Otago Library on Monday 17 November.

About the Editor

Donald Kerr is Special Collections Librarian at the University of Otago and curated the exhibition 'Harmonizing my starting place: Charles Brasch, Poet, Patron and Collector' (2003).

Contents & Contributors

Introduction Donald Kerr The Legacy Charles Brasch: Man of letters Stuart Strachan & Susan Irvine, Charles Brasch: Collector and patron Max Broadbent, A Matter of Taste: Charles Brasch as art collector Linda Tyler, Thirty Years as Literary Executor Alan Roddick The Man & Citizen Towards a Biography Sarah Quigley, Charles Brasch and Dunedin Alan Horsman The Poet Charles Brasch and the 'Land and People' Theme Lawrence Jones, Keys to the Locked Soul Iain Sharp The Editor 'A citizen of the English Language': Charles Brasch in his times W.H. Oliver, Charles Brasch's Landfall: A second life John Geraets Recollections Remembering Charles Ruth Dallas, Brasch at the Door Michael King, On Brasch Elizabeth Smither, 'I stalk the streets of the midnight city' Bill Manhire, Charles Brasch: A Memoir O.E. Middleton, A Headland of Praise 'Asclepius' Notes, Selected Bibliography, Index

© Scoop Media