The title of this recording is "Courage Day 2020". It was recorded in Vic Books Pipitea (Wellington), 27 Lambton Quay, Pipitea, Wellington on the 16th November 2020. This is a recording of an event and features the voices of Christopher Burke, Janis Freegard and Mandy Hager. Their names are spelt correctly, but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 1 hour and 3 minutes, but this may not reflect the actual length of the event. A list of correctly spelt content keywords and tags can be found at the end of this document. The content in the recording covers the decades 1920s through to the 2020s. The audio recording begins:  Well, um, it's lovely to see everyone in person. This is the first time we've been able to have an in person meeting, Um, for some time now. So, um, welcome, everybody. It's really lovely to see you. Um, but yes, It's my great pleasure to welcome you all here today. Um, this is officially the day after Courage Day. Um, because that's, um, the the 15th of November. We're celebrating it today because this is the the timing for our usual branch meetings. And so I'm I'm delighted to, um, to welcome first, um, Mandy Ha, Who's the president of the New Zealand Society of Authors. And she's going to talk to us, Um, a little bit about courage Day. Um, Mandy's, um, a multi award winning writer of, um, fiction for young adults. And she's she's won many awards, uh, including the storylines Margaret Mahi medal for Lifetime achievement and a distinguished contribution to New Zealand's literature for young people. Um, and after Mandy's spoken to us, um, we're going to hear from our special guest, uh, doctor Christopher Burke, and he's gonna talk to us, Um, about James courage. So I'll introduce, uh, Christopher a bit more um, later on, but yes. Welcome. And I'll hand over now to Mandy. Uh um, it's really lovely to be here. Um, and see people in the flesh. Um, one of the things that I really treasure about NZS. A is our connection to pen International, which works to support human rights. Um, of writers around the world. Um, hence we have an empty chair that recognises there. There are some writers who have been imprisoned for the writing that they do or are actually no longer alive. So we that today and we also mark that by Courage Day. However, yesterday was also the day of the imprisoned writer, which is an annual international day to recognise and support writers who've, um, resisted repression of their basic human rights, um, to express how they feel freely and to stand up to attacks that made their right to impart against their right to impart information. Um, so, every year, uh, the pen international picks, um, five or six writers to actually just highlight what's going on around the world. Um, but also to look at what's happening internationally. So last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists, for instance, said that 49 journalists were killed doing their jobs in 2019, 2020 another 37 are suspected of being killed for what they're written. So this year there are five writers that they've chosen to highlight, and please forgive me for my pronunciation of their names in advance. So investigative journalist Palo Z from Peru, who's currently facing a criminal defamation trial in Lima. If she's convicted, she'll face up to three years in prison in her 2015 book that she co-authored, which exposed sexual and physical abuse within the Catholic Church. Um, she's now got defamation suits from all sorts of organisations that risk her going to jail. Iranian lawyer and poet Sahani has been banned from leaving Iran in 2019, only two years after returning to the country. After living in Sweden for several years. She was sentenced to prison several times for reasons tied to her activism. In August, she was sentenced to a year in prison for signing a petition against police brutality. Um, Turkish critic of ER Erdogan Um Osman Kavana has been imprisoned for three years. He's briefly released in February and then was put back in jail. Um last year the European Right of Human Rights ruled that his initial arrest was politically motivated. Chinese Uighur poet and editor Chi Awa was sent to a reeducation camp in July 2008 18. Um, according to local media, he worked for the state owned publishing house and edited a book about Chinese leadership which they allegedly disliked. Therefore, he is now being reprogrammed. Um, the Ugandan author Kaka novel, The Greedy Barbarian, is seen as critical of the Ugandan president and his family. He was arrested in September of this year and detained for several days, accused of inciting violence and encouraging sectarianism. He's currently free on bail but has to check in with authorities. Two Thou sorry, 200 kilometres from his home every week. So these are the kind of things that writers around the world are facing. Um, as the current turmoil in the US shows, US human rights and democracy are fragile mechanisms to protect civil society and can be overturned by one election or coup. It's important that we always keep vigilant even in a relatively stable democracy like a we may think we are immune to such human rights abuses and harassment. But the truth is actually somewhat more complicated. So I'm stepping out of my hat of NZS a president, and I'm now speaking as the sister of investigative journalist Nicky Hager, whose work has shone a light on dirty political dealings and criminal activity within our defence force. Among a range of other issues after the publication of his book, Hit and Run, which outlined the killing of civilians in Afghanistan by our SAS and which proved material materially correct, um, in a subsequent official inquiry, police illegally searched his bank accounts, his trade me accounts, his Air New Zealand accounts, then waited till they knew he was out of Wellington for the day before arriving on Mass at his house, waking his daughter, making her dress in front of a police officer in case she was trying to hide evidence, then pulled his house apart, searching for evidence of his sources, which are actually protected under law. They illegally cloned his computer as well as removing it and his daughter's laptop just before she was due to set a university exams and would not allow me when I arrived to observe them as they searched to check that they stayed within the law. Later they were found to have operated illegally and were first forced to apologise and pay compensation. But he's not alone and being treated like this. There have been several cases where government contracted. Investigators have illegally spied on protest groups here, breaching their privacy and right to protest. So I ask that we don't just pay pay lip service to our support of writers human rights, but that we actively demand these rights are protected both here and overseas. In the words of Thurgood Marshall, an American lawyer and civil rights activist where you see wrong or injustice or inequality, Speak out. Because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it protect it and pass it on. Thank you, Kilda. Thank you very much, Mandy, for, um, reminding us of of why we're here today and, um, how we can't be too complacent here in New Zealand either. Um, so it's my great pleasure now to welcome Doctor Christopher Burke, who's, um, an historian and a Wellington based public servant. Um, and he wrote his doctorate on the life and literature of James Courage. So um it's a great pleasure for us to have him here today to talk to us. Um, about James Courage. Uh, Christopher Burke, Uh, thank you very much for having me here today. Uh, so as Janice mentioned, um, I have written my PhD on James Courage. Uh, I am a historian, but in some ways, my research itself is now historical. So it was from 2012. So do bear with me. Um, if some of these details are sort of coming to me somewhat organically, uh, but it's really nice to to be here today to talk to you about I think one of my, um, great loves and passions and I'm super excited to share it with you all. Uh, so in terms of the, um, the title for today, um, I just want to explain, um, something of the the meaning behind, uh, the title today. Uh, so remembering James Courage, I guess, Um, this comes from, um my awareness that, um despite his, uh, cultural, I guess significance, um, and his popularity during his lifetime, particularly before the publication of his novel The Way of Love. Much of what we know of of of James Courage as an author has has been lost somewhat over the decades. And an important part of gay activism, I think in New Zealand has been, uh, remembering who he is and restoring to memory. Um, not only, um, his works of fiction, and there are several of them. I think that we should all be so excited to have within, um um our our heritage. Uh um, but also his life. Uh, so I want to do, um, both of those things today. So, uh, what I propose to do and, um, not really proposing, because that's what I'm going to do. Uh, is, um, speak to you? I guess in three stances, Uh um, I'll begin. Um, just by very briefly tracing something of, I guess. Courageous life. A way of showing what, um, one. what one homosexual pre liberation life may have looked like. Uh, this is a subjective history. This is, um, the experience of of an individual, Um, but an important one. Um, and then we will move to, um discussing, um, something of the substance, I guess, Um, within two, cultural zones. So New Zealand and London being the two places that, um, courage spent most of his time. Um, and I think this is important because, uh, I certainly as a as a gay male growing up in New Zealand, Um, I was well, in thinking of, um, of New Zealand's past as being, um an incredibly violent and repressive Um um, history, uh, for any minority. Um, but what I think is so exciting and so important, um, for us to celebrate as New Zealanders is actually that New Zealanders, uh, like James, Uh, um a, um, self affirming homosexual did find ways to live satisfying lives and not only live them, but to write about them as well. And then I'll conclude not by talking about all of his works, which is always the temptation, I think, and something I would have done at the start of my PhD when I hadn't learned those lessons the hard way. I'll speak to you only about, um um a way of love, which is his novel. Which was, of course, um, censored in 1961. Um, and explain to you I guess the process by which, um, James went about publishing, uh, the novel, um And that was quite, I think, uh, a personal ordeal for him, Um, and, um, and also to look at some of the aspects of those novels which I of the novel, which I think are of interest, Um, in and of themselves. These are the the messages that he was able to publish within the limited scope available to him as a as a writer. Um, and I should just emphasise as I mentioned, um, that, uh, most of this material comes from my, uh, my PhD thesis where I asked, um, a lot more intensively, um, questions about, um, What it was like to be, um, a gay New Zealander before the years of liberation. Before this idea that we could all come out and live. Um, publicly, Um, um, open in theory at least. Um, uh, gay and lesbian lives, Um, which is obviously something that I, um is not necessarily the case for all of us today. So, um, just in terms of, um, um, Courage's background, uh, James was born born to, um, a remarkably affluent family. Uh, in, uh, Canterbury. Um, his father Frank was a sheep farmer. Uh, they had large holdings near amberley. Uh, and a sheep station called, uh, that's North Canterbury and his mater. Maternal grandparents, uh, particularly his grandmother, were, um, of huge significance to him. Uh, these are the peaches. Uh, her husband died, um, early on. And she, um, was quite unconventional in the sense that she stayed on the farm and continued to farm. Um, but she was an entirely, um, bohemian woman, Um, a great lover of literature. And, um, for someone, um I guess a really important role model. Someone, um for for James, who sort of stepped out of social conventions of the day, Um, and used literature in a way to inspire and to empower. Um, interestingly enough, um, on James's, uh, paternal side. His grandmother on his paternal side was also significant. And some of you may also know her name. So that's, uh, Sarah Amelia Courage, who in 18 96 published, um um, a book. Uh uh. Lights and shadows of colonial life. That was based on Sarah's, uh, Colonial Diaries, Uh, from the period. And that caused a huge stir stir in the community. Uh, my understanding is that only eight, copies were ever produced. Uh, but that it made the neighbours so incredibly irate that they were all destroyed. Uh, it was only in the 19 seventies that, uh, that copies of that of that, um manuscript were reproduced in any great number. Interestingly enough, courage doesn't really talk much about her. Um, possibly because she died before he was alive. But certainly he was aware of of her of her life, and and of her contributions, he was one of five Children. Um, and, uh, um, courage writes quite openly and and to, to some embarrassment for his family, about the domestic life of the courage. Uh, he describes it as being, um uh, riven with domestic tension between, um, um his parents, uh, in saying that though, uh, courage was able to find, uh, a really vibrant And this is really interesting, I think a vibrant group of, um, outgoing, um, lively, dramatic and artistically inclined men and women, um, of his age to associate with. And he appeared in some, uh, local dramatic, um, productions, including those put on by Noah Marsh and others. Uh, really enjoyed that. I think we can say, um and as he grew older, some of these relationships certainly were of a sexual nature. And this is demonstrated in his archive, just moving on to, uh, his schooling period. Uh, this is actually a very difficult period in his life. Um, he was almost certainly sexually harassed. Uh um, at school, Uh, particularly at Christ's college, and his diaries do indicate that he was sexually violated at least once. Um, by at least one boy. Um, and this was obviously, um, greatly distressing for him as an individual. Um, and he was, unfortunately, also sexually assaulted by, uh, um, a paternal uncle. And this experience is reflected and recorded in one of his, um, breakthrough pieces. Um, a short story called My, um, Uncle Adam shot a stag. I actually do recall that this may sometimes be in English in New Zealand. I think it is studied sometimes in high schools. But But what? What it won't reflect is the fact that it records, uh, this encounter. And so, uh, the stag and the story stands in for I guess, uh, a innocent, um, and and vulnerable sexuality, which his uncle, um, in the context of the novel, um is in the process of causing great violence to it. it is quite disturbing when seen in that light. Uh, following his childhood in New Zealand, he migrates to, um uh, England. Like many New Zealanders, however, it's fair to say that New Zealand remains, um, a cultural anchor for him in many ways. And he writes compulsively about New Zealand and continues to associate with New Zealand friends. Whenever he can, he returns to New Zealand, Um, only once for two years in the 19 thirties, while suffering and recovering from tuberculosis, which seems to be a a New Zealand literary, um, affliction, Um, for many, uh, who certainly, um, following, um, that particular route, um, but his mental health is never is never, uh, completely. Well, he experiences three complete mental collapses as he as he describes them during his lifetime. The first precipitated by these, um, violent sexual encounters. Um, but the most significant in 1950 when he is actually, um uh, made, uh, a volunteer patient at a private medical facility in London. Um, from this point, um, I, uh, courage is constantly under the care of psych. Um, psychiatrists. He undergoes psychoanalysts, like many men of his age. And, um, class, uh, and he essentially withdraws from public life to some extent. This is not, though, in my opinion, a, um an indication of of failure by any means, in my opinion. And we'll see soon that Courage published many of his novels in the context of this great mental affliction. So in my opinion, it's a It's a real personal triumph for someone struggling with mental illness that not only does the fiction become an outlet for coping with that mental illness and making sense of their past and their futures that they're able to be so successful. So Courage was essentially a novelist. Uh, these are the the novels he successfully published in this period of his life. Almost all, as I say, are set in New Zealand, um, or preoccupied by New Zealand And what I could not believe when I began to delve into these stories. Uh, not only in my PhD, but as a young man. I sort of stumbled upon this man. It's almost like a I think, for some, for some people. You you you encounter, um, a name and you wonder. Gosh, that just feels gay a little bit. It really does, and so you kind of read their biography a little bit, and then you start reading their stories. And one by one, they, they kind of present to you something which you recognise and and which was quite overtly, um, communicating, um, ideas. Which, um, I could relate to, I guess, is one of the intended audiences, Um, many of these novels, of course. A way of love being the, um the the most obvious exception. Uh, approach homosexuality in coded and partial ways, and we will talk about that, um, in terms of what that might look like. Uh, but courage also, um, produced some really important and, um, quite impressive stories which appeared in places like Landfall and an English story. And in American period periodicals as well, uh, he was an occasional dramatist, which is really interesting. I think, uh uh, he had, uh, two plays, Um, um, presented in Oxford, including a wonderful story which is recorded in New country. A posthumous work released by, um, genre books. Uh, um, about two men living on an isolated sheep station. They are in love, and they don't realise it until quite late in their relationship. When one of them realises that the other is dying of tuberculosis, and it causes a great crisis. Uh um, he also produced a wonderful, um uh, play called Private History. It was, um uh, a story about, uh, two homosexual boys who are in love and in a boarding school and their, um their stories in the process of being revealed and interrogated by the powers that they, uh And there are wonderful, um, images, Um, within his archive, which record? What that looks like. And that and that, um, show only ended because of black heart restrictions associated with World War Two. so it was, uh, was looking quite successful for courage at the time. By far his most successful, of course, is the young of secrets. This tends to be the novel that you'll find in, um uh, um bookstores in New Zealand, a secondhand bookstores. And it was reprinted, I think, in the in the early 19 seventies, Uh, the story was a Book Society Book of the Month selection, and it's said to have sold well over 100,000 copies in its first print run and was sold in both, um, hard and soft copies. So while he published well. His published literature occurred only in the in earnest at the onset of early middle age. Courage actually very quickly became one of our most significant writers and one of the most successful. When Nao Marsh awarded Frank Sarge the Mansfield Literary Award, she considered at that stage that only Janet Frame and James Courage could approach Frank Sarge in terms of esteem and critical output, which I think is really interesting considering his relatively modest profile today. Culturally speaking, though of course, uh, and the reason why I'm here today, um uh, I think a way of love stands as his most important cultural contribution, and I will show you later, later on about exactly why It's a story of unapologetic love between a younger and an older man. And it is certainly, as far as I'm aware, New Zealand's first published homosexual love story, Uh, in terms of novels, um, and courage intended for it to be set in New Zealand but was not able to, uh, kind of load both barrels of the gun, I suppose, with homosexuality and the New Zealand city, he felt that was probably something he should not do. Uh, the censoring of the of the novel in 1961 while not expected for Courage, and he was prepared for it. And many of his friends were in the process of of, I guess, preparing themselves, too, for this to support him. Um had a hugely detrimental impact on him as an individual, and we'll look at that shortly. Despite the support of friends and well wishes, he really never truly regained his literary voice. And he died soon after, Um, at the age of 60 from a heart attack. That novel was very his final novel was very much a return to the coded narratives of his past and was very much preoccupied with the kinds of despair, mental difficulties he was now assailed by almost completely in his private life. So that's a visit to Morton in terms of, um, how we know what we know about James. Uh, the reason why we do, uh, with the exception of uh um, I guess some, uh, correspondence files and some probate material elsewhere is the wonderful archive, um, held at, um, hawking collections. Um, down in Dunedin. Uh, there is extensive correspondence with some of the most important writers of the period, both in New Zealand and overseas. There are wonderful and candid photographs, many of an intimate nature and also just quite beautiful. Quite frankly, um, um, really interesting to see postcards. Courage has has, has clipped out pictures of hot men from newspapers. I guess it's kind of like the equivalent of looking at someone's hard drive and special files they might like to keep secret, but somehow have found their way into, uh into the archive manuscripts, which I think is wonderful. It's a wonderful way to see how someone changes story ideas as they go along and also negotiates those ideas with publishers. And I do write about that in my thesis, but by far the most exciting thing for me. And I think for New Zealanders, um, and and up there with his literary output are these wonderful diaries. So Courage started writing diaries from the age of 16, which is, I think, just such an incredible gift to to leave for the world until he died at age 60 these are almost uninterrupted and to make it even more exciting, these are These are candid and these are interesting and these are incredibly well written. Um, And I think, quite frankly, that, uh um, these, uh, for them to even to survive If we understand the historical context is a triumph. If these had fallen into the wrong hands, they would be the object of blackmail and legal recriminations. And certainly, um um a significant scandal, Uh, for a quite significant family living in New Zealand at the time. I think, um, I was also incredibly lucky and privileged. Um, and I think for the reasons I've just described, um, these were under embargo. Uh, so I was incredibly lucky to be able to, Um uh, look at these diaries. Just as they came out of Embargo. And I had intended to look at eight New Zealand writers as part of my PhD. And I fell in love with these diaries. Unfortunately, out of time. And so, um, I spent at least a year reading and transcribing all 14 of his diaries and loving every moment. As far as I'm concerned, these are a national treasure. So courage is New Zealand. I don't have time to, um, map fully. What courage is New Zealand, I guess. Looks like, but I think we can interrogate these images? Um, with some interest. Uh, so I do want to focus mostly on car's literary career, But what I want to draw our attention to as many New Zealand, um, historians have been of late and quite successfully. So is to question what we have presumed about gay lives and and all sorts of minority histories in New Zealand. This idea that repression is something uniform something which, despite the best attempts at resisting we simply cannot resist, is simply not the case. So for courage, as I've suggested, his personal archive and personal document documentation show that this was not a life that was completely repressed. He was able to access and to enjoy, uh, the social and intimate company of of Men of of Men of his own age. Um, yes, his he had. He had incredibly negative sexual encounters with other people. Um, but he was able to find positive sexual experiences here in New Zealand. These are artistically minded New Zealanders, um, in this period 19 twenties, many of them who are also artists in the process of finding themselves, most of these people at the time would have described themselves as inverted rather than homosexual, which in some ways is quite helpful and productive for courage. So this idea of inversion, which has been promoted in, um, the works of, uh, for example, Richard von Kraft, ebbing and and Carpenter and others associate artistic, um, identities with what we will come to know as homosexual identities. Essentially, um, and And what we see here, I think, is courage. Very much living an embodied sexual identity. Um, along those lines. Uh, so he had at least one significant male liaison and friend in his youth. Um, a boyhood friend called Ronnie. He lived in a, which is near Mount. So where, um um, his grandmother lived. And that relationship is actually memorialised in more than one story. And you often do see that migration of of lived experience into, um, creative output. Um, including, And I would love you all to read it, if you can find it. Um, I'm pretty sure it's also in a new country. Um, a wonderful story called a guest at the wedding, Uh, which is a kind of gay love story which is set in the Cargill and Stewart Island of all places and very much memorialised on their love for each other, which is not always an easy love, but, um, I think quite interesting. So despite sexual, um, violence and torment occurring elsewhere in his life, courage did find outlets elsewhere, which I think is really great. And I think this explains the what I would describe the three dimensionality of New Zealand and much of his fiction. So it's not just repressive, but it's not just liberating. It's a bit of a mixture, a difficult mixture of of both kinds of experiences. It's a place where natural freedom, freedoms and personal nourishment are available if you know where to find it. And you can get away from pesky prying eyes essentially, uh, so if I can just describe some of these images for our listeners, uh, what we are seeing here, I think, is very much, Uh, um, this kind of, um, artistic, playful abandon, Um, which obviously courage was able to enjoy, um, in the safety of his own friendship group, his own intimate group. So we have courage, I think, dressed as Pocahontas from memory. He does describe it. Uh, he's wearing a wonderful ensemble, including, uh um, looks like a feather uh, he's got a wonderful, um uh, knit shawl. Uh uh. I'm pretty sure those are opera. Supposed to be opera glasses. He's holding in the first image. Uh, this is before tucking and ru's drag race. So, uh, this is a more organic image that we're probably seeing, uh, than these days, And I really do enjoy the, uh, the the the the Sunflower I think he has attached at the back of of his wonderful outfit in the middle of rural New Zealand, which I think is fabulous. So that was New Zealand. Um, but what about London? And this is so I I want to share today. Um, some of these excerpts from, um co's diaries. Uh, this is very early on and encourage his arrival. Um, in in England, he's on his way to to to Oxford. But if I can just read this again for our listeners, um, I think you'll see or sense his excitement because London does provide something that New Zealand can't really provide at this point. And this exemplifies it. So he says, Can't you imagine the London streets in the dusk full of lights and hurrying people and men in the gutters, trying to sell you bananas or little boys. And then further in the glowing theatres and the lighted signs of Piccadilly Circus most ingenious, some of them and somebody flying past in an opera hat and just around the corner coming on a bigger one side of his face a great red scar drawing with coloured chalks on the pavement, the illuminated words to live and II. I think that he is ready to live at this point. And so, um, I do write in my thesis and elsewhere that that while New Zealand was nourishing in certain ways, what it couldn't provide is this kind of urban excitement, Uh, this kind of cultural ferment. Uh, although he finds it in small scale ways, um, it's something in which he has to wait to to to encounter, um in London. I also think it just shows, as as I've been saying, the incredible lyricism of his private writing as well. Um, in some ways, he can be much less rest restrained in this in this, um, vehicle of expression, Um, he can say what he wants. Hopefully, no one reads it unless he wants them to, um and um And so I guess there is much less negotiation he needs to worry about. The other thing, of course. That, um uh uh, London can provide Probably more readily than, uh, than New Zealand. Uh, are, I guess, sexual opportunities? Uh, well, not just not just sexual opportunities. Uh, but, um, uh, intimate opportunities in the broadest sense. Uh, and, um, courage, um, had several committed relationships. Uh, I feel like we could We could call him a serial monogamist. Um, but with, um, forays on the side every now and then. Uh um, but his by by far his most passionate and, um, and long lasting, enduring love was with this man, Frank. Frank Fleet. Uh, so they meet on the Cornish Riviera Express, which sounds like a fantastic place to meet someone. I'm assuming. Probably in the first, the first class dining car. Perhaps I have no reason to think that, but I like to wonder, um, and that was in 1929 or 1930. They began an immediate, passionate love affair, and that only ended in 1932 when Frank unfortunately, needed to, um, return to Argentina. And then the romantic twist that I wasn't expecting because I'm kind of reading the diaries as I'm going through them. Courage does not let go. Several weeks later, he boards a steamer and he goes to Buenos Aires to get him back. So this would be a fantastic story to see in in a in a New Zealand feature film one day. I hope that someone out there, um um, would agree. Um, if I can just read this quote is rather fabulous. Um, I think you'll sense, uh, his excitement. A new lover and such a gentle, beautiful, affectionate creature Name. Frank Colour. Dark age, 25 Height. 6 ft one inches. Wait. I asked him this. 100 and £82. 13 stone nationality, father, Argentine mother, Cornish, and athlete and handsome. One of the sweetest creatures I've ever known. With something so touchingly lonely and childlike in him that it makes tears of gentleness start to the eye. A very passionate lover. He calls me in soft Spanish, Blanco white and gold. So beautiful. While their relationship was never to return to the romantic conventions we might think of in terms of a lasting, committed relationship. Um, and while courage never successfully woes, um, Frank, and induces him to come back with them to London. In fact, he marries and has Children. Uh, their relationship continues. They continue to love one another. Um, Frank spends intimate time with him when he visits London. Even with his family, which is, I think is of interest. Um, they certainly both continue to enjoy sexual encounters with other men. Quite unproblematic to a degree. But you can see here that he does feel some some deep pangs at this time. Um, and courage even remembers him and his will when he dies several decades later. Uh um, importantly, in some ways, he is regarded, I think, you know, as a as a as a partner, as as the lover of his life. And here, um, in this quote, we see that here You sense that the two months Frank and I lived together two years ago with the happiest period of my life, the intolerable burden of my loneliness was eased. My need of him and his love for me brought me an extraordinary peace and pride. Everything was, as it were, vindicated. The liaisons I have had since have been purely physical and have given me an unhappiness and disgust and co. While he is quite fond of the occasional soldier and sailor, uh, his real, um, ideal, I think, is, uh, a monogamous, committed relationship. Um, and I and domestic commitments, um, in that context. And and that is reflected in many of his stories as the decades went on and as his literary literary career began to take off, Courage played an increasingly important role, though in London's literary and artistic community. Despite his mental despairs of a very difficult middle age, he continually corresponded with a number of New Zealand leading artists and intellectuals. Frank, Sarge and Charles Brash especially, um, but others are bound. And when we see this in his surviving correspondence files, they include Darcy Creswell, who he did not agree with in terms of, I guess, a sexual outlook. They had very little in common, and and Darcy would come over and ask for money and suggest that they go and, um, pick up various uh um, unusual muscular types around London, which he wasn't very interested in. Um, others include Robin Hyde, Ursula Bethel, Douglas Libourne, EH McCormick and still others such as James K Baxter. Courage also provided financial support to the likes of Janet Frame at the urging of both, um, brash and Sarge, Uh, I'm sure one of many, Um though he found because of his own mental, um, afflictions, he couldn't really be there for her more, um, in terms of meeting with her or offering to mentor or or give her advice. In my thesis, I argue that courage was an important social hub, Uh, for these, um, individuals, Um, particularly for young writers and artists and intellectuals who arrive in London with few resources, either social, um, or material far from a drain on on his psychic resources, though, when he least needed it. What I found interesting from his stories and from his archive is the fact that these are the relationships that save his life. And we see that constantly in his private narration, um, particularly, um, the authors, uh, Margaret and oh, not Margaret, but, um, Basil Dowling and his wife Margaret, they were hugely important. Um, bezel was one of the text and poets. Uh, I'm sure you know, um, and rather infamous himself as a pacifist. And as someone who was jailed for his beliefs. So, um, in many ways, we could talk about him on a day like today. Um, while at least one sister, uh, Patricia lived in nearby Surrey, it was always to the Lings and to people like him that he would retreat when he was threatened mentally or, um, by physical unwellness. Um and I think that's very interesting. Um, and we see that here he's writing to to Charles Brash. And he says that he's gone to the to the darlings, um, on, uh, afternoon, which is one of England's brightest and freshest. They had tea on the daisy grass in the garden, among poppies and Lupin. Basil looked pale and tired. Poor man, but Margaret was brown. After a week in Cornwall, we sat on the deck chairs and ate chocolate cake and sandwiches like a New Zealand picnic. Rather, I hoped the tea would taste of manuka smoke. I had been in one of my worst depressions, and this is what I'm talking about. My ban. But I managed to cheer up and talk. We spoke of you, um, and he talks about Dunedin's Harbour, probably being full of pack ice at the time. I think you sense here that he's doing this. He doesn't really want to leave the the safe space of his of his apartments in Hampstead, But he's continually induced to do so, and he is all the better for it. Which I think is, um, is quite beautiful. Moving to his, uh, literature. What we see encourages, Um um, archive, um, in his correspondence in his diary is an early commitment to, uh, actually really pushing back on what he considered to be unnatural norms which are mapped on all of us, just just regardless of difference. And you see, here in this diary excerpt that he considered that there was to be no distinction made between, um, what he says, Um, I suppose, uh, sexual relationships where both are inverts. That's his, um underlining, not mine. Uh, um, but that that these are relationships capable of love and the and the the relationships which should be regarded as being legitimate. Um, and he does suggest that, uh, that this is a law which is unwritten and senseless, but this is him. In his in his mid to late twenties, he has already written several stories. By this time, um, which uh, are dealing with these sorts of issues. Uh, he considers himself, uh I guess in the vanguard of authors that will resist those norms. And he does so in, I guess. Interesting ways. If we were to, um, uh, generalise about, uh, his made his main modes of narration. Uh, he had already had, uh, I guess, some very significant disappointment. Disappointment with publishers such as TS Elliott that had read some of his early stories and rejected them because they were simply too overt about homosexuality. So he developed over time the ability to talk about homosexual issues in ways that he said his homosexual readers would would read and understand. This is pre a way of love. Uh, so to do that, we would engage themes, uh, which we would recognise from our own lives. But these are protagonists who don't quite understand yet. This is the protagonist of, uh, the young have secrets, for example, who is observing other people's sexual identities and beginning to understand his own, the other fantastic, uh um, literary technique he uses, and I and again you sense before he even tells you. But he does confirm this in his, um archive. Um, is what I've called the female signal character. And I'm sure I've stolen it from someone else. But I can't remember where I've taken that term. But you see this, um confirmed, I think, Um, in in a in a letter, he writes to a friend called Jim Harris. This is about his his novel desire without content. What a surprise. Your sweet letter gave me such memories. Ah, those days at springs, wherever they may be. And you with your big manly form. Of course, I loved every moment of it. But Mother Hush must never know. I've hardly recovered yet. Read my other book, desire without content and find out what it really is to become a woman. Yes, my sweet. I mean it. You men know nothing of us girls. And he acknowledges that many of his female protagonists and his stories are supposed to be seen as as essentially him as a as homosexual characters. But he knows he can't quite get away with it just yet. And he writes to James Courage and to Charles Brash. And he starts explaining in 19, uh, in the 19, um, mid 19 fifties that he now intends to, I guess, spread his wings somewhat and write more openly about these kinds of stories. He was aware, I guess, of his, um, uh, limited agency left available to him. Um, but I think he had seen overseas that there were examples where people were beginning to press those boundaries. And he begins, I think, to make a gamble. And that's exactly what happens. Uh, so, in order to, uh, really get, um, a way of love off the ground and to ensure that it, uh, um, is able to be published courage needs to, uh, step through a number of, uh, um revisions to his story. Uh uh. So originally he had intended the the main protagonist of a way of love to be utterly sexually repentant. He's supposed to be someone that you don't like. He has indulged in the worst kind of, I guess, sexual indulgences. He has lived to middle age now, and he he is no longer able to, um, to love or feel love. That wasn't appropriate. According to um, the publishers of those times, it's not really something which was seen as, um I guess possible. He was also forced to change the book's title a number of times. Uh, so it was originally named the The name is spoken and then in private. And he was also forced to to to peer back on the sexual content, which he had hoped to to show quite respectably, um, to, um to audiences. Uh, and I think, quite critically. The story's, um, resolution eventually changes as well. So Courage had originally intended for Philip, the younger of the novels two homosexual protagonists to leave Bruce for Maurice a man his own age. But under pressure from Cape Courage revised the final sequences of a story. So after a violent struggle, uh, essentially, he has to, um, back down And, um and, um, agree that Philip should, um, marry. And he uses the word inoculate, inoculate himself against the life of dissipation, um, and loneliness, which is, um, I, I think something that, um, he wanted to suggest about, uh, that kind of lifestyle. The other thing he needs to do is, um, show that ultimately, in order to, um, make this possible that, uh um, this was going to be, uh, a story of respectability. And this is what we're seeing here So Bruce is the the main protagonist and rather be sexually unrepentant. He's someone who's who's who's stoic, who's respectable, Uh, who does not, um, um, pick up bodies, um, at at local bars. Um, although he has, but he acknowledges that he leaves ashes in his mouth. He has a jaw, which is inherited from a yo father. Um, and he has a backbone as hard as a plough handle. These are all, um, insertions. I think in in the later, um, depictions which, um, find their way into a way of love. But the the the triumph of a way of love is that he is not completely repressed, as I've suggested, uh, he finds ways to I think, um, talk quite productively about, um, sensuality, um, and intimacy. So here we have, um, a quote from a way of love. Um, and it's describing his one of his first encounters with Philip. Uh, he describes the centre of the higher, which is an association, um, long held with, um, gay histories, uh, associated with the, um, lover of a polar high Synthes and suggests that it was strong on the closed there and no less disturbing than before. This is not the first time he smelled it. And he describes Philip as having a young face tigerish, baffled and that skin had grazed his own. So they're depictions of bodily contact. We just don't go that next step. We don't need to hear what happens next. Uh, he also, um, writes, I guess, about physical context in other in other ways, he talks about the aromatic warmth of his head, which I think is quite beautiful. He talks about holding his body against him. These are convulsions, but his body is sturdy, uh, again, quite restrained. There's no, uh, sexual passion as such. Um but still, I think quite, um, quite artistic. And this is my favourite one, describing, kissing Philip. Um, and these might be the sorts of, um, sections that got him into trouble with New Zealand audiences. I tilted up his face. Philip's mouth tasted of darkness and fresh water and the rind of some healthy fruit not yet ripened by the sun. So a way of love, despite its editorial interventions, remains unrepentant in ways which spoke more fully to courage, his own sexual and intellectual outlook. It's actually not a failure it's it's quite the opposite. His intention was to show homosexual relationships as legitimate, mutually supportive and by forcefully rejecting the overt criticisms of the heterosexual, um, elite. In this sense, respectability, which we've seen, uh was much more than a mask. It was a way, I guess, of eliciting sympathy, Um, and, uh, and engaging with his audience, particularly a lay audience. The construction of a respectable homosexual relationship allowed a depiction of intimacy that could be seen as egalitarian, which I think is really interesting, Um, and accordingly, perhaps even praiseworthy. It's something legitimising, um, putting the novel in a social and cultural context. This isn't, uh, the story of gay activism, which we will see in decades afterwards. Um, these are not the strident demands of a group of people who at times called for the the eradication of the nuclear family uh, the collapse of of, um, of accepted marriage norms, et cetera. This is a group of people who are asking for something quite different. Uh, these are stories of an earlier period, uh, which simply asked for worthy homosexual types. Unfortunately, it means others were excluded to be given the space and legitimacy to live respectable private lives without fear of attack and ridicule. But still, these assertions are radical and highly challenging for their own time. And this is one of the reasons why courage is attacked. Uh, and this is emblematic. Very much of of the fact that while the the the ending of the novel isn't necessarily exciting in terms of what he hoped to do, he he does not apologise. Uh, this is, um this is Bruce. Uh, these are years, which he learned they both learned much together, Um, and, um and he refuses to renounce that love. The impact of the book censorship, though coming three years after the successful publication of the novel, uh, certainly undercut courage's sense of achievement. Uh, this is obviously something he had intended to do for for several years. We see that in his letters, and that tended to worsen his already deteriorating mental state. Uh, and this is reflected here in his interior life. Interestingly enough, I heard, um, just this morning, I think on a podcast. This is courage writing during the winter of 1963 that this is the most severe winter in 300 years in London Um And so it's almost like the the elements are conspiring with, um, with courage, his mental state here. And he continues to reflect on his New Zealand background. And it's now something which he associates with guilt, um, as something which provides him shame. He had hoped to move back to New Zealand, but now has changed his mind. And he writes here about his memories of killing small birds. He writes here, I think, also of gendered Shame. He was trying to be a man, but he never was one. so I mean, these are quite troubling. Um, lines, of course. Um, friends wrote with alarm, even while mounting a defensive Courage's novel in places like landfill and others. But this tended to make him more embarrassed. He wished people would stop talking about it. Essentially, Um, he was doubly embarrassed by the fact that this criticism had come from New Zealand. I don't really have time to talk much more than that, but I also don't want to end, I guess on an unhappy note. Uh so rather than end on that note, I think what I want to do is emphasise the real and considerable impact. The novel had on Courage's readership, many of them homosexual New Zealanders who followed Courage's career with particular interest for years because they did what I did. When I was reading his novels, they detected those stories. They resonated with readers the censorship of a way of love in New Zealand and and this is quite, uh, I guess, um, profoundly impacting for courage. Um resulted in all of his novels being withdrawn from from circulation, it suggests that others who are now detecting those resonances and we're now reading them differently. But the interesting thing is, and we know this from the fact that oh, I didn't want to show this right away. Oh, well, too late. You've seen it because it's just so funny. Um, uh, was that, uh, that that that readers were still finding their stories. We're still reading about them, and we were writing to him. So along with these wonderful friendships with the darlings and others that were, you know, actively involved in his care and and, um, and his emotional maintenance. He lives with them while he recovers from his heart attacks. Um, he receives fan mail from all over the world but from New Zealanders in particular. And there are wonderful stories of New Zealanders who go to the local libraries. This is before the censorship. Um, you know, a way of love is in New Zealand for for three years before it's put before the chief censor by the police. Um, and they go to the libraries and they they see that there's supposed to be three copies of a way of love. But they're all out on loan and a right to courage. And they say, I wonder who else in this small Southern town may be reading these stories. This is resonating with a number of people. I'm not saying they're all homosexual by any means, but but they must be allied to have an interest in such stories. Um, and this did make a big difference to courage. It's difficult to calculate the exact effect we, um, he may have had on his readership. I guess I haven't seen any memoirs, necessarily which have talked about the significance of his readership. It's only in these letters that, uh, that I've been able to detect them. But it's clear that from the correspondence that many are resonated and We're excited by the notion that one of New Zealanders, most significant writers of this period was able to for want of a better word to come out to, to to affiliate, Um, and to associate with these kinds of stories, and they knew what that meant. Uh, so he became a role model. Uh, I think in some ways, um, our version of an Oscar Wilde for people of this period. So if I can just end on this wonderful little excerpt, Um, I think you sense some of the abandoned and the that these, um these correspondents wrote with. So this is what he says to Charles Brash. Something's arrived in the mail. And unfortunately, before I start this, unfortunately the card doesn't survive. It would have been wonderful to see. I would have loved to have seen it. An enormous Self-made Christmas card came yesterday from a man in Invercargill who describes himself as a display artist. The card painted shows Santa Claus reading a way of love with avid but astonished interest while almost falling off a pile of books, mostly my own. By the titles, The card measures two by 3 ft and cost five and three by Air Post. There's fame for you and all from Invercargill, New Zealand. It's adorable. Something. So any questions from anyone that wasn't my notes, but the notes were on the floor at the time, and I couldn't reach them. It's a good question. Thank you. So the question was, how did cos um uh, materials, um, arrive to the Hawke library? Uh, I guess two things I want to mention about that chiefly, Charles Brash Charles Brash. I think, um, recognises his literary and cultural significance, Uh, chiefly as a writer. And I think Frank, Sarge and, um uh, um was of a similar mind. Uh, brash also spent quite a significant amount of time in London around this period and was, um uh, I guess a major force in ensuring that they weren't destroyed, but that they were recognised as being important. Uh, so, in conjunction with his the executor of his will, which was his sister Patricia, he ensured that Patricia agreed that they could be returned to New Zealand if with some uh uh What's the word? Um, restrictions. My understanding is that that those restrictions chiefly applied, though to, uh, uh, the, uh uh, not the manuscript material, but the diaries. Um, but many of you will be aware that in writing, um, or putting together the collection of best mates, I think it was, uh, by Peter Wells, one of the first collections of of, um, of gay men writing in New Zealand. Uh, they the executor office will also declined permission to reprint, Um um, anything from, um, Courage's, um, literary archive as well, which is a shame. My view on that, though, is, um rather than I guess, a sign of homophobia. Necessarily. It may have been out of defence of someone that had already been the subject of severe critique of of severe criticism. Um, and and perhaps, um, may have been wanting to, kind of, I guess, protect his memory. I. I haven't seen any, um, assertions one way or the other. There are. There are letters from Patricia to Charles brash in relation to, um, those, um, steps being taken. Um, but I have wondered over the years, um, I was wondering about the timing of Bill Pearson's on coal flat. I can't quite remember when it was published, but I know he was in London as Well, was it around about the same time or a different time? There seems to be, um I refer to my master's thesis. Uh, there seems to be, uh, um, actually, that's AAA Fascinating. Um, conclusion there's a There's a remarkable burgeoning of, of, of writing in this period by a number of, um, of our most significant New Zealand writers, Bill Pearson included Frank, Sarge and being another Darcy Creswell being another, uh um, who are who are operating, I guess in that more, uh um, sideways looking, um, literary approach. Um, certainly, uh, Bill Pearson is someone he corresponded with, but I can't quite remember. I feel like it's the early sixties or late fifties. Um, but very much of that generation a likely different mode and and courage is criticised for his mode. He writes in very genteel ways. Uh, he also receives, um, correspondence from people. Um, for this reason, accusing him of being a woman, Um, that only a woman could write with this much emotional sensitivity, Uh, which I think is is quite remarkable. He he found that quite entertaining. Uh, so it it These are stories which read quite differently from the social realism of writers such as Pearson and, um, and such as, um, this is slightly, um, a question a bit to the side, but reading his early stories with the, um, young boy Walter, um, it always struck me that courage is quite unique in that he writes out of the sort of squat, you know, wealthy families, often very literate. And I think it's very hard to find another New Zealand writer who writes sensitively about that background. Did you feel that? Well, I certainly haven't read anything else. Uh, which approaches, um, that material, Um, And in that way, um, and I, I I'm certainly aware of of other historians writing about its importance in that sense as a reflection of that period and that and that, um, in that community of people, I suppose actually, the only other person I can think of is his grandmother. And I haven't read, um uh, his her 18 96 manuscript in depth. Uh, but they they do share. Um, certainly a fascination with, uh, cultural norms, Uh, with ways of life, Uh, with almost an a an Austrian, um, fascination with, um uh the the patterns of behaviour which people take for granted. And are they legitimate, et cetera? And but you are quite right as well. Uh uh. His protagonist, Walter, is someone that we continually see, uh, from the 18 forties onwards, the story I mentioned, um, Uncle Adam shot a stag. Um, His name is Walter Blackistone, I believe. And, uh, he reappears in almost all of his New Zealand stories somewhere. Way, shape or form. It's just really interesting. Did you have a again? My notes were on the floor for the profession. Talk, um, so supported most by his family, particularly at the point of his most serious mental breakdown when he retreated from public life. Uh, for all intents and purposes, prior to that, he worked as a, um, book manager of a local bookstore in London. Quite a significant one. I forget the name of, um and he also was, uh, he he was hoping to contribute to the war effort in the in the 19 forties. What was that? Was considered medically unfit. May have had flat feet or something along those those lines. Um um but was able to be a fire warden during the war. Um, he took I think quite a lot of solace from the fact that he was able to engage in everyday life, Uh, particularly during a state of crisis. But on the same flip side, I guess on the flip side, once, he was no, no longer able to be there. That's something which becomes a source of shame and grief for him that he feels he becomes, I guess, almost parasitic, um, and needing to live off his, um, family's, um, affluence. Um, it's something he does struggle with Is almost the, uh, the gendered nature of Of of New Zealand masculinity and the association of a viral act of masculinity. Um, and this idea that we need to work to safeguard and augment and construct these solid identities something that he finds quite troubling. Good. Chris. Thank you. Um, it terrified. So after he wrote a, um, a way of love, his previous works in New Zealand was born. Withdrawn is my is my understanding, Yes. So the question was, um I guess the sequence of events that occur, um, after a way of love. Uh, and there were I assume the directions given which resulted in the extraction of remaining stocks of his books for sale. I suppose it's possible that they were just seen as being associated. I guess perhaps I'm I'm thinking too highly of these people in the sense that I've assumed that they would at least read them to know. But it's possible they were just like these are culturally, um, contaminated texts. We just can't know for sure. Let's remove them just in case. What I didn't say, though, is and and please, maybe, if you, if you have the opportunity when you're next in a in in a um, significantly sized New Zealand, um, second hand bookshop. Look for copies of James Carriage's books and what you'll find is many copies Piece of James Carriage's books from this period. So again, that suggests to me a continued circulation of texts despite official efforts to, um, control and withdraw, um, and repress. Uh, that suggests to me, men, women, perhaps even informally, um, exchanging stories. And we all know what happens when you censor a novel. It it doesn't necessarily repress or discourage. It encourages and invites. And um, perhaps that's what we're seeing in some of these, um, uh, these these letters and we would have seen more of had courage. Lived long enough to be corresponded with Christopher. I'd just like to say a huge thank you for coming along to talk to us today. Um, I think when I first heard of Courage Day, I thought it was just about the courage of suppressed writers. Um, but but to hear, um, more about this very courageous, um, writer himself and how he, um, thrived and survived in, um, in repressive times. And this wonderful, uh, legacy that he's left behind that you have revitalised for us. And, um, and drawn to our attention. So thank you so much for doing that, Um, for for bringing him to life. And this is, um this is just a little thank you. So thank you very much, Christopher. The audio recording ends. A list of keywords/tags describing the recording follow. These tags contain the correct spellings of names and places which may have been incorrectly spelt earlier in the document. The tags are seperated by a semi-colon: 1920s; 1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 2020s; A Guest at the Wedding (short story); A Way of Love (book); Aotearoa New Zealand; Basil Dowling; Best Mates: Gay Writing in Aotearoa New Zealand (1997); Bill Pearson; Canterbury; Charles Brasch; Chimengul Awut; Christ's College (Christchurch); Christchurch; Christopher Burke; Courage Day (15 November); Day of the Imprisoned Writer (15 November); Desire Without Content (book); Douglas Lilburn; Frank Fleet; Frank Sargeson; Hocken Library (Dunedin); James Courage; Janet Frame; Janis Freegard; Kakwenza Rukirabasaija; Lights and Shadows of Colonial Life (book); London; Mandy Hager; Margaret Dowling; New Country: Plays and Stories (book); New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA Wellington); Ngaio Marsh; Nicky Harger; Osman Kavala; PEN International; Paola Ugaz; Rex Pilgrim; Richard von Krafft-Ebing; Robin Hyde; Sarah Amelia Courage; Sedigheh Vasmaghi; The Young Have Secrets (book); Tuberculosis; Uncle Adam Shot a Stag (short story); United Kingdom; Vic Books Pipitea (Wellington); Walter D'Arcy Cresswell; World War 2; author; censorship; drama; farm; farming; guilt; hyacinth; invert; journal; library; mental health; mental illness; shame; theatre; writing. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/courage_day_2020.html. The master recording is also archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.  For more details visit their website https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.1089903. Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.