SIR,—Those of us who are familiar with the Evergreen Review
will be aware how heavy is the bile Mr. Jacobson mentions at the beginning of his notice. Sidewalk, the new Scottish quarterly, which he dismisses in three lines, is clearly in a less fortu- nate position. Were Mr. Jacobson more familiar with the Scottish literary scene at present, he might be more sympathetic, realising that the probable reason for the four sections of 'beat' poetry is the desire to employ this as a katharsis against those romantic Scottish litte.rateurs who insist in writing in incomprehensible Lallans. I think in any case it should be made clear to your readers that far from the magazine having 'surrendered to the beats,' two- thirds of the first issue is in fact devoted to the work of Scots and French figures such as Robhe- Grillet and Marguerite Duras. To my mind, this international approach is essentially promising and long needed north of the Border.—Yours faithfully,
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