"Colonnade". and Mr. Fraser
Snt,—From our young provincial lecturers we expect accuracy of statement at least, however young they may be, however provincial. Reviewing G. S. Fraser's Modern Writer and His World, Mr. Donald Davie asserts that the author as " co-editor of Colonnade" gives the impression that Lionel Johnson is a better poet than Kipling. Where does Mr. Davie find any such impression, tacit or explicit, either in Mr. Fraser's book or in the pages of Colonnade? For that matter, as editor, I can state that Mr. Fraser has never been connected with Colonnade in an editorial capacity. Mr. Fraser, as the reviewer remarks, finds his education in the wrong places. It is true that he has read and travelled widely and numbers among his friends distinguished men of letters in several countries; but do we all agree that nothing can provide a reasonable substitute for the breadth of judgment of provincial common-rooms ? To pursue Mr. Davie's argument further, most young writers may perhaps prize the good , opinion of Dr. Leavis, but are they likely to get it ? Can Mr. Davie point to a single young author, to any author under fifty, who has won and retained that elusive garland ?—Yours faithfully,
LAIN FLETCHER.
Previous page
