Editing New Zealand literature (section)

===Second World War and subsequent years: 1939–1960===
From 1941, New Zealand writing gained an international audience through [[John Lehmann]]'s periodical, [[New Writing|''Penguin New Writing'']]. A local version was produced between 1942 and 1945.<ref name="NZ History"/> In 1945, [[Frank Sargeson]] edited an anthology of short stories by New Zealand writers, called ''Speaking for Ourselves'', published by Caxton Press in New Zealand and by Reed & Harris in Melbourne, Australia.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Sargeson |editor1-first=Frank |title=Speaking for Ourselves |date=1945 |publisher=Caxton Press |location=Christchurch, NZ}}</ref> It received favourable reviews and writer [[Janet Frame]] later remembered how the stories in the collection "overwhelmed me by the fact of their belonging".<ref name="OCNZL SFO">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Robinson |first=Roger |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Speaking for Ourselves (1945) |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-1152 |access-date=25 November 2020 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901042329/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-1152 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1945, [[Allen Curnow]] published the anthology ''A Book of New Zealand Verse 1923–45'', which marked the beginning of New Zealand literature's post-colonial and nationalist phase;<ref name="Brit CK"/> [[Charles Brasch]] compared it to "a hard frost" that "killed off weeds, and promoted sound growth", and said it "set a standard not for poetry alone but for all the arts".{{sfn|Brasch|1980|p=391}} Curnow and Brasch were just two of their generation of poets who began their careers with [[Caxton Press (New Zealand)|Caxton Press]] in the 1930s, and had a major influence on New Zealand poetry; others in the group were [[A. R. D. Fairburn]], [[R. A. K. Mason]] and [[Denis Glover]].<ref name="Caxton">{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=John |title=The Caxton poets – Story: Poetry |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-4 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=16 February 2021 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920141638/https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-4 |url-status=live }}</ref> Their poems can be contrasted with the work of South African-born [[Robin Hyde]], who was excluded from this nationalist group, but whose novel ''The Godwits Fly'' (1938) was considered a New Zealand classic and continuously in print until the 1980s.<ref name="Caxton"/>{{sfn|Stafford|Williams|2012|p=5}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Edmond-Paul |first1=Mary |title=Robin Hyde (Iris Wilkinson), 1906–1939 |journal=Kōtare |date=2008 |volume=7 |issue=1 |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi071Kota-t1-g1-t11.html |access-date=16 February 2021 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, NZ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518124934/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi071Kota-t1-g1-t11.html |archive-date=18 May 2019 }}</ref> In 1946, the New Zealand Literary Fund was established to provide subsidies and scholarships for local publishing and writing.{{sfn|King|2003|p=508}}<ref>{{cite web |editor-last1=McLintock |editor-first1=A.H. |last1=Stevens |first1=Joan |title=Literary Fund |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/literary-awards/page-6 |website=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966 |publisher=Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=23 February 2021 |archive-date=22 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222090150/https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/literary-awards/page-6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

It was in the 1950s that, as historian and poet [[Keith Sinclair]] said, "New Zealand intellect and imagination came alive".<ref name="NZ History"/> By the 1950s there were a wide range of outlets for local literature, such as the influential journal [[Landfall (journal)|''Landfall'']] (established in 1947), and the bilingual quarterly ''[[Te Ao Hou / The New World]]'', which from 1952 to 1975 was a vehicle for Māori writers.<ref name="NZ History"/> [[Janet Frame]]'s first novel, ''[[Owls Do Cry]]'', was published in 1957, and she became the most acclaimed and well-known New Zealand novelist of the 20th century. Her work often drew on her experiences in psychiatric hospitals and featured stylistic experimentation and exploration of social conditions.<ref name="OCNZL Frame">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Worthington |first=Kim |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Frame, Janet |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-418 |access-date=21 November 2020 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 |archive-date=13 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113120558/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-418 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wevers |first1=Lydia |title=Janet Frame – Story: Fiction |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-7 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603033738/https://teara.govt.nz/en/fiction/page-7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A new generation of young New Zealand poets eventually emerged, in particular the "[[Wellington Group]]", which rejected the nationalism of Curnow and the other Caxton poets.<ref name="James">{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=John |title=James K. Baxter and poets of the 1950s and 1960s – |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-5 |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510155909/https://teara.govt.nz/en/poetry/page-5 |url-status=live }}</ref> They argued that New Zealand poets could now focus on universal themes, rather than the New Zealand identity.<ref name="NZ History"/> [[James K. Baxter]] was the most famous and prolific of these poets, and is widely regarded today as the definitive New Zealand poet.<ref name="James"/> Baxter was a controversial figure who was known for his incorporation of European myths into his New Zealand poems, his interest in Māori culture and language, his religious experiences, and the establishment of a commune at [[Jerusalem, New Zealand]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hawkins-Dady |first1=Mark |title=Reader's Guide to Literature in English |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-1353-1417-0 |page=217 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ww5ddqXGPVYC&pg=PT216 |access-date=6 November 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901042328/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ww5ddqXGPVYC&pg=PT216 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other members of the Wellington Group included [[Alistair Te Ariki Campbell]] and [[Fleur Adcock]]; the scholars [[C. K. Stead]] and [[Vincent O'Sullivan (New Zealand writer)|Vincent O'Sullivan]] also became well known for their poetry around this time.<ref name="James"/>