Case 15
- Educational association
Dan Davin. Cliffs of fall. London: Nicholson and Watson, 1945.
Dan Davin (1913-1990) was
born in Invercargill and in 1931 won a scholarship to the University of Otago.
He graduated with an Honours degree in English (1934), and in Latin (1935),
becoming a Rhodes Scholar. Although he remained in Oxford for most of his
literary career, his works are almost invariably connected with New Zealand.
Davin’s first novel, Cliffs of fall
is set at the University of Otago. Cliffs
of fall is the tale of an alienated student who murders his pregnant
girlfriend in an attempt to free himself from convention and commitment.
Written prior to his wartime experiences, Davin virtually disowned the novel upon
publication in 1945
Merton Hodge. The wind and the rain: a novel. London: Cassell, 1936.
Horace
Emerton Hodge, better known as Merton Hodge (1903-1958) was born at Taruheru,
Poverty Bay. He studied medicine at the University of Otago, graduating in
1928. As an undergraduate he was passionate about drama and became an active
member of the University Dramatic Society. A play that he initially wrote for
the Society was later transformed into The
wind and the rain, which became a resounding success on stage in London.
The novelised version of The wind and the
rain was published in 1936. In 1952 he returned to set up practice in
Dunedin, where he died by drowning in 1958.
Clare Mallory. Merry begins. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1947.
Clare
Mallory was the pseudonym of Winifred Hall, nee McQuilkan (1913-1991), the
author of a popular series of girls’ school stories published between 1947 and
1951. Merry begins and its two
sequels are all set at the Mary Tremayne Ladies’ College in Dunedin – although
no world outside school is apparent. The Merry
books sold more than 23,000 copies in New Zealand and Australia in little more
than one year.
Clare Mallory. The league of the smallest. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1951.
Born
in Invercargill, Winifred attended the University of Otago, where she was on
the council of Critic with Dan Davin, and wrote a gossip column as ‘Susan
Schnozzletippet.’ After gaining a degree at Oxford, she returned to Dunedin to
teach at Otago Girls’ High School, before becoming headmistress of Columba
College in 1942. Her school novels were partially written during her tenure at
Columba. The league of the smallest
is set in a private girls’ boarding school in New Zealand.
