14 Aug 2021

Chris Brickell: exploring the diaries of gay literary pioneer James Courage

From Saturday Morning, 8:36 am on 14 August 2021
Professor Chris Brickell

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James Courage is a major mid-century New Zealand literary figure, but he has been largely overlooked compared to contemporaries such as Frank Sargeson and Charles Brasch. Chris Brickell wants to set the record straight - and he attempts to do so with new book James Courage Diaries.

James Courage was born in Christchurch in 1903 and became aware of his homosexuality during his teenage years. His 1959 novel A Way of Love was the first explicitly gay novel written by a New Zealander. Courage’s diaries, written between 1920 and 1963, are filled with incisive - and often acerbic - observations about himself, his environment, and the people around him.

Chris Brickell is a professor of Gender Studies at the University of Otago. His books include Mates and Lovers: A history of gay New ZealandTeenagers: The rise of youth culture in New Zealand, and Queer Objects, which he co-edited with Judith Collard.

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Photo: Supplied