Censorship, Subversion and Short Fiction in 1940

Abstract

During the first four decades of the century, the four colleges of the University of New Zealand developed a strong tradition of academic freedom, a tradition often coloured ‘ramping red’ by successive generations of students attracted to Marxism in its various forms. Victoria College in particular was widely regarded as a refuge for radicals and revolutionaries, with students frequently suspected of shirking their duties, subversion, and worse. From its founding in 1938 the student newspaper Salient was increasingly cited as evidence of this, dominated as it was by members of the college’s left wing, including A. H. (Bonk) Scotney, Morrie Boyd, Derek Freeman, Vesta Emmanuel, Ronald Meek, Dorian Saker, Jim Winchester, Mary Brisco, and Peter and Moyra Mitchell. Many of these same young men and women were also prominent on the Students’ Association’s executive.