'Perfectly fairy-godmotherish': The friendship of Toss Wollaston and Ursula Bethell
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26686/knznq.v4i1.730Abstract
Toss Woollaston was a 21-year-old art student when he met Ursula Bethell in Christchurch in 1931. His landlady, Mrs Coward, had spoken about 'Miss Bethell', the poet who attended her church in Spreydon. She 'would be particularly interested in me, Mrs Coward told me, because of my mind, and my love of art and poetry' (Woollaston 1980, 215). Woollaston describes the meeting in Sage Tea: '...when Mrs Coward intercepted a lady in blue silks on her way from the church door to the street, her head a little bent, eyes inward, evidently meditating divine matters, and told her stoutly "I want you to take an interest in this young man", I was prepared for anything that might follow' (215-16).
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Bethell, Ursula to Eileen Duggan. Catholic Archdiocesan Archives, Wellington.
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