Douglas Stewart - letter received from Lawson Glassop, 16 Aug. 1943

MLMSS 6191

fonds

16 Aug. 1943

133158

1 folder - 0.01 Meters
Textual Records - (typescript, with manuscript annotations and corrections)

Lawson Glassop (1913-1966) was born in Lawson, New South Wales. He began a career in journalism with the Newcastle Morning Herald. In 1940 he joined the AIF and worked on an army newspaper while serving in the Middle East. His novel `We were the rats' was published in 1944, but was banned by the NSW government in 1946 because of its crude language and repellant details of army life. The book was republished in modified form in 1961. Glassop continued his career in journalism, including being a war correspondent in Korea 1950-51, and published three more novels.
Douglas Stewart (1913-1985), writer and critic, was born in Eltham, Taranaki Province, New Zealand. From 1940-1961 he was editor of the Red Page of the Bulletin and then became literary editor for Angus & Robertson until 1971.

Letter comprises one leaf, typed on both sides. Written while a member of the First Australian Army Press Unit, AIF, Australia, Glassop describes work-in-progress on his novel `We were the rats' about army life in wartime. He explains how some of his characters and ideas were conceived, and asks Stewart or Norman [Lindsay] for suggestions for the title. He also considers the difficulties of publishing his criticisms of the Army in his book while he is still in uniform.