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The novelist and playwright James Courage was born in Christchurch in 1903, and he became aware of his homosexuality during his adolescent years. His 1938 play Private History, performed in London, was an exploration of love between boys in boarding schools, and his 1959 book A Way of Love was the first published gay novel written by a New Zealander. Courage started writing his diaries while he was a student at Christ's College, and they tell us how his intimate life reflected a wider world undergoing considerable change. Written between 1920 and 1963, the fourteen diaries attest to the connections between New Zealand, England and Europe. Sexuality, literature, friendship, travel and the effects of wartime are important themes, along with Courage's psychotherapeutic treatment later in life. The beautifully written and moving diaries contain incisive and often acidic observations about other people as well as Courage himself. |
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Some 90,000 words of excerpts from the diaries sit alongside a substantial biographical introduction that canvasses James Courage's life and explores the significance of the diaries and some of his other unpublished autobiographical writing. Published in August 2021 with Otago University Press, James Courage Diaries is illustrated with cover art from Courage's novels and images from his photographic archive. |