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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 10, No. 2. March 19, 1947

Scribes Organise

Scribes Organise

A peculiarity in the social life of this university college which must strike any casual observer, is the absence of any student clubs of languages and literature. The votaries of the sciences meet; physicists, chemists, biologists and others, as do the lawyers and political scientists. The sole exception is found among language students. There is no French, German, Russian, or classical club at the college, nor is there one for the tremendous number of English students.

The reason for this is certainly not an absence of interest in the ordinary and sensational basis of literature, passion and love, and the beauties of nature on one hand, and ghosts, primeval monsters and mysterious murders on the other. Nor can it be ascribed to a lack of academic interest in literature. A follower of modern apocalyptic verse could not fail to be interested by the curses written in vulgar Latin and found upon tablets, while students of the English romantics would find many obscurities elucidated by a speaker who really understood the modern "Apocalypse."

These aspects of literary interest could be covered by outside speakers of some merit and standing, and the only way in which such speakers could be introduced to a university audience would be through a literary club. Until such a club is formed it would be impossible to predict its chief lines of activity. These may be partly linguistic or wholly literary; or may be primarily concerned with the past or with the present, or again, the club may be mostly interested in prose and verse written by members. In any case the writing and criticism of indigenous literature must be of great interest to club members.

An effort to form such a club will be made in the next few days. Details of the first meeting will appear conspicuously on the main notice board. All students should be interested in this project; such a club as this is academically important to the student life of this college, as well as culturally illuminating.