G. S. Fraser
George Sutherland Fraser was a Scottish poet, critic, and lecturer born in Glasgow, where he began his education at Glasgow Academy and St. Andrews University. His early work in creative writing and criticism was marked by a commitment to socialism, which influenced his academic experiences and his eventual career. After graduating in 1937, he worked for the Aberdeen Press and Journal and served in the military during World War II, where he continued to write and publish poetry. Fraser was associated with the literary movement known as the New Apocalypse, which challenged the prevailing styles of established poets.
Following the war, he established himself as a freelance journalist and broadcaster, contributing to notable publications like The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Review of Books. His literary travels took him to various countries, including a significant visit to Chile to meet the poet Pablo Neruda. In 1959, he began a long tenure as a lecturer in English at University College, Leicester, and also served as a visiting professor at the University of Rochester. Despite a decline in his poetry output as his teaching commitments increased, Fraser remained respected for his thoughtful criticism and occasional verse until his death in 1980.
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G. S. Fraser
- Born: November 8, 1915
- Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
- Died: January 3, 1980
Biography
George Sutherland Fraser was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where his father worked in the city clerk’s office. Fraser attended Glasgow Academy, Aberdeen Grammar School, and St. Andrews University, where he began publishing his creative work and criticism. His work embracing socialism brought him into conflict with school authorities and may have kept him from receiving first-class honors in English in 1937. After graduation, Fraser worked for the Aberdeen Press and Journal, where he honed his skills in reporting and writing on assignment. He volunteered for the military in 1939 and served first in England and then in Egypt and Ethiopia. During this period he continued to write and publish, having aligned himself previously with a number of northern writers who called themselves the New Apocalypse and who disagreed with the techniques employed by established poets such as W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and Louis MacNeice. During Fraser’s time in the Middle East, he became associated with Personal Landscape, a literary magazine for Britons living in the area, and also with The Salamander Society, a group of poets and critics who eventually published an anthology and a short-lived magazine. Fraser published his first two volumes of poetry while in the Middle East.
After the war, Fraser moved to London and began a career as a freelance journalist and broadcaster. He wrote for a variety of English and American literary publications, including The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Review of Books. In 1946, he married Ellen Lucy Andrew; they had three children. His travels during this period included Chile (where he visited the poet Pablo Neruda), other South American countries, and Japan, where he served as cultural advisor to the United Kingdom Liaison Mission. He became known as a generous critic who was more interested in analyzing a writer’s achievements than in identifying a work’s weaknesses. During the 1950’s he continued to publish his own poetry; at the same time he was working for the BBC and publishing a series of anthologies of contemporary poetry.
In 1959, Fraser became a lecturer in English at University College, Leicester, first as a reader in modern English literature and then in poetry. He taught there until his death, except for a year’s appointment as visiting professor at the University of Rochester in the United States. During this period he continued translating, working most notably on Dante’s Inferno for the BBC. As teaching claimed more and more of his time, he wrote less poetry, although he continued to publish some occasional verse; critics were most admiring of the poems which display his sweet voice of civility and reasonableness. He died in 1980.