13 Nov 2022

Roger Hickin revives the reputation of "forgotten man"

From Standing Room Only, 2:37 pm on 13 November 2022
Roger Hickin

Roger Hickin Photo: supplied

Roger Hickin

Photo: supplied

Writer Roderick Finlayson was right in the thick of it during a formative time in New Zealand's literary history.  He was a friend and contemporary of other significant writers, including James K Baxter, Frank Sargeson and D'Arcy Cresswell.

Roderick's not as well known now, despite being in some ways, ahead of his time.  He wrote about race relations and environmental issues in his essays, articles, stories and letters, as early as the late 1930s.  His first short story collection, Brown Man's Burden, was published in 1938.

In recent years, publisher and writer Roger Hickin has championed Roderick's work.   He first released a selection of his published and unpublished writing in 2020, and now a biography called Roderick Finlayson - A Man from Another World.   He talks with Lynn Freeman about Roderick's reputation in 2022.

Roderick Finlayson, A Man from Another World by Roger Hickin is published by Cold Hub Press