Fraser, G.S. (George Sutherland), 1915-1980

Epithet: writer and critic

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000297.0x000166

George Sutherland Fraser (8 November 1915 - 3 January 1980) was a Scottish poet, literary critic and academic. He was born in Glasgow and attended University of St. Andrews. During World War II he served in the British Army in Cairo and Eritrea. He was published as a poet in Salamander, a Cairo literary magazine. After the war he became a prominent figure in London's literary circles, working as a journalist and critic. Together with his wife Paddy he made friends with a host of literary figures, from the intellectual leader William Empson to the eccentric John Gawsworth. He worked with Ian Fletcher to have Gawsworth's Collected Poems (1949) published. His direction was that of the traditional man of letters (soon to become extinct). In 1949 he accepted the job of replacing Edmund Blunden as Cultural Adviser to the UK Liaison Mission in Tokyo. This ended badly when he suffered a breakdown in 1951 while in Japan. He became a lecturer at the University of Leicester in 1959, where he was an inspiring teacher, remaining there until retirement in 1979. He died a year later.

From the description of Selected papers of G.S. Fraser, 1965-1968. (Southern Illinois University). WorldCat record id: 298239365