THE NEW AGE


The New Age was an alternative periodical covering politics and the arts with a strong satirical edge to it. Backed by George Bernard Shaw, it was edited by A.R. Orage and his partner Beatrice Hastings, who lived together in an unconventional relationship. The magazine made so little money it was jokingly called the ‘No-Wage’.

Katherine Mansfield was introduced to the New Age by her first husband George Bowden during the brief period when they lived together in London. It was the perfect outlet for her talent for mockery and mimicry. She quickly made friends with Beatrice, who was a highly intelligent feminist with a past even more complicated and shadowy than Katherine’s. Beatrice was much more volatile than Katherine; she drank a lot and could cause awkward scenes. When she eventually left Orage, she became the mistress of Modigliani and their
violent, drunken brawls became legendary in Paris.
Beatrice Hastings by Modigliani
Katherine credited Orage with teaching her all that she knew about editing and shaping her stories. He encouraged her to turn away from the ‘pretty pretty’ and the sentimental, towards a darker realism. The discussions of the New Age group, which met often in the basement of an ABC café near the office, were an important part of Katherine’s education. Contributors included Ezra Pound, the young Ruth Pitter, Paul Selver, Carl Bechofer, J.M.Kennedy, and most of the ‘Fabian’ social and political figures of the day.

 

Index of Katherine's contributions to The New Age

1910
First appearances as ‘Katharine Mansfield’:

1910
As Katherine Mansfield:

1911

  • 4th May 1911 - Literary Supplement review of Katherine’s ‘A Fairy Story’, published in the Open Window
  • 18th May 1911 - A Birthday
  • 25th May 1911 - Satirical sketches on various authors with Beatrice Hastings
  • 22nd June 1911 - Pension Sketches; The Modern Soul
  • 29th June 1911 - The Festival of the Coronation (with apologies to Theocritus)
  • 25th August 1911 - The Journey to Bruges
  • 7th September 1911 - Being a Truthful Adventure [pt II of Journey to Bruges]
  • 5th October 1911 - Letter; ‘Along the Grey’s Inn Road’
  • 19th October 1911 - Love Cycle
  • [Literary Supplements to the New Age October 5th and 26th contain adverts for the
    forthcoming publication of In a German Pension]
  • 21st December 1911 - Review of In a German Pension, by Beatrice Hastings
   
 
     

1912

[Further attacks on Rhythm in the form of reviews on 27th June and the 15th August 1912 ]

1915

  • 4th November 1915 - Stay-Laces

1917

  • 19th April 1917 - Pastiche: Fragments (The Rain, L.M’s Way etc)
  • 3rd May 1917 - Two Tuppenny Ones Please
  • 10th May 1917 - Late at Night
  • 17th May 1917 - The Black Cap
  • 24th May 1917 - In Confidence
  • 31st May 1917 - The Common Round
  • 7th June 1917 - A Picnic
  • 14th June 1917 - Mr Reginald Peacock’s Day
  • 6th September 1917 - M. Seguin’s Goat [Translated from Alphonse Daudet]
  • 20th September 1917 - An Album Leaf
  • 4th October 1917 - A Dill Pickle
   
Brown University Modernist Journals Project - Read or download the complete collection of The New Age periodicals
   
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A resource site for the biography of Katherine Mansfield by Kathleen Jones