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When asked to cHnpare his
stay at St. Andrews to his
previous American and British
teaching experience. Dr. Bruce
notes that standard for admis
sion to universities in the
United Kingdom are much
higher than they are in the
United States and that British
universities have a ‘‘much
more stringent process of selec
tion,” than do American
schoic^. He states that there is
“too great a diversity of abili
ty” in «aTLall classes such as are
found at St Andrews. But he
adds that there ‘‘isn’t any such
thing as a faculty of creative
writing” in British universities
as there is at St. Andrews and
that the best African students
are as good as or better than
the best at Scottish univer
sities. He also has high praise
for St. Andrews inter-
disciplinar}' approach to learn
ing, saying the thing he finds
“most impressive” is, “a cer
tain generosity of mind
whereby no department is so
bound up in itself as to exclude
the interests of other depart
ments.” The “interest in
wholeness.. ,dxninates deeper
mental interests.” During his
career. Dr. Bruce has been
associated with such literary
luminaries as T.S. Eliot, Dylan
Thomas and Robert Lowell. Ap
propriately enough, he fir^
met Eliot at a cocktail party
which followed the first perfor
mance of Eliot’s play, “The
Cocktail party.” He also
recorded the last interview
with Eliot before Eliot’s death.
He has known leaders in other
arts; sculptor Henry Moore and
composers Benjamin Britten
and Thea Musgrave.
When discussing his own art,
poetry. Dr. Bruce says, “I don’t
think I chose to be a poet, I
think I was chosen.” He began
writing poems as a child was.
• always respooding to nature
and people - as persons.” He
chose poetry over prose
because be had a “naturally in
tense mind - prose is too slow.”
He made his real decision to be
a poet during a spiritual and
emotional crisis during World
War n when he was impressed
with images erf the sea, the
granite house he lived in, and
the local fishermen with their
combination of, “faith and
practical ability. . .precarious
poise and inner security.”
One critic remarked that Dr.
Bruce’s early poems were,
“impregnant^ with the spirit
of the east coast oi Scotland,”
but the author of the poems
says, “the real security was in
love - which can’t be defined in
human terms” but is expressed
in his images of people.
He says William Carlos
Williams ‘•particulariy” exer
cises a “continuing” influence
on his poetry and says, “I look
for music in assonance rather
than in full rhyme.” He advises
young poets, “read the poets of
your own time, listen carefully
to see if their rhythms are
related to your writing, and
always put your new poem
away for a few days at least
and then look at it with a cold,
critical eye,” Dr. Bruce says
the most important thing to
remember about his poetry is
that. “My final concern is with
the integrity of people.” Yet he
fears that this inte^ty is being
cxnprlsed and that our society
“take refuse in a fantasy world
which is the product of com
mercialism.” This retreat into
fantasy tends to produce people
‘•who are easily guU^ by
pditical propaganda. I see the
role of liberal arts colleges as a
nieans of altering students and
those whom they may influence
to this acute danger to all par
ticipants in our civiliza
tion.”
Although Dr. Bruce is a
newcomer to St. Andrews Qd-
lege. his association with col
lege past W. Robert Martin.
Jr., began in 1971 when Bruce
was a guest lecturer at the
American Summer Institute in
St. Andrews Scotland, which
Dr. Martin helped found. “He is
ageless; he maintain*; the
health of the child within him •
curiosity about Ufe, love of life,
and interest in life in all of its
diversity. He not only hears
poetry; he sees it,” says Mar
tin. Since 1971, Dr. Martin has
arranged for Dr. Bruce to come
and lecture at various
American colleges and univer-
sities, ranging from
Washington and Lee University
in Virginia to Prescott College
in Arizona.
Dr. Bruce will give a reading
of selections from his work at
the Writer’s Forum in Winston-
Salem lounge at 8:00 p.m. on
May 9th. Professor Ronald H.
Bayes has also stated that St.
Andrews Press has been given
a grant to publish a chapbook of
Dr. Bruce’s work before the
end of Spring term.
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