Montague Harry (M. H.) Holcroft was born at a time when New Zealand literature was in its infancy. The writer, editor and journalist grew up in Christchurch and was educated at Christchurch Boys High School before taking a position as office boy at a confectionery factory in 1917. After two years in this position he determined to travel in order to gather experience for a career as a writer. He eventually made his way to Sydney where he settled as a dockyard clerk, short story writer and budding novelist, publishing in a wide variety of Australian periodicals such as

The Australian Journal

,

Punch

,

Triad

,

Smith's Weekly

and

Bulletin

(including literary essays on the infamous “Red Page”). In 1928 he published his first novel,

Beyond the Breakers

, and his time in Sydney provided the…

490 words

Citation: Smithies, James. "M. H. Holcroft". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 June 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2173, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2173 M. H. Holcroft 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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