The full story of the gifted but troubled R. A. K. Mason is told for the first time in this accessible biography. The puzzling reasons after his extraordinary beginning that Mason almost completely stopped writing poetry are investigated. The legendary story of how Mason dumped 200 copies of his first book, The Beggar, into Auckland harbor in disappointment, disgust, or despair because no one would buy it is explored as a symbol of a time-the 1920s and 1930s-when a true, vital, native literature struggled to be written or heard in a provincial and puritanical country. Also explored are how Mason's political beliefs prompted him to turn his creative energies to left-wing theater movements in the 1930s, the impact that family pressures had on his life, and his late-in-life diagnosis with manic depression.
About the AuthorRachel Barrowman is the author of
A Popular Vision: The Arts and the Left in New Zealand 1930-1950 and
Victoria University of Wellington 1899-1999.
AwardsWinner of Montana New Zealand Book Awards: Biography Category 2004.
Book InformationISBN 9780864734631
Author Rachel BarrowmanFormat Paperback
Page Count 455
Imprint Victoria University PressPublisher Te Herenga Waka University Press