Collected Poems
Creator
Date
1962
Identifier
Brasch PR9640 M37 A1 1962
Type
Publisher
Christchurch: Pegasus Press
Abstract
Robert Burns Fellow 1962: R. A. K. Mason (1905-71)
In the early 1960s, Ronald Allison Kells Mason (1905-71) was struggling both physically and mentally, with pneumonia and depression. His award as Robert Burns Fellow for 1962 served as a great fillip for him, and he described it as a ‘reprieve from death’. Before his tenure, Mason had not published anything for 21 years. During the year, he intended to write short stories and undertake research for a Rewi Alley biography, but his focus became publishing previously written poems. Collected Poems came out in July of that year. Later that month he was hospitalised with depression. He recovered, with medication, and continued with his Burns year. The love and gratitude Mason had for Dunedin and its ‘Scottishness’ saw him remain in the city for three more years.
In the early 1960s, Ronald Allison Kells Mason (1905-71) was struggling both physically and mentally, with pneumonia and depression. His award as Robert Burns Fellow for 1962 served as a great fillip for him, and he described it as a ‘reprieve from death’. Before his tenure, Mason had not published anything for 21 years. During the year, he intended to write short stories and undertake research for a Rewi Alley biography, but his focus became publishing previously written poems. Collected Poems came out in July of that year. Later that month he was hospitalised with depression. He recovered, with medication, and continued with his Burns year. The love and gratitude Mason had for Dunedin and its ‘Scottishness’ saw him remain in the city for three more years.
Files
Citation
R. A. K. Mason, “Collected Poems,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed November 22, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/10922.