Allen Curnow regarded R.A.K. Mason as New Zealand’s first authentic poet – ‘the first among New Zealand poets’.
Born 10 January 1905 in Penrose, Ronald Allison Kells Mason lived his early childhood years in Lichfield, Waikato following the death of his father in 1912.
Returning to Auckland in 1915, young Mason completed primary school in Panmure and then attended Auckland Grammar School before eventually studying Latin at Auckland University College. He was only 19 when he published his first collection of poems. In fact, most of his ‘Collected Poems’ were written before he turned 25.
By 1941 Mason effectively ceased writing poetry but continued to maintain a leading role in New Zealand political and theatrical life, particularly through his work with the People’s Theatre and as editor of the People’s Voice newspaper. He also served as Assistant Secretary of the Auckland Builders and General Labourers’ Union.
During his time as a trade unionist, particularly while working at the Otahuhu Railway Workshops in the 1940s, Mason became a crucial mentor to a young Hone Tuwhare. Encouraging Tuwhare to develop his craft, Mason played a vital role in the emergence of New Zealand’s most distinguished Māori poet. When Tuwhare published his landmark first collection, No Ordinary Sun, in 1964, Mason provided the foreword, proudly declaring it the first time a Māori writer had qualified as a poet in English while “drawing his main strength from his own people.” This endorsement by the country’s foremost literary figure helped pave the way for modern Māori literature in English.
Mason’s political convictions also led to a deep and lasting relationship with China. He was instrumental in the establishment of the New Zealand China Friendship Society, serving as the president of its Auckland branch in 1954 and later becoming its first national president in 1958.
In the midst of the Cold War, Mason acted as an unofficial ambassador, leading a cultural delegation to China in 1956. The following year, he accepted an invitation from the Chinese government and returned with a small group that included filmmakers Rudall and Ramai Hayward. Together, they produced Inside Red China, one of the first Western documentaries filmed in the communist nation. During this historic 1957 visit, Mason was present at Tiananmen Square when Ramai Hayward gifted Chairman Mao Zedong a traditional feather cloak on behalf of the Māori King, Korokī, a gesture of cross-cultural goodwill that Mason proudly helped facilitate. (He would also go on to publish a collection titled China Dances and Other Poems in 1962).
In 1962, Mason received the Robert Burns Fellowship from Otago University, with the selection committee noting that he was ‘the foremost living poet’.
He died 13 July 1971 at the age of 66.
R.A.K. Mason
Died 1971
Block E, Row 57, Plot 112
