Mason is writing about the plight of man, trapped in a hostile place, i.e. our planet, which, in the space of the universe as a whole, is 'fixed at the friendless outer edge'. Even if perhaps a poet in an isolated country ...

The vast majority of Mason's poems derive their individual character not only from his use of language, but also, and above all, from his perceiving of himself as a Christ in New Zealand, ignored and victimised by a society ...

When I first read R.A.K. Mason's poems several years ago, I was inclined to see the Christ figure in them as essentially - or at least most frequently - a reflection of the author himself, in the role of a victim of his ...

'The stories of Frank Sargeson' contains the bulk of the short fiction produced by New Zealand's foremost writer. Despite Sargeson's fame, it seems that his stories, particularly those portraying violence, are generally ...

The author discusses a collection of New Zealand short stories, and concludes his discussion by saying "that the quality of literature depends, not on time or place, but on the calibre of the author's ability to grasp ...

The author suggests that one reason for accepting Frank Sargeson's stories as realistic is that there have been no close analyses of any of them. In discussing "The hole that Jack dug" the author aims to show that such a ...

The author examines one of R.A.K. Mason's best known poems, Ecce Homunculus, with concern for some of the poem's ambiguities and the possibility that they reveal ambivalence, or at least a richness of meaning, rather than ...

A review of poetry by Tim Pickford. Many of Pickford's poems seem very personal ones, and are perhaps more striking for their sincerity and enthusiasm than for their poetic qualities.

Previously, the author has presented R.A.K. Mason as essentially a sensitive modern romantic at odds with the New Zealand where he spent his life from 1905-1971, and with, in a larger sense, not only man but also the ...