Arthur Rex Dugard Fairburn (2 February 1904 – 25 March 1957), commonly known by his initials A. R. D. Fairburn and otherwise as Rex, was a New Zealand

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

who was born and died in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Fairburn was born in Auckland in 1904. His grandfather, the surveyor, thinker and traveller Edwin Fairburn, was one of the first

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

born in New Zealand in 1827. His great-grandfather,

William Thomas Fairburn William Thomas Fairburn (3 September 1795 – 10 January 1859) was a carpenter and a lay preacher or catechist for the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) in the early days of European settlement of New Zealand. Early life He was born in Engla ...

, had come to New Zealand as a missionary for the

New Zealand Church Missionary Society The New Zealand Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) is a mission society working within the Anglican Communion and Protestant, Evangelical Anglicanism. The parent organisation was founded in England in 1799. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) s ...

in 1819. Fairburn attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

, where he first met R. A. K. Mason, and worked at various jobs, including relief work on the roads. Later he tutored in English and lectured on the history and theory of Art at Elam School of Art,

Auckland University College The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loca ...

. His poetry was initially influenced by the (then unfashionable) Georgian poets.

Works

* ''He Shall Not Rise''

930 Year 930 ( CMXXX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at þingvellir ("Thing Fields"). Chieftains from various tribes gather for ...

* ''

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

'' (1938) * ''Poems 1929–41'' * ''Walking on My Feet'' (1945) * ''Strange Rendezview'' (1952) * ''Three Poems'' including ''Dominion, The Voyage, To a Friend in the Wilderness'' (1952) ;Satirical and light verse * ''The Sky is a Limpet (A Polytickle Parrotty)'' * ''How to Ride a Bicycle (In Seventeen Lovely Colours)'' * ''The Rakehelly Man'' * ''Poetry Harbinger'' * ''Reverie on the Rat'' * ''Rhyme of the Dead Self''

References

External links

Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New ZealandInterview with A.R.D Fairburn's daughters
Dinah Holman and Janis Fairburn about their father fo
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project. Audio.

1883 births 1957 deaths People educated at Auckland Grammar School New Zealand male poets Academic staff of the University of Auckland 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers Fairburn–Newman family {{NewZealand-poet-stub