Arthur Henry Adams

Arthur Henry Adams (6 December 1872 - 4 March 1936) was a New Zealand poet, novelist, and journalist. He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for short times resided in China and London.

Arthur Henry Adams (1872-1936), from Maoriland, and other verses, 1899. Courtesy Internet Archive.

Life

Arthur Henry Adams, courtesy Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Adams in 1920. Courtesy Obituaries Australia.

Youth and education

Adams was born in Lawrence, New Zealand.

He was educated at the University of Otago, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and began studying law.

Career

Adams abandoned law to become a journalist in Wellington, where he began contributing poetry to The Bulletin, a Sydney, Australia, periodical.

He moved to Sydney in 1898, and took up a position as private secretary and literary advisor to J.C. Williamson, a noted theatrical manager.

In 1900 Adams travelled to China to cover the Boxer Rebellion as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald and several New Zealand papers, later returning to New Zealand.

In 1902 he moved to London, where he published several works including The Nazarene (1902) and London Streets, a collection of poems (1906).

When Adams returned to Australia in 1906, he took over from A.G. Stephens as editor of the Bulletin's Red Page until 1909.

In addition to his poetry, Adams wrote both plays and novels. His most successful play was Mrs. Pretty and the Premier, which was produced in 1914 by the Melbourne Repertory Theatre.

Publications

Poetry

• Maoriland, and other verses. Sydney: Bulletin Newspaper Co. 1899.
• The Nazarene: A study of a man. London: Phillip Wellby, 1902.
• London Streets. London & Edinburgh: T.N. Foulis, 1906.
• Collected Verses. Melbourne: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1913.
• My Friend Remember! Lines written on reading Lissauer’s "Chant of Hate". Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1914.
• In Memoriam Anzac Day April 25th 1916. Sydney: S.T. Leigh, 1916.

Plays

• Three Plays for the Australian Stage. Sydney: William Brooks, 1914.

Novels

• Tussock Land: A romance of New Zealand and the Commonwealth. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1904.
• Galahad Jones. London & New York: John Lane, 1910.
• A Touch of Fantasy: A romance for those who are lucky enough to wear glasses. London and New York: John Lane, 1912.
• The Knight and the Motor Launch. Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall, 1913.
• Grocer Greatheart: A tropical romance. London and New York, Lane, 1915.
• Honeymoon Dialogues (as "Henry James James"). London: Everleigh, Nash, 1916; **reprinted as Double-Bed Dialogues. Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall, 1917.
  • New York: E.P. Dutton, 1921.
• The Australians. London: Everleigh Nash, 1920.
• Lola of the Chocolates (as "James James"). London: Hurst & Blackett, 1920.
• Guide Book to Women (as "James James"). New York: E. P. Dutton, 1921.
• The Brute. London: Everleigh Nash, 1922.
• A Man's Life. London: Everleigh, Nash & Grayson, 1929.

Short fiction

• The New Chum, and other stories. Sydney: N.S.W Bookstall, 1909.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Kirstine Moffatt.

China 1899 (Arthur Henry Adams Poem)

See also

• List of Australian poets
• List of New Zealand poets
• List of English-language playwrights
• List of literary critics

External links

Poems

• Arthur Henry Adams at Sonnet Central.
• Arthur H. Adams (1872-1936) at the Australian Poetry Library (59 poems).
• Arthur Henry Adams at PoemHunter (73 poems)

Books

• Arthur Henry Adams at Amazon.com

About

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Adams, Arthur Henry". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogA.html#adams1. 
• Adams, Arthur Henry (1872–1936) in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
• Arthur Henry Adams in Te Ara, Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• Adams, Arthur Henry (1872–1936), Sydney Morning Herald, at Obituaries Australia
• AustLit entry - detailed biographical information on Adams
• Arthur H. Adams (1872-1935), Essays in New Zealand Literary Biography.