R. A. K. Mason

{{Short description|New Zealand poet}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}

{{for|the drama producer and BBC executive|Ronald Mason (drama)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = R. A. K. Mason

| image =

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| caption =

| birth_name = Ronald Allison Kells Mason

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|01|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1971|07|13|1905|01|10|df=y}}

| death_place = Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand

| nationality = New Zealander

| other_names =

| occupation = Poet

| years_active =

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}}

Ronald Allison Kells Mason (10 January 1905 – 13 July 1971) was a New Zealand poet. Described by Allen Curnow as New Zealand's "first wholly original, unmistakably gifted poet",[https://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writer/mason-rak/ R.A.K. Mason] New Zealand Book Council website. Retrieved 18 May 2019[http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/nzp/nzlit2/masonrak.htm R.A.K. Mason - NZ Literature File - LEARN - The University Of Auckland Library] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928201859/http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/nzp/nzlit2/masonrak.htm |date=28 September 2006 }} he was born in Penrose, Auckland on 10 January 1905.Who’s Who in New Zealand, 9th edition, edited by G C Petersen, p235 (1968, Reed, Wellington)Who’s Who in New Zealand, 10th edition, edited by G C Petersen, p238 (1971, Reed, Wellington) He was educated at Auckland Grammar School, where he met fellow poet A. R. D. Fairburn. Mason was the holder of the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago in 1962.{{cite web|title=R. A. K. Mason - 1962|url=http://www.otago.ac.nz/library/exhibitions/burns/rakmason.html|website=Nourishing the Roots: An exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago|publisher=University of Otago|accessdate=16 June 2015}} He died in Takapuna, Auckland on 13 July 1971.{{cite book |editor-last=Traue |editor-first=J. E. |editor-link=Jim Traue |title=Who's Who in New Zealand |edition=11th |year=1978 |publisher=Reed |location=Wellington |isbn=0-589-01113-8 |page=299}}