Basil Cairns Dowling (1910–2000) was a New Zealand, later British poet; originally a Canterbury-born Caxton or "southern" poet, but described in 1998 as "expatriate and unfashionable".

Life

Born in Southbridge,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

he was the youngest of five brothers born to Thomas Tayspill Dowling (1841-1920) and Christie Ann Paxton Ballantyne (1867-1925). He was educated in Christchurch at St Andrew's College and graduated from

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

(MA) in 1932. He trained for the Presbyterian ministry but lost his faith in World War II, and was jailed for his pacifist beliefs. His first three collections of poems were published by Caxton Press, and he was regarded as a "southern poet" and associated with

Charles Brasch Charles Orwell Brasch (27 July 1909 – 20 May 1973) was a New Zealand poet, literary editor and arts patron. He was the founding editor of the literary journal ''Landfall'', and through his 20 years of editing the journal, had a significant im ...

and

Ruth Dallas Ruth Minnie Mumford (29 September 1919 – 18 March 2008), better known by her pen name Ruth Dallas, was a New Zealand poet and children's author. Biography Dallas was born in Invercargill, the daughter of Frank and Minnie Mumford. She became ...

. Many of his poems refer to his Christchurch youth and much of his poetry alludes to alienation both from a bucolic New Zealand childhood and from the English pastoral literary tradition. He taught in British schools from 1952 to 1975 where he became Head of English and died from pneumonia on 24 July 2000 in Rye, Sussex. He was survived by his wife Margaret whom he married in 1936, a son and two daughters.''Obituary'' in ''The Press'', Christchurch of August 10, 2000 page 7

Published works

*A Day's Journey (1941, Caxton Press) *Signs and Wonders (1944, Caxton Press) *Canterbury and other poems (1949, Caxton Press) *Hatherley: recollective lyrics (1968) *A Little Gallery of Characters (1971, Nag's Head Press) *Bedlam, A Mid-Century Satire (1972, Nag's Head Press) *The Unreturning Native and other poems (1973, Nag's Head Press) *The Stream (1979, Nag's Head Press) *Windfalls and other poems (1983, Nag's Head Press) *Selected Poems (2004, Global Vision, Vienna) *Summer Afternoon (2014, Pear Tree Press, Auckland)

References

* * 1910 births 2000 deaths People from Southbridge, New Zealand New Zealand male poets British male poets University of Canterbury alumni People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch 20th-century British poets New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century British male writers {{NewZealand-poet-stub