Charles Richards (Rev) Allen

Charles Richards Allen (3 May 1885 – 14 March 1962) was a New Zealand author. He was the son of politician and diplomat James Allen. Despite blindness, he published three novels set in England and three set in New Zealand, as well as assorted plays and poetry. He also edited a collection of short stories, Tales by New Zealanders. He enrolled at the University of Cambridge, but dropped out due to his deteriorating eyesight. His later work was set in New Zealand (and specifically Dunedin), and was semi-autobiographical. In 1941 almost all copies of his final novel, The Young Pretender, were destroyed in London by a German bombing raid, and after that he focused on writing poetry and literary criticism. but it failed in 1951 after eight issues.

Works The Ship Beautiful (1925) Brown Smock (1926) Tarry, Knight (1927) A Poor Scholar: A Tale of Progress (1936) The Hedge Sparrow (1937) The Young Pretender (1939) Tales by New Zealanders (ed) (1938) Local habitation (serial; incomplete)