Why did early New Zealand writers struggle to adapt British literary traditions to a new country?

Early New Zealand writers struggled to adapt British literary traditions because they were essentially "Britishers abroad" who had to make a conscious effort to relocate their imaginations to a new environment. For the first century of settlement (1820–1920), these immigrant writers faced the challenge of reconciling their inherited literary traditions with a landscape and society that were fundamentally different from their home country.1

Because of this difficulty, much of the most notable 19th-century writing was found in factual accounts, journals, and letters rather than in poetry or fiction. Early attempts to utilize traditional forms, such as the epic or the ballad, were often viewed as premature or derivative. It was not until the 20th century that writers began to successfully establish a distinct national tradition by focusing on their specific New Zealand experiences rather than merely echoing British models.12