He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for a short time lived in China and London.

Arthur Adams was born in Lawrence, New Zealand, and educated at the University of Otago, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and began studying law.

He then abandoned law to become a journalist in Wellington, where he began contributing poetry to The Bulletin, a Sydney 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.

[1][2] In 1900 Adams travelled to China to cover the Boxer Rebellion as a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald and several New Zealand papers.