Steele Rudd (1868–1935) was an Australian writer whose real name was Arthur Hoey Davis. He is best known for On Our Selection, a collection of humorous rural stories. Drawing on the hardscrabble life of an early Australian selector family, he wrote in an exaggerated yet affectionate style about drought, poverty, neighbourly visits and domestic mishaps, turning the hardships of pioneer settlement into comic everyday scenes. Such writing helped shape a popular image of Australian bush life, and figures in the Dad and Dave vein became familiar cultural references for local readers. Public information about his life beyond his best-known work is limited, and many biographical details remain uncertain; yet through the humorous tradition established in On Our Selection, he holds a place in Australian popular literature, and his work is often classified as inspirational and coming-of-age reading.
