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James K. Baxter Complete Prose Volume 1

Foreword

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Foreword

Haere mai! Welcome to Volume One of James K. Baxter: Complete Prose. The first aim of the set of volumes is to present the prose in chronological order of composition. The second aim is to keep Baxter’s writing in full view of the reader. To achieve this it has been decided to provide a plain reading page unencumbered by editorial notes and to consign all critical apparatus to Volume Four, namely,
  • Introduction
  • Acknowledgments
  • Note
  • Chronology
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Notes and References
  • Glossary of Māori Words and Phrases
  • Short Biographies of Some New Zealand Writers
  • Select Bibliography
  • Index

Each item in the text is followed by the number given to it in the Contents list. The same number is used to identify its note and reference. The notes can be consulted by keeping Volume Four open alongside the volume you are reading. The Introduction is mainly biographical but it also gives a discursive overview of Baxter’s development as a prose writer. Those who wish to consult the Index or to undertake a systematic reading of the prose by beginning with the Introduction should turn to Volume Four.

Volume One contains the prose Baxter wrote between 1943 and 1948, while living in Dunedin and then Christchurch, as well as the prose he wrote in Wellington between 1949 and 1965. The fourth item, ‘[The Divorce of Poetry]’, introduces his opinions on the craft and practice of poetry. The earliest analysis of his personal concerns is ‘Thoughts Concerning a Career’ (No. 10). His criticism of the Church in No. 14 prefigures later criticism. The next item, ‘Poetry in New Zealand’ prefigures many of his talks and essays. ‘To Wake the Nations Underground’ is the earliest of several autobiographical vignettes.

In 1949 after Baxter married and began living in Wellington he was influenced by other young poets such as Louis Johnson and Alistair Campbell, page xviii training college lecturers like Anton Vogt, and university pundits like Ian Gordon and Jim Bertram. In the N.Z. Listener he found a hospitable venue for his poetry and critical writing and in the School Publications unit of the Department of Education he found a patient employer.

In Wellington he wrote short stories, plays and a novel, and produced his first book of literary criticism, The Fire and the Anvil. He asked ‘Is there a Colour Bar in New Zealand?’ and became a Catholic. He offered New Zealand readers the thoughts he assembled during a visit to India in 1958- 59 and composed a condemnatory essay ‘The Kiwi and Mr Curnow’. He also wrote a political diatribe ‘Mr Shand and the Rain of Fire’. These items introduced the literary vehicles and themes which he continued to use and develop later.

John Weir

Christchurch,