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Foreword

Haere mai! Welcome to Volume Three 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 Three contains the prose Baxter wrote between 1969 and 1972 when his home was Jerusalem, the little Catholic foundation and marae alongside the Whanganui River.

It was there that he wrote the poetry and prose which he included in his collections Jerusalem Sonnets, the sequence of poems he composed for Colin Durning which was published in 1969, Jerusalem Daybook (1971) and Autumn Testament (1972), the final book he worked on.

But he wrote much more than that. He composed and left for publication Thoughts about the Holy Spirit, his commentary on St Paul’s Prison Letters, he wrote a programme of action for the Christian Militant who wanted to engage in social reform, and he gave numerous talks and interviews on such matters as prejudice, poverty, war, racism, homelessness, the plight of page break Māori, drugs, the heartlessness of city living, the breakdown of community, Christian action, abortion and the menace of capitalism.

The recipe he devised for society’s ills was based on the works of mercy. It included hospitality, sharing, listening, the building up of community, the value of poverty and mercy. These notions were also included in his talks and essays.

All of the manuscripts which have survived from the last four years of his life have been included here in Volume Three. Baxter’s understanding of what it means to be human and what it means to be a member of human society makes compelling reading. The ideas which drove him, as well as the manner in which they are expressed, will remain an abundant resource for anybody who wants to know more about becoming and being human.