Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

James K. Baxter Complete Prose Volume 4

Foreword

page break

Foreword

Haere mai! Welcome to Volume Four 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

The Introduction is in three parts. The longest part, which is biographical, presents the life of the man I knew. Consequently it relies to some extent on my recollections and on the letters he wrote to me. The second part discusses the development of his prose writing. The third comprises essential technical information about the contents of the first three volumes.

The Chronology is supplied to help readers understand what was happening in Baxter’s life at or about the time he wrote or published a piece of prose. It supplements and extends the biographical section of the Introduction.

The Glossary of Māori Words and Phrases has been reviewed by two speakers of Māori, Father Paddy Kinsella S.M. and John Baxter, the son of James K. Baxter.

The Short Biographies of Some New Zealand Writers are supplied because Baxter referred to very many New Zealand writers either in his essays on New Zealand literature or in his book reviews or other articles. It refers to all the New Zealand writers he mentions.

The Select Bibliography is intended to be relatively comprehensive so that the Complete Prose will become an even more useful resource to anyonepage xxviii who wants to know more about an iconic New Zealander and one of the great poets of the twentieth century.

John Weir

Christchurch