Talk:James K. Baxter

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A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on October 22, 2022.

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"Baxter, like the comparable Francis Webb in Australia, claims to have begun writing poetry at the age of seven, and it is certain that he accumulated a large body of technically-accomplished poetry both before and during his teenage years; he continued to write throughout a life at once contemplative and active, although his frequent shifts of religion and lifestyle often puzzled his countrymen.

His poetry oscillates between metric verse, of which he was a master, and the free prose preferred by his contemporaries. He typically wrote short lyrical poems or cycles of the same rather than longer poems."

I made this change because the material for which it was a replacement was full of inaccuracies and even defamations. There was, for instance, a claim that Baxter was seventy when he began writing poetry, rather than seven, and further on there was a claim, unsubstantiated by The Life of James K. Baxter or any other source of which I am aware, that Baxter had a problem with methamphetamines rather than, for instance, the struggle with alcoholism and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous which are a matter of public record (and mentioned further on in the article, although the entire article needs cleaning and I am unsure whether certain areas are subtle acts of vandalism or not). It is true that Baxter sympathized with the plight of drug users, and harbored them in the series of communes in which he was a central force -- much like the Indian Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan, a community which helped inspired Baxter's Jerusalem -- but that is a different matter than being a meth addict...! The correct portrayal of a national treasure is imperative.

I see that someone has put "Beyond the Shitpools" in place of "Beyond the Palisades" as the title of Baxter's collection. Sigh. Errors and defamations of this sort abound, and the more I look the more I find. I will try to clean this article up over time, because Baxter deserves to be better known outside of New Zealand, and certainly does not need 'help' from vandals. The quality of this uneven poet's best work will speak for itself outside of New Zealand, however, and such poets as Bruce Beaver in Australia were well aware of his worth. 121.73.26.57 11:44, 26 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It was wrong of me, gratuitous, to have made the comment about 'free prose', so I have deleted it.

Hopkins Disease (talk) 08:36, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This is terrible

This is terrible. James K Baxter is an iconic New Zealander and yet Wikipedia has this sketchy poorly-organised incomplete entry. Unfortunately, I don't have the knowledge to be able to improve it, but please please please find someone who does! — Preceding unsigned comment added by DavidPaulNZ (talk • contribs) 21:03, 6 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is written by unpaid volunteers just like you. I suggest you take the opportunity to learn some new skills.Span (talk) 01:11, 7 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]