Baxter , James Keir , 1926-1972 , poet and playwright

Born Dunedin, New Zealand, June 1926; poet and playright, his radio play, Jack Winter's Dream (1959), made him internationally famous. Among his poetry collections was Pig Island Letters, published in 1966. In that year, he accepted the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. He resigned to live in Jerusalem, a Maori settlement on the Wanganui river and travelled to nearby cities to work with the poor. His poems of this period often railed against society for tolerating poverty. The ascetic life he led from this period resulted in his health suffering. He moved to a commune near Auckland and died there in October 1972.