Wild Bees

“Wild Bees” was originally published in Landfall, New Zealand’s oldest and longest running literary magazine. Landfall has been renowned as a leading platform for emerging New Zealand writers. It is believed that the journal’s title comes from the poem “Landfall in Unknown Seas,” written by New Zealand poet Allen Curnow five years before the magazine’s inception.

When “Wild Bees” was published, the magazine was in its fourth year and run by editor Charles Brasch. The magazine gained popularity and in 1962 they published their first collective anthology, Landfall Country, which included Baxter’s work.

Landfall and Baxter’s rise into literary stardom coincided with a sudden inundation of artistic and intellectual practice in New Zealand. The 1940s and 1950s in particular saw more and more emerging poets fighting to have their voice heard, and more opportunities for publication. This created a polarization between poets who wanted to represent New Zealand and poets who wanted to be viewed by their own merits in an international context. Allen Curnow released his collection A book of New Zealand verse 1923–45, which sparked backlash from poets including Baxter in regard to what they saw as Curnow’s narrow-minded nationalism.