In February 1999 the first permission requests for Big Smoke were posted out with a letter explaining what the editors intended the collection to do. Contributors and others responded then and over the subsequent months as the book made its way to publication by Auckland University Press in June 2000. Post-publication response continued. Some of the commentary is archived here with the permission of those who contributed it, as context to and enrichment of the poems, the documents, the essays and the era mapped by the book. Thanks to all concerned.

An initial version was posted on the Auckland University English Department website in October 2000.

A compilation of source photocopies for the book is held in Special Collections at Auckland University. Refernce: MSS & Archives Accession no. 1101.

Michele Leggott
March 2004