This issue also presents new work from an unusual quarter, and in an unusual genre for JNZL. Ian Wedde's memoir 'A Little Bit Prickly...' was presented as the 9th annual Frank Sargeson Memorial Lecture at the University of Waikato on 15 September 2011. The English Programme of the University of Waikato has previously published the Sargeson lectures in its ephemeral Occasional Papers series, but we are now delighted to be able to offer these addresses a more permanent and accessible home in JNZL. Thanks indeed to Ian, New Zealand's poet laureate, for making his text available to us.