Also included are personal insights into, and amusing anecdotes of, Alistair and Meg Campbell, Denis Glover, A.R.D. Fairburn, Robin Hyde and Hone Tuwhare. Sam makes it abundantly clear that he has a soft spot for James K. Baxter and proudly reproduces the poems they answered each other with, plus the original copy of Baxter's Letter to Sam Hunt, neatly typed in red ink. As well as other ephemera, Backroads is also illustrated with images taken from his personal photograph collection.

Sam ends with his musical outings, joining forces with Mammal, The Warratahs, David Kilgour and the thrill of opening for Leonard Cohen in his early 2009 New Zealand concerts. The Canadian veteran--who can take a full year to craft a song--praised Sam's performance, saying: 'That's poetry.' What more can be said--that's Sam Hunt.

Admirers of Sam's work may also be interested in his most recent collection of poetry Doubtless: New & selected poems.