Chris Brickell is Professor in the Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology Programme at Otago University. He has written extensively on the history of gay men in New Zealand. His books include Mates and Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand, Queer Objects (co-edited with Judith Collard) and James Courage Diaries (a Times Literary Supplement 2022 Book of the Year). Vanessa Manhire is a researcher and editor and a trustee of the Robert Lord Writers Cottage Trust, which administers a residency programme at Robert’s Dunedin cottage. She has a PhD in English from Rutgers University. Nonnita Rees co-founded Playmarket, and worked at Downstage and Playmarket in the 1970s and 80s. She is a cultural policy analyst and Chair of the Robert Lord Writers Cottage Trust.