Transgender 19th-century surgeon Doctor James Barry is one of those fascinating characters from the past who you can't believe isn't better known. He was by all accounts an excellent physician, though obsessive and argumentative. He took part in several duels, and liked to travel with a goat. No wonder widely-published poet Oscar Upperton saw enough here to write an entire collection about the singular Doctor Barry. It's called The Surgeon's Brain. Lynn Freeman asks Oscar how he came across the story of James Barry. The Surgeon's Brain by Oscar Upperton is published by Te Herenga Waka University Press.