Subject Guides: Pacific: Literature

Pacific authors in Aotearoa

Books by Pasifika authors in Aotearoa are found in the New Zealand literature section. Here are some of the Pasifika authors whose works we hold:

Anthologies

Anthologies Published in Aotearoa:

Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand. (2024). Listen to some readings at nzpoetryshelf.com
Pasifika navigators: Pasifika student poetry collection. (2023)
Our koviki tears: Love from the indigenous queens and kings, 2023.
Vā: Stories by women of the Moana. Edited by Sisila Eteuati & Lani Wendt Young. (2021)
Nafanua: Works from writers and artists who attended the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in American Samoa 2008.
Mauri ola: Contemporary Polynesian poems in English. Edited by Albert Wendt, Reina Whitiri & Robert Sullivan. (2010)
Fika: A fictional body of new writing. Edited by Danielle O'Halloran & Felolini Ifopo. First Draft Pasefika Writers. (2008)
Niu voices: Contemporary Pacific fiction 1. (2006)
Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian poems in English. Edited by Albert Wendt, Reina Whitiri & Robert Sullivan. (2003)
Niu waves: Contemporary writing from the Pacific. Pacific Writing Forum, Oceania Centre for Arts & Culture. (2001)
Nuanua: Pacific writing in English since 1980. Selected with an introduction by Albert Wendt. (1995)
Pacific voice: An anthology of Maori and Pacific writing. Selected by Bernard Gadd. (1989)

Reviews and Surveys of Pacific Writing in Aotearoa

Rodger, Victor. Pacific writing in New Zealand: The niu wave. Academy of New Zealand Literature.

Pacific Authors by Country

Books by Pacific authors who are not from Aotearoa are mostly at PR 9695 (see the box below to browse by country).

American Samoa

Cook Islands

Makiuti Tongia

Fiji

French Polynesia

Chantal T. Spitz

Hawai'i

Kiribati

Teresia Teaiwa

New Caledonia

Déwé Gorode

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Konai Helu Thaman
Epeli Hau'ofa (Tongan/Fijian)

Pacific Literature by Country

Browse these call numbers to find literature by country:

Cook Islands PR 9695 .C7
Fiji PR 9695 .F5
Kiribati PR 9695 .K5
Marshall Islands PR 9695 .M3
Nauru PR 9695 .N2
Niue PR 9695 .N7
Palau PR 9695 .P2
Papua New Guinea PR 9695 .P29
Samoa PR 9695 .S2
Solomon Islands PR 9695 .S8
Tahiti PR 9695 .T12
Tonga PR 9695 .T8
Vanuatu PR 9695 .V3

Collections from several Pacific countries are at PR 9695 .A1

Anthologies, Reviews and Surveys of Pacific Literature

Anthologies

Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia. Edited by Evelyn Flores and Emelihter Kihleng. (2019)
Indigenous Pacific Islander eco-literatures. Edited by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, Leora Kava & Craig Santos Perez. (2022)

For more anthologies and criticism, search the catalogue using Pacific Island Literature and Pacific Island Poetry

Reviews and Surveys

Articles:

For an excellent survey of contemporary Pacific Islander poetry and a list of anthologies (not only poetry), see: Perez, C. S. (2020). "Towards a new Oceania": On contemporary Pacific Islander poetry networks. College Literature, 47(1), 240-247. https://doi.org/10.1353/lit.2020.0004

Hermes, K. L. (2018). The female voice in Pasifika poetry: An exploration of "hybrid" identities in the Pacific diaspora. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(5), 655-669. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1527746

Hogue, R. H., & Maurer, A. (2022). Pacific women’s anti-nuclear poetry: Centring Indigenous knowledges. International Affairs, 98(4), 1267–1288.

Books of history and criticism of Pacific literature are at PN 849 .O26.

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