Wellington Pasifika Festival: Recent Pasifika related books

The Wellington Pasifika Festival is coming up soon, on Saturday 11 February at Waitangi Park at the Wellington waterfront. Therefore, it’s a great time to celebrate some of the Pasifika related book releases of the last year. 

You can find more information about the Wellington Pasifika Festival here.


How to loiter in a turf war : a novel / Coco Solid
“A genre-bending work of autobiographical fiction from one of Aotearoa’s fiercest and most versatile artists. Like nothing you’ve read before, How to Loiter in a Turf War is a lucid, genre-bending, cinematic work of autobiographical fiction. From one of Aotearoa’s fiercest and most versatile artists comes a day in the life of three friends beefing with their own city.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Paradise camp / Kihara, Shigeyuki
“Interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara is the first Pasifika and first Fa’afafine artist to be presented by New Zealand at the prestigious 59th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. With a groundbreaking exhibition of new work that addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time, Kihara’s work interrogates and dismantles gender roles, consumerism, (mis)representation, and colonial legacies in the Pacific.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Sāmoan proverbs = Alagā’upu ma Muāgagana a Sāmoa / Fa’afili, Tuiātaga Fa’afili
“This collection of more than 1,000 Samoan Proverbs and Proverbial sayings (Alaga’upu / Muagagana), with translations in English, serves as a useful reference for Samoan oratory, poetry and formal speeches.” (Catalogue)

Image from Te Herenga Waka University PressBeats of the pa’u / Samuela, Maria
“And in the night time we will dance in the moonlight to the quick, steady beats of the pa’u. The pa’u is the pulse of the Cook Islands, a rhythm carrying narratives of a culture to its people. But beyond the reach of its sound, on another shore, a community is working over the course of decades to build a new life.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Image from Te Herenga Waka University PressFono : the contest for the governance of Sāmoa / Swain, Peter
“[This book] tells the story of the development of Samoa’s unique system of governance, and of those who have fought for power and shaped the development of the Independent State of Sāmoa.”– Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Declaration : a Pacific feminist agenda
“Gathers together some of the Pacific’s leading activists, scholars and critical thinkers in a dynamic discussion about Pacific feminisms in the visual arts, shared histories, literature, cosmologies and everyday experiences”–Page 10.” (Catalogue)

Nuku : stories of 100 indigenous women / Matata-Sipu, Qiane
“The power of storytelling is evident in our earliest pūrākau. Stories can change the world. It is how our tūpuna passed on their knowledge, the blueprint for living well, for generations. Through telling their stories, the women in this book seek to influence the world around them.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

No other place to stand : an anthology of climate change poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand
“Whether the poems you read here are cloaked in ironic apathy or bare their hearts in rousing calls to action, they all arise from a deep sense of care for this living world and the people in it. Our poets are eulogists and visionaries, warriors and worriers. Most of all, they’re ordinary people prepared to sit and stare at a blank page, trying to do something with the bloody big troubles looming over our past, present and future. — from the introduction by the editors.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Pasifika Black : Oceania, anti-colonialism, and the African world / Swan, Quito
“Pasifika Black details how liberation struggles in Oceania engaged Black internationalism in their fights against French, British, Indonesia, and Australian colonialisms. It explores how these diverse and uneven efforts informed political movements across the Black Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Ocean worlds, linking Black metropoles across Suva, Brisbane, Harlem (s), Paris, Lagos, Tripoli and Dakar.”– Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)