Let’s take a spin and tumble into “experimental” poetry — more specifically within Aotearoa-New Zealand, but not necessarily resticted to that thin locale.
Pasifika (migrants and their descendants originating from Pacific island groups such as Fiji, Sāmoa, Tonga as just some examples) poets in Aotearoa-New Zealand are increasingly audible and visible, which is a reflection of a rapid Pasifika population increase in the country; indeed the percentage of Pasifika youth under the age of 25, at 60% of overall Pasifika population, is the highest in the country. More, Pasifika poets are standing up to be counted, proudly proclaiming their Pacific islands heritage in a country, Aotearoa-New Zealand, which ironically does not seem to ever equate itself as a Pacific island, which of course it is, as Leilani Tamu points out later.
In te ao Māori [the world of the Māori] everything is intensely interrelated, which is why all of these conversations-commentaries keep on interconnecting. So when Alison Wong writes about Pauatahanui, it segues into what I wanted to write next. It was once the home of a poet who is mainstream, but has never been any favourite of this country’s academic mainstream.
I noted in the last conversation-commentary that Alison Wong had had a few pragmatic issues to deal with, including a major house shift and subsequent loss of internet connection for a time. Indeed she has since sent me material via the library!
So let's continue our conversation about Kiwi-Asian poetry...Alison Wong comes in and it is a pleasure to talk to her, for she has been a significant New Zealand author and poet for quite some time now and was also a Robert Burns Fellow.
Ngā whakaaro