Pacific Island Literature
The Pacific Islands are teeming with creative authors and writers, who write about island life and problems, as well as cultural insights and colonialism. Much of the literature in the Pacific revolves around said topics and the identity of each Pacific Island group, which are told through legends, poems, novels, and short stories. Below are a few examples of Pacific Island Literature. |
Nancy Bo Flood, Beret E. Strong, William Flood, as illustrated by Connie J. Adams. Hawaii. Bess Press. 2002.
This book is an collection of legends from the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are interwoven with historical interludes and beautiful woodcut illustrations. |
Craig Santos Perez. California. TinFish Press. 2008.
In the preface to his first book, a lyrical epic on the violent convergences of colonialisms on Guam (Japanese and American), history, family, and language (Chamorro and English), Perez writes: "On some maps, Guam doesn't exist; I point to an empty space in the Pacific and say, 'I'm from here.' On some maps, Guam is a small, unnamed island; I say, 'I'm from this unnamed place.' On some maps, Guam is named 'Guam, U.S.A.' I say, 'I'm from a territory of the United States.' On some maps, Guam is named, simply, 'Guam'; I say, 'I am from Guam.'" Written in the spirit of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictee and Barbara Jane Reyes's POETA EN SAN FRANCISCO, Perez's book promises to add significantly to a growing canon of Pacific poetries. Chris Perez Howard. Fiji. University of the South Pacific. 1986.
The book entitled "Mariquita: A Tragedy of Guam" was written by author Chris Perez Howard in honor of her mother Mariquita Aguon Perez. The book covers the pain and sufferings of Guamanians through World War II from the perspective of one family. The book covers a period of time a little under a decade, beginning in 1938 while Guam was under Naval Administration. The book starts off painting the image an Howard's mother Mariquita. She is depicted as somewhat a diamond in the rough, beautiful and one of a kind, even pointing out that she worked as a stenographer, an uncommon position to be held by women in this time period. The book goes on describing her daily life including spending much time with her friends, competing amongst each other in the latest. |
Various artists. Guam. MARC. 2016.
A collection of poetry, artwork, and short stories from the Micronesian region, specifically from Guam. |
check out these other links:
A collection of poetry from various novice writers about different topics.
|
The link above will take you to the Guam and Micronesia collection of MARC. The Guam and Micronesia Reference Collection constitutes one of the most extensive repositories of Guam and Micronesia resources in the world. Its holdings number about 40,000 volumes on Guam, Micronesia and the Pacific. Included in the collection are 800 dissertations and theses, news clippings, brochures and ephemeral material related to the geographic region of Micronesia.
|