young literature

New Guinea s rich young literature

By Marjorie Crocombe

During the last five years, Papua New Guinea writers have published an impressive collection both overseas and within the country. The wealth of prose, plays and poetry published assures the building of an impressive national written literature.

Ulli Beier, who was some years on the staff of the University of Papua New Guinea, was undoubtedly the catalyst. He set up the journal of literature, KOVAVE, published by Jacaranda Press, as an outlet for New Guinea writing.

It was followed by the first long book by a New Guinean, Albert Maori Kiki’s autobiography, Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime. Next came Vincent Eri’s novel The Crocodile. Poets too, obtained an extra outlet for individual collections of poetry from all over the world in a series, Papua Pocket Poets, also edited by Beier and latterly by Prithvindra Chakravarti.

All these publications came from the hard work of some of the Univer sity of Papua New Guinea’s literature department staff and students.

Although the above works have be come well known within New Guinea itself, they are hardly known in the rest of the South Pacific and much more could have been done by the

publishers to sell them to high schools and teachers’ colleges.

Efforts are now under way, not only to make these publications better known overseas, particularly in the South Pacific, but also in cheaper editions so that most high schools can afford them. This is a joint effort between the University of Papua New Guinea Literature Department (which does editing), the Centre for Creative Arts (which prepares covers and illustrations and publishes), the editorial board of Papua New Guinea Writing, and the Department of Education.

Niugini Stories, a collection of 11 stories edited by Mike Greicus and Elton Brash, is the first book pro duced as a result of this joint effort.

The University Co-operative Book store is attempting to sell this and later books across the Pacific.

Niugini Stories begins by pointing out that New Guinea literature is both very old (in oral form) and very new (in the written form). The written material carries tremendous vitality, stirred by the fires of emerg ing nationhood. There is the under standable, but backward-looking criticism of the white colonial past (and sadly some of it remains in the present) as well as the forward-look ing, idealistic, material on the present and future. And there is good insight into the realities of today.

The stories themselves range from Allan Natachee’s poetic legend, Oifu, about the marriage of two light skinned girls to a dark-skinned

husband; John Waiko’s The Spirit Skull, and Mumure Ttopoqogo’s legend Abus Bilong Tupela, to oral literature recorded as written history in How my grandfather killed Mr J.

Green, by Stephen Barereba.

A world in transition, from the old to new, that Papua New Guinea is so deeply involved in now, is high lighted in Joye Harevila’s Final Initiation. Maurice Thompson (of the New Hebrides), Joseph Saruva, Paul Arnold, John Kadiba and Siuras Kavani and Tau Peruka (of New Guinea) all write of the lives they know and live in the foaming, frustrating but fascinating world of young people in a young nation.

Tau Peruka, a Motu writer from Tubusereia village on the Papuan coast near Port Moresby, has broken new ground in that he uses pidgin to tell his Motu titled story, Hemarai Lasi and succeeds effectively to get across his sense of humour.

The second publication, Ol i kam na Pulim Yumi (They came to confuse us) by Johnbili Tokome, is a play about the multitude of religious, governmental, political, economic and social facts and forces that impinge on the innocent and frustrated vil lager. It is funny yet insightful, draw ing on the inconsistency and irrelevance of much that is modern and the confusion as well as the logic of cargo cults.

The abovementioned books, Papua Pocket Poets, volumes 1-40, and other Papua New Guinea writings are all available from The University Book shop, University Post Office, Papua New Guinea.

This is a most impressive begin ning. All the Pacific, as well as further afield, has much to learn from the splendid growth of literature in Papua New Guinea. ® A new pictorial tourist map of the Yap Islands, land of the famous stone money in the western Carolines, has been published by the Printing and Publication Division, Trust Ter ritory of the Pacific Islands, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 96950. • And another small publication that’s a little different is A Honiara Bird Guide, by Geoff W. Stevens and James L. O. Tedder, published by the British Solomon Islands Scout As sociation and available from them at 1A1.50 or SUS2.SO including postage in each case. The 98-page book gives a check list of Honiara birds, where to find them, how to identify them and offers information on birds as pets. One of the most enthusiastic contributors to this little volume was Sir Michael Gass, former Western Pacific High Commissioner, a keen bird watcher. Proceeds go to the Scouts.