Latest news with #BlackSugarcane
Newsroom
4 days ago
- General
- Newsroom
The Sunday Poems, by Nafanua Purcell Kersel
At 6:48am on September 29, 2009, an 8.1 magnitude undersea earthquake struck between the Samoan islands of Upolu and Tutuila (American Sāmoa). Less than 20 minutes later a tsunami hit Sāmoa, American Sāmoa and Northern Tonga. The devastation was immense along the southern and eastern coast of Upolu. There were no evacuation routes or tsunami warning systems in place. More than 150 lives were lost in Sāmoa, which had a population of only 184,000 at the time. Multiple generations of families, entire villages and tourists were swept away. Some of the survivors moved inland and never returned to the coast. Large tracts of coral reef were uprooted. Over a decade later, some regeneration is evident in the sea and also in the people. Though warning systems are now in place, the human and environmental toll of the 2009 tsunami are still apparent. After all, what is a decade to the ocean? To our memories? Namu'a Island In the aftershock, cousin Sala used her voice as a siren. Everyone on the tiny island heard her—the visiting school group from Palmerston North, family helpers from the mainland, the dogs—all bolted up the only path to the top of the only hill that makes the whole island. They faced the reef, saw it coming slow yet fast. It broke below them with force, fast after all. Turning west they lost sight of the mainland, could only hear the impact. Salani A tidal pool fenced with mangroves is a buoyant graveyard for tens of thousands of empty water bottles. Mosula When aid came, it went to all of Sāmoa, not just the affected coasts. Dad offered swaps: beef bones from his freezer for tins of baked beans. Some of his village neighbours had been straining the beans and using only the sauce. Now they could eat supo povi and he could fill his cupboard and belly with Wattie's beans— cooked and canned only two blocks from my house in Hastings. Apia, 2011 Paulo said that after the tsunami his children refused to eat fish for more than a year. Taken with kind permission from one of the year's best books of poetry, Black Sugarcane by Nafanua Purcell Kersel (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $30), available in bookstores nationwide.
Scoop
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Nafanua Purcell Kersel Named As 2025 Emerging Pasifika Writer In Residence
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) is delighted to announce the appointment of Nafanua Purcell Kersel as the Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence for 2025. Nafanua, a Sāmoan writer and performer, is based in Heretaunga, Te Mātau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). She will use the residency to work on a stage adaptation of her debut poetry collection Black Sugarcane, as well as a new book of poems. Her aspiration is to create work that creates more.'More alofa, more creativity, more understanding in our communities and worlds,' says Nafanua. Nafanua has a background in facilitation and community storytelling, including her role with Nevertheless NZ, where she leads the storytelling programme and runs creative writing workshops with Māori, Pasifika, and Rainbow+ communities. Her creative work includes poetry, theatre and spoken word, often centring on themes of intergenerational memory and Pasifika knowledge systems. Black Sugarcane, published in 2025 by Te Herenga Waka University Press, grew out of Nafanua's Master of Creative Writing at IIML, for which she won the 2022 Biggs Family Prize in Poetry. Her poetry has appeared in anthologies and in various literary journals including Cordite, Landfall and Turbine l Kapohau. Nafanua says it is a privilege and an honour to receive this award. 'I admire each of the previous recipients, and feel humbled to have been chosen to follow on from them. 'My wish is to write work which offers an insight into the complexity of community and the subtle work of shared stories, through my own experiences, dreams, and observations. My goal for the residency is to produce work which is mana-enhancing and unapologetic in its cultural depth. Fa'afetai, fa'afetai, fa'afetai tele lava mo le avanoa.' Nafanua will receive a stipend of $15,000 to write her new work at the IIML for three months. She will also work with a mentor during the residency. Damien Wilkins, Director of the IIML, says Nafanua's wonderful first book of poems shows her to be a highly skilled writer with new things to say. 'We're excited to see her work develop. The IIML is also very appreciative of the support of the University and Creative New Zealand.'
