Writers in Otaki

Auckland-based John Pule, and Robert Sullivan joined Briar Grace-Smith in Otaki for an afternoon of poems and stories. All three are part of the new generation of writers making sense of what it means to be Polynesian in Aoteroa in the new Millennium.

John Pule was born in Niue in 1962, but has lived in New Zealand since 1964. His book, The Shark that ate the sun was the first novel to be published by a Niuean and was followed by Burn My Head in Heaven. He's also a poet and an artist, and is working on a collection of sonnets in English and Niuean.

Robert Sullivan has published three books of poetry, most recently, Star Waka, an epic collection of 101 poems spanning the period from 1840 to the present. Currently, he's working on his first novel and co-editing an Anthropolg of Polynesian Poetry.

Briar Grace Smith, whose new play Haruru Mai premiered in the Festival, is an award winning playwright. She's working on her first collection of short stories, Weaving Tangaroa's Eyebrows and television projects including the drama, Fishskin suit.