- 192 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
Sista, Stanap Strong! is an anthology of new writing from Vanuatu by three generations of women—and the first of its kind. With poetry, fiction, essay, memoir, and song, its narrative arc stretches from the days of blackbirding to Independence in 1980 to Vanuatu's coming of age in 2020. Most of these writers are ni-Vanuatu living in Vanuatu. Some have set down roots in New Zealand, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Canada. Some were born overseas and have made Vanuatu their home. One is just twenty; another is an octogenarian. The writers in this anthology have chosen to harness the coloniser's language, English, for their own purposes. They are writing against racism, colonialism, misogyny, and sexism. Writing across bloodlines and linguistic boundaries. Professing their love for ancestors, offspring, and language— Bislama, vernacular, and English. What these writers also have in common is a sharp eye for detail, a love of words, a deep connection to Vanuatu, and a willingness to share a glimpse of their world. Includes a foreword by Viran Molisa Trief. Cover art: Juliette Pita
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Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents Page
- Foreword
- Introduction
- The bitterness of sugar cane
- Leiniaru, the girl from Pele Island who picks the fruit of the Niaru tree
- Introducing Father Lini and Barak Sope
- A conversation about poetry and politics
- Givem wata lo olgeta
- The men in my life
- For you today
- Stories from the Santo Bush, 1967
- Is it real love?
- Three haiku
- Dirty white
- A village girl’s place
- Bislama
- A woman in a man’s world
- The Octagonal House
- What I remember
- Their lives matter more
- I always wanted to become a writer
- You, the ‘Change’
- A letter to Granddad Isno
- Mi taet finis
- I’ve had enough
- Being single is cool
- Wan strong woman
- A strong woman
- Glimpses: Women from Tanna
- WIFE – Woman in Ferocious Environments
- Maternity changed me
- Call me, Dad
- This body is mine
- Should it?
- Lewia’s plight
- Kava Lover
- Kava Man
- And she wept
- Kava and women: Use and abuse
- Be you
- Persevere
- A Christmas miracle
- Singer, songwriter, mother, band member
- Awe Koloini (Patan Pesi) / Aweh Koloini (Oh Wow, Whitesands Girl)
- Paran Latan / Tanna Woman
- The long journey: Political acceptance of women
- I love you?
- Mared [M-aa-r-e-d]
- Beautiful Ambae
- A letter to Vanuatu: Unkept promises
- National anthem of passivity
- Beatrice’s visit
- The disappearance
- From pandemonium to mayhem: Becoming ni-Vanuatu
- Christchurch 2019
- Another circumstance
- as you turn 2 weeks old, koko dearest
- They came, they saw, they labelled: Hemi taem naoia
- Notes
- Contributors