Papua New Guinean literature

Papua New Guinean literatureis diverse. The emergence ofwritten literature(as distinct fromoral literature) is comparatively recent inPapua New Guinea.It was given its first major stimulus with the setting up ofcreative writingcourses byUlli Beierat theUniversity of Papua New Guinea(established in 1966). Beier also founded aPapua Pocket Poetsseries, as well as the literary magazineKovave,the first of its kind in the country. Some of Papua New Guinea's first noted writers, includingJohn Kasaipwalova,Kumalau Tawali,Apisai EnosandKama Kerpi,were first published inKovave.

In 1932, the country's first Methodist Priest, Hosea Linge, known as "Ligeremaluoga", published an autobiography that was translated as The Erstwhile Savage. In 1968,Albert Maori Kiki’s autobiographyTen Thousand Years in a Lifetimewas the first major work of Papua New Guinean literature published outside a magazine. In 1970,Vincent Eripublished the first Papua New Guinean novel,The Crocodile.

Notable Papua New Guinean writers also includeRussell Soaba,Ignatius Kilage,Nora Vagi Brash,Steven Edmund WinduoandLoujaya Kouza.

Sources

• "English in the South Pacific",John Lynch and France Mugler,University of the South Pacific