Fern Ridge (Safla Rama) Digest

About Us  » On Verse On Fiction On Nonfiction Essays Conversations ← The Trobriand Tower of Babel Posted On 9 Nov, 2016 - By  Steven Winduo In late November 1978, a small plane went missing after it left Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. The plane was en route to Losuia, the government station on Kiriwina, the largest of the Trobriand Islands. Many people said that witches took control of the plane at the high-rising volcanic peaks of Goodenough Island in the D’Entrecasteaux group to the south. This explanation is anchored in Trobriand folklore, which depicted similar experiences at sea. Stories about the prowess of witches have long been a common stalk of tales among the Trobriands. “The probable demise of the aircraft, according to the villagers,” writes ethnographer Shirley F. Campbell, “was not based on some whimsical musing but was in fact based on generations of rational delibe...

I like this piece that my friend Drusilla Modjeska wrote, capturing the essence of networking as writers across time and space. Great piece. I also acknowledge Meanjin for supporting PNG writing and PNG writers over the years. The Best of New Writing in Australia Sign in About   Editions Winter 2017 Autumn 2017 Summer 2016 Spring 2016 Winter 2016 Autumn 2016 Summer 2015 Past Issues   Blog   Essays   Fiction   Memoir   Poetry   Subscribe Instagram Facebook Twitter The Informed Imagination Drusilla Modjeska Volume 74, Number 2, 2015 In July 2009, two artists from Ömie, high on the slopes of Mt Lamington in Papua New Guinea, were in Sydney for an exhibition of their barkcloth art. Early in their visit, their sponsor David Baker, then director of the now-defunct New Guinea Gallery, drove them and me, and Alban Sare, the Ömie man who’d come down with them, to a shopping mall to buy shoes and warm cloth...

Search for: Why reading is critical for PNG August 11, 2017 The National Weekender   Article Views:  56 By STEVEN WINDUO THE National Book Week is one of those weeks in a year that means more to me. I always get invited to speak in various schools around the city. In any one year I usually get one or two invitations from schools and colleges in the city. Even though I am speaking at the Kopkop College in Gerehu on the closing day, I am in spirit with the students and teachers of Salvation Army Boroko School, who also invited me to speak at the same time. The observation of the National Book Week around the country must be encouraged. Books are important tools of knowledge and without books our development as humans are limited to the immediate sensorial environments. We need books in our lives to widen our knowledge of the world. Reading books helps a person to develop special knowledge and skills to equip that p...