Fern Ridge (Safla Rama) Digest

Taking the trip to the North Shore of O`ahu after the Palm Sunday service was such a joy. The trip was planned the night before as John, Hala, and myself sat around the Friendship Circle at the East West Center. We just decided that it might help to put things into perspective for us to drive out of Honolulu and Waikiki, a touristic metropolitant space that overshadows the beautiful Hawaiian Island of O`ahu. There’s more one could see in O`ahu than Waikiki or the modern skyscrapers of Honolulu. Our trip to the North Shore began on the afternoon of Palm Sunday. My wantoks John Sopa, Alfred M. Riibako (Hala) and Ishmael Togamae are from the Solomon Islands. John and Ishmael have their own cars. John is studying at the Kapiolani Community College, Ishmael is a medical doctor at a hospital in Hawaii, and Hala is completing his degree in computer science at the University of Hawaii. Our other wantok, Muguwa Dilu, from PNG decided to opt out of our trip. We began our trip without any expec

Baining Fire Dancer I will present a public lecture as part of my responsibilities as the Arthur Lynn Andrews Chair in Pacific and Asian Studies. The public lecture is a collaboration between the English Department, the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Hawaii and the East West Center Pacific Islands Development Program.  English Department Colloquium "Metonymic Function of Language and Cultural Truth in Pacific Writing," by Steven Winduo, University of Papua New Guinea and Arthur Lynn Andrews Chair in Pacific and Asian Studies at UH Mānoa. Thursday, 10 March 2011 3:00 pm UHM Kuykendall Hall, Room 410 Most literary texts in Oceania employ English as the main language of writing. The choice of English rather than the indigenous languages is preferred for a number of reasons, but with an "overlap" of language that occurs when texture, sound, rhythm, and words are carried over from the mother tongue to the

  Entrance to Honolulu Academy of Arts    After lunch at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (HAA), with Piet Lincoln, his wife and son, I was shown the gift shop in the HAA. Later I took a peak at the display of cultural and materials items in the Pacific Islands Collection on the second floor of the building. Piet is a linguist with a long term connection with the Banoni language speakers of Bougainville. History (source www.wikipidea.org ) Anna Rice Cooke (1853–1934), daughter of N ew England missionaries and founder of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, in her dedication statement at the opening of the museum on April 8, 1927 said: "That our children of many nationalities and races, born far from the centers of art, may receive an intimation of their own cultural legacy and wake to the ideals embodied in the arts of their neighbors ... that Hawaiians, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Northern Europeans and all other people living here, contacting thr

Australian Geographic had this information on new evidence on peopling of the Pacific. By:AAP with AG Staff February-9-2011 Share The final major wave of Pacific migration brought the Maoris to New Zealand 700 years ago (Photo: Getty Images).NEW DNA EVIDENCE has emerged which overturns theories on how humans spread across the Pacific. The islands of Polynesia were first inhabited around 3,000 years ago, but where these people came from has long been a hot topic of debate amongst scientists. The most commonly accepted view, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence as well as genetic studies, is that Pacific islanders were the latter part of a migration south and eastwards from Taiwan which began around 4,000 years ago. Now, scientists believe the DNA of current Polynesians can be traced back to migrants from the Asian mainland who had already settled in islands close to New Guinea 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. The evidence was uncovered by researchers at the University of Le

On Wednesday this week I had the honor of reading poems and talking about chewing buai, writing, poetry and performance, and about Papua New Guinea and my observation of the world. It was the best poetry night I had in many years. I thank the East West Center Wednesday Evening Seminar organisers, the graduate students of East West Center, the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, the English Department, and the Pacific Collection  Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Tenkiu tru na laikim yupela nating tru.

The much awaited collection of short stories spanning more than 30 years of writing is now out. The collection untitled: The Unpainted Mask was copublished by UPNG Press and Manui Publishers. The book is printed and distributed in the USA by Masalai Press and online at various online book ordering services. Product Description Steven Edmund Winduo demonstrates his ability as a writer in this collection of short stories. The collection captures the changing social, cultural, and political landscapes of Papua New Guinea.The collection is a blend of published and unpublished short stories. The stories cover journeys people make from their unperturbed societies to ones in constant negotiation with change. These stories blend lived experience with imagined ones among Papua New Guineans.The book highlights the sometimes uncomfortable relationships and challenges emerging in different sociocultural encounters. One major theme runs through all stories in this collection: Mask. People wear

By the time you are reading this I am on my way to Honolulu via Honiara and Nadi. It is 2011, a brand new year with many unknown experiences to discover and many goals to achieve. I actually missed the New Year celebration in Port Moresby because I went to sleep early because of power outage. By the time I woke up it was 2.30am in the morning. Instead of complaining about missing the New Year fireworks I openned by personal journal and wrote the 101 goals that I want to accomplish this year. I do that every year so that I have definite things that I want to accomplish in one year. The next thing I did on the second day of the New Year was that I wrote down some of the affirmations of the goals that I set for myself. These affirmations were written in such a way that I have already accomplished my goals. The next thing I did on the 3rd of 2011 was that I deliberately set about visualizing my future. To help me stay focused on this process I consulted Jack Canfield’s The Success Prin