Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia
SynopsisPlot
Presenting over seventy authors and one hundred pieces, Indigenous Literature from Micronesia features nine of the thirteen basic language groups, including Palauan, Chamorro, Chuukese, I-Kiribati, Kosraean, Marshallese, Nauruan, Pohnpeian, and Yapese. The volume editors, from Micronesia themselves, have selected representative works from throughout the region―from Palau in the west, to Kiribati in the east, to the global diaspora. They have reached back for historically groundbreaking work and scouted the present for some of the most cited and provocative of published pieces and for the most promising new authors.
Story
About this book
Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia is an anthology that gathers poetry, short stories, essays, chants, and excerpts from plays by over seventy Indigenous Micronesian authors. The collection represents nine of the thirteen basic language groups found across the region, including Palauan, Chamorro, Chuukese, I-Kiribati, Kosraean, Marshallese, Nauruan, Pohnpeian, and Yapese. The volume's editors, themselves from Micronesia, assembled more than one hundred pieces spanning a wide geographic and temporal range.
The anthology draws from locations stretching from Palau in the western Pacific to Kiribati far to the east, and also includes work from the Micronesian diaspora beyond the region. Selections range from historically significant pieces to recent published writing and work by newer authors. By covering both critical and creative forms, the collection presents how Indigenous writers from these scattered island communities have used varied literary modes to address their experiences and surroundings.
Micronesia as a cultural area encompasses thousands of islands spread across a vast stretch of ocean. The distances involved are significant: Palau and Kiribati sit roughly 4,000 kilometers apart. This anthology maps a literary landscape across that dispersed geography, organized not by a single national border but by overlapping language groups and shared regional ties.
