Star Waka

Publishing Details

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Description

Published on the cusp of the new millennium, Sullivan's third book of poems, Star Waka, came with some strings attached: each poem had to feature either a star, a waka, or the ocean. Within these parameters, and in 2001 lines, Sullivan creates 100 poems that, he says, themselves function like a waka: 'members of the crew change, the rhythm and the view changes it is subject to the laws of nature'.

Reviews

"Star Waka is a poetic history of the evolution of the modern New Zealand imagination. It is an impressive achievement."" - Ken Arvidson, Waikato Times ""A stunning book, full of attitude. . . . If you read only one book of poetry this year, make sure it's this one!"" - Bernadette Hall, Evening Post ""This stroppy book, then, is a work of elation, a work to be recited, the continuation of an oral culture invigorated by the written word. It swirls with the cinematic promise of winds, tides, the flight of land-seeking birds, the course of whales and sharks, the patterns of waves and tides. But none of this is just picturesque: it's the struggle of memory against forgetting, Sullivan's people will not forget."" - David Eggleton, NZ Listener

Author Bio

Robert Sullivan is the author of a number of books of poetry, a graphic novel, and a prize-winning book of Maori legends for children. He co-edited, with Albert Wendt and Reina Whaitiri, the anthologies of Polynesian poetry in English Whetu Moana and Mauri Ola. In 1998 he was the Literary Fellow at the University of Auckland and in 2001 he was the Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Hawai`i Manoa, where he taught creative writing for some years. He now teaches creative writing at Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.