MY UROHS

EMELIHTER KIHLENG

KAHUAOMANOA PRESS, HAWAI’I, 2008

REVIEW BY CATH KOA DUNSFORD

HE MOANA PUKEPUKE E EKENGIA E TA WAKA: PERILOUS SEAS CAN BE NAVIGATED:

THE POETRY OF EMELIHTER KIHLENG.

He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka

Perilous seas can be navigated

[Maori whakatauki – Aotearoa].

MY UROHS grabs attention for its energy and feisty challenging of mainstream attitudes.

As the first Pohnpeian-Hawai’ian collection of poetry in English, it reveals new creative fusions between life in Guam, Pohnpei, Hawai’i and USA.

Great Turtle Island becomes greater for this creative fusion, rich with energy, imagery and innovative languages.

Albert Wendt finds the work “refreshingly innovative and compelling” and poet Teresia Teaiwa luxuriates in Emelihter’s poetry being “lush with language and imagery” and “rich with the personalities of the poet and her people”.

Sia Figiel touches a new note when she states this poetry is “both disturbing and haunting, illuminating and tender”.

All of these people are renowned Pacific writers and all of them have touched on vital voices and tones in the work of Emelihter Kihleng.

In Ong Pahpa, the poet time travels to the past to imagine life as it was for her whanau/ohana then. This poem is evocative and rich and very moving in its imagery and imaginative stretch.

Some poems are demanding and challenging and all ask us to think from new perspectives as we encounter new cross cultural realities and also recognise the colonisations that we are familiar with.

The poet encourages us to constantly question where we come from and what makes us the people we are today.

She does not shrink from questioning colonial assumptions and racism at every turn.

This is refreshing in recent Pacific poetry where sometimes the politics of survival has given way to beautiful imagery alone.

In this collection, both exist alongside each other and we are drawn into the often tough realities of every day survival especially negotiating between different cultural visions.

In one poem, two women from Pohnpei talk about AIDS and here we see the rough guts of the issues in the local lingo.

This collection challenges the reader not to take assumptions for granted and opens a new window into a feisty cross cultural world where survival is tough and gritty.

There is humour and irony by the bucket load in this poetry and its feisty energy denotes a new poet to watch out for.

From Korean Stories to Micronesian Diaspora[s], we learn how to negotiate the often difficult crossings between cultures. It is never easy but always a fascinating challenge.

This Morning at Joy shows us that the merging and appearance of so many different cultures in one cafe at one time hints at hope for the future - that we can negotiate the often rough seas between relationships and cultures and find common ground and also celebrate our differences.

There is tender hope in this collection alongside often rough realities.

This is a balancing act that the poet strides with courage.

Let’s hope there is a second collection in the making from Emelihter Kihleng from this Hawai’ian Press, Kahuamanoa, which has produced such a beautiful and powerful collection.

The quality of this publication indeed lives up to the indigenous naming of the press which can be translated as “the fruit of Manoa”.

Nga mihi nui – Cath Koa Dunsford.

Dr. Cathie Koa Dunsford [Te Rarawa, Ngapuhi/Hawai’ian/Yugoslav] is author of 23 books with ecological themes in print and translation in USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Turkey, including the popular Cowrie novel series featuring strong tangata whenua from the Pacific region. She has taught Literature, Creative Writing and Publishing at Auckland University since 1975. She is director of Dunsford Publishing Consultants, which has brought 197 new and award winning Pacific authors into print internationally: http://www.dunsfordpublishing.com She is recipient of two literary grants from Creative New Zealand Arts Council and was International Woman of the Year in Publishing in 1997. Cathie Dunsford has performed her work at the Frankfurt, Leipzig and Istanbul Bookfairs. She recently appeared on the International Panel of Established Pacific Artists at Artspeak Pacifika, a conference featuring Pasific artists, writers and film-makers, convened by the Creative New Zealand Arts Council, Toi Aotearoa. Her latest novel, Pele’s Tsunami, was launched at the Oceanic Conference on Creativity and Climate Change – Oceans, Islands and Skies at the University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands http://www.uspbookcentre.com  A documentary on her work by director Makerita Urale screened on Maori Television, July, 2010. She tours the world performing from the books with traditional Maori waiata and taonga puoro. Contact: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)