Oceanian Poetic Collaborations

Workshops in Oceania 2026
 

Our two poetry workshops in Oceania were born from the need to create a space where Oceanian poetry could be discussed and understood on its own terms, by those who know and practice it, the poets themselves. Moreover, we knew that we wanted these poetry workshops to take place in Oceania because, for us, the question of where knowledge is produced matters. It then made more sense to us to go back to where the knowledge is rooted, and to get around a pe’ue with the artists and poets who make Oceanian poetry such a powerful contribution to world literature. 

We had the honor of hosting for over four days 19 poets hailing from across Oceania, weaving threads between Aotearoa New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Hawaiʻi, Kanaky-New Caledonia, and Māʻohi Nui-French Polynesia. What brought us together was a shared conviction that poetry is a living art, deeply rooted in our Oceanic identities, histories, relationships and ways of knowing.

The workshops aimed to create a collective space for reflection and creation, where poets could write, listen, share, and think together about their practices. The conversations and creative exchanges will feed into a collective work whose broader objective is to contribute to transforming the ways Oceanian poetry is read, listen and taught in our schools and universities, as well as in literary spaces across the Pacific and beyond. At its heart, the project is about reclaiming the authority to define our own words and ways of reading them. It asks from us to recognize the relational spaces that poetry brings to light and to consider how we might teach future generations not simply to read poetry but to listen to it with their whole being. 

For us, these workshops were a success. A lot has been shared, discussed and created together and we hope to nurture the relationships that were created during these four days and continue these conversations in the near future.

Hereata

Poetry Workshop in Aotearoa New Zealand
held at the University of Auckland and Kim Meredith Gallery, 20-21 March 2026

Organized by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Mercator fellow) with the support of Pr. Lars Eckstein and Hereata Pereyre

With the participation of Daren Kamali, Zech Soakai, Jonjon Cowley, David Eggleton, Ben Brown, Courtney Meredith, Grace Iwashita-Taylor, Tina Malareti and Pala Molisa

What gives a poem mana? This question sat at the heart of the gathering that happened in Aotearoa New Zealand and organized by Pr. Selina Tusitala Marsh. The intensive poetry workshop welcomed nine Pacific poets from across Aotearoa and explored their relationship with poetry with what feels like a rich, reflective, and deeply felt talanoa. 

We closed the workshop with the Kim Meredith Gallery who opened up the space for an evening of poetry reading, where poets shared two of their works with the community.

Poetry Workshop in Tahiti
held at Synod Hall 1 & 2, Headquarters of the Protestant Church, 11-11 April 2026

Organized by Hereata Pereyre with the support of Pr. Lars Eckstein

With the participation of Selina Tusitala Marsh, Terisa Siagatonu, Teatuahere Teiti-Gierlach, Maruterai Maono, Manina Anihia, Temiti Lehartel, Paul Wamo, Sabrina Tapotofarerani, Leila Lissant Ercoli, Valérie Murat & Ihirau Piton.

Following our workshop in Aotearoa in March, we brought together poets from Kanaky, Aotearoa, California, Samoa, Hawai’i and Ma’ohi Nui to Pape’ete, Tahiti. For two days, we had the opportunity to think and redefine the poetry produced in Oceania by those who create, write, recite, transmit and read it.

We finally closed the workshop with a public reading and something became clear: Poetry does not belong only on the page. It must be spoken, shouted and cried. It must be lived.