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Albert Wendt

アルバート・ウェント

Arubāto Wento

Pen Names: Maualaivao（Highest matai (chief) title granted by his ʻaiga (family)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1939-10-27 （Apia, Samoa）
Nationality
Samoan, New Zealander
Languages
English, Samoan
Residence History
Apia (Samoa) → New Plymouth (New Zealand) → Suva (Fiji) → Honolulu (Hawaii, USA) → Auckland (New Zealand)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Academic, Poet, Playwright
Active Years
1961-
Affiliations
Samoa College, University of the South Pacific, The University of Auckland, University of Hawaiʻi
Influenced By
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Jacquie Sturm, Hone Tuwhare
Influenced
Teresia Teaiwa, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Contemporary Pacific writers in Oceania

Education

New Plymouth Boys' High School
Period: 1952–1957
Year of Graduation: 1957
Country: New Zealand
Attended on scholarship; published poems and a short story in the school magazine
Ardmore Teachers' College
Degree: Diploma of Teaching
Period: 1958–1959
Year of Graduation: 1959
Country: New Zealand
Diploma in teaching
Victoria University of Wellington
History
Degree: Master of Arts
Period: 1960–1964
Year of Graduation: 1964
Country: New Zealand
Master's thesis on the Mau independence movement in Samoa

Awards

Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards (Wattie Book of the Year)
1980
Work: Leaves of the Banyan Tree
Organization: Wattie Book Awards (New Zealand)
Result: Winner
Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia-Pacific)
1992
Work: Ola
Category: Asia-Pacific
Organization: Commonwealth Writers Prize
Result: Winner
Order of Merit of Samoa
1994
Organization: Government of Samoa
Result: Appointed
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
2001
Organization: Government of New Zealand
Result: Appointed
Senior Pacific Islands Artist Award (Arts Pasifika Awards)
2003
Organization: Arts Pasifika
Result: Winner
Nikkei Asia Prize (Culture)
2004
Organization: Nikkei
Result: Winner
Montana Book Award (Reference and Anthology)
2004
Work: Whetu Moana
Organization: Montana New Zealand Book Awards
Result: Winner
Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia-Pacific)
2010
Work: The Adventures of Vela
Category: Asia-Pacific
Organization: Commonwealth Writers Prize
Result: Winner
Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement
2012
Category: Fiction
Organization: Creative New Zealand
Result: Winner
Order of New Zealand
2013
Organization: Government of New Zealand
Result: Appointed
Icon Award (Arts Foundation of New Zealand)
2018
Organization: Arts Foundation of New Zealand
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Sons for the Return Home

1973 Novel

A novel about a young Samoan man living in New Zealand; adapted into a feature film in 1979.

MigrationIdentityFamilyRace and society
Adaptations
  • [Film] Sons for the Return Home / Paul Maunder (1979)
Translations
  • English

Leaves of the Banyan Tree

1979 Epic family saga / Novel

An epic family saga spanning generations; winner of the Wattie Book of the Year (1980).

Family historyPostcolonialismTradition and change
Translations
  • Translated into French, German, Dutch, Japanese and others

Ola

1991 Novel

Features a female protagonist traveling the world, exploring faith and identity. Winner of the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia-Pacific).

FaithIdentityTravel

The Adventures of Vela

2009 Verse novel / Epic

A long-awaited verse novel begun decades earlier; won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia-Pacific).

Myth and historyCultural memoryJourney and transformation

Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree

1974 Short story collection / Modern fables

Collection of modern fable-like short stories; two stories were adapted into a feature film in 1989.

CultureMoralityTradition vs modernity
Adaptations
  • [Film] Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree / Martyn Sanderson (1989)

Bibliography

  • Sons for the Return Home (1973)
  • Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree: And Other Stories (1974)
  • Pouliuli (1977)
  • Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979)
  • The Birth and Death of the Miracle Man (1986)
  • Ola (1991)
  • Black Rainbow (1992)
  • The Best of Albert Wendt's Short Stories (1999)
  • The Mango's Kiss: a Novel (2003)
  • The Adventures of Vela (2009)
  • Ancestry (2012)
  • Breaking Connections (2015)
  • Out of the Vaipe, The Deadwater: A Writer's Early Life (2015)

Adaptations

  • Sons for the Return Home (film, 1979)
  • Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree (film, 1989)
  • The New Oceania (documentary, 2005)

Translations of Works

  • Works translated into French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and others

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Postcolonial perspectiveEnglish informed by oral traditionsEpic and polyphonic narrative
Recurring Motifs
Family and kinshipHome and exileCultural memoryReligion and faith

Legacy

Albert Wendt has been a leading figure in shaping Pacific literature in English and is regarded as a representative postcolonial writer of Oceania. His works have been translated internationally and, through scholarship and editorial work, have influenced subsequent generations of writers.

Academic Societies

  • Academy of New Zealand Literature (associated)

Archives

  • Alexander Turnbull Library (Albert Wendt Papers)

In Popular Culture

  • Documentary 'The New Oceania' (2005)
  • Performances of his poetry and inclusion in festivals and theatre productions (e.g. UPU)

Quotes

  • I considered my family heritage to be 'totally Samoan'.
    Source: Interview (2002) (2002)

Trivia

  • First Pacific Islander appointed as a professor of English at the University of Auckland.
  • Appointed to the Order of New Zealand in 2013, the nation's highest civilian honour.
  • Granted the highest family matai title Maualaivao by his ʻaiga.