Early Papua New Guinea Writers

The early authors who published in Papua New Guinea were accomplished writers who were excellent storytellers. Led in 1970 by Vincent Eri’s The Crocodile, Ignatius Kilage followed in 1980 with My Mother Calls Me Yaltep, in a book that follows the protagonist from early childhood through all the major events of his life, including schooling, initiation, courtship, time spent in Port Moresby and on a plantation, and ending with Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) undergoing rapid political changes. The following chapter covers the life of Michael Somare, the politician who is considered the ‘father of the nation’ for his espousal of his country’s independence. This chapter is based on Somare’s autobiography, and covers his tribal initiation, the beginnings of his political activism, and the 1972 election by which he became Chief Minister, and thanks to pressures he was able to obtain independence for PNG.
The following chapter is completely based on Albert Maori Kiki’s autobiography, Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime. It starts with his tribal beginnings and initiation, his entry into the white man’s world, growing political tensions, and the founding of the political Pangu Party that led to independence. Paulias Matame’s My Childhood in New Guinea was deliberately written in simple English for wide dispersal, especially within New Guinea to show the long evolution of a man of humble tribal origins who ended up as the Governor-General of PNG from 2004 to 2010.