Maiden Fiji is Auckland-based writer Samantha Gale Peckham-Togiatama’s first novel. It was published in 2014 by the University of the South Pacific (USP) Press, but has flown under the radar of most Pacific literary aficionados.Fiji High Commissioner His Excellency Mr Filimone Waqabaca says, “It is important for us to recognise and celebrate the achievements of one of our very own writers from Fiji who now lives in New Zealand.”
The Fiji High Commission in Wellington is therefore hosting an event to promote Maiden Fiji on Friday 22 April at its offices at 31 Pipitea Street, Thorndon. The event is co-sponsored by the Kai Fiji Club (Fiji Students Association at Victoria University of Wellington) and will feature readings of excerpts from the novel by members of Voqa Kei Seri: Fiji Writers in Wellington.
A secondary school teacher by profession, with a daughter currently attending Victoria University of Wellington, Peckham-Togiatama is excited by the attention her book is finally receiving. It started off as a manuscript she developed while enrolled in the Master in Creative Writing programme at the University of Auckland. Then she submitted it for consideration in a USP Press competition in 2011 and received a commendable mention for it. The book was finally published a few years later in 2014.
Maiden Fiji weaves together the stories of several generations of the Logan family. From the fiery 19th-century character of Eliza to her great-granddaughter Ginger, the novel is set in locations as diverse as the old capital of Levuka and a plantation in Bua, Fiji, and the University of Waikato and Whakatane in New Zealand.
Copies of Maiden Fiji will be available for sale ($20) at the launch and the author will be available for book signings.
The book is also available for sale online via the USP Bookstore.
For RSVPs and more information, please contact:
Maraia Vakasilimiratu, Fiji High Commission (021 416148; Secretary002.fhc@gmail.com)
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