Politics/creative writing/identity/memoir

Abstract

When I think about it, I first took a side on creative writing politics in a forum at the University of Papua New Guinea in the 1970s, at an event leading up to the country’s Independence. The issue at stake: the influence of Western-style education on the locals. A lecture theatre full of energised white educators debated vigorously and, in the mix, decided to bag my English department boss Ulli Beier on account of the activist publishing he encouraged among students. He erred, apparently, in facilitating the publication of radical works by undergraduates and Masters candidates. We did not know at the time that four of those young writers were destined for leadership: two would become prime ministers, one the governor-general, and another, premier of a province.