Leilani Tamu
Leilani Tamu is a poet, Fulbright alumna and former New Zealand diplomat. She has ancestral and marital ties to Samoa, Tonga and Niue. Her first book The Art of Excavation was long listed in the 2015 Ockham national book awards. Leilani was born in Auckland in 1982.
Books
Mar 1, 2017
The long nightmare of imperialism: part 3 of the strange story of Tonga's lost island of 'Ata
All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books looks at Scott Hamilton's brilliant new book, The Stolen Island, his investigation into the people-snatching raid on the Tongan island of 'Ata. Today: Leilani Tamu writes, "When the slavers came, they took more than our men. They raped our women. Beat our children. Pissed on our ancestors. Pissed on us."