Pasifika Storytellers Collective Anthology
In 2020, I co-founded the Pasifika Storytellers Collective with a number of Pasifika writers including Veisinia Tonga, Mele-Ane Havea and Grace Vanilau. Due to Covid, we transitioned quickly to a monthly online writers group. Sharing stories of our Pasifika heritage, these stories formed the basis of The Pasifika Storytellers Anthology.
This anthology was launched in 2025 at Blak Dot Gallery and is a collection of poetry, memoir, and reflections by emerging and established Naarm-based Moana and Solwara writers.
Rooted in culture, kinship and the experience of diaspora, these pieces explore belonging, identity and resilience. Featuring Grace Vanilau, Jessican Paraha, Lesieli Taufa, Luti Richards, Marita Davies, Mele-Ane Havea, Natalia Mann, Tehakatahinga, Tutulu Feagaimalii and Veisinia Tonga and edited by Nathan Scolaro and designed by Amandine Thomas, this collection offers an intimate window into contemporary Pasifika writing in Australia.
“When my hair turns white, I will demand to hold the babies. I will smoosh my lips into their cheeks, smell them, snuggle them, sing to them and ask them over and over ‘Antai aram? Antai?’ What’s your name? Tell me.
…
When my hair turns white I will sing old songs. I will sing songs that roll into the next. I will harmonise with myself, taking the lower part, then come back to the start and sing the melody again. I will ask my daughters, sing with me, sing with me.
When my hair turns white, I will be still. I will watch the world as it is and remember the world as it was.
I will remember my mother, my father, my sister, my grandmothers, my grandfathers.”