Pacific Islands, Asia artists display new works
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writer
Pacific Island and Asian literature themes involving "Myths, Terrorism and Justice," are being explored during the four-day 27th Annual Pacific Islands Studies Conference that runs through Friday at the Imin Conference Center at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus.
The conference, which opened yesterday, features significant new work from filmmakers, fiction writers, poets and scholars from the Pacific and Asia.
In conjunction with the Hawai'i International Film Festival, the conference will premiere the films "The Wrestlers" from India, "The Maori Merchant of Venice" from Aotearoa (New Zealand), "New Moon" from the Philippines, "A Poet: Unconcealed Poetry" from Indonesia, "Act of War" from Hawai'i and "Utu" from Aotearoa.
Conference registration is $35 for general admission and $10 for students and includes free passes to the films. One-day registrations are available for $10. For students, single-day registrations are free, without tickets to the films. Activities each day begin at 8 a.m. and end about 3:30 p.m.
Following the film screenings, filmmakers will talk about their work in relation to recent world events. Panel discussions will include both community activists and university scholars.
Tomorrow, the Fall Celebration of Writers will be part of the conference, bringing visiting writers Albert Wendt and Sia Figiel.
That afternoon, the visitors will be joined in a panel by UH professor, playwright and filmmaker Vilsoni Hereniko and novelist and critic S. Shankar.
Wendt will give an evening reading at 7 tomorrow night, and will be joined by Hawai'i writers Robert Barclay, Ku'ualoha Meyer Ho'omanawanui and Caroline Sinavaiana. Barclay is a finalist for the 2002 Kiriyama Prize with his first book, "Melai: A Novel of the Pacific," published by University of Hawai'i Press.
To register for the conference go to the UH Center for Pacific Islands Studies Web site. Participants may also pay at the door.
There is no need to register for the Fall Celebration of Writers, which is free.
