In 2019 I met a young Samoan author named Dahlia in Wellington. She came to listen to my NZ Book Council Lecture – the one where I talked about the gatekeeper white castle of traditional publishing and how more of us brown writers need to be brave enough (and fiapoto enough) to navigate the vast ocean outside its walls. How we need to guard against internalising white-castle thinking, becoming complicit in our own silencing and gatekeeping our own people. How we need to raise each other up in this work of creating and sharing stories by us, about us and for us…
After the lecture, Dahlia stayed and introduced herself. She thanked me for shining a light on all the possible ways a Pasifika writer could take her stories to the world.
I told her I was thrilled to meet another Samoan author. She replied, “Oh no Im not a real author like you. I only write little kids books.”
I remember clearly, stopping her right there – No, I have to correct you. You write books? You ARE an author. And you get them published too? So youre an author AND a publisher. You are exactly the kind of writer that Im talking about in this lecture. You are the one I wrote this fiapoto speech for.
And then we talked and talked 100x words a minute, excited to #talkBooks and storytelling, sharing the fire of our experiences as two (fiapoto) Samoan women writers!
In the seven years since that day, I have watched from afar as Dahlia has become a powerhouse force of change for the NZ publishing industry and for numerous Pasifika writers. Together with her brilliant husband, their company Mila’s Books, has been a vehicle for many more Pasifika writers and illustrators to produce quality books and wellbeing resources. Last year they won the prestigious Bologna Prize for the Best Childrens Publisher, Oceania.
Dahlia also created the Tusitala Mentoring Programme, which has supported over 100 first-time Pasifika authors, helping them to refine their stories and get them published. She serves on the board of Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, and shares Pacific stories with over 10,000 tamaiti annually across Aotearoa. She’s won multiple awards for her writing and advocacy work, and is developing scripts for several screen projects too.
I’ve been in awe of Dahlia’s vision and how hard she’s worked to realise that vision. She is the best kind of changemaker, one who opens doors for others as she goes. She inspires me.
I share this with you because Dahlia and I met up on one of her recent visits to Samoa and we had another excited “talk nonstop 100 words a minute” kind of meeting. As a result of that meeting, Im excited to announce that readers can now buy my TELESA Series and HALU BONGO from Mila’s Books. Bookstores, schools and libraries across New Zealand can also order copies through their trade portal by registering for retailer and educational discounts.
Now that the screen adaptation for Telesa is in development, I know there will be people eager to rediscover this series and the team at Mila’s Books are making sure print books will be easily available for New Zealand
I’ve had some unpleasant experiences with book distributors and publishers in the past so I know firsthand how vital it is to have people in this industry who we can trust to advocate for our books. Im glad that Pasifika writers now have more options available for how to take our stories to the readers that we write them for.
And Im glad that seven years ago, my fiapoto lecture first brought two fiapoto Samoan writers together.
Go to Mila’s Books to find my books available for readers in New Zealand.
