Writer Epeli Hau'ofa dies in Suva [1]
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 18:21. Updated on Saturday, May 3, 2014 - 20:47.
The Tongan satirist, writer and university professor Epeli Hau'ofa (70), passed away at the Suva Private Hospital at 7 am on Sunday January 11 after an illness.
Epeli was a Professor of Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific (USP) was well-known as the author of a short story collection, Tales of the Tikongs, and a novel, Kisses in the Nederends.
A spokesperson from the USP said that Epeli was admitted to hospital on New Year's Eve.
The funeral service will be on Thursday January 15 at 9.30 am at the USP campus, and he will be put to rest at his farm at Lami.
Missionary parents
Epeli Hau'ofa was born in Papua (New Guinea) in 1939 of Tongan missionary parents. He was educated in Papua, Tonga, Fiji, Australia and Canada, and was a PhD graduate of the Department of Anthropology, Australian National University. He has been Keeper of Palace Records in Tonga. He became a citizen of Fiji and since 1983 he had been working at the University of the South Pacific's main campus in Suva, Fiji, where he was the founder and director of the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture, established in 1997.
His publications include the most recent "We are the Ocean: Selected Works by Epeli Hauofa a collection of his essays, fiction, and poetry published in January 2008. The University of Hawai'i Press noted, "His writing over the past three decades has consistently challenged prevailing notions about Oceania and prescriptions for its development. He highlights major problems confronted by the region and suggests alternative perspectives and ways in which its people might reorganize to relate effectively to the changing world. He conveys his thoughts from diverse standpoints: university-based analyst, essayist, satirist and humorist, and practical catalyst for creativity. According to Hau'ofa, only through creative originality in all fields of endeavor can the people of Oceania hope to strengthen their capacity to engage the forces of globalization."
Epeli is survived by his wife Barbara and a son Epeli Si'i.