Literature of the Pacific: Reference Materials

The final two links on this list lead to bibliographies of general resources; all others are specific to literary subjects. Mouse over link for more information.

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Below is a small sampling of the types of resources available for researching Pacific literature. (See also the list of online bibliographies at left.) Click on the highlighted titles to see where you can find copies of these books and journals in the Library. Check Locations! Items in the Voyager catalog marked UH Mānoa: Hamilton Pacific Reference or UH Mānoa: Hamilton Hawaiian Reference can be pulled directly off the reference shelves in the Hawaiian & Pacific reading room. For items marked UH Mānoa Hawaiian Collection or UH Mānoa Pacific Collection, request retrieval through the "Get This Item" link in Voyager. (Click here for instructions on how to request books using "Get This Item.")

The below journals include work either by or about Pacific writers, including poetry, prose, book reviews and longer works of literary criticism. For a more comprehensive list, follow the link to Pacific Islands Literature: A Selected Reading Guide  in the "Online Bibliographies" box at top left. Those marked below with two asterisks (**) are indexed in the Hawaii-Pacific Journal Index. For more information on searching the index, see the Research Strategies page. Click on titles for holdings information.

**The Contemporary Pacific. Honolulu, Hawaiʻi: Center for Pacific Islands Studies & University of Hawaiʻi Press, c1989-

Widely regarded as one of the worldʻs premier scholarly journals of the Pacific. In addition to the print version, fulltext is available online. Click here for access to current issues (via the Universityʻs subscription to Project Muse); click here for free access to back-issues, via Scholarspace (the University Libraryʻs Open Access site). 

Bikmaus (continues Papua New Guinea Writing). Boroko, Papua New Guinea: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, 1980-

A continuation of the journal Papua New Guinea Writing (see description below).

**Dreadlocks. Suva, Fiji: Dept. of Literature and Language, University of the South Pacific, 1997- 

Literary criticism, poetry and fiction.

**Journal of the Polynesian Society. Wellington, N.Z. [etc.] Polynesian Society, 1892-

Literary history and criticism.

Kovave: A Journal of New Guinea Literature. November 1969-June 1975.

The first journal of its kind to feature writing of Papua New Guineans.

Litterama'ohi. Papeete, Tahiti: Editions Te Ite. 2002-

Literary criticism, poetry and fiction, in French and Tahitian.

**Mana: a South Pacific Journal of Language and Literature (formerly **Mana Review). Suva, Fiji: Mana Publications, 1976-

Literary criticism, poetry and fiction.

**ʻŌiwi: a native Hawaiian journal. Honolulu, Hawaiʻi: Kuleana ʻŌiwi Press, 1998-

Fiction, non-fiction and poetry by Native Hawaiians. Full-text available online via the Hawaiian Electronic Library. To connect, click on volume: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.   

Papua New Guinea Writing (continued by Bikmaus). Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: Literature Bureau, Dept. of Information and Extension Services. 1970-1978.

Interviews, poetry and fiction. Includes early work by many of PNG's most famous writers.

Savannah Flames. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 1993-

"A Papua New Guinean journal of literature, language and culture," founded and edited by Steven Winduo.

Span. Brisbane, AUS: University of Queensland, 1975-

"Journal of the South Pacific Association For Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies." Includes poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, art and reviews.