Fale Aitu | Spirit House

by Tusiata Avia

Ask the god to open the house of your chest
wide enough that your enemy may enter

ask aitu: lie down with me
my heart is open as a window

ask aitu: walk with me
my heart is younger than the sun

—House

Tusiata Avia is an essential voice in New Zealand and Pasifika literature. In her fearless new collection, she weaves together the voices of the living and dead, the past and the present in poems that are confessional and confrontational, gentle and funny. Speaking from Samoa, Christchurch, Gaza and New York, she combines stories from myth and the everyday, never shying away from pain or wonder.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

83 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★

I would never want to judge a literary award.

How can you compare totally different styles?

This year's Ockham's have a red hot favourite in the poetry section is Hera Lindsay Bird but while my view is that Bird's collection is stronger overall, none of her poems moved me as much as Avia's strongest offerings - in particular the raw honesty of Demonstration and the sadness of I Cannot Write a Poem About Gaza. The Islander offerings were really evocative. But there was one poem I didn't like, one i didn't get and there were fragments of prose. A personal view but I am not fond of reading paragraphs - I think they should stay in the author's notebook.

Also the literary work stops at page 75. There are notes (necessary for some of us not familiar with Islander/NZ culture) thank yous and then a self indulgent Poetry Manifesto. Avia states she doesn't want to talk about her poetry. So don't.

Journalist Steve Braunias is endeavouring to stir up some controversy;

In fact the exclusion of the O’Malley book suggests that maybe the Ockhams should wear the same kind of hashtag that the Oscars had slung around its sorry neck in 2016. And so to our fourth remark: by excluding O’Malley’s book on Māori history, and also by rejecting two other books on the longlist, Tail of the Taniwha by Courtney Sina Meredith and A Whakapapa of Tradition: One Hundred Years of Ngāti Porou Carving 1830-1930 by Ngarino Ellis with Natalie Robertson, then how about #Ockhamsowhite.

Just look at that shortlist! Whitey, whitey, everywhere! Middle-class, university-trained, university-salaried whitey! Working whitey, retired whitey, youngish whitey – in short, so many white people, with the exception of poets Tusiata Avua (sic) and Gregory Kan. Elsewhere, sheet-white, Pakeha-white, whiter-than-white, whitey!

Hmmm. I'm Team Bird, but if Avia wins, I won't regard it as an upset.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember weeping the first time I heard Tusiata read her poem about the Christchurch earthquake, and I had the pleasure of seeing her perform more than once this year. Each time she over me - her delivery is incredible. Now I hear her voice in my head when I read these poems. A stunning book.

[Harold Coutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought i'd read a few poems before i went to bed but ended up staying up until 2am finishing it! one of the best books of any kind to come out of 2016, or possibly ever.

[Helen Lehndorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I finish volumes of poetry and wonder if there was enough substance...did the poems 'earn' their place? Did the collection cohere? Not with this book! Every page is intense, vivid, passionate, sometimes full of rage, often full of love, always full of an intense alertness to the world. This is a powerful book I will return to.

[veve · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful poetry and interesting discourse on samoan female identity and first-generation diaspora. my favourite poem was definitely "fa'anoanoa". although written in english, i liked the flowed usage of samoan words in-between stanzas which made me remember just how beautifully profound the samoan language is in comparison to english, a fact i forgot because my mind sadly tends to think in english most of the time these days (i need to read more samoan stuff)

[VeganMedusa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of poetry is beyond me. I don't get it at all. So me reviewing a book of poetry is ridiculous. Surprise, surprise, most of this book didn't do anything for me. But Demonstration, and I Cannot Write a Poem About Gaza are obviously the most accessible ones because they moved even me. 5 stars for them, 3 stars for the rest, how about that?

[Sarah Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

life changing. every poem an absolute banger.

[Chris Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked some poems a lot more than others, but really enjoyed the mixture of mythologies layered through everyday reality, and connected with the fierce desire to comprehend.

[Michael Simental · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a feeling she is a lot better as a spoken poet.

[raelee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I'll be sitting with this collection for a while to come.