Vā: Stories by Women of the Moana

The stories in Va all come from the hearts and experiences of women across the Pacific. In them you see snippets of their lives, which is really all about their relationships with partners, parents, children, siblings, friends, and most importantly, themselves. These are the stories you hear whispered late at night — with a few shouted in the streets. Raw, real, and oh, so strong. In Va I saw both the differences in island cultures across the Pacific and how so much still resonates the same. The stories are the perfect length to be savored slowly and will stay with you long after you’ve read them.

I loved this collection of complex, contemporary Pasifika women's voices! Themes including identity, stereotyping, missionization, gazing, and responses to domestic violence and Covid-19 are explored with with a range of emotions--anger, humor, self-reflection. It is an honor to read new poems by groundbreaking Pasifika writers like Momoe Malietoa Von Reiche, as well as short fiction by Lani Wendt Young and so many voices I had never read before but will look for now. Mahalo, Tatou publishing!

The short stories in this book gives readers a broad view of the Pacific experience. I loved how both aspiring writers and established writers came together to give us a gourmet of literary diversity, depicting that while the contributing writers are united under the Pasifika umbrella, within this context, there's also a range of unique voices and experiences. Looking forward to more works from Tatou Publishing.

*sent to me by the author in exchange for a review*This anthology is a collection of stories from 38 women writers from across Oceania including Wahine Maori from Aotearoa and Torres Strait Islands.I was privileged enough to be sent a copy of this to review at the end of 2021. I was so excited to get a copy of this and my original plan was to binge read this in a couple of sittings. But after reading the first couple of stories I realised that I wanted to take my time. So rare it is to hear stories by wahine from our communities - I wanted to savour it all. And savour it, I did! There are so many beautiful stories here. And while they were short, varying in story (and mood), all them kept me fully absorbed.To say I really loved all these stories just wouldn't cover it. I did have some favourites and I will try and not list the whole collection of stories:*On "Living the Dream" by Karlo Mila (so punchy and so true in so many ways)*Homesick by Steph Matuku (was SO good, so eerie, but also so beautiful)*The Vuniwai by Mere Taito (this made me think of home, I loved this so, so much)*Bloody Islanders by Lani Wendt Young (made me want to slap Frank in the face)*For my Yaca by Emmaline Pickering-Martin (another one that made me think of home and it made me a bit emotional. It's always hard to describe the feeling of seeing yourself in a story).*Racheli by Tulia Thompson (was absolutely heart retching)* The Karanga by Cassie Hart (I loved Butcherbird and Cassie’s writing and this story is no different)*Rainbow Club by Lani Wendt Young (this made me laugh, especially the end!)I highly, highly, highly recommend this collection to anyone who is after some fantastic writing from wahine across the Oceania.

A lovely collection of short stories and poems from Oceania. Stunning. I would recommend getting familiar with South Pacific literature to everyone!