Through poetry Daren Kamali traverses Oceania breaking down contemporary and traditional structures, values and myths

Daren Kamali is a poet and author of Fijian, Wallis and Futuna, and Scottish descent, he migrated to New Zealand from Fiji in 1992. In 2012 he was the Fulbright Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer in Residence at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. Daren completed his Bachelor in Creative Writing from Manukau Institute of Technology in 2014. That year he was also a part of the International Writers Program at Iowa University, United States of America. Collections of his poetry have been published, translated and distributed across

 

Daren celebrates the Pacific through a Pan Pacific perspective which is reflective of his upbringing in Fiji. His writing and performance poetry looks across Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia drawing from the land, sea, sky, old and new, traditional and contemporary structures, values, traditions and myths to create a ‘Nesian’ world. Daren has travelled extensively throughout the Pacific and internationally including to the 9^th Pacific Arts Festival in Palau and the 11^th Pacific Arts Festival in Honiara, Solomon Islands, as well as Hawai’i, USA and Europe. Daren’s writing is translated in Fijian, Ukrainian and Mandarin.

 

Daren started writing a trilogy of poetry collections in 2010. The first of the trilogy was published in 2011 called Tales, Poems and Songs from the Underwater World. The second book Squid Out of Water: the evolution was published by Ala Press, Hawai’i, 2014. The final collection of his trilogy What Becomes of the Flying Squid? will be published by Ala Press, Hawai’i early in 2016. Daren is currently working on his fourth manuscript which is a collection of memoir poems about his upbringing in Samabula North, Suva, Fiji titled Vunimaqo (Mango Tree).

Daren Kamali has released two musical albums Story, 2000 and Keep it Real, 2005. His poetry is published in Niu Voices, Ika, Hawaiian Review, Landfall and Blackmail Press. He has three published books Tales, Poems and Songs from the Underwater World, Anahera, 2011; Squid Out of Water: the evolution was published by Ala Press, 2014; What Becomes of the Flying Squid? Ala Press, 2016.