Moana voices: Tagata Atamai brings Pacific poetry to the page

Tagata Atamai aims to celebrate Pasifika and Māori storytellers by amplifying the voices of the Moana through its role as a bookstore, publisher, and creative learning community.

Founded by Danielle Kionasina in 2023, the organisation was born from her vision of creating a safe space for authenticity and cultural connection, where indigenous storytellers could gather, write, and publish on their own terms.

Kionasina, who previously worked as a primary school teacher, told PMN Tonga host John Pulu of her desire to nurture her creative side while giving back to her community.

“I really wanted to pour back into my creative passion, but always in service to our people,” Kionasina explains.

“What better way than to use my writing, my upu (words), and my art? Also to use my teaching skills and run writing wānanga (workshops).”

That commitment led Tagata Atamai to evolve into a community publisher, releasing books that highlight Pasifika voices.

Watch the full interview with Danielle Kionasina and Rebecca George below.

Its first publication, Tusitala, was Kionasina’s own debut poetry collection and served as a training ground for her to step fully into the role of editor.

“So that I could then be a kaitiaki (guardian) of other writing from many, many more voices than just my own,” Kionasina says.

This led to Moana: Voices of Our Ocean, featuring the work of 20 indigenous poets, all themed around the concept of connection or vā with the Moana.

Moana: Voices of Our Ocean coverart by Danielle Kionasina. Photo/Facebook

A multi-faceted creative, Kionasina designed the cover artwork for the book, which depicts the undercurrents that pull readers towards “ancestral ways of knowing, dreaming, and navigating”.

The book is described as a “living artefact of our collective memory” and includes contributions from Kionasina, Audrey Brown-Pereira, Grace Iwashita-Taylor, Hira Nathan, Mauatua Fa'ara-Reynolds, Brianne Te Paa, Dorell Ben, Elise Sadlier, Montana Tiatia-Sefilino, Māia Te Whetū, John Taukäve, Moira Lomas, Katriana Taufalele, Savannah Patterson, Sarah Dell Ioka Enticott, Rewa Fowles, Christel Hamer, m. paea, Sophia Matafeo, and Rebecca Jennifer George.

George, a passionate poet of Tongan (Nuku’alofa, Pea, Fo’ui) and Cook Islands (Atiu, Areora, Ma’uke) heritage, first met Kionasina at a community poetry workshop in Avondale, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

The session’s theme, Moana, sparked a poem that George later contributed to the anthology.

“My poem, Moana, I wrote in memory of my dad who passed on many years ago,” George tells Pulu.

“The poem was about reconnecting to your culture, trying to find your way back home…trying to find your identity, for those of us who are born not where our parents or grandparents come from.”

George’s piece reflects the struggles and hopes of diasporic Pacific people searching for belonging through language, heritage, and journeys back to their ancestral homelands.

“Thankfully, Dani accepted it. I’m very grateful that she’s given me the opportunity to speak my truth and have my work as part of this book,” George says.

For Kionasina, healing is central to the kaupapa of this work, which serves as a homage to the intergenerational strength passed down over time.

“I think ancestral wisdom is really within our upu, within our poetry. It’s our spiritual language as well. The way that Bex, in her poetry, speaks to her ancestors, I really resonate with that.

“A lot of what I do is in honour of my nana. Our ancestors make us strong. They make us brave. They also guide us back to healing, to knowledge that we may have forgotten.

“The best people to tell our stories is us. We are qualified by whakapapa as storytellers, and I would love to see more of us giving ourselves permission to share our stories.”

Tagata Atamai is planning more writing wānanga, including one on 27 September at the Ūkaipō Creative Space in Auckland, while also working to make their publications accessible in libraries, independent bookstores, and through their website.